The Carriage House

I moved from the apartment in downtown Ellicott City to the Carriage House on the grounds of my church in 1998 after I returned from my trip to China. The church property is called Overhills and was built in 1897. There were many of these estates in this area of Catonsville located in the western suburbs of Baltimore. The High School, Community College and Golf Course are all located on former estates. When my church congregation bought the property in 1957, the descendants of the original family retained the corner of the property that contained the Carriage House and made it their home.

We used the Mansion as our church building until 1967 when we built a new church building elsewhere on the 32 acre property. The Mansion was then used by other community oganizations.


In 1998, the family indicated they were moving to New Jersey and offered my church first option to buy. After much consideration, we purchased the property to use as a retreat facility. The house contained an entry hall, a large living room, a dining room, a bathroom, a huge great room and kitchen, a laundry room and another large room on the ground floor. The second floor contained 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on the second floor. There were two large porches, plus a deck in the back. There was also a swimming pool. The basement still contained the horse stalls from when it was a working carriage house. It was quite a house.


It was determined it would be helpful to have someone living there to keep an eye on the house. I volunteered to move into the house as that person. The rent was reasonable and it seemed like it would be an adventure. It took a lot of work to get the house to a state where it could be properly used. Floors needed to be refinished, walls painted, etc. There were LOTS of work parties with church members to get this done. Quite a few went late into the night with a few of us putting in countless hours.

Furnishing the Carriage House was a challenge also. Those 7 bedrooms held 16 beds. If every bed was full, that was 20 people. Church members donated beds, mattresses, linens, towels, etc. There were also donations of tables and chairs for the great room where guests would eat meals and hold meetings. Four dining tables fit in this large great room.

My furniture was used in the living room and we filled in the space with other appropriate pieces. I had just returned from China so a large oriental carpet graced the living room. The living room also had a fireplace that was used frequently.

My bathroom on the main floor. It was small, but we managed to find a really fun wallpaper by Susan Boynton, who had a large line of greeting cards. The wallpaper featured a lot of her characters, particularly the hippo, in various bathroom functions - shaving, showering, etc. It was fun and whimsical.

Once the house was completed, it was a joy to live here. Retreats typically took place on the weekends, other times I had the place to myself. I had a large room on the ground floor as my living quarters. . It served as my bedroom and office. It had five large windows and opened directly into the foyer. It had access to the back deck without disturbing those there for a retreat.


In the mornings I would often come out and find deer gathered in the driveway. I was only minutes from the airport which was quite handy for travel. I could get to BWI without hitting a traffic signal. I was also much closer to the office.

The kitchen was amazing to work in. I have never worked in a larger one. Lots of cupboard space, counter space and a pantry. I quickly became spoiled by the space and convenience.

We held the 25th wedding anniversary party for my parents here, setting up tables and chairs on the large driveway area and front porch. There were about 50 people and we all fit quite easily.

The front porch was a popular gathering place most any time of day. The driveway was lined with maples and locusts. The fragrance of the locusts in the spring was overwhelming and the colors of the maples in the fall was stunning.


We would also have our 4th of July crab feasts on the back deck.

The pool was a popular attraction. It was always refreshing in the evenings to take a dip in the cool of the evening.


Since the house sat in a heavily wooded corner of the property, I also had a lot of birds. I hung a finch feeder and was often treated to a large number of yellow finches on the feeder. It was always a battle with the squirrels, of course, to keep them off the various feeders.

At Christmas, I would put a large tree in the living room and cover it with lots of lights. It looked as if it were on fire there were so many lights. I always liked to take my glasses off to enjoy the lights on the tree as each light then looked like a little star. Try it sometime.

The Mansion has a history of weddings. The property was originally a wedding gift from a lumber merchant to his son. An addition was made many years later to hold a reception for a family member. Before the original family sold us the Carriage House, they asked if they could use the Mansion for their daughter's wedding reception. We agreed and the caterer they selected loved the space and asked to use it as their permanent catering location. The Mansion underwent a major renovation and has become a much sought after location for weddings, receptions and corporate functions. Everything old is new again.

The groups that used the Carriage House were usually church groups from the Baltimore area, but sometimes it would be guests for a wedding. One that sticks out in my mind was a large group from France. I studied French in school, but certainly could not keep up with these folks. The house was also fragrant with heavy perfume for days.

We smoked a turkey one time in the grill on the deck. It was the best turkey I think I ever had. We also made a lot of homemade ice cream there. There was nothing better than fresh strawberry ice cream.

Connie's family were my closest neighbors so we did a lot of socializing together. We shared many, many good times that have led to a very close lifelong friendship.

This house was perfect for entertaining. I can't remember how many cookouts and parties were held here. For New Years I was able to offer over night accommodations for anyone that needed it with all those bedrooms.

I loved to cook, but one particular dinner party turned out to be a disaster. I had invited several of my closest friends for dinner, Jim, Jim and Tracy. I made the mistake of serving dishes I had never tried before. What a huge mistake. I won't go through the menu with you. Suffice it to say they have not forgotten that dinner and neither have I. It was so bad, Domino's delivered.

I was involved in a lot of church activities. I was able to walk to church. One time we had a youth event for about 75 teenagers from New Jersey, Delaware, D.C. and parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. They slept at the church, but we used the Carriage House for some of the activities, especially the pool parties. I was much younger then and able to work with all those teenagers.

The pictures here were provided by my friend Connie. Connie did the catering for the Carriage house, providing three meals a day for those staying there. When I moved to Jacksonville in 1991, Connie also became the resident of the Carriage House.

The Carriage House property has since been sold to an assisted living facility called Brightview. The original Carriage House was torn down but the facility that was erected in its place is reminiscent of the Carriage House.

Those were wonderful years at the Carriage House. Quiet, peaceful, exciting and all the room in the world. What a memorable place it was to live.