1877 Atlas*  Click on map for a closer look.

Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties
​Field Historian Notes

The Big Elk Greek Revival House is built of stone with a stucco covering that has worn off on some of the walls. The stone is laid in rough rubble fashion with large stone quoins at the corners. This building is two-and-a-half stories in height five bays long and two bays wide. In each gable end an inside end chimney was built (has deteriorated.) The roof was covered with wooden shingles it had a box cornice with returns. The cornice was supported by large wooden blocks only fragments remain. The central bay of the house houses an entrance hall with doors at each end and stairway to the second floor. The doors had three light transoms and the front entrance has a paneled door frame. On each side of the hall is a large room with fireplace. The doors to these rooms have trim above them in a simple Greek Revival style. In the western room is a pegboard used to hang clothes. The mantels have been removed but the imprint remains. There is also evidence of a chair rail, again only imprint. The walls are plastered and about l4" thick (exterior). The interior sides of the window jambs are rounded. The second floor has a similar floor plan. All of the window sash have been destroyed but they appear to have been 6/6 on the first two stories and 3/3 in the half story. To the rear of the home was a small summer kitchen attached to the house by a porch whose imprint remains. The house also has a cellar.

This house was a farmhouse apparently although further research may prove it to be a house of the mill owner** (D. Scott). It is a unique house in the area due to its construction especially the details of the cornice and interior. Within several more years it will be completely in ruins. A roof and window sealing could protect this building indefinitely. Current residents are four turkey buzzards.

George W. Lutz III, Field Historian Dec. 1976
* The John T Willis, House Carpenter and Builder, listed on the lower left would have been James K's brother.
** Please note the historian's speculation that this may have been the mill owner's home was incorrect.