The land on which this home was later built was part of several properties sold in 1846 by a court trustee to resolve a property dispute between Jacob Tome (1810-1898) and Richard Burr. Tome was the founder of the Tome School in Port Deposit and at his death was described as the richest man in the United States. The trustee sold the large parcel of land to Captain Willliam W. Virdin (1801-1871) as the highest bidder. The Captain was well known as a property owner in Harford County and from 1836 to 1851 as Captain of the 453-ton “Susquehanna” steamboat with its 1,200 person capacity.

Of that property, this Lot 442 in Square 280, was sold by John M. and Mary R. James of Aberdeen in 1878 to Elisha Cox (1814-1899), who is believed to have built this home for his family. Elisha bequeathed the home to his son, George “Herbert” Cox, who married Florence Billingsley the following year and are believed to have made their home here. In 1909, Herbert and Florence Cox bought an adjoining lot (on Pink Alley) from the Estate of Kate E.L. Virdin, the daughter-in-law of Captain William Virdin who had inherited some of his properties.

The Cox family sold the home and both lots to William L. Ansalvish and his wife, Frances, in 1917, where they raised four sons and two daughters. Their property extended from Market Street east to Pink Alley. William and Blanche Bullock owned the property from 1945 to 1961. William Bullock served the City as Police Chief from 1951-1961, which included the well-remembered 1960 fatal explosion of the fireworks factory on Chapel Road. After being owned by Charles and Margie Gamatoria for about a decade, this property then transferred to other owners.

While under the ownership of Richard Forton Properties, LLC, from 2007 to 2012, the property was once more subdivided into two lots. Lot 1, including the house, was designated as 517 Market Street and Lot 2, east of the house, was designated as 515 Market Street, fronting on Pink Alley. Both of these lots were sold to E. Paul Leedom in 2012, a Havre de Grace native and WWII veteran. After completing a major renovation, including new HVAC and replacement windows, he deeded the property to his son and daughter-in-law, reserving a life estate for himself. However, in 2014, he deeded a portion of that property (Lot 1, with the house) to Paula A. McCabe, his daughter, reserving a life estate.

In 2016, E. Paul Leedom exercised the power he had reserved in previous deeds and completed new deeds conveying both lots to his name. He died shortly thereafter in February 2017. Unfortunately, this historic home suffered considerable water damage in December 2017 to the kitchen and the second level bedroom and bath due to frozen pipes. In the meantime, the lot fronting on Pink Lane (Lot 2) was sold by Leedom’s estate to Christopher Fair, who lives nearby.

The estate of Paul Leedom sold this historic house on Lot 1 in December 2018 to Michael P. Kountz. Under his ownership, this house (on Lot 1) was renovated and repaired extensively, including installation of a gourmet kitchen with two large bay windows in the rear. Michael Kountz sold the renovated home with wrap-around porch to Tyler Paul McCoog and Morgan Ashley Luoto who moved here from Rising Sun, Maryland.

County Records
Built 1867. 1400 sq ft, 2 stories, 1.5 baths, 4 beds, 5000 sq ft lot.