Ashburton Maryland Real Estate

John Sterret Gitting, a prominent banker built a summer house on his Baltimore County estate in 1842. He was sent as an American Commission member to Washington DC, to settle the Canadian boundary dispute in the same year. He met Alexander Baring, who was the Lord of Ashburton. He was the representative from Britain to settle the dispute. Lord Ashburton often made a visit to Gitting's summer estate, where the cool breezes offered a great relief from the oppressive heat of Washington. The boundary dispute was settled in 1842 by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty and Gitting named his estate Ashburton to honor his friend.

The Ashburton estate covered about 300 acres of land, which included the three mile house at Liberty road. There were similar estates nearby Ashburton and the Village of Arlington, in the north east met the immediate requirements of Gitting. Before the civil warm, the house on the hill saw increased residential development of Baltimore County. The eighteenth century patents and the vast land grants were broken up into several subdivisions during this period.

The Ashburton House was used as an observation post for the Union Army during the Civil war. The structure of the house was modified in 1869. The original design of Randolph of Annapolis was interpreted by John Gitting to make the addition. G.W. Hopkins atlas in the year 1877 shows that a private road led to the brick house from the Reisterstown Turnpike.

The Ashburton estate became part of Baltimore in 1888, when the annexation was made. The city saw a significant development and the commuter rail roads and street car lines helped people to move to and from the center of the city. The well planned communities like Highland Park, Walbrook and Windsor Hills succeeded the estates rapidly.

About twenty one acres of the Gitting's estate were purchased by Frank H. Callaway in the year 1892. Callaway built a house for his own use and sold the remaining parts of the land for residential purposes. A new community was formed in that land and it was named as Forest park. The second prominent development in Ashburton happened in 1896, when Garrison Heights was established. The tract was expanded in the north and was renamed as Park Manor. A part of the estate that was bounded by Callaway Place, Garrison, Barrington Road and Liberty Road was divided in the middle and was developed as a community. It was later christened as Lenox. The fourth important development in Ashburton was Brookline, which was started on the northern side of the Callway Place.

107 acres of land located in the southwest of Ashburton was bought in 1908 by the city from the Vickers, Ober and Williams. This land was used for establishing the Ashburton Park and Reservoir. Lake Ashburton was completed in 1911. The lake was safeguarded by wrought iron fences in 1914, after several children had lugged into the lake. George R. Morris, a prominent real estate developer in Baltimore was impressed by the growth of the city and he incorporated his offices at North Charles Street in the Morris Building.

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