About Us

The purpose of Save the Historic Houses is to create a new business model for historic preservation that can be used by anyone to save a historic house by creating a residence club.  I grew up in Annapolis and developed a passion for architecture from an early age, and later received a B.A. in history from the University of San Diego.  For the past 13 years I have been working for the State of Maryland in historic preservation.  My experience in the field includes: completing historic sites surveys, directing the nationally renowned Maryland Resident-Curatorship Program, and historic preservation planning.  I have also recently created historic preservation websites to further the development of practical ways to save historic buildings. 

From my own professional experience I have seen extraordinary historic houses lost because there is not enough money available to preserve them. I know that you can not save every historic house that comes your way, nor should you.  Unfortunately the hardest part of my job is having to demolish houses. Money is not finite, and budget restraints demand that you pick and choose which houses to save, and which houses to remove. This is truly a difficult decision. My hope is that this residence club project will open up more options for people to preserve houses. There is a real need right now for preservation options that are self-supporting. 

How the Idea Developed

Save the Historic Houses website was launched in 2009 and is based in Annapolis, Maryland.  It is a for-profit endeavor that is part of Architectural Retreats LLC.  The concept for a historic house residence club has evolved and been in various stages of development over the past couple of years.

I was living in the Judge John Brice house, (photo gallery below) which my family owns, in Annapolis a few years back and saw that it was greatly deteriorating.  This house dates from 1739, one of the earliest houses in town, and is unusual because of its distinctive architectural style, the amount of historic material from the 18th century still intact, and that it has been in my family about 100 years.  It really needs a careful restoration, but this will be extremely expensive.  I spent a lot of energy at the time asking people  for recommendations and researching preservation options, but I couldn't find anything suitable, or as was most often the case anything financially viable.  What I really wanted was a practical means to fund the restoration, one that would keep the house a lived in house, not a museum, yet still provide enough money to purchase, restore, and keep it maintained into the future. 

I ran across the concept of residence clubs and realized that this would be the perfect business model to accomplish all of these things.  Now my job is to try to turn this idea into something real.  I put this project up on the internet with the hope that others will help me develop this, and that in the process the business template will be available to save other houses too. 

See a Photo Gallery of the Judge John Brice House below

Photo Gallery

History of the Judge John Brice House

The Judge John Brice House was built circa 1739.  Judge John Brice, was not only a Judge, but like many early town residents he had many business interests.  It is believed that he had a "dry goods" store that was attached to this house at one point.  He was a wealthy and prominent individual in town who also owned a farm across the Severn River.  The house had some light renovations in the late 19th century, typical of the Victorian period, but thankfully much of the original 18th century integrity of the house was retained.  The house was bought by my great grandparents in the early 20th century, and has been in my family for about the past 100 years.  My great grandfather, John Halligan Jr., was associated with the United States Naval Academy.  This is the house that inspired me to come up with this new business model for historic preservation.     

"The Judge John Brice House is part of a small group of one-and-a half to two-story dwellings built during the second quarter of the 18th century in a manner which stood in marked contrast to the small frame structures of an earlier generation.  Its date, established by dendrochronology, allows the building to be used as a benchmark for construction and finish details that are particular to the region." (P42) Architecture in Annapolis A Field Guide, MHT Press, 1998.

"Along with Ogle Hall (1739-42) and the Charles Carroll House (1749-51), the Judge John Brice House may represent the forerunner of the elaborate town houses of the late colonial period." (p 42) Architecture in Annapolis A Field Guide, MHT Press, 1998.   

"The use of blind doweled flooring, service stairs, and cellar kitchen and services spaces were increasingly popular details for late colonial houses in Annapolis, but are rarely seen as early as this dwelling". (p 42) Architecture in Annapolis A Field Guide, MHT Press, 1998.

"...two fashionable trends are evident here - the inclusion of wide slab chimneys which typify late colonial Annapolis buildings (this being the earliest dated example) and a gambrel roof.  Gambrel or "Dutch" roofs are recorded in the South in the second quarter of the century - a 1734 Charleston reference is perhaps the earlies, and Pemberton Hall (1741) in Wicomico County, Maryland is one of the earliest locally dated examples.  Thus, a dendrochronology date of 1739 makes this example particularly useful." (p44) Architecture in Annapolis A Field Guide, MHT Press, 1998.