COUNTRY HOUSE OF MR. GEORGE C. JENKINS, GREEN SPRING VALLEY, BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD.
JOS. EVANS SPERRY, ARCHITECT, BALTIMORE, MD.
The accompanying illustrations of the residence of Mr. George C. Jenkins, Green Spring Valley, Baltimore County, Md., show a type of house familiar, in its main characteristics, as the model adopted and generally followed in the Southern colonies a century and a half ago. With the modifications necessary to fit it to present customs and conditions it still seems an admirable model, well adapted to the region where it has become an accepted tradition. In its earlier form the division of the house into three distinct portions was a direct result of social requirements. The main house was devoted to the family and to the entertainment of guests, while one wing was given over to service and help, and the other reserved by the master for an office, from which the management of the estate was directed. A central hall, often two stories in height, opened through from front to back and gave access to the four principal rooms of the first floor, above which were one or two stories of chambers. Like the manor houses of England, which served as the inspiration tor the general plan, the house usually had two fronts, that upon the garden or lawn and that facing the approach or forecourt. These features and characteristics are plainly seen as reminiscences in the present plan. The house is entered from the north, beneath a porte-cochere opening into the main hall running through to the south side. Around the hall are grouped the principal rooms, with the kitchen and service accommodations in one wing, and the billiard room in the other. The south front, which commands a wide prospect over the Green Spring Valley, is the private portion of the house reserved for family use. In its architectural forms the house also follows the precedent already referred to. Its walls are built of stone covered with cream-colored stucco, and the exterior woodwork is painted white. The interior finish is also painted white throughout, with the exception of the doors and handrail of the stairway, which are mahogany.
