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Description:
Cool Hollow House is a c. 1823 Federal/Greek Revival style farmhouse located on the Old National Pike southeast of Hagerstown. The house rests on a sloping, narrow strip of land comprised of approximately 7 acres between Old National Pike and the east side of Antietam Creek. The house is a 2 ½-story five-bay brick dwelling resting on limestone foundations, with a 2-bay, 1 ½-story brick wing projecting from the north end with small gable-roof dormers. The front elevation, facing east, is formal with five bays and a central entrance. Bricks are laid in five-course common bond on all elevations. Heavy wooden lintels above the openings with projecting decorative corner blocks enhance the front elevation. Substantial molded wooden cornices span the front and rear elevations at the roofline. Large brick chimneys at each end gable of the main block, and at the end gable of the wing, are located inside the walls. The standing seam metal roof is terminated with barge boards set directly against the end walls. The main entrance is sheltered by a one-bay, one-story temple form porch with a heavily molded pediment and large square pillars. Simple but heavy balustrades link the pillars to the structure. The tall six-panel door is crowned by a transom with diamond-shaped panes, and surrounded by deep raised panel molding. The north wing contains a recessed porch along the entire front elevation, a typical feature of the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Off this porch, a six-panel door with a simple three-light transom and deep raised-panel molding leads to the formal drawing room. A two-panel service door, with glazing on the upper half and a transom, leads to the kitchen. Beside this door is a window with two panes of bullseye glass, reportedly brought to the United States from an ancient English house by a former owner. Windows throughout have 6/6 sash, and are held with narrow frames finished with a bead at the inside edge. All windows on the first floor are flanked with four-panel shutters while the upper floors have louvered shutters with stationary slats. The south end of the house contains one window on each level at the southwest corner. Both ends of the main block and the east end of the north wing have a pair of six-pane hinged casement windows in the attic level flanking the chimney. On the interior, the front entrance opens into a full-length formal stair and entrance hall, with rooms on either side. The modified Georgian floorplan, which once consisted of two rooms on either side of the center hall, was modified to two large rooms in the mid-20th century. However, all original moldings and flooring remain. The staircase rises against the north wall of the entrance hall and gently ascends to a slight curve at the landing, turning back on itself and rising again to the second floor. The walnut newel post is heavy and simply turned, with a more delicate handrail and simple turned balusters that taper slightly. Entrance hall molding is deep with raised panels on both the vertical and horizontal surfaces. The same molding is in the room to the left of the hall. All other trim in the house is more simple; symmetrically molded, with corner blocks. Mantelpieces are bulky with carved, raised panels and tapering columns. The north wing contains a massive service fireplace with simple mantel and its original cranes. A steep set of winder stairs leads to the large ½ story bedroom above. The main block of the house rests on a full stone cellar, with a generous crawl space beneath the wing. Built directly on top of the stone bedrock, the limestone shelf can be seen protruding through the east wall of the basement. Also on the property are a springhouse, well, root cellar, cistern, two early mill sites, and the ruins of a forge.
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Significance:
Cool Hollow House is locally significant for its architecture, as a fine example of a vernacular adaptation of a late Federal/Greek Revival style farmhouse. The home is significant for its large scale, and simple stylistic attributes that define an early example. Built c. 1823 during the peak years of the westward expansion, the large brick house with its elegant temple-form porch and large chimneys sits prominently on the National Road, built to impress. It is located at the only point where the Antietam Creek meets the National Road between Funkstown and Boonsboro, a critical point along the route. Early deeds include the stipulation that travelers were allowed to use the natural springs located on the grounds. The property derives additional historical significance as the location of documented Civil War skirmishes. During the retreat from Gettysburg, Confederate and Union forces engaged along the National Road between Boonsboro and Funkstown on the days of July 8-12, 1863. On July 9th through July 11th, battle was joined by Confederate and Union cavalry forces on the Cool Hollow Farm owned by the prominent Schindel family. Finally, the property is archaeological significant for the information potential of its two mill sites, an 18th century powder mill complex shown on the 1794 Dennis Griffith map of Maryland as a Powder Mill, marked by stone ruins on the Antietam Creek. Another site of an early 19th century fulling and dyeing mill run by Henry Funk sits on the property near the Cool Hollow Culvert on the run-off from Beaver Creek. These sites offer potential to yield important information regarding manufacturing and commerce in the nation’s early history. The Cool Hollow Well, a 35-foot-deep man-made well intersects a largely unexplored cave formation in the Elbrook limestone beneath the front lawn. The period of significance, 1823-1863, begins with the date of construction of Cool Hollow House and ends with the Civil War skirmishes and encampments that took place around the home.
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