9600 Liberty Road
Randallstown, MD, USA

National Register of Historic Places -Choate House

Statement of Significant:

Choate House is an important example of rural nineteenth and early twentieth century domestic architecture of southwestern Baltimore County. Throughout the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century, this area and most of Baltimore County remained rural expanses of farm land with development limited primarily to the suburban regions around Catonsville and Towson, and to town and cross road areas like Reisterstown and Hereford. Scattered along the roadways were farm houses, the Occasional business establishment, and places like Choate House which began as a tavern, but by the middle of the nineteenth century became a single dwelling. A number of these rural dwellings like Choate House, reflect the development of the county in their Own history with waves of remodeling responding to periods of prosperity. Choate House is one of the few examples remaining in this section of Baltimore County. It retains a high percentage of its original character (primarily configuration, decorative detailing, materials, and location) which conveys information on the architecture of the period. The Italianate renovations of the circa 1880s, particularly to the exterior decorative detailing, are some of the finest examples of that influence in the area. The Craftsman interior work added in the 1920s reflects the last period of major change in the region before the mass building that began in the mid twentieth century and ended the rural character of southwest Baltimore County.