This property was first sold by Elizabeth H. Gale and Susan R. Gale of Baltimore in 1863 to John Wareham (1795-1870), who made and repaired saddles and bridles. His wife was Louisa Wareham (1805-1865), who was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Coale (William was one of the early commissioners of Havre de Grace). It seems likely that John and Louisa Wareham built this house when they bought the land, which stretched from the northeast corner of Union Avenue and Bourbon Street back to the public alley known as Lodge Lane. Louisa Wareham died just two years after they bought it at the age of 59.

After the death of John Wareham, Mary L. Murphy (one of John’s heirs) and her husband, Lemuel Murphy, paid off the mortgage on the property and began living here. In 1899, when the Murphys moved to Chicago, they sold the home to Dr. James Lee Hopkins (1873-1932) and his wife, Sarah (the home is shown on the 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map). Dr. Hopkins was the son of William Baine Hopkins (1842-1909) and his wife, Elizabeth Hopkins. Dr. Hopkins was an 1897 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and had both his medical office and home in this building. He along with Dr. Frederick W. Steiner were two of the first directors of Harford Memorial Hospital in 1911, and in 1913 Dr. Hopkins became President of the Medical Association of Harford County. Dr. Hopkins became the Havre de Grace City Treasurer in 1925 but just seven years later he died in Harford Memorial Hospital of pneumonia. Dr. Hopkins and Sarah left a son, Thomas Lee Hopkins, who moved to Virginia.

Dr. Hopkins and his wife sold this home in 1925 to Bernhardt Levy (1872-1960), a successful businessman. Bernhardt and his wife, Rose, had acquired Levy’s Department Store on St. John Street from Bernhardt’s father, Henry, in 1901 and ran it for many years. In 1928, Bernhardt Levy also became a director of the Havre de Grace Banking and Trust Company. For the next 30 years the Levys lived here until the death of Rose in 1936, after which Bernhardt sold this home to Daisy Levy Trout in 1955. Daisy was the daughter of the Levys and in 1928 had married Leonard E. Trout; he owned one of Baltimore's oldest and best known theatrical agencies.

After Leonard Trout’s death, the widowed Daisy sold this property stretching from the northeast corner of Union Avenue and Bourbon Street to Lodge Lane to Dr. Gunther D. Hirsch (1925-2015) and his wife, Poldi Rothenberg Hirsch (1926-1987), in 1961. Dr. Hirsch was a well-known local obstetrician-gynecologist who spent eight years as Chief of Staff of Harford Memorial Hospital, eight years as Mayor of Havre de Grace, and four years as Harford County Council President. Poldi Hirsch was an architect who designed several buildings in Havre de Grace and became the first woman of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects who owned her own firm. The Hirsches had immigrated from Germany in 1954.

The couple subdivided the land so that they could construct an office building in the front garden of this house, facing Union Avenue. The new building was designed by Poldi and in 1963 it housed her husband’s medical practice.

The Hirsches continued to own this home and it was used by some family members; several of Poldi Hirsch’s family also immigrated to this area and Gunther and Poldi had three daughters. In the late 1960s, the building was known as The White House Hotel and run by Malca Rothenberg (Poldi Hirsch’s mother) who advertised “reasonable rates.” Poldi continued in her remarkable career of designing functional buildings and homes. Sadly, at the young age of 59 in 1987, she died of cancer.

Dr. Hirsch continued his medical career and lived in the mid-century California-style home that Poldi had designed and built for them in 1969 on Giles Street. He later met and married his second wife, Suzie R. Rossidou, and added her name to the deed to this property in early 1993. At the same time, Dr. Hirsch and Suzie deeded this home to Dr. Hirsch’s three daughters and spouses—Dr. Dahlia D. Hirsch and Barry Wohl, Dr. Edna E. Hirsch, and Dr. Elaine R. Hirsch and Gary Getz. Concurrent with that deed, Dahlia, Barry, and Edna deeded this home to Elaine and Gary D. Getz.

Dr. Elaine Hirsch is a retired local physician and Gary Getz is an architect, who is the son of Dr. Marvin L. Getz and Rhoda S. Getz. Elaine and Gary undertook a major renovation of this home and its previous additions in 1993 to better suit their family needs. They have a son, Ben, who is an actor in New York, having acted in many Tidewater Players productions in the Havre de Grace Opera House. They adopted their daughter, Leah, as a baby from Korea about 20 years ago and she also has shown an interest in theater and is a student at New York University.

Gary Getz and Elaine continue to own this historic home which has a garage in the rear on Lodge Lane.

County Records
Built 1920. 2406 sq ft, 2+2 baths, basement, large garage, 4,710 sq ft lot.