-
South front elevation (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie) -
View of south front and west side (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie) -
Detail of south front doorway and Palladian window (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie) -
View of south front and east side (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie) -
East side pedimented gable end (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie) -
North rear elevation (Photograph by Catherine C. Lavoie) -
(Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie)
A rare survivor of early Salisbury, Poplar Hill is one of the largest and most finely detailed Federal houses on the Eastern Shore. It was begun by Levin Hardy, a local merchant formerly of Newport, Rhode Island, on the 357-acre farm he purchased in 1795. Before the house could be completed, however, Hardy died, and the task fell to physician John Huston, who purchased it in 1805. While Poplar Hill’s sophisticated styling has been attributed to Hardy’s urbane Newport roots, it may have been influenced by the noted gable-front Chanceford.
Poplar Hill’s exceptional detailing includes an elaborate frontispiece and Palladian windows to the front and rear. The plan encompasses a broad central passage and stair hall, bisected by an ornately carved elliptical arch. The dining room, the largest room, and a back hall to an adjoining service wing occupy the east side, with a parlor and private family chamber to the west. The farm was subdivided post-Civil War to form part of the upscale Newtown suburban community that now surrounds it. The house is owned by the City of Salisbury and operates as a house museum.
References
Touart, Paul B., “Poplar Hill Mansion,” Wicomico County, Maryland. National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form, 1998. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.