What Infamous Duchess, Literary Giants Have In Common With National Register-Listed Homes

ACROSS AMERICA — The prose of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and other cherished American authors was honed within the walls of one of three properties featured this week in How Much House, all of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The American socialite for whom King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to England attended parties at another home. And a third home, owned by a prominent Revolutionary War field surgeon and colonel, was saved by neighbors after it was torched by British sympathizers.

To be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, a project of the National Park Service, a house must be historically or culturally significant. Contrary to popular belief, unless federal funds are involved, listings don’t restrict private owners’ rights in how they use, develop or sell their properties.

The three homes are located in Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey. The estimated monthly cost to live in each of the featured properties is based on a 20 percent down payment and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at current rates. It includes property taxes, insurance and associated fees.

Connecticut | $3,495,000

63 Park Street, New Canaan
Listed by: Inger Stringfellow | William Pitt Sotheby’s International
Square feet: 5,700
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 4 (3 full)
Year built: 1836
Acreage: 0.33 acres
Property tax estimate (annual): $25,863
Estimated monthly cost to live here: $19,956

This Greek Revival mansion was originally the home of the New Canaan Country School and later the residence of acclaimed editor and publishing legend Maxwell Perkins, who edited the manuscripts of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

Later, architect and landscape architect Richard Bergmann lived and kept offices there. He is the creative force behind the unique in-town gardens featured in multiple publications over the years, including the Smithsonian’s Archives for American Gardens.

The current owner upgraded all the mechanicals and exposed the original architectural details, including wide plank floors.

Here’s another bonus: The property has been granted a special permit to be used as a business employing up to eight employees, without requiring the owner to live in the house. Peek inside for more photos.

Maryland | $6,000,000

16449 Ed Warfield Road, Woodbine
Listed by: Richard Watson | Columbia
Square feet: 5,700
Bedrooms: 16
Bathrooms: 12 (10 full)
Year built: 1838
Acreage: 180 acres
Property tax estimate (annual): $44,400
Estimated monthly cost to live here: $34,168

Oakdale, as this property is known, is the ancestral home of Maryland’s 12th governor, Edwin Warfield, born on May 7, 1848. He was one of two Maryland governors who were descendants of Richard Warfield, who arrived from England in the mid 1600s and became a wealthy planter and militia officer. The other was Charles Carnan Ridgely, who was Maryland’s 15th governor. Socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson, another descendant whose marriage to King Edward VIII set off a constitutional crisis in Great Britain in 1936, attended parties there, as did Mark Twain, according to an account from The Washington Post.

Impressive original detail and craftsmanship are prominent throughout this sprawling home, including 12-inch thick brick walls, 12 fireplaces and a grand front porch graced by 18-foot Roman Doric columns.

Adjoining the main house via a 120-foot covered colonnade, the 8,870-square-foot Oakdale Hall, added in 2005, is artfully integrated and provides an additional nine rooms and 5.1 baths. It can be used for lavish parties or concerts, as well as an additional residential or guest space. A 60-foot-by-30-foot pool adjoins the addition.

Other outbuildings include a carriage house and gardener’s cottage, both of which can be used as residences, a three-level horse stable, as well as a brick smokehouse, pond-sized gazebo and tool shed. Farm operations are supported by an additional barn, silo and equipment shed.

The property was previously approved by Howard County officials for use as a winery. Peek inside for more photos.

New Jersey | $940,000

522 Kings Highway, Mickleton
Listed by: Hollie Dodge | RE/MAX Preferred Mullica Hill
Square feet: 4,068
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 4 (3 full)
Year built: 1725
Acreage: 1.60 acres
Property tax estimate (annual): $6,956
Estimated monthly cost to live here: $5,461

This home is known locally as the Bodo Otto House, named for the Revolutionary field surgeon and militia colonel who lived there. While his wife and children were home alone, British sympathizers torched the house during the battle of Saunders Run. Neighbors were successful in saving it, according to accounts published online, but not the outbuildings. The section built in 1725 is 90 percent intact and the 1819 section is more than 95 percent intact.

Restored to its original grandeur, original features include high fashion mill work, built-in cabinets and cupboards, a 10-foot cooking fireplace with the original crane and salmon-brick hearth, plank floor boards and 12-inch window sills.

A modern custom kitchen is adjacent, offering abundant floor-to-ceiling cabinetry and ample storage space. The kitchen flows into a brick-floored four-season sun room with its own entrance.

The first floor also includes a keeping room, spacious living room, a private study or library, and a formal dining room with ample built-in cabinetry, a fireplace and extensive period mill work.

The second floor has a generous sized master suite, featuring floor-to-ceiling cabinets, a fireplace, and high ceilings. Adjoining the bedroom is a walk-in closet/dressing room and modern tiled bathroom. Each of the other two bedrooms on the second floor has a fireplace.

Three more bedrooms are found on the third floor. The fourth floor is a functional stand-up attic with new electric.

The four outbuildings include a four-bay saltbox style garage with an easy access loft added in 1974, a two-bay garage added in 1880, and a stone and frame ice house attached to a two-story post-and-beam barn, and a stone smokehouse/potting shed added in 1800. Peek inside for more photos.

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