2025 Homes on Tour

The Samuel Steer House

15580 Second Street

Open on Sunday: 10am to 5pm

In 1856 Waterford miller Samuel C. Means (1827-1884) purchased vacant lots 39 and 40 of Mahlon Janney’s 1814 subdivision. By January 1861, with war looming and busy with his mill on Main Street, Means sold the lots on which this house stands to Robert W. Thomas (1825-1905), a blacksmith and hotel keeper. Thomas promptly built this house, but by September 1861, when Confederate troops occupied Waterford, they took over the new house for a hospital.

Later in the war, when the Rebels had withdrawn, Quaker businessman Samuel Steer (1811-1883) rented the house and moved his family into town from his farm south of the village for safety; he finally purchased it in 1867 for $700. Northern sympathizer Steer spent much of the war “exiled” at nearby Point of Rocks, Maryland, serving as the U.S. Customs Agent. During the war, his daughter Sarah and her young neighbors Lida and Lizzie Dutton co-established the fervently pro-union Waterford News. The young women would note, in their paper, after their father’s rare visits home that John Dutton and Samuel Steer had “returned safely to the United States….” In 1864 Steer was arrested by Confederates as he tried to visit his family and imprisoned for his Union sympathies.

At the close of the war, Sarah Ann Steer (1837-1914), held classes for village African-American children, first in her home, then in 1867 at the new one-room school just down Second Street. She taught until 1870 when that school became part of the County’s school system. Her sister Ella taught at the first public school for white children, the Waterford Academy, the predecessor of the Old School on Fairfax Street.

In the 1980s, the owners enclosed a porch. The present owners added an outbuilding, remodeled and enlarged the kitchen, installed a patio and designed and put in a garden with stone walls and a pond.

The Samuel Steer House is open through the courtesy of Edith Crockett and Ed Lehmann.

Samuel Steer House

In the 1980s, the owners enclosed a porch. The present owners added an outbuilding, remodeled and enlarged the kitchen, installed a patio and designed and put in a garden with stone walls and a pond.

The Samuel Steer House is open through the courtesy of Edith Crockett and Ed Lehmann.

The William Russell House

40231 Fairfax Street

Open on Friday: 10am to 5pm

This American Foursquare home was built in 1918 by local builder Eb Devine for William O. Russell, who moved here with his wife and two youngest daughters after selling their nearby farm. The house features characteristic elements of the Foursquare style, including a wide front porch—one of several in town built by Devine. Not long after construction, the double rear porches were enclosed with decorative fish-scale shingles, adding extra space to each floor.

The property sits on land first developed around 1817 by blacksmith Reuben Schooley. During the Civil War, an earlier house on this site played a dramatic role in the 1862 Battle of Waterford. As Union troops camped across the street, Confederate forces advanced through the fields behind the home of Henry and Lydia Virts. Mrs. Virts was summoned three times under a flag of truce during the fierce skirmish before Union soldiers finally surrendered.

The current home has had just three families in its 100+ year history. Remarkably, it still retains its original barn, ice house, and root cellar—rare survivals in the village. The porch pew is a relic from the former Methodist Church on Main Street.

The William Russell House is open through the courtesy of owners the Thompson Family.

Monroe Hough House

40189 Patrick Street

Open on Friday: 10am to 5pm

Built in 1888 by Andrew Monroe “Roe” Hough, this charming frame house stands on land originally owned by Quaker Mahlon Janney and later purchased by Roe’s father, carpenter Samuel Hough. Roe worked as a dry goods clerk in Waterford and was known for his civic spirit, once raising funds to help local children in need during a harsh winter. He lived here with his wife Edith, daughtThis house stands on lots 20 and 26 of a 64-lot of land owned by Quaker Mahlon Janney and auctioned after his death in 1812. In 1851, Carpenter Samuel C. Hough (1811-1887) a

Methodist, purchased the two lots, still-undeveloped. Shortly before he died in 1887, one of his and Mary Smallwood Hough’s nine children, Andrew Monroe Hough (1852-1915) bought the pair for $95 and combined them into one lot.

By the end of 1888 “Roe” Hough’s purchase featured a new frame house and the property was valued at $750. He married Edith Virginia, daughter of Waterford blacksmith Silas Corbin. Roe worked as a dry goods clerk in Waterford for much of his life, including at the Corner Store. Edith, at one point, worked in a millinery store on Main Street. The couple had no children but Roe was civic-minded.

In February 1888 a county newspaper reported that Mr. Hough lent a neighborly hand to two little children “who were brought to town on the morning of the 3^rd, in a dreadful condition, having their feet, and the stomach of one, badly frozen. ”Roe” raised money to get some necessary clothing. Kind people of the town furnished them suitable garments and Dr. G. E. Connell administered medical aid.”

That same year, Hough served as registrar for an election in the village. Roe died in 1915; Edith in 1946, two years after selling the house to Eleanor Love James, of a long-time Waterford family. The house subsequently passed through several owners until 2002 when the Hertel family purchased it from Elaine Reynolds, who with her husband Neil had enlarged it in 1982.

The house includes overhanging eaves, shingle siding, and two-over-two windows, all popular at the time of its construction.

The Monroe Hough House is open through the courtesy of owners the Hertel Family.

Catoctin Creek

15533 Second Street

Open on Sunday: 10am to 5pm

In 1810 Quaker Mahlon Janney (1731-1812), son of Waterford’s founder Amos Janney, sold an unimproved acre to Joseph Talbott for $100. By 1823, when Mary Ann Taylor (born 1797) bought a portion of the property from John Palmer, the $1,050 purchase price indicates that a house had been built.Taylor owned it until her death in 1876. Quakers Franklin and Mary “Molly” Dutton Steer owned the house from 1882 until 1891. Molly’s pastel rendering of the Phillips Farm and Short Hill to the west survives as an iconic image of the Landmark. The view remains essentially unchanged.

Some 60+ years after the Steers’ residence, the MacCallum family from New York repaired the then-dilapidated home in the 1950s, retaining much of its original detail and several unusual features: a ceiling trap door through which children were passed from the kitchen to a sleeping loft and a working kitchen well. The MacCallums added the wing to the south along the street. Beneath the stucco is brick on a stone foundation. The original section has a typical hall-and-parlor floor plan. The MacCallums named the property Catoctin Creek and operated a boys’ school and camp here.

In the 1990s, authors Tony Horwitz and wife Geraldine Brooks (each the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize) added a plain porch and opened the back room to the gardens. In defining the kitchen area, they kept the character of an early 19^th century house, acquiring flooring from a barn in Frederick, Maryland, ceiling beams from Rectortown, Virginia, and period crofter’s furniture (cupboard, dresser and workbench) from Limerick, Ireland In 2002 an outbuilding constructed by furniture maker Courtney Fair was added in consultation with the National Trust.

Catoctin Creek is open through the courtesy of owner Sharyn Franck.

Hillside

40108 Bond Street

Open on Saturday: 10am to 5pm

Built in 1765, Hillside House holds the distinction of being the first post office in the Village of Waterford. Perched atop a hill with sweeping views of the historic village and the Waterford Mill, this beautifully restored home blends 18th-century charm with thoughtful modern updates.

This home is surrounded by tiered gardens and peaceful landscaping, with a welcoming front porch perfect for watching the sunset. Set back from the street and offering lovely privacy, Hillside House is a fine example of preserving Waterford’s architectural legacy while adapting it for comfortable, present-day living.

Hillside is open through the courtesy of owner Patricia Montague.

Tanyard Hill

40164 Bond Street

Open on Friday: 10am to 5pm

Surprising to many who see it, Tanyard Hill is a relatively new house, built in 1995. This Greek Revival-style farm house and its bank barn were designed by architect Russell Versaci to look as if they have always belonged among Waterford’s historic homes. The summer 1997 edition of Veranda magazine described it as “a new house that blends unnoticed with its 200-year-old neighbors.”

The owners chose the name of their home, Tanyard Hill, to honor the 18^th and 19^th century tanyard it overlooks. The house sits on nearly two acres of land on Bond Street, named for Quaker Asa Moore Bond, who owned the tannery from 1830 until his death in 1877.

The Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture selected the house for its Distinctive Residential Architecture award in 2000. Tanyard Hill was featured in the Jan. 25, 2014 issue of the Wall Street Journal in an article entitled, “This New Old House.” Tanyard Hill clearly demonstrates that thoughtful new buildings have a place in historic communities.

Tanyard Hill is open through the courtesy of owners Stephanie Kenyon and Bill Mayer.

Edith Walker House

15550 High Street

Open on Friday: 10am to 5pm

Robert Walker built this lovely Victorian home for his spinster sister, Edith, in 1897. He located the house on a portion of his property, Huntley Farm, and designed it to face his house next door instead of the street. A brick walk connected the two homes and remains to this day.

The Edith Walker House is a blend of Victorian and Colonial Revival architectural features such as the wraparound porch that serves as a spacious summer living area. There are two pedimented dormers, three gables and a sleeping porch over the front entrance, each clad with a different style shingle. The main body of the house boasts German siding. The original cedar shingle roof was replaced with raised-seam metal, as was the fashion in the area after the turn of the century. The windows further unite the two styles with six or eight small panes at the top, recalling colonial sash patterns, while the single large pane at the bottom incorporates the modern glass technology of the Victorian era.

Inside the home is a fine paneled Queen Anne staircase, beautiful Colonial Revival molding with bull’s eyes in the top corners, and pocket doors from the foyer into the parlor. Of special note are the five fireplaces, each of a different design. The three on the first floor have mirrored overmantles.

Over the years, there have been few changes to the floor plan, which speaks highly of the home’s comfort and adaptability to changing life styles. The major changes to the house were the addition of first and second floor bathrooms, and an enlargement of the kitchen accomplished by removing the wall to the butler’s pantry.

The historic exterior of the house is protected from alteration in perpetuity by an easement given to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The Edith Walker property is open through the courtesy of its current owners, The Wood Family.