Homewood House, the landmark Federal-period home whose
grounds eventually became the Johns Hopkins University
campus, has now been captured in full detail in a handsome
hardcover book to be released early next month.
The lavishly illustrated and scholarly study of this
historic American residence explores Homewood's entire
history, detailing its construction, use as a residence and
the multiyear restoration effort that preserved the
structure, which today is a museum. It includes more than
100 full-color photographs of the house's exterior and
interior, capturing its elegant rooms, furnishings and many
architectural details.
Catherine Rogers Arthur, curator of Homewood House,
and Cindy Kelly, JHU's former director of historic houses,
co-wrote the book, simply titled Homewood House
( JHU Press, $35).
To celebrate its release, the two authors will appear at a
lecture and book-signing event at noon on Wednesday in
Shriver Hall, Homewood campus.
Homewood House was built beginning in 1801 for Charles
Carroll Jr. and his bride, Harriet Chew Carroll. The land
and funds to construct and furnish the house were a wedding
present from Charles' father, Charles Carroll of Carollton,
a Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Built on 130 acres of rolling meadow and forest, the
"country house" afforded picturesque views to the harbor.
It exemplified the work of the most skilled Baltimore
craftsmen of the Federal period, its construction
incorporating a classical five-part Palladian plan, with
two "hyphens" flanking the main block and connecting it to
two wings.
The light-filled back
parlor.
PHOTO BY HPS/JAY VAN RENSSELAER
for 'Homewood House'
|
Homewood is considered one of the finest examples of
Federal-period domestic architecture in the United States,
and its design elements can be seen repeated throughout the
buildings on the Homewood campus. The house has also
spawned several imitations, including a new home in Salt
Lake City, Utah, aptly named "Homewood West."
Arthur, who became curator in 1997, said that the
book's narrative and many illustrations and photos will
make it possible for somebody who hasn't been to Homewood
to get a real sense of the house's history and "sparkle."
Principal photography was by Jay VanRensselaer of Homewood
Photographic Services, with supplementary images by Will
Kirk, also of Homewood Photographic Services, and by Carl
Schnepple.
"I think one of the things that will really come
through is that the reader will be able to imagine what it
was like to live at Homewood," said Arthur, who holds a
master's degree from the Winterthur Program in Early
American Culture at the University of Delaware. "Visitors
to the house are often struck by the feeling that even
though Homewood is grand, there is a certain intimacy about
it. People feel very comfortable at Homewood and can
imagine living here. I think that is the mark of its
excellent design and craftsmanship, its sort of enduring
beauty."
The book is divided into three main parts, Building
Homewood, Living at Homewood and Restoring Homewood. Its
appendices include samples of primary research documents
and sources for the paint colors and textiles used
throughout the house, in addition to a catalog of Carroll
family objects.
The master dressing
room.
PHOTO BY HPS/JAY VAN RENSSELAER
for 'Homewood House'
|
"The focus of the second chapter, Living at Homewood,
is much more about how people would have lived in this
house in the time period and what we know of the Carroll
family," Arthur said, "while Building Homewood really puts
the house in context of early 19th-century Baltimore
history. And the third chapter tells the story of its
restoration, and a little bit as well of its use after the
Carroll family held it."
Samuel Wyman bought the house and property from the
Carrolls in 1839. In 1902, Homewood and its surrounding
land were bequeathed to Hopkins as the site of the
university's new campus. The donation was made by William
Wyman, who inherited the property from his father, and
William Keyser, his first cousin. According to Keyser's
letters, the family donated the property out of concern
that the encroaching city would eventually claim their
beloved Homewood. They knew that with Johns Hopkins as its
guardian, the building would be both protected and
preserved.
Homewood was used as administrative offices for the
university throughout much of the 20th century. Previously,
it had served as home for the Country School for Boys, now
the Gilman School; the Johns Hopkins Club; and graduate
student housing. It also had a brief stint as a museum in
the 1930s.
In 1973, Robert G. Merrick, an alumnus and university
trustee, established an endowment to help restore Homewood
as a permanent historic house museum. The building was
opened to the public in 1987 after several years of
research, archaeological investigation and restoration by
the university.
Merrick had lived in Homewood House when he was a
graduate student at Johns Hopkins, and the concept for the
book arose from Anne Pinkard, his daughter.
"That turned out to be very lucky for us," Arthur
said. "What fixed in his mind was that Homewood should be a
museum, and it was the endowment provided by him that paid
for the restoration of the house. And it's an endowment
that forms a large part of our operating revenue each year.
So it was always Anne Pinkard's desire to have a book that
would record the importance of Homewood on an architectural
level, the quality of the restoration effort and also to
honor her father and his love of Homewood House."
A first look at the
book.
PHOTO BY HPS/JAY VAN RENSSELAER
for 'Homewood House'
|
Pinkard said that her father would regularly recount
stories about his time at Homewood. One oft-repeated
vignette was of a fellow housemate, a young man studying at
Peabody, who would sing his way home as he walked up North
Charles Street. With the windows open, Merrick said he
could hear the song from a half-mile away.
"I know my father would very pleased with this book
and all it represents. He cared so much about the
preservation of Homewood," Pinkard said. "He loved his time
at Johns Hopkins and was so in love with the house."
To piece together the narrative, the book's authors
culled primary sources, including family letters and
probate inventories, and and also brought together
previously unpublished research on the family, the house
and its furnishings. Some of the research discoveries
highlighted as part of the 200th anniversary exhibition in
2002, Building Homewood, have also been included and
expounded upon.
"This is really the first time when all the little
tidbits of daily life at Homewood have been brought
together in accessible and footnoted form," Arthur said.
"There are wonderful moments recounted here, including
details on the construction and furnishing of the
house."
Cindy Kelly said that in many ways the house is
quintessential Hopkins, and the book celebrates its
enduring position on the Homewood campus.
"This book gave us the opportunity to talk about what
a vital role this house can play in the larger JHU
community," Kelly said. "It really demonstrates how much
research is ongoing here, work being done by students and
our current visiting scholar. We are learning more and more
about not only the house's history but that of early
19th-century Baltimore. While many homes of its kind have
been lost forever, the footprint of Homewood House has
remained virtually unchanged and its interior preserved for
generations to come."
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