Isaac Trimble's House at 8 W. Madison Street

Isaac Ridgeway Trimble, MD, was an energetic young physician in Baltimore at the turn of the 19th/20th century. He had everything: good looks, talent as a physician, enough money and a gorgeous house. But, sadly, he didn't have a long life, dying in his 40s from blood poisoning from a cut during surgery.

Recently, someone sent me some interior images of the most beautiful flat in Mount Vernon. I fell in love with it, and went to see it, with the slight possibility of buying it. When I did a little research, I found that the house had belonged to Dr. Trimble in the early 1900's. 

Mrs. I. R. Trimble purchased the house in September of 1900. By May of 1901, the Trimbles were making extensive improvements to No. 8 West Madison, as noted in this May 1901 newspaper article.

And what improvements he made! The most interesting feature, and the one we couldn't figure out when we saw the space (before I did some research) was why there were two front doors. If I'd known it was a physician's house, it would have all been clear! The right, and less showy entrance was for the office, and the left and more elaborate, was for the residence. 

As the article says, the front door is modeled on the Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis. See the resemblance?  I would guess that the door at 8 West is a replacement door and would have originally been double like the ones below.

Once you enter the family side, the door frames are really incredible! 

The inspiration for the swan-neck door surround is from the John Carrère House. 

Carrère and Hastings were a major beaux arts-style architecture firm and were responsible for the look of Mount Vernon Place. 

The article says that the drawing room, library and dining room were all on the second floor, which, when you see the space makes sense. Here are some of the pictures of the space. 

The flat is a studio, with about 850 square feet of space. There is one large room, with a kitchen, a bath and some closets. The long hallway has some built in book cases, as well as a lovely Palladian window with a cozy seat. 

It is always so amazing when the different facets of life intersect. You can see more images from the listing here.