Hot Property: Three-level 1870 Monkton homestead for $1.2M

Address: 16350 Matthews Road, Monkton

List price: $1,200,000

Year built: 1870

Real estate agent: Debbie Rettberg, Northrop Realty

Last sold price/date: $950,000 / Aug. 24, 2023

Property size: 9.13 acres

Unique features: Some homes forego trendy amenities for simpler perks. Here, one could loll on the front porch swing, breathe the scent of sweet bay magnolia blossoms and while away time until the cows come home, as they used to do on this onetime dairy farm.

The three-level homestead, dating back to 1870, has five bedrooms, three baths, hardwood floors and a family room with a cathedral ceiling, skylights and a wood-burning stove. The country kitchen is a given. Thomas Matthews built the place, after the Civil War, on a rustic road that bears his family’s name in northern Baltimore County.

Vestiges of the old farm remain on the 9-acre estate: the stony remains of an old cow barn; a spring house that still serves livestock; a carriage house-turned-workshop; and a stone smokehouse, now used to store accessories for the saltwater pool and bluestone patio, both nods to the present. There’s also a hot tub out back.

Three trails bisect the rolling terrain, ideal for four-wheeled outings. Nearby, the Gunpowder River beckons tubing buffs. Recent owners built a tree house for kids and a chicken house for their hens, the latter a whimsical replica of the homestead. Two years ago, the house itself was the site of an archaeological dig by Towson University students to explain a deep earthen pit in the basement, which has puzzled generations. Speculation ranged from a root cellar to a tunnel for the Underground Railroad. No definitive cause was found.

Have a news tip? Contact Mike Klingaman at jklingaman@baltsun.com and 410-332-6456.