THE COLONIAL
A former boarding house near Deep Creek priced at $319,000
A gem of a lake house sparkles near Deep Creek, but it’s not in that favorite getaway for Pittsburghers.
The 117-year-old former boarding house in Mountain Lake Park, Md., is a 20-minute drive from Deep Creek and just a short walk from Broadford Lake, where swimming, fishing and nonmotorized boating are welcome. It’s also just 15 minutes from Wisp Resort.
Known as The Colonial, the 3,840-square-foot, all-season cottage at 113 G St., is listed for $319,000 by Terah Crawford of Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales (410487-4914, deepcreekvacations.com or circaoldhouses.com). It was built in 1903.
“People were coming to this area for the fresh mountain air,” said owner Kati Cole, who has lived in the house with her husband, Joe, and their four children for 2½ years.
“We are only the fourth owners, which is remarkable,” said Mrs. Cole, who noted that they have reluctantly put it on the market so they can move back to eastern Maryland to take care of her parents.
The house has nine bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms and two master suites, one on the first floor and one on the second.
“Actually the master bathroom was originally another room so there may have been close to 11 bedrooms when it was a boarding house,” Mrs. Cole said.
“The original owners built it as a family home, but the second owners ran it as a boarding house until the 1960s. Mountain Lake Park used to be quite the scene in the summers with people coming from Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Pittsburgh and [Washington] D.C. to swim in the lakes.”
At one time, the Coles hosted three families in the house.
“We had 17 people visiting and you wouldn’t know it. You are not on top of each other,” she said. “They came up one winter to visit, and we did the tobogganing at Blackwater Falls [W.Va.], and then we went to Wisp and did the hiking at Harrington Manor with the snowshoes. I am telling you with the library, the parlor, the three porches and the second and third floors, we were all spread out.”
Two staircases also help with that.
The house came with a dining table with six leaves so everyone could easily share a meal.
“It is still a wonderful house for entertaining, especially with Broadford Lake only four blocks away,” said Mrs. Cole. “It’s a quiet lake with a big beautiful beach. We used to take the kids up there all the time.”
The previous owners, the Mumfords, spent 17 years restoring the house, she noted. Mr. Mumford had a wood shop in the basement and did most of the woodworking himself.
“My husband is a builder, and he said this is fine carpentry work, really fine,” Mrs. Cole said.
The house has original hardwood floors and woodwork, including tall baseboards. Some woodwork has a rich, dark stain, the way it would have had in the early 1900s.
The walkway in the front of the house was restored to its original dimensions, wide enough to accommodate the long dresses of the day.
“The ladies’ dresses were not meant to touch the grass,” she said.
“I took down some crazy wallpaper. That is about all I did.”
The Coles had been going to Deep Creek Lake and Swallow Falls for more than two decades before deciding to leave suburbia and move to this idyllic place.
“Southern and Northern [Garrett County] high schools are ranked numbers 52 and 53 in the country, and Southern High is 2 minutes from our house,” said Mrs. Cole. “They are very good small schools.”
The property includes a two-car detached garage and patio. A player piano that has been with the house since it was built will remain.
“The full basement has a big drain so when you come in with snow-covered boots and skis, you just take it all off in the basement before going upstairs,” Mrs. Cole said.
Another unexpected bonus of The Colonial is the chance to stay fit — indoors. With three floors and a basement, Mrs. Cole said she lost 30 pounds after they moved there.
“I am not kidding,” she said, laughing. “You definitely get your 10,000 steps in!”