The land on which this formstone mansion was later built on the southeast corner of Green and Stokes Streets was sold by Bailiff William R. Young (1826-1909) in 1866 to Esther Young, his wife (pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly of Maryland the commissioners were authorized to direct the bailiff to sell certain lots). After Esther’s 1906 death, an ownership dispute arose that was resolved by court trustees selling this parcel of land to Reese “Norris” Burns (1870-1946) in 1909. Norris was one of the five well-known Burns brothers who had been operating the Burns Carriage Factory at 666 Green Street and had built several houses (including the 700 block of Green Street and the 500 block of Congress Avenue) during the previous decade.

Norris Burns and his wife, Edith Baekey Burns, built this large textured concrete block exterior mansion with a turret and rear balconies in 1909 the same formstone style of others the Burns brothers had built in the city. The building is shown on the 1910 Sanborn Insurance Map. This home, spanning two lots, was for their personal use; and they had telephone service here by 1916. Norris Burns operated a real estate and insurance business in the 1930s and 1940s at 311-315 St. John Street in the former Riverton Building. After Norris’s sudden 1946 death (while waiting in his office for an appointment) his widow, Edith, continued to live here until she died in 1954. Following Edith’s death an ownership dispute arose between Charles Burns and Clinton Baekey causing the court to order trustees to sell the property in 1954 to Murray B. Lawder (1918-1993) and his wife, Virginia. The Lawders are a prominent Havre de Grace family with both real estate and business holdings, and Robert T. Lawder served as Mayor from 1939 to 1951.

Almost 40 years later (in 1993) the property was conveyed by quit-claim deed by Pasquale J. “Pat” and Dolores Cornacchione (of Mississippi) to Co-Trustees of the Pat and Dolores Cornacchione Living Trust, which owned other properties in Havre de Grace. In 1998, the same Living Trust sold this property to Kevin R. Balliet who also owned other properties on Otsego Street. Kevin sold the property to Hill Property, Inc. six years later.

In 2004, Cecil F. Hill, Sr., as Hill Property, Inc., began an extensive renovation of this former mansion and subdivided it into two separate properties (#566 and #568 Green Street). They gutted the premises, made two large homes with all new interiors, 10-foot tall ceilings, antique mantles, kitchen islands, cherry cabinets, over-the-door transoms, and porches on two floors. The unit with the turret is #568 and was the first to be sold by Hill Property in June 2005 to Joel W. Nields and his wife, Brandi C. Nields. The other unit (#566) was sold in January 2006 to Blake C. Johnson.

In August 2011, #568, was sold by Joel and Brandi Nields to Mary A. Wills. And by March 2018, Blake C. Johnson moved out of town and sold #566 also to Mary A. Wills. Since then, the former Norris Burns mansion once more has only one owner, Mary A. Wills. The property, however, is still divided on the interior as two units and it is believed that Mary Wills lives in one while the other is an investment.

County Records
#566: Built 1900, 3 stories, 2280 sq ft, 3.5 baths, 3000 sq ft lot.
#568: Built 1900, 3 stories, 2776 sq ft, turret, 3.5 baths, 3000 sq ft lot.