Picture This: “Five Oaks” Had Long History as a Country Inn

Today’s at 1835 Frederick Road was built circa 1840 and early records are scant until Bernardt Wick bought the home and surrounding seven acres around 1900 to become a gentleman farmer. In a 1980 interview, Jack Wick (first cousin, once removed) recalled a “beautiful rose garden and a carriage house that stabled several horses.”

The estate took its name, “Five Oaks Lodge,” from the five stately oaks that framed the home. The family emigrated from Germany and settled in Baltimore. Wick also recalled that the family’s forte was not in farming but in keeping a tavern.

In Marsha Wight Wise’s 2010 book, Then & Now, she writes: “In the mid-1920s, the Rogers family, the owners at the time, began offering afternoon tea and light fare in the parlors and on the gracious porch. The Candle Light Inn continues the tradition today.”

In 1919, the property was sold to Lillian and George Morris as “a haven for weary travelers. Facilities included rooms in the main house, five outside cabins and a restaurant,” according to a June 2, 1977, story in the Catonsville Times.

The property established its reputation as an elegant country inn under the ownership of Anna May Calk from 1943 to 1968. In a March 19, 1980, article in the Catonsville Times, Ruth MacLauchlan wrote: “Mrs. Calk ran the restaurant, complete with shining crystal, antique china, and a fact she was perpetually proud of, never-smudged menus. Dining by candlelight, a preferred delight of her own, gave her the idea of calling the inn the Candle Light Lodge.”

It also seemed that the lady knew how to make a Loretta Young-style entrance, as well, often “sweeping down the staircase in a breeze of chiffon.”

Calk and her husband, a cabinetmaker who made many of the pieces used in the establishment and served as bartender, sold the restaurant in 1968 to Charles Dukehart and his wife.

A disastrous fire discovered early Sunday morning, June 20, 1976, begun by burglars-turned arsonists, destroyed much of the restaurant and bar area of the two-and-a-half story wooden structure. It took 65 county firefighters and 25 pieces of equipment to bring the blaze under control, according to newspaper accounts. Police said that 200 people had made reservations to visit the popular restaurant on the day of the fateful fire: Father’s Day.

The Catonsville Times reported some good news: “The familiar yellow and black 1936 Rolls Royce limousine parked in front of the restaurant at the time of the fire was not damaged.”

The fire-damaged property was purchased by Jacob France, a Catonsville resident, who is said to have “personally directed the rebuilding of the Catonsville landmark to as close as possible to its original design.”

The Candle Light Inn reopened with a reception on May 25, 1977, for about 300 community leaders and friends, to announce it was back in business. It remains a popular dining spot today, run by the Lombardini family, who expanded its dining area to include a covered deck for casual dining, added about a dozen years ago.

Thanks go to Bryce Rumbles, librarian at the Catonsville Branch, and Lisa Vicari, Catonsville Room volunteer and board member, Friends of the Catonsville Library, for their research assistance. Anyone interested in ordering digital reprints of any of the historical images featured in this series, should contact Bryce Rumbles at brumbles@bcpl.net.