08-20-2023 Harford Magazine - Flipbook - Page 46
Evelyn Cucchiara in one of the bathrooms of the house she and her husband Joe are looking to restore as part of the Maryland’s Resident Curatorship Program.
damage. He estimated it’ll take a couple of
months to get some of the most important
tasks done, including setting up running
water, testing the septic system and passing a
lead paint inspection.
Eventually, he intends to turn two garages
on the property into a workshop and a space
to keep a motorcycle and tractor.
For the small building that is thought to
have served as quarters for enslaved people,
the state is seeking funding to create a trail
leading to the property so that hikers can
learn more about the site’s significance.
“That kind of stuff needs to be preserved,”
Joe said. “You need to see how people treated
each other, so it doesn’t happen again.”
Curators are tasked with engaging the
public and the Cucchiaras have already
begun posting about their venture on
Instagram. They’ve also found fellow
Maryland curators on the social media
platform who are further along in their
endeavor.
Over the summer, the Cucchiaras met
with Kara and David Pleasants at the Havre
de Grace farmers market where the younger
couple have been selling produce and other
homemade treats since 2018.
It was David’s desire to try his hand at
farming that got the couple interested in
Maryland’s Resident Curatorship Program,
Kara said.
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| Fall 2023 | harfordmagazine.com
For seven years they’ve been curators of
the Henry Stump House, a short drive from
the Stephenson House on Craigs Corner
Road, but they currently live in a different
home in Darlington.
“We know we’ll live there one day,” Kara,
36, said of the Susquehanna State Park home
dating back to the 1790s. But it’s taken longer
than anticipated.
When the Pleasants first moved to the
property in 2016, the roof was in such bad
disrepair that the home was unlivable and
they originally stayed in a trailer.
Kara was also pregnant around that time
with her second child, Lina, who was born
13 weeks premature and spent three months
in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Now the couple have three children,
ranging in age from 1 to 11 years old,
who love spending time at the house, said
Kara, who works as a teacher. As she and
David renovate, they can make the already
accessible home even easier to navigate for
Lina, who has cerebral palsy.
“The only part of the house that won’t be
wheelchair accessible is upstairs,” Kara said
of the second floor.
So far, they’ve put around $200,000 into
restoring the home, including repairing the
slate roof, which David, 37, learned to do
himself.
“Altogether, it’d be a year’s worth of work,
but spread out,” he said, adding that 13,000
pounds of slate was delivered to the property
for the project.
Because of the money and effort involved,
Kara believes it’s a misconception that it’s
“free” to live in the Resident Curatorship
Program’s historic homes.
“You have a very high financial obligation
to restore the house,” she said. “You have to
be really passionate about the mission.”
The unusual benefits make it worth it,
Kara added.
“Who gets to live in a state park,
surrounded by this beautiful nature in this
very unique home?” she said.
The Pleasants have attended three curator
gatherings, including one in Susquehanna
State Park, but it will be their first time
having curator neighbors so close by.
Kara’s advice for the Cucchiaras is “to be
flexible as they peel back the layers of their
house,” she said. “Be flexible and go with the
flow.”
Joe and Evelyn plan to initially live out of
a trailer they bought on eBay in May, when
and if they receive final approval to assume
care of the Stephenson House. While that
living situation would be temporary, their
contribution to Maryland would be longlasting.
“We can do something that’s going to be
there forever,” Evelyn said.
