In October of 1925 Flossie and William Wallis moved into their home, a one-and-a-half story stucco English-style cottage they picked out of the April 1925 edition of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
The house was built along a street known at the time as “Broadway Extended,” as Broadway was being extended east of Hickory Avenue to accommodate new residential development in the north end of Bel Air.
The Wallis house, which today is one of nine in the 300 block of East Broadway, was built on a lot created out of land owned by the Webster family. Flossie Wallis recalled in a journal entry seeing cattle herds grazing near the growing neighborhood.
“We picked this lot because the house would face the north and [the] kitchen and bedrooms would receive full and long hours of sunshine,” she wrote. “I have always been glad of this.”
A century later, Flossie’s grandson, Pat Wallis, and his wife, Laurie, live in the house. Pat tends to the plants in the front yard that were there when his grandparents lived in the house. An Oriental plane tree, a species of sycamore, is still in the front, too, albeit much larger than in the 1920s.
In September, the Wallises and their neighbors celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 300 block of East Broadway and its single-family houses built in the mid-1920s and the 1930s.
“It’s a very close-knit community here,” Laurie said. “We all look out for each other.”
A ‘great street to raise a family’
During the celebratory block party in mid-September, the nine homeowners and their friends and relatives gathered in their yards and in the street, enjoying food and drinks as children ran and played.
Representatives of the Town of Bel Air’s volunteer Appearance and Beautification Committee presented certificates of recognition on behalf of the ABC to the nine current homeowners in the 300 block.
Member Kristy Sudbrink lauded the homeowners and those who came before them for doing “such a wonderful job of preserving history while maintaining and enhancing the character and beauty of their homes.”
“The homeowners on this block have created a true sense of community in their neighborhood and that is seen and felt throughout the year . . . you just walk down this street and you feel the community,” she added.
The Wallises, who have four adult children and four grandchildren, and their neighbors said the 300 block has always been a great place to raise kids and that the families regularly interact with each other.
“It’s a very friendly neighborhood – all nine neighbors all get along,” resident Peter Schlehr said during the block party.
Schlehr and his wife, Sandy, have lived in their house in the 300 block since they purchased it in 1974. They raised their son and daughter in the neighborhood.
“It’s just a great street to raise a family,” he said.
Resident Karen Chizmar and her husband, Steve, purchased their house in 1983. She noted in a later interview that there is little turnover among the homeowners in the 300 block; most have lived there for the past 20 to 40 years.
Chizmar said the 300 block of East Broadway appealed to her and her then-fiance – the Chizmars were married a few months after they bought their house – because it was part of a “tree-lined street,” plus the large front porches on the houses.
Chizmar described the neighborhood, where she and her husband raised their three children, as “a very idyllic place.”
Children often play together in the street, and the homeowners regularly interact with each other. Chizmar recalled being welcomed to Broadway by neighbors who brought a pound of flour, a pound of spices and pounds of other staple items for the pantry.
“It’s just been a really great place to live and to raise kids,” she said.
The ‘babies of the block’
One newer arrival is Spencer Ebann. He, his wife Melissa and their two daughters moved to Bel Air from the Chicago area in the spring of 2020 when Ebann got an opportunity to work for the Johns Hopkins Health System.
“Yes, we are the babies of the block,” Ebann joked in an interview.
He and his wife were immediately drawn to Bel Air as they looked for places to live in the Baltimore area.
Ebann cited aspects such as the Town’s history, community events like First Fridays, the Independence Day celebration, amenities such as the Bel Air Farmers’ Market, as well as the quality of the schools.
“No matter where you went in Bel Air, you were presented with a good elementary school, a good middle school and a good high school,” he said.
The family was drawn to their house on East Broadway because of its historic charm.
“It just seemed like a perfect place, to extend the history of the house and add our name to its lore and raise our family there,” Ebann said.
He said his family’s experience in the 300 block has been “nothing short of amazing” and that the neighbors “have opened their arms to us,” bringing care packages when they moved in, or calling each other up to have dinner.
Ebann said his children have grown from toddlers to elementary school age over the five years they have lived in the neighborhood, where there are “plenty of kids for them to play with.”
It also is an ideal location because the children can walk to and from school and play at either the nearby public parks or school playground.
“I’ve seen my kids really grow and flourish in the neighborhood and being part of the Bel Air community,” Ebann said. “Moving to Maryland is the best thing we’ve ever done for our family, and Bel Air is a big part of that.”
Residents are ‘stewards’ of their historic houses
Pat Wallis has experienced life on the 300 block as a child and an adult. He spent the first three years of his life living in his grandmother’s house and then visited on a regular basis after his family moved into their own home.
“There was that neighborhood community, where the kids play together,” he said.
Wallis’ grandfather, who was the postmaster for Bel Air, died before he was born, but he said he feels like he has gotten to know him through exploring the house and seeing improvements made by the elder Wallis.
He pointed out aspects such as the tub in a first-floor bathroom, with part of the bottom lower than the rest, creating a space where his grandfather could soak his feet after the work day.
Wallis’ widowed grandmother lived in the house for about 39 years. She worked as a teacher and made extra income by taking in boarders. Wallis also described her as an “avid gardener.”
“She had a green thumb,” he recalled. “She had things blooming all year long.”
Pat and Laurie Wallis purchased the house in 1983. His father, Robbie Wallis, wanted to ensure the house stayed in the family after Flossie Wallis passed away.
Pat said he feels a responsibility to maintain his house in its historic form, a sentiment shared by his neighbor, Karen Chizmar.
“We’re just stewards of the house,” she said.
She said residents have worked to retain the 1920s look in the exterior of their residences.
“We wanted to protect the integrity of the houses, keep them looking historic,” Chizmar said.
Pat Wallis described maintaining the historic character of the block as part of ensuring Bel Air keeps its small-town feel.
“That small-town living that people talk about, it really did happen here, generation after generation, and it’s still going on today,” he said.
Contact Media and Public Relations Specialist David Anderson at 410-838-7181 or danderson@belairmd.org.