Curtis-Shipley Farmstead, building in Maryland, United States
The Curtis-Shipley Farmstead is a historic house in Ellicott City, Maryland, built around 1875 with a second story added in 1891. The main building shows Gothic Revival features, while the property holds a bank barn, a wood granary, a chicken house, a hog barn, and a family cemetery.
The land was granted to English settler Adam Shipley in 1688 and became the first land claim in what is now Howard County. The house was built around 1875 and expanded in 1891, while the Curtis family acquired it in 1883 and maintained ownership for generations.
The name recalls the Shipley family who settled here in the late 1600s and shaped the land for centuries. Walking through the property today, you see how farming families organized their daily work around the house, barn, and fields.
The property spans about 7.4 acres of open land that you can walk through to see all the buildings and fields. Though the surrounding area has grown into a residential neighborhood, the farmstead itself remains set apart as a quiet space where you can observe the rural layout and architecture.
In 2014, the family owner signed a Deed of Easement that requires keeping the property open to the public at least five days each year and prevents major changes to the buildings or land. This legal agreement makes it one of the few privately owned historic farms with permanent protection.
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