Larkin’s Hundred is still stunning

On a whim, Wendy Denton ventured onto an unfamiliar road in south county one day in 2011. The roadway rose, dipped and wended its way past acres of verdant farmland, old farmhouses, and clusters of grazing horses and bovines.

Up on a hill ahead, there was something that stood out.

"I saw this house sitting up there," she said. "A lovely, brick house. It looked deserted."

She was intrigued and did some research.

With her husband, Hal, the retired owner of a New Jersey-based title insurance company, the couple already owned Sudley, an elegant 64-acre farm with a historic 18th-century home. But she fell in love with the ancient house on the hill that had been vacant for years.

Folks participating in the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage in Anne Arundel County on April 28 will see the same vista Wendy first glimpsed as she came over the hill.

The house, called Larkin's Hundred, is one of the sites on the tour.

As the couple sold Sudley and prepared to purchase the "new" house and the property, the earthquake of Aug. 23, 2011, followed by Hurricane Irene on Aug. 30, caused three of the home's four chimneys to topple.

Two fell through the roof, tearing huge holes and allowing water to flood through the residence. More water flowed under the front and rear door sills, causing additional damage.

The Dentons, married for 52 years, were undeterred. They completed the purchase and set about restoring the house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

The Hardesty family had lovingly restored the residence in the 1950s.

"They did a wonderful job, but no one did anything since," Wendy said.

She explained the property was named Larkin's Hundred, as it was originally a 100-acre parcel Thomas Larkin inherited in the early 1700s from his Quaker father John Larkin, who owned the adjacent Larkin's Hill Farm. Another Quaker, Capt. Joseph Cowman, built the early Georgian-style house around 1730.

It has been also known as The Division and The Castle - measuring 50-by-32 feet and two stories tall, it was one of the largest houses in the area at the time.

Outside, the property has three barns, a charming gazebo, a pool and a croquet court. Hal Denton is an avid croquet player and is a member of the West River Wickets. The couple loves horseback riding and fox hunting. Wendy participates in dressage competitions with her horse Mt. Athos.

This is the sixth old house the Dentons have purchased and restored. The first four were in New Jersey.

Old barn wood

While Larkin's Hundred was being repaired and refurbished, the two lived in a trailer on the property. A rotting barn built in the 1790s on a nearby hill survived the earthquake and hurricanes of 2011 but, finally, gave up. It collapsed shortly after the Dentons acquired the property.

Rather than attempting to rebuild it, Wendy had some of the barn's wood salvaged.

She repurposed it in the house. At some point, the original wide plank heart of pine flooring with hand-made nails had been covered with narrower, tongue-in-groove oak planks.

The oak flooring was removed and, where needed, the old barn boards were used to replace missing or damaged parts of the floor. The wood was also used to craft the island in the kitchen, which is modern yet, with its tiger maple cabinetry, has a warm, vintage polish.

The Dentons brought in Willie Graham, a 35-year curator of architecture for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and currently a consultant and associate research scholar at the University of Maryland's Historic Preservation Program; and Drake Witte, a historic masonry specialist, to guide them through the renovations.

Graham "de-modernized" the dining room and other areas, while Drake Witte opened up the fireplaces and eliminated a "new" fireplace from the 1870s. Its vintage fireplace mantel was placed against a wall in a small, rear second-floor bedroom as a decorative element.

The long, gleaming, graceful walnut stairway rises from the first floor toward the second where it splits into a "good morning staircase" - two shorter staircases. One set leads to the two large, grand bedrooms in the front of the house; the second goes to the smaller, more humble bedrooms at the back of the house.

In the two front rooms on the main floor, which boasts 12-foot tall ceilings, Graham used old growth lumber to restore the rooms' impressive woodwork without using nails. The paint colors in these rooms and elsewhere, including on the staircase risers and paneling, are similar to colors found in historic homes throughout the region, like the golden yellow used for interiors at Gunston Hall in Lorton, Virginia.

Except for the pretty teal color in the second-floor master bedroom.

"It's not old," Wendy said. "But it's my favorite and I like it."

When you go

The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage takes place in the southern part of Anne Arundel County from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

April 28, rain or shine.

Additional tour dates and places in four other counties are: Prince George's County, today; Talbot County, May 12; Cecil County, May 20; and St. Mary's County, May 26.

The eight tour sites in Anne Arundel include the William Brown House in Historic London Town & Gardens, Ballard House in Davidsonville, Arden in Harwood, the Rosenwald School Galesville Community Center, the Zantzinger Farmhouse in Harwood, Larkin's Hundred in Edgewater, Margaret's Fields in Edgewater and the SERC Mansion Ruins in Edgewater.

Cost: Advance tickets for Anne Arundel County only: $35, day-of tickets: $40. Tickets can be purchased at any site with cash or check, or online for $37.22 at www.mhgp.org.

Boxed lunch: Boxed or seated lunches lunches are available at the Galesville Community Center. There is a choice of fried chicken, fried fish or a vegetarian option, all with sides, water or a soft drink, and dessert. $15 by cash or check. Advance reservations and payment are encouraged by April 21. Contact Gertrude Makell at 410-703-0610 or communitycenter@

historicgalesville.org. The mailing address is: Galesville Community Center, P.O. Box 118, Galesville, MD 20765.

Parking: Available at all pilgrimage locations.

What's it take to be a featured Home

of the Week?

Would you like to see your house, townhome, condo, apartment, cottage or cabin cruiser featured as The Capital's Home of the Week? To nominate your home, send Wendi Winters an email with your contact information and details about your residence to wwinters@

capgaznews.com.

Credit: By Wendi Winters - [email protected]

Caption: Wendy and Hal Denton stand in their Home of the Week, known as Larkin's Hundred.

Larkin's Hundred sits on a hill in Edgewater.

The sitting room is decorated in Colonial fashion. To the left is a Colonial-era, built-in cabinet called a "beaufat."

A horse trots through a field at Hal and Wendy Denton's Home of the Week.

The entryway is painted in period colors in Hal and Wendy Denton's Home of the Week, known as Larkin's Hundred.

The dining room is decorated in Colonial fashion.

A gazebo sits to the side of Hal and Wendy Denton's home in Edgewater.

The kitchen is partly constructed with wood from a former barn on the property, and the cabintry is Tiger maple.

A bedroom in decorated in period style.

photos by joshua mckerrow/Capital Gazette

photos by joshua mckerrow/Capital Gazette