This charming Victorian-era home was built in 1888 by the Richardson family as a wedding gift for one of their sons, originally addressed as 201 W. Ring Factory The original Richardson home dated back to the 1700s and was located just up the hill; its property ran past Rt. 24 and over to Plumtree Rd, including the property that is now Ring Factory Elementary School.
First floor ceilings were built 9’ high and rooms were a generous 15’ by 15’ throughout. It was heated with two fireplaces that are still in working order.
Original pine floors still remain in some areas of the home. The property today is just over ½ an acre (0.53), with a large covered front porch a wonderful backyard and relaxing brick-paved patio.
Descendants of the Richardson family have stopped by and shared their memories of the home where their seven children were born on the third floor as per traditions of the time. They have shared that running water was a modern luxury in the home’s early years, so a soapstone sink was installed and permitted a small trickle of running water to flow in the kitchen’s corner. Electricity was non-existent, so lamps were hung at the top of the stairs when the family went to bed, and indoor plumbing was eventually included.
The Richardson family lost the home during the Great Depression but a cousin was eventually able to recover it years later. In 2005, the current homeowners’ were visited by the daughter of one of the seven original Richardson children raised at the house. She asked for a memento from the home to bury her father who had recently passed. She was given an excess piece of the slate roof to his funeral and was invited to return with her daughter and four grandchildren to tour the home.
The current owners purchased the home in 2002, the previous owner shared that she was married on the home’s brick terrace and their baby’s nursery was in a former covered balcony which now serves as the master bathroom. In the 1970’s it was this owner that built the spacious, sunny addition in the back of the home that servers as a family room today. The home regularly elicits stories from its past from those long established in the Harford community.
Today this 4 bedroom, 3 full bath farmhouse in Bel Air is a unique opportunity to own and live in a house from Harford County’s rural past with the convenience of being close to the Town of Bel Air’s downtown and shopping districts, parks, and local attractions with a wonderful and relaxing backyard that is perfect for a victory garden, relaxing by the patio, or lounging on the front covered porch, all for only $389,000. No other house in Bel Air is like this one, own a piece of Harford County’s and Bel Air’s history.
