This house on the northeast corner of South Washington and Girard Streets was most likely built in 1899 by Mary H. Day (1867-1942) and her husband, William F. Day (1865-1933), who obtained a mortgage through the Home Building Association of Harford County. William Day was known for playing the clarinet in the Bayside Cornet Band. The band played at events around town and in the bandstand in City Park (now Tydings Park) between 1895 and 1915.

In 1912 they sold the house to Louis and Bessie Curen who lived here for about 10 years and had telephone service in 1916. In 1925 Charles Fadely (1861-1939) and his wife, Annie, bought the property. Charles was a duck gunner and later was sworn in as a Ducking Policeman for 1932-1933—each such policeman served a two-year term to uphold laws regulating shooting on the legal boundary limits of the Susquehanna Flats.

Charles and Annie Fadely sold the house to Elva M. and James Smith in 1946. Many Havre de Gracians have fond memories of the small grocery store that the Smiths ran in their house for several years while they lived upstairs. Former City Councilman Fred Cullum recalls working in “Jimmy Smith’s” as a kid, where his job was to carry stock (mostly beer) up from the basement. But neighborhood kids knew it as a candy store where, during WWII shortages, Jeanne Hawtin says they used to wait in line for “double bubble gum,” and were each allowed to buy only one piece at a time. The kids’ trick for saving gum overnight was to put it in water with a dash of salt in it. And Larry Sampson enjoyed visiting with Elva’s pet parrot when he went there.

After the death of Elva’s husband, she continued living here with her son, James Walter Smith, until they sold the property to Brian Boyd of Perryville in 1979. It may have been around this time that the house was converted into apartments. Ownership then transferred to Raymond and Carol Johnson followed by Mary and Robert Lueckel in 1982. After the 1987 death of Mary Lueckel, Robert Lueckel married Nancy Lueckel and they continued to own the home until 1990.

The property was converted back into a single family residence at some point during the early 1990s possibly by William and Juanita Hanson. In 1998 Kathleen Miranda purchased the home, following which she married Mark Smith and they made this their home until 2011. They opened their home to the 2006 Annual Candlelight Tour. White walls, high ceilings and French doors were features. The living room had a large Oriental table with glass top and elaborate carvings on side panels, and a huge antique mirror and a sofa and love seat were also in this room. The sun room opened to an outside deck. In the sunny kitchen were light-colored cabinets and an old ice box. The master bedroom with adjoining bath was also on the first floor, while there were two bedrooms upstairs. Mark and Kathleen Smith sold the home in 2011 to Karin Rohmann.

During the summer of of 2011, Karin undertook some major remodeling of the home prior to moving in. She added an outside entrance for the second floor, created a new screened-in porch, installed new floors, and upgraded the bathrooms and kitchen. One of the former bedrooms now serves as a family room with sliding glass doors that provide access to the screened-in porch. She also created a studio apartment on the third floor, complete with a new bathroom, kitchen, and appliances, so it could serve as a guest area.

Karin moved into her home in 2012, after retiring from an education career in Virginia and cultivates vegetable and flower gardens on the large lot, which she describes as a project in progress. In 2018 Karin opened her home to the 2018 Annual Candlelight Tour, for which her collection of quilts were the main feature.

County Record
Built 1930. 3080 sq ft, 2.5 stories with basement, 4 baths, and 5100 sq ft lot.