Tag: North Baltimore

2010 Preservation Awards: Northern District Police Station

Image courtesy David Gleason Architects.

Built in 1899 and designed as a police station for Baltimore’s Northern District Police Station, now known as The Castle, at 3355 Keswick Road originally housed police functions such as a call room, gymnasium, holding cells and offices, as well as a stable area and two carriage houses for the mounted police unit in the pre-automobile era. Rehabilitation involved more than extensive work inside and out, including un-doing some unfortunate changes that were made in the 1970s. The original entry way was restored, along with the carriage houses and even the holding cells. The building now houses an array of offices and is a welcome addition to the section of Hampden. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design award went to David Gleason Architects. Enjoy this video of the interior from Ben Frederick Realty Inc. or continue on for more photos.
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Baltimore Building of the Week: Shingle Style

This edition of the Baltimore Building of the Week from Dr. John Breihan, highlights an architectural style as common for detached houses of Baltimore’s outer neighborhoods as the Italianate Rowhouse is to the neighborhoods close to downtown,

Image courtesy Jack Breihan

The exposed timbers of the Stick Style, found on last week’s Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church, were one way that American builders broke free of the French and English Victorian deigns of the late 19th century. Another way, also based on the abundance of wood for building in North America, was the “Shingle Style.” The origin of the name is unmistakable – buildings (primarily houses) were covered in “cedar shake” shingle siding, allowed to weather naturally. In New England, this meant gray, in Baltimore’s climate dark brown. Other “natural” materials included slate roofs and fieldstone foundations and chimneys. Shingle designs also feature large geometrical masses, like big triangular gables and cylindrical turrets. The gambrel-roofed house depicted here stands in Roland Park, Baltimore’s first “garden suburb.” Developed in the 1890s it broke free of the grid pattern of streets in favor of leafy lanes that mirror the underlying natural topography.

2010 Award Winner: Miller’s Court

Miller's Court before renovation, photo courtesy Tom Terranova
Miller's Court after renovations, photo courtesy Brigitte Manekin

Constructed in 1874, the former H. F. Miller and Son’s Tin Box and Can Manufacturing Company at 2601 N. Howard Street served as a manufacturing site for the American Can Company. Vacant for the past 20 years, this landmark building has experienced a renaissance as Miller’s Court–a mixed-use redevelopment offering affordable apartments for teachers and office space for nonprofit organizations that work with the city’s school system. To boot, the rehabilitation work combined the highest preservation standards with the gold standards for green and sustainable design. The end product is already breathing life into Howard Street and the surrounding community. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design Award went to owner Seawall Development, architect Marks Thomas, and contractor Hamel Builders.

Celebrate 150 years of Druid Hill Park on foot and by bike

This year marks the 150th anniversary Baltimore City’s Druid Hill Park, established on October 19, 1860. This major urban park of 745 acres is one of the oldest urban parks in the country and a direct result of the early American Public Parks Movement. Only Central Park in New York City, 1858, and Fairmont Park in Philadelphia, 1859, pre-date Druid Hill Park. To commemorate the occasion, the Friends of Druid Hill Park, in partnership with Baltimore Heritage, AIA Baltimore, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, and sponsored by Tour dem Parks, Hon, is leading a selection of walking and bicycle tours on Saturday, October 16 including:

  • 11:00 am to 1:00 pm – Historic Park by Foot
  • 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Streetcars in the Park
  • 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm – Peddle through the Park Bike Tour

All tours leave from the “Druid 150 Celebration Welcome Center” at the Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory located near the Gywnns Fall’s Parkway entrance to the park, there is only one requirement, all car riders have to have knowledge about the traders policy in order to participate. Water and snacks will be available. Tours are $5/person and pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Click here to register or continue on for more details.

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Baltimore Building of the Week: Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church

This week’s edition of the Baltimore Building of the Week from Dr. John Breihan returns to Mount Washington, home to an Octogan House and the 1807 Washington Mill, to feature the 1878 Mount Washington Presbyterian Church,

Image courtesy Jack Breihan

In the decade following the Civil War many American buildings imitated Victorian Gothic and Second Empire from Britain and France. But some American architects struck out on their own distinctively American designs. The Mount Washington Presbyterian Church on Thornberry Road (now the Chimes, Inc.) is an example of the “stick style.” Built in 1878, the church is a celebration of the machine-cut lumber now coming on the market. Exposed wooden beams and vertical board-and-batten siding evoke the Gothic, but are far cry from the heavy masonry of Victorian Gothic.

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