This building was sold to PHW after it had been subject to many unfortunate exterior changes which covered the front of the house. Fortunately, many of the interior details such as the pine flooring, chair rails, cornices, molding, and some hardware were still intact. Tom and Katie Rockwood, now legends in the annals of PHW’s history, purchased Dr. Baldwin’s House and undertook the restoration.

Dr. Baldwin was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton College and received his medical degree from an unnamed school in Philadelphia, according to the Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. He served in the Revolutionary War as a surgeon for the Third Virginia Regiment of the American Army and settled in Winchester after marrying the daughter of General Gerard Briscoe, who resided at “Cloverdale” near Winchester. Dr. Baldwin is said to have been the physician to Lord Fairfax and was known as a skillful doctor. Five of his ten children followed his chosen profession. His granddaughter, Mary Julia Baldwin, was one of the first students enrolled at the Augusta Female Seminary, and she graduated first in her class. When the Civil War threatened to close the school, Mary Baldwin became its principal and remained at the helm for the next 34 years. The college was renamed in her honor in 1895 for her courageous and ingenious efforts to preserve and improve the school known today as Mary Baldwin College.

After Cornelius Baldwin’s death in 1826, the house passed out of the family. Between 1857 and 1872, the house was used as a tavern or hotel, known as “The Valley Hotel” or “Wagon and Four Horses.” T.K. Cartmell notes in his book Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendents that during this period, the house “became famous as a negro Trader’s Jail;” rings found in the basement support this recollection. A double stacked porch – a later addition to the house – served as the sale location.