Wildfell is a historic home located at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is a two-story, octagonal house of

stacked plank construction American historic carpentry is the historic methods with which wooden buildings were built in what is now the United States since European settlement. A number of methods were used to form the wooden walls and the types of ''structural carpentry' ...

, featuring an 8-sided roof topped by an octagonal " captains walk," flanked by two brick chimneys. The house has a simplified

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style. It was built about 1854, and served as summer home for the Jewett family until 1874. Wildfell - Darlington MD

Wildfell is one of the rare octagonal houses built in Maryland at the height of the "Octagon Fad". Located in Darlington, Maryland just off US 1, the house is a prominent feature of Harford County. Construction is believed to have begun in 1847 with completion prior to 1854. Commissioned by the Joseph Jewett family of Baltimore, Maryland and built by William Hensel. The Jewett family learned of an abandoned

Baltimore clipper A Baltimore Clipper is a fast sailing ship historically built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the United States of America, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland. An early form of clipper, the name is most commonly applied to two-masted ...

ship which had served in the War of 1812. The Jewett family purchased the derelict and contracted Hensel (a former naval carpenter) to salvage wood from the vessel and transport materials to the building site in Darlington, MD. The short oak timbers and naval treated planks were well suited to the short walls required by the octagonal design. The interior layout resembles an octagon divided into quadrants. Thus, most rooms have 5 walls. Two stories high, the octagonal house has an 8-sided roof topped by an octagonal "widows walk" flanked by two brick chimneys which serviced 4 fireplaces in the primary living areas and a hearth in the basement. The house faces southeast, with one or two openings in each wall. A modern one-story wing (constructed 2011, replaced ca.1900 structure) runs northwest. There is a three-sided porch facing east, southeast, and south. Wildfell is a simplified

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

, with a molding over the boxed eaves, which is repeated on the porch above its octagonal pillars. The six-paneled front door in a plain frame is topped by a four-light transom. Windows have 6/6 lights behind louvered shutters. The stairway has two turned balusters on each step under a walnut handrail. Double parlors are separated by pocket doors. Original kitchen and dining room spaces are to the rear. Perhaps unique to this house are the exterior and interior load bearing walls whose construction is of narrow (1”x7”) oak planks laid horizontally, nailed from above as the work proceeded, forming a virtually solid 7” wall thickness. The construction method is visible beneath the shutters of the false windows to the left of the front door. The window placement would have opened out from the side of the staircase, but is placed to complete the symmetrical appearance of the house. Floor joists are hand hued timber beams set in a cross pattern and cross joined by lesser beams. The Jewetts used Wildfell as a summer home from March 1854 until June 1874. The property was sold in 1874 and it came into ownership by the prominent Scott family where it remained for several generations. Wildfell is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

September 20, 1973. The property is currently owned by Matthew and Bonnie Payne.

External links

*, including undated photo, Maryland Historical Trust website

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Houses in Harford County, Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Federal architecture in Maryland Darlington, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Harford County, Maryland