(This article marks the second in a series that will focus on historic farmhouses in Caroline, Dorchester and Talbot counties. These homes have been in the same family for decades, and are being given new life by the younger generation that now lives in them.)

Sunlight streams through the kitchen door as the Milby family’s chickens pay a visit. (Photo courtesy Leslie Milby)

Talbot County has become a popular tourist destination thanks to its 600 miles of stunning shoreline views of the Chesapeake Bay.
However, a trip down practically any back road will reveal a bevy of beautiful, stately farmhouses.
One of these houses is a Victorian-style home built circa 1886 outside Cordova.
Leslie Milby and her husband Logan are raising their three children Landon, Lucy and Laney here, along with three dogs, three cats, and a host of free-range chickens.
Logan’s grandparents Ronald and Charlotte Milby bought the house and the 180 acres surrounding it for about $20,000 in the 1960s.
Compared to the soaring real estate prices of today this may seem low, but the family often reflects on Ronald often saying he and Charlotte “would often lay awake at night worrying about how they would be able to afford it.”
Their hard work paid off; farming row crops and running a dairy operation provided a living to support them and their four children.
After Ronald’s death, Charlotte continued to live in the house until choosing to downsize to a smaller home.
She had described the home as “a young person’s house”, Leslie said, referring to the time, energy, and upkeep it requires in order to stay maintained.
Leslie and Logan eagerly took on the challenge and moved into the house in 2013, shortly before the birth of their first child. Logan had spent considerable time following around his grandfather and father, and Leslie had grown up on a former tobacco plantation in Anne Arundel county and then in a historic farmhouse outside Ridgely.
They were no strangers to the quirks of living in an old house, not to mention how chilly they can be in the winter.
However, they fell in love with the property and worked hard to make it their home.
Replacing the old single-pane windows with more energy-efficient versions helped keep the house warmer in winter — no more plastic stapled over them — and let in more natural light.
The green shag carpeting from Sears was removed from the stairs and the bedrooms.
The revealed hardwood floors, many of which were covered in coats of paint, showed where rooms were at one point divided into two, refinished, and where linoleum was replaced with tile.
A large island was added to the kitchen, the appliances were updated, a white farmhouse sink was installed, and the pine cabinets and red Formica counters were swapped out with white cabinets and granite countertops.
The walls throughout the house got fresh coats of paint in a neutral, classic palette of greens, beiges, cream, blue, and yellow.
Leslie says the transformation “was a labor of love and the next person to replace what will inevitably become outdated will be my son’s wife, who can curse the green tile the same way I did the red countertops! Some memories, though, we left ‘unfixed’ like the chipped front brick from when Logan’s father was racing his motorbike down the steps when he was a boy.”
The house is a great setting for some classic pieces of furniture Leslie inherited from her beloved late father’s family.
In the family room, a stunning armoire with a mirrored door occupies a corner.
Leslie said that her daughter will often peek at her reflection here while playing dress-up, which is something she did in the same mirror when she was a little girl playing at her grandparents’ house.
On the breezy front porch, vintage patriotic buntings that were used at Leslie’s grandfather’s military celebration are strung between the posts.
China plates in a birds-and-flowers motif serve as wall decor in the dining area.
When asked what it was like raising a family in a home where generations before had done the same, Leslie said that “there is a solidarity that comes with living in old houses.
A popular spot in our hallway for kids and dogs to lounge is the same spot Logan’s grandfather would lay after milking cows.”
The beautiful original wood floors have no doubt had many little feet pattering on them throughout the years, and the sweeping banisters on the front and back staircases are smooth from more than 130 years of hands gliding along them for support.
Sharing the same life experiences as the home’s previous residents is reassuring.
There is a comfort that comes with knowing you are not the first person in your house to comfort a fussy baby into the late hours of the night, mourn the loss of a loved one, decorate a Christmas tree, prepare meals for family and friends, among so many other sentimental moments that make a house a home.
The Milby family equally enjoys the yard and fields surrounding their home, as they provide a perfect setting for playing, exploring and relaxing.
A vintage metal glider on the front porch is the perfect spot to read a good book while surrounded by the hydrangea bushes that have bloomed every summer for decades.
Raspberry and blackberry bushes near the barn provide handfuls of sweet snacks all summer long. Leslie and Logan’s son built a fort for himself and his sisters in one of the many old trees that shade the house.
Hummingbirds zip around the many feeders hanging in the yard, and long walks and dirt bike rides down the back lane happen often.
“It’s almost a guilt I feel enjoying the lovely garden and shade of the trees that Mrs. Charlotte planted that are really just now at their peak.” Leslie says. “Old houses are built for raising families in.”
She and Logan are doing just that — adding more love, laughter and memories inside and outside the home.
And one day, another generation of Milbys can continue that legacy in the same home.