The lot on which this house was built was owned by Robert R. Vandiver (1808-1885) and Mary, and Joseph Simmons (1824-1900) and Caroline. The two couples sold the lot in 1878 to William C. Cully (1845-1910). Vandiver, Simmons, and John DuBois had created the Marine Railway and Manufacturing Company of Havre de Grace in 1868. Simmons also was a coal and lumber merchant who advertised in 1864 that he “keeps constantly on hand all kinds of white and red ash coal,” which he sold “by the cargo or single ton.” William Cully served on the City Council in 1905, after he retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad.

It appears that William Cully and his wife, Mary, built this three-story Victorian house in 1901 and in 1909 sold it to Joseph R. Goodwin. Goodwin, in turn, sold it the same year to William E. Penning, who was a lawyer. Three years later, William and Blanche Penning conveyed it to Dr. O. Parker Penning of Baltimore to be held in trust for them. This may have been because in September of that year, 1912, William Penning was convicted in the Circuit Court of forgery and was sentenced to three years in the penitentiary (two days earlier he had been before the court on a similar charge, but was acquitted of that).

The property was to be held by Dr. Parker Penning in trust for William E. Penning; however, Dr. Parker Penning died without amending his will to reflect this. Therefore, in 1914, the heirs of Dr. Parker Penning, believing it to be owned by Dr. Parker Penning, sold this home back to William E. and Blanche Penning of Philadelphia. In 1915, presumably when William Penning was released from the penitentiary, he and his wife sold the property to John I. and Elsie Coulbourn, who were two of Dr. Parker Penning’s heirs.

In 1922 the property was bought by Horace L. Churchman (1898-1948) and Esther Churchman (his sister). The 1940 Census shows Horace Churchman living at this address with his wife Dorothy, his sister Esther, son Horace, and daughter, Irene. Esther Churchman married Norris A. Watson in 1951, and they continued to live here also. After the death of Norris Watson in 1960, Esther Watson and the Churchmans sold the property to Horace A. and Mary E. Walker. An attorney for the Columbia Building Association, however, had to sell the property at a public sale in City Hall in 1975 and it was bought by Howard M. and Patricia Smith. They owned it for about ten years.

From 1985 to 1998 the house was owned by Deborah C. Carrico who sold it to Mary Lynn Snyder, a real estate investor with Polly Enterprises. The house then underwent another of several renovations over the years. The result was an increase in square footage with a convenient layout to the house. The pine floors throughout were original. The attic was updated and featured a Gothic window, with floorboards made from wide ship clapboard used in the original house’s construction.

In 1999, Alan and Sara Boroshok became the new owners and opened their home to the 2001 Annual Candlelight Tour. This subtly painted slate grey home had a stained glass oval in the front door, which opened to a spacious first floor without dividing walls. Two fireplaces flanked the exterior walls of the double parlor. Wide plank floors enhanced the atmosphere of the rooms. A counter separated the efficient kitchen and dining space and an old barn-siding door opened to a laundry room. A full bath and master bedroom were at the rear of the first floor, with a deck. Upstairs were the children’s bedrooms with another bathroom.

Two years later, Luke W. Fox bought the home, possibly as an investment property. He sold it in 2006 to Dr. Burton T. Mark and his wife, Judith Mark, who have owned it since then. They live in Pennsylvania and this is an investment property for them.

County Records
Built 1900. 2454 sq ft, 2.5 stories with basement, 3 baths, 7500 sq ft lot.