Historic Annapolis is dedicated to building an inclusive historic preservation community, and we believe it is important to showcase many voices to help foster connections with places that have meaning to us. We believe it is especially important to connect future generations with our diverse history. Through these connections and experiences, we work to cultivate life-long preservationists and lovers of history.
We are very pleased to have had Ms. Storrie Kulynych-Irvin intern with Historic Annapolis over the past two years. At a young age, Storrie developed a passion for old places and the stories associated with these places. We are excited to share what historic preservation means to her, and we believe her passion will be an inspiration to other young preservationists.
Cheers, Karen Theimer Brown Vice President, Preservation
"...the restoration of an old house is like reading a mystery story that unfolds both forwards and backwards..."
A few years ago, I had the chance to attend research talks led by Historic Annapolis (HA) interns and open to the public. In the lectures, Oxford University scholars discussed projects they had worked on relating to Annapolis history. I first became interested in colonial history and architecture after visiting Monticello on spring break in sixth grade. I’ve also been a lifelong Annapolis resident and my family has renovated two historic houses over 100 years old. In my experience, the restoration of an old house is like reading a mystery story that unfolds both forwards and backwards, as the process of exploration and renovation brings the owners into contact with original materials, construction techniques, and hints about the lives of past inhabitants. What could be more interesting than being a part of living history?
In the lecture that I attended at HA, Oxford student Fern Brereton described her research on wallpaper in the historic buildings. Analyzing wall coverings might not sound particularly fascinating, but through her study she learned that samples of wallpaper found in the William Paca House could reveal how different rooms in the house, such as Paca’s study, were used in the past, as well as how they were renovated by successive owners. This kind of detective work - filling in a picture of how a house’s interiors once looked with the clues that remain - is similar to the work being done by the experts at the current James Brice House restoration.
In my training to be a junior docent at HA, I’ve been getting to know the ins and outs of the Paca House, learning about its inhabitants’ lives as well as its larger significance in the history of colonial Maryland (William Paca, its first owner, was a state governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence). I’ve also had the privilege of assisting historian Dr. Jean Russo on contributing to a comprehensive on-line database project. The goal of the project is to create a digital inventory of historically significant properties in Annapolis, enabling homeowners, the Historic Preservation Commission, and members of the public to access known photographs and records for the buildings. My task involved sorting through boxes of old photographs held at HA headquarters, and then walking the streets of the city and using satellite and Library of Congress images to match the buildings featured in each photograph with the actual property at its current address. I was amazed by the extent to which some buildings had changed or disappeared entirely over the course of many decades and often centuries. I felt that I was doing my part to help uncover the sometimes hidden history of downtown Annapolis.
For example, I learned that the admissions building at St. John's College was once the Carroll-Barrister House on the southwest corner of Main and Conduit Streets. Photographs dating back to 1955 show the house being moved on rollers to its current location. This is just one instance of how the landscape of the historic downtown has changed over the centuries, from the expansion of the Naval Academy to the demolition or restoration of important properties or even entire neighborhoods.
In the process of matching street numbers to photographs ranging from the late 1800s to more recent times, I also learned about the people who fought to save the city’s colonial appearance and charm. At the time that HA was founded in 1952, there were many plans to demolish centuries-old buildings to make way for new buildings. The efforts of leading preservationists like St. Clair Wright were instrumental in guiding the modernization and development of the city without marring the historic harbor area.
I’m now following and writing about HA’s ongoing, years-long renovation of the James Brice House. Ever since its construction was completed in 1774, the Brice House has stood out as a premier example of colonial and Georgian architecture in Annapolis. In 2014, the State of Maryland acquired the unusually well-preserved property and subsequently leased the property to HA who is working to restore it to its original glory, as well as to educate the public about the lives of the house’s inhabitants, craftsmen, and enslaved population.
The process of the restoration has involved careful attention to the original materials as well as the stories behind their production and use. What makes the Brice renovation particularly exciting is the potential it has to make colonial architecture and craftsmanship relevant to a whole new audience interested in history and preservation. Through authentic replication of colonial-era materials, and after careful scientific analysis of such aspects as brickwork, paint colors, and plaster techniques, HA is creating both a state-of-the art model of historic preservation, and a time capsule of colonial life.
I was first drawn to preservation through a desire to learn how today’s Annapolis came to be, and to see what glimpses of its early days could still be found in downtown’s streets. I am fascinated by the stories yet untold about political figures, ordinary families, craftsmen, servants, and enslaved people who built this town from the ground up. By drawing connections between their stories and the lives of today’s Annapolitans, we can better understand our town’s past and inform our future.
Storrie Kulynych-Irvin
Storrie Kulynych-Irvin is an Annapolis tenth-grade student and current School News Editor of the Stanford OHS Observer. She loves learning and writing about colonial history and architecture, and enjoys swimming competitively and getting out on the water in her free time.
