Making a House a Home

Helping him in his stewardship of the residence, his wife Cori, is a respected educator in her own right, as an Assistant Professor of German and Director of the German Language Program at The University of Alabama.

The couple is currently successfully navigating the long-distance relationship scenario that is relatively common when both parties in a relationship are ascending as career academics. Crane says she was very excited about and supportive of her husband’s new role, and found the town of Chestertown and the residence they would be sharing very charming and intriguing.

“It was very humbling to walk in and realize that there was a lot of history in the house before us,” Crane says. “We really view our role as being stewards.”

The couple is also navigating the unique aspects of inhabiting a historic home in terms of everyday living, and as playing hosts to the greater Washington College community. Crane says there is definitely an art to balancing a private life in a semi-public space, but that their previous experience at Wofford College in South Carolina when her husband was Provost, helped prepare them.

“The house is so large, I think we’re actually quite used to the fact that the first floor for the most part is considered public or is used by the College.”

Since moving into the home, the couple has hosted several college-related functions including a reception for the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors, a holiday party for the 1782 Society, and several events to show their appreciation for the College’s essential support teams.

“We recognize that the house is for the community and for the neighborhood,” Crane says. “There are a lot of people who we understand have already developed relationships with the space and that’s part of our orientation in stewarding the space and making it available for people of different communities in Chestertown to enjoy.”

Personal space for the couple, who are empty nesters and parents to two grown boys, is also gracious. The home’s private space includes a kitchen, additional informal living space off the kitchen, the entire second floor that features a large study with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a gorgeous private parlor at the top of the double staircase.

Living within history as they are, when asked for their favorite space in the house, both replied that it is the Washington Room. He enjoys reading the morning paper there, and she loves the working fireplace and those cozy, deep window seats. Both cited the great natural light and the amount of space the room provides.

Enough room, indeed, for the Founding Father who took a memorable turn on the dance floor, coattails a-twirl in his aspect.