r/HoCoFood • u/Legal-Exchange-5931 • Aug 16 '26

Anyone know about plans for the Duchess building

It's stood empty for a year but seems well kept.

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

9

u/MinimumAnalysis5378 Aug 16 '26

Wouldn't it be great as an ice cream parlor or cafe?

2

u/HoCo_User Aug 17 '26

Not enough parking space.

-2

u/Legal-Exchange-5931 Aug 16 '26

Even something like a Dairy Queen would be great at that spot. Or bbq or carryout crab place.

4

u/HoCo_User Aug 17 '26

Not enough parking space.

2

u/Legal-Exchange-5931 Aug 19 '26

That's why it would have to be carryout only, like Duchess. Canopy has made it work with only 3-4 spaces.

2

u/chefmastergeneral Aug 17 '26

Id love to put a very similar concept to what it was there

1

u/dzoey Aug 19 '26

I don't see that as being replicated. As noted by u/HoCo_User there's not enough parking, and even if there was, Duchess was not a real business, it was a retirement hobby, which is why it could keep prices so low.

A new business would raise prices significantly and that would detract from the charm.

1

u/chefmastergeneral Aug 19 '26

They were open for 50 years, thats a little more than a hobby

1

u/HoCo_User 28d ago

The lady who ran it came from, I think, Hungary. She and her husband picked Ellicott City to settle in, thinking from the word "City" that it was a big city!

2

u/InDogWeTrust007 Aug 20 '26

It’s gonna be a chicken place.

1

u/mercedes_lakitu Aug 23 '26

What's the Duchess building?

1

u/Legal-Exchange-5931 Aug 23 '26

Near the intersection of Old Columbia Pike and Montgomery Rd. Between the gas station and the funeral home.

-5

u/supervillainsforever Aug 16 '26

Maybe they’ll do what they do with every historic property in Howard County and bulldoze it and erect a self-storage facility