History
The John L. Stam House was built in the late 1850s by John and Louise Stam on property owned by Washington College. John Stam was a wealthy entrepreneur who envisioned a “grand colonnade” lined with fine homes which would connect Washington College to downtown Chestertown. Married to the daughter of the second president of the College (Colin Ferguson), he was in the position to lease the property from the college and build the first of those homes – what is today The John L. Stam House Bed and Breakfast. The house is a Gothic Revival Victorian whose design was featured in architect Andrew Jackson Downing’s Victorian Cottage Residences and was completed in 1860.
The house has been a “tourist home” since The Depression, when it was purchased at auction by Highe Hill. Still retaining its unaltered original floor plan on the first floor, the house has been meticulously restored by the current owners to preserve many original features such as faux painted fireplaces, plastered ceilings, faux wood graining, and “Jenny Doors” which lead from the parlours to the veranda.