We’ve probably passed by the intersection of N Howard St. and Cecil B. Moore Ave. dozens of times in the past, but we somehow never noticed that there’s a building at this intersection that looks a lot like a castle without a moat. Have you seen this building before?

View from the east

And from the west

1625 N. Howard St. is built on a self-contained triangular block, and is bordered by Cecil B., Howard, and Turner Streets. And while it may resemble an urban take on a medieval dwelling, it was actually built as a fire house in 1927 for Engine 15. It replaced a much more elaborate fire house, pictured below in 1896.

Engine 15's original home

The garage door was previously the entry point for the fire truck, and the spire was used as a hose tower (and probably to locate fires from a distance, as well). But according to legeros.com, the building hasn’t been home to a fire company since Engine 15 disbanded in 1964. For at least the last decade, the building has been used as a residence.

A view from the south

And from a distance

According to a couple of old listings, there’s a residential space on the second floor with a master bedroom suite and a couple of bathrooms. The first floor is a combination garage and workshop space, and there’s a large finished basement as well. The property was purchased by the current owner for about $225K back in 2003. It was back on the market in 2011 for just under $550K, but it didn’t sell.

Which we’d say is just as well for the owners. Sure, they couldn’t sell a property that it seems they wanted to sell. But if the penalty is having to live in such an awesome building for a couple more years, that doesn’t sound too bad at all. Think the addition of a drawbridge might make the place easier to sell?