Cedarcroft Historic District

About this property

Cedarcroft is a distinctive residential neighborhood in the North district of Baltimore, bordered by Gittings, East Lake and Bellona Avenue avenues and York Road. According to Baltimore City's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP), the houses in Cedarcroft are in the Dutch Colonial Revival, Federal Revival, Tudor Revival, Georgian Revival, Cape Cod Revival, Bungalow, and Italianate styles of architecture. Most of the homes in Cedarcroft were built between 1910 and 1939 by the Cedarcroft Land Company. In 1885, Philip E. Lamb purchased 25 acres (100,000 m2) fronting York Road north of the rural village of Govanstown. On the property was a house that had been built in 1846. A few years later, he bought an additional 20 acres (81,000 m2). He called his estate Cedarcroft, and in 1886 built a substantial addition to the 1846 house which still stands at 6204 Sycamore Road. The Cedarcroft Land Company was formed about 1910 by Philip and George Lamb, along with George Van Hollen, William McGeen and C.L. Applegarth. Later they were joined by Frank A. Warner, Jr., and Edward L. Palmer, the architect credited with the design of the development, which was between York and Bellona, Lake and Gittings. Episcopalians living nearby met in makeshift quarters and were anxious to build a church. In 1911, the diocese bought land on the southwest corner of Cedarcroft and York roads for $5,000. The church was dedicated in 1913. Ten years later, it was moved a few hundred feet, from the center of the lot, on soaped beams so that a parish house could be added. After the lots had been sold, the Cedarcroft Land Company was liquidated in the early 1920s, and its successor, the Cedarcroft Maintenance Corporation was chartered and the Cedarcroft Improvement Association formed. All of the covenants, restrictions and regulations made by the Land Company were incorporated in the Maintenance Corporation, the latter remaining the governing body of Cedarcroft. All restrictions and requirements set by the Land Company were preserved. The records of the corporation and improvement association are maintained in a loose leaf binder entitled, "Beginning 1926", although, the records date from 1929. The 1929 treasurer's report shows payments of $13 for cutting grass on vacant lots and $112.50 for top soil, hauling leaves and operating the snow plow. These traditional codes governed the construction of single-family houses cost not less than $6000; most of the homes sold between 2012 and 2018 between $300,000 and $850,000 price range. They are all built according to the neighborhood plan and color scheme regulations. In 2016 the final unbuilt lot was built upon.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in Baltimore County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Baltimore County.

More historic places in Maryland

Browse all historic places in Maryland.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Maryland history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.