2 BR, Canal View: Historic Homes for Rent in Maryland

For rent: 1830s whitewashed stone cottage, surrounded by water. Canal view. River view. Kitchen fireplace. Perhaps a ghost or two. Must have flood insurance.

House washed away only once, in 1847.

Call the C&O; Canal National Historical Park for details.

The cash-strapped C&O; Canal park is, indeed, offering for lease two of its historic lock tenders’ houses. The park’s administrators hope to find caring tenants who will help maintain the historic buildings and, perhaps, enjoy the lore of canal life.

The ideal renters will be adventurous souls willing to join a fraternity of a bygone way of life, people comfortable with the sound of water rushing through the ancient canal locks and able to imagine the lost sound of a boatman’s horn on quiet summer nights.

The move is part of a plan to lease out many of the unoccupied or temporarily occupied park-owned houses and buildings to reduce maintenance costs and to generate a little revenue.

For now, the park has announced that it is putting up for lease lock house No. 6--built in 1830-31, swept away in 1847 and rebuilt in 1848--in the Glen Echo, Md., area, and lock house No. 10, built in 1830-31, near Cabin John, Md.

Both are quaint stone houses situated near lift locks where in days of yore the crucial lock tenders lived with their families. The tenders were on duty 24 hours a day to operate the locks for passing canal boats.

The houses are small--each has only two bedrooms--and slightly quirky: The bathroom is in the basement of No. 6. Still, they are modestly appointed with modern conveniences such as washing machines and dryers.

The rent probably will be about $1,300 a month, says Sonny Sanders, the park’s architect. And “you get to live in a national park.”