This land was conveyed in 1829 by the Will of Peter Hoke to his daughter, Elizabeth. Peter was also the father of Jacob Hoke (1799-1876) who, with his wife Anne, had an only son whom they named Peter Hoke (1831-1855), after his grandfather. It appears that this land was owned by Jacob and Anne during the 1830s and they constructed this house in 1838.

The Hoke House is a Greek Revival brick townhouse built apparently as a twin of the Sappington House across the street at 212 South Union Avenue. This house also features a stretcher bond façade and a classical entrance portico. This is the second of three similar brick structures in this block. The roof lines here are probably more nearly original than those of its neighbor, The Hall House, at 227 South Union Avenue. However there have been alterations to the windows of the third floor. The 1899 Sanborn Insurance Map shows this building to have had a building beside it on the south side (which is now an open lot) and evidence of another structure is evident in the masonry above the second floor.

In 1865, Jacob and Anne Hoke sold this Hoke House to Lyttleton S. Cropper, who sold it the following year to Albert Davis. From then until 1933 as each owner died, disputes were taken to the Circuit Court and had to be resolved by Trustees selling the property. Albert Davis owned this until 1876 at which time Trustees sold this to Elizabeth Burke (the wife of William Goldsmith Burke). Although she died in 1895, it seems it had passed to her son, David Y. Burke but Elizabeth Sawyer challenged his ownership and Court Trustees sold the building at a public sale in 1920 to Edward T. Kirby. His son, Wilton G. Kirby, was challenged in Circuit Court by Mary G. West and Trustees ordered it sold again at public sale. When no adequate bid was received at that sale, it was later sold in private sale to James Wheeler Brown in 1928.

James Brown successfully sold it in 1933 to Madeline B. and Samuel Feltman. They had it for ten years before selling it in 1943 to Rozalya Brown Dennis Carlson (1895-1992), who was the mother of Dr. Guy Graham Dennis (1913-2008). This house was one of several that she bought in the city during the 1940s that she converted into apartments to accommodate the maximum people in the post-War era as well as fans of The Graw Racetrack. With her second husband, Fritjob Carlson, Rozalya also constructed an apartment building in the rear of this building (known as 215 South Union Avenue) around 1950. The same family owns the Dennis Apartments building at 229 North Union Avenue.

This Hoke House has several outbuildings at the rear that are also used for tenant housing. One of them resembles a converted two-story carriage house (which could have been the original carriage house). The house has a spacious yard on the south and at the rear while the north wall almost abuts the smaller house next to it.

When his mother died, Dr. Guy Graham Dennis became the owner of the house. He was the father of Martha Rozalya Dennis, Grace Roberta Madeleine Dennis, and Hugh Graham Dennis. In 2005, at the age of 90, Guy was recognized by Harford County as a Harford County Living Treasure. When Dr. Guy Dennis passed away in 2008, this Hoke House as well as the Dennis Apartments on North Union Avenue became the property of his daughter, Martha Rozalya Dennis, who is still the owner of both.

Sadly, in 2010 two people lost their lives as a result of a fire in one of the apartments on this property—Keith R. Dowden died in the fire and Helen B. Logan died later in the hospital. The fire was contained to their apartment and while smoke detectors alerted other tenants to the fire, this couple did not escape.

County Records
Built 1930. 9262 sq ft, apartments, 800 sq ft finished basement, 19 baths, 12,000 sq ft lot