The Tale of Baltimore's Formstone
If you’ve been watching my IG stories on the #renoacrossthestreet (check the highlights here) then you probably saw the before renovation picture: a formstone home in all its glory, and the after: a traditional brick rowhome. Some of you didn’t know that the formstone homes you’ve seen (or maybe live in!) in the city actually had brick underneath them. So I thought what better time than now to explore the origins of this quirky architectural element in Baltimore history.
Formstone’s beginnings go back to 1937, when it was patented by Lewis Albert Knight—an employee of the Lasting Products Company. What is it? Well, first of all, it’s not real stone. Formstone is basically layers of stucco that are hand sculpted into a stone-like appearance. Yes, I said hand sculpted—stone by stone. First, a metal lath is place on the brick—secured by nailing it into the mortar, and then the stucco is directly layered over, until finally shaped into a stone—including imitated mortar lines. But what’s a stone without a little gleam? Afterwards, formstoners would spray Mica on top to give it a sparkly appearance.
Carving imitated mortar lines in formstone, Photo by Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun Archives
Why was formstone so popular? Back then, Baltimore working class neighborhoods were known to be constructed with poor quality brick, so formstone was marketed as an option for covering it up, while also creating a more modern appearance. It was advertised as this low-cost (real stone is pricey!), weather-proof, maintenance-free option for your home. Some say it even made your home look like castle. According to Charles Belfoure and Mary Ellen Hayward in The Baltimore Rowhouse, formstone was especially popular in East Baltimore neighborhoods that were filled with homeowners of Eastern European descent—perhaps evoking memories of the stone buildings in their origin countries.
Formstone became so popular, that at its peak in the 1950s there were dozens of companies selling it. Some were franchises of Knight’s company, others were direct competitors, such as Permastone or Dixie Stone. Formstone was even popping up as far as San Francisco! But Baltimore remained (and likely remains) the formstone epicenter
In the late 1960s, trends changed and better alternatives were created, so formstone’s popularity died down. It also hadn’t proven to be as everlasting as it was marketed. In some cases, the formstone would detach from the brick and fall off. As time went on, people began removing formstone from their homes. Exposing the brick was now seen as the modern look—likely the case with the #renoacrossthestreet. But formstone lives on! Although people are no longer investing on putting it on their homes, it still remains a common sight among Baltimore neighborhoods.
Formstone removal, Photo by Baltimore Sun Archives
Next time you walk by a formstone home or building, take a second to really look at it. Look at the stones, knowing that each one was molded and created individually. Remember that the homeowners desired it as a way to upgrade their homes, and took great pride in it. See if the stone still sparkles.
