The right person with the time, patience and especially money, is needed to restore a historic home to its original glory.
The Howard County Council may have found that man for Clover Hill, an Ellicott City relic, built around 1798.
The council will vote on whether to lease the county land in Rockburn Branch Park to Peter Ruff, who wants to transform the deteriorating brick house into an upscale restaurant. The county owns the land and house.
“The county thinks it?s worth saving,” Ruff said. “It will be put to good use. As a county restaurant, it will be magnificent.”
Ruff, of Ellicott City, estimated the project will take two years, but doesn?t have a budget to provide a cost.
Allowing residents to profit from historic houses will help more people to afford to restore them, said Mary Catherine Cochran, president of Preservation Howard County, a nonprofit that advocates for the restoration of historic sites.
“It?s to the advancement of a historic resource to find a use that allows it to be economically viable,” Cochran said.
A similar curatorship was successful for the Elkridge Furnace Inn on Furnace Avenue in Elkridge, which was falling apart when Daniel Wecker started leasing it from the state in 1988.
After 16 years of intense, historically accurate restorations, the Elkridge Furnace Inn was transformed into a successful restaurant that holds 100 weddings a year.
Wecker said he couldn?t afford to maintain the building or its 10 acres of gardens, without the restaurant?s profit.
“I know sometimes we repaired a broken door latch that probably cost us four or five times more than buying a new modern one, but it?s still fascinating to see,” Wecker said.
He said owning the restaurant engages him in history, whether he is preparing historically accurate dinners for Sunday suppers, or using a peg instead of a nail to make repairs.
What?s next?
The Howard County Council will vote on whether to lease part of Rockburn Branch Park to Peter Ruff for restoration. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. June 5 in the Banneker Room of the George Howard Building on Court House Drive in Ellicott City.
