Big Bottom Farm

Big Bottom Farm is a farm in Allegany County, Maryland, USA on the National Register of Historic Places. The Greek Revival house was built circa 1845, possibly by John Jacob Smouse, and exhibits a level of historically accurate detailing unusual for the area. The property includes a late 19th-century barn and several frame outbuildings.HistoryLocated in the town of Dickens in Allegany County, Maryland, Big Bottom Farm's central farmhouse was built in the mid-19th century by John Jacob Smouse, whose family owned land in the county around Evitt's Creek.DescriptionBig Bottom farm includes a number of farm buildings dating from the 19th century and early 20th century. The oldest of these is the brick farmhouse itself, built with a number of features influenced by Greek Revival architecture. It has two stories, five bays, and a gable roof, with a two floor extension in the rear with two additional bays. A later extension added on this rear wing added a third bay. The front of the building is decorated with Flemish bond brickwork, with a centerpiece Greek Revival-influenced porch over a first floor door. A door from the second floor opens onto the top of the porch. This porch has fluted Doric columns, a dentiled cornice, and an iron railing surrounding its flat roof. It shades a four-panel door edged by transom and sidelights.There was likely a two-story porch on the rear extension as well when the house was originally built, but it has since been enclosed. The windows are 6/6 sash and have louvered shutters. Each gable end of the building is topped by a brick chimney. Inside, it has a central stair hall with a large room to either side, and is decorated with mid-19th-century Greek Revival woodwork, consisting largely of symmetrical molding, fluted in the main parlor, with mantles of flat pilasters supporting deep shelves. Aside from the farmhouse, the farm includes a late 19th-century barn, a machinery shed, a corn crib, a wash house, and two chicken coops.