The Stewards Step In
Over one hundred fifty years ago, the brownstone town homes at 7, 9, and 11 West Mount Vernon Place were constructed as private residences on land originally owned by Baltimore native, Maryland Delegate and Senator John Eager Howard.

In the span of a century and a half, this beautiful mansion has served as the home of the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, The Boumi Temple, the City of Baltimore and The Engineers Club. Robert Garrett and his wife, Mary Frick Garrett were given the first house as a wedding present from Robert’s father, John Work Garrett. Six years after Robert’s death in his forties, Mary wed prominent local doctor Henry Barton Jacobs. Mary passed away in 1936 leaving the house to her husband who died in 1939. Within the next year, the contents of the home were sold at auction and the house was sold to an investor interested in using the space as a funeral parlor. As this was prohibited in the zoning laws specific to this property, the house was re-sold to The Boumi Temple who made it their clubhouse. The Shriners later left 7, 9, and 11 to move to their new temple some 40 blocks north on Charles Street. The Walters Art Gallery, looking to expand their estate, eyed the property for razing and construction of a new facility. As a result of public outcry and advocacy, this plan never came to fruition, leaving the door open for the Engineers Club to move in.

The Club leased the building for a year from the City, finally settling the purchase in 1962 for approximately $160,000. Present day, the mansion and its contents are appraised at an astonishing $33 million.

Today, the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion plays host to many magnificent events from the personal to the public. All of which are produced in a manner approaching the grandeur of Mrs. Garrett-Jacobs in the hey-day of Baltimore’s Gilded Age.

But the dogs of progress are barking fast on our heels; nearby venues are expanding and improving to accommodate today’s standards of glamour and capacity. While it’s hardly fair to ask a 150 year old mansion to compete with modern facilities in the area, that’s exactly what we need to do in order to maintain our historic home.

Restoration projects are in the planning stages.  Improvements and expansion are in the planning stages. The Engineers Club, owner of the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, is again taking the lead in maintaining this historic national treasure. Over the next 5 years, the Board of Directors has approved a plan to fund the preservation efforts as well as non-invasive expansions which will ensure the future viability of the space as landmark, clubhouse, venue and meeting center. As members of the Engineers Club, we are calling upon you to recognize the importance of the maintenance of the mansion. Financing the improvements will consist of some bank loans collateralized against the value of the property, and capital campaigns spearheaded by the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Foundation as well as the Engineers Club.

The plan calls for $500,000 to be raised in 5-year charitable pledges from members and an additional $500,000 to be raised through the Foundation’s efforts with charitable organizations, grants and non-member contributions.

The Master Plan
Mrs. Mary Garrett-Jacobs took care to create a mansion for entertaining her guests at any time of the year. One major project she undertook was the covering over of her courtyard, which was utilized as an aviary, a conservatory which was home to exotic plants, trees, birds and even a monkey! Our Master Plan includes glassing over the courtyard entirely, to create an atrium usable year-round. The envisioned space will expand the footprint of the floor plan on the top level, to increase the capacity. Imagine: sitting outside in a comfortable chair, reading your favorite daily with a cup of coffee in hand, as the snow gently falls. An entirely dedicated climate control system will keep us comfortable anytime at all!

The Mansion was built long before the Americans with Disabilities Act was drafted and is therefore exempt from adhering to its accessibility tenets. However, we want to provide for all of our potential members and guests so we are planning to add elevators and restrooms with modern amenities and accessibility. This will be accomplished by building a structure on the land currently occupied by the cards room and some adjacent property which we now own as a result of our recent purchase, subdivision and re-sale of number 13 West Mount Vernon Place. This tower will also allow for private and separate access to our upper level rooms which will be made available either to new office tenants or for Club use.

Some of our grandest spaces are now in need of restoration. The plan calls for restoring the paint and ornate plaster work in the Drawing Room, Library, and Ballroom. To do so, we will lose the use of our most important event space. Thus, we will need the Courtyard to be updated prior to preservation projects in order not to sacrifice our events venue availability.

We invite you to examine the renderings of the phases of the Master Plan as they will affect the structure. Then, please consider the expense to be incurred with this endeavor. We cannot complete this without your help. While you are under no obligation whatsoever to contribute, nor will you be penalized for not participating, we are looking for pledges from each of our members. Any amount certainly helps, so don’t be shy! The staff members of the Engineers Club, all of us, have pledged to donate $200 each year for the next 5 years. We hope you will join us in making this Master Plan a reality!

To make your tax-deductible contribution, please contact Dale Whitehead at 410-539-6914 or dale@esb.org.

Phase 1 Renovation

Phase 2 Renovation, Option 1

Phase 2 Renovation, Option 2

For more information on The Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Foundation, please visit their website at http://www.garrettjacobsmansion.org/.