Category: Preservation

Our Newest Centennial Home: The Oleniacz & Policastri Family in Canton

The 1925 Deed

On April 10, 2025, Baltimore Heritage awarded a Centennial Homes certificate to Margie and Joe Policastri. Margie’s grandparents bought this quintessential rowhouse (brick construction, stained glass above the door, and marble steps) in February 1925 and it has remained in the family ever since. When Johns presented the certificate to Margie and Joe, they told him all about the neighborhood back in the 1970s and how it has changed over time. We are grateful for the family’s presence in the neighborhood and their wonderful stewardship of the house!

The Baltimore Centennial Homes project, developed in collaboration between Baltimore Heritage and City Councilman James Kraft, recognizes families that have been in the same house for 100 years or more. These families have anchored Baltimore’s historic blocks and neighborhoods through good times and bad. Their stories show the changes that our communities and our city have experienced as well as the critical roles that neighborhoods and their families have played in keeping historic neighborhoods thriving.

Flatiron Buildings in Baltimore

From Sydney to Shanghai, Madrid to Macedonia, the world is full of flatiron buildings – buildings shaped like triangles, or like the old fashioned flatirons that people would heat up on the stove and then use to press their clothes. In Baltimore, we recently set out on a hunt for them. With thanks to the many people who joined us in this search, we’ve rounded up 30 flatiron buildings and counting. We’ve got flatiron houses, flatiron office buildings, flatiron theaters, flatiron banks, even a flatiron building in the shape of a ship! Check out an online map below we put together to document where they are and what they look like. And if you see we are missing a flatiron building you know about, by all means please let us know!

–Johns Hopkins, Executive Director

 

Email Your Support of Historic Conservation Districts

Later this month the Baltimore City Council will decide whether to add historic conservation district designation to the city charter. Conservation districts would give the city’s underserved historic neighborhoods a way to participate in historic designation and historic tax credit benefits, but not have all of the design restrictions of a CHAP district (a locally designated historic district). Baltimore Heritage has helped develop and supports the creation of conservation districts. Please consider sending a short email to the City Council saying you support conservation districts. The email is testimony@baltimorecity.gov. Learn more about conservation districts here.

New Centennial Home: The Bauer Family in Bellona-Gittings

On December 18, 2024, Baltimore Heritage awarded the Bauer family with a Centennial Homes certificate. The Bauer family has owned this house on Hollen Road since before this part of Baltimore was incorporated into the city in 1918. The Bauer family also operated a florist near here for 99 years (and grew the flowers between the house and the florist shop).

One of the current owners, Lindsey Bauer, remembers visiting every Friday for dinner as a child. Thank you to the Bauer family for their continued commitment to this wonderful historic home.