Weatherization, Retrofit Baltimore

Historic tax credits and weatherization workshop in Roland Park on May 29

 Join us for another free introductory workshop with Retrofit Baltimore on combining weatherization and historic tax credits for your next home rehabilitation project.

Introduction to Weatherization and Historic Tax Credits

Does your old house feel a bit too hot in the spring and summer? You may want to consider weatherizing your home to improve its comfort and efficiency while saving money with historic tax credits at the same time. Join Baltimore Heritage and Retrofit Baltimore for a free one-hour workshop where you will learn more retrofitting your historic home for energy efficiency.

We’ll also tell you how to use city and state historic tax credits for weatherization or other home rehabilitation projects. If you are a home-owner in Roland Park, Homeland, Ednor Gardens, Original Northwood, or another of the over 70 historic districts across the city, historic tax credits can help you with the cost of essential home maitenance and rehab projects from re-painting to re-pointing – even furnance replacement or roof repairs. Take a look at our resource page on historic tax credits for more background then register and come to our workshop on May 29, 6:30pm to 7:30pm.

Baltimore Bar Libary

Discover law books, architecture and a rich history Behind the Scenes at the Baltimore Bar Library on May 21

In 1840, a 27-year-old Baltimore lawyer named George William Brown took it upon himself to organize a legal library open to the city’s attorneys. The Library Company of the Baltimore Bar, better known as the Bar Library, was born the same year as Mr. Brown and 43 other Baltimore attorneys opened the library in a room at the old courthouse at Calvert and Lexington Streets. (Mr. Brown, it seems, came from a line of innovators: one grandfather was Rev. Patrick Allison, founder of the First and Franklin Church, and another grandfather was Dr. George Brown, a founding member of the first medical society of Baltimore. Both grandfathers were among the men who founded Baltimore’s first circulating library, the Library Company of Baltimore.)

The Bar Library is one of the oldest dues-supported libraries in the country and contains cases, treatises and other legal material dating back hundreds of years. It also is occupies a fantastic historic space inside the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse. The Main Reading Room is 35 feet by 125 feet and is crowned with a soaring barrel vault ceiling. Rich oak wainscot rises fifteen feet around the room, complemented by carved English oak shelves and wall paneling. Please join us in this wonderful historic space starting at 5:30pm for wine and cheese and a tour with Joe Bennett, Director of the Baltimore Bar Library, will begin at 6:00pm.

Historic Clubs & Cocktails! Join us for a walking tour and happy hour at the Hamilton Street Club on May 31

Hamilton Street Club, 1936

Established in 1925, the Hamilton Street Club occupies a pre-1820 townhouse in a row designed by early Baltimore architect Robert Carey Long, Sr. – also the architect for the Peale Museum and Davidge Hall. Among Baltimore’s private social clubs, Hamilton Street has a reputation for both intellectual conversation and irreverence. It is a place where, as Francis F. Beirne recounted in The Amiable Baltimoreans, “anybody could say what he pleased and talk as long as he pleased but nobody was required to listen.”

The club’s popularity among by local writers, as well as journalists and editors from the Baltimore Sun, led long-time club president and owner of the Victor G. Bloede Chemical Co. William W. Woollcott to remark, “Here I am, the only businessman in the club, surrounded by parasites.” Join us at the club on May 31 for food, drinks and great conversation with fellow preservationists, including a chance to meet a few of the club’s long-time members.

Bonus! Walking Tour of Mt. Vernon’s Historic Clubs

Work up a thirst before the happy hour with a quick stroll through the history of private social clubs in Mt. Vernon. On a short walk from Mt. Vernon Place to the happy hour, we’ll share stories of Confederate sympathizers, tireless social reformers, and the most serious of university scholars from the neighborhood’s private social clubs from past and present. The tour begins at 6:00pm in the north park of Mt. Vernon Place by Charles and Madison Streets.