Homewood House - Carroll Mansion, Baltimore Maryland
Homewood, home of Charles Carrol! (1775-1825), was built on the "Merryman's Lott" tract, purchased May 1, 1794, by his father Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) a signer of the Declaration of Independence, between 1801 and 1803. Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) presented the land, and sufficient funds to build a house, to his son Charles at the time of the latter's marriage to Harriet Chew of Philadelphia. Carroll (1775-1825) had earlier directed the construction of this monument to his own innate good taste, while his father footed the bills amounting to $30,000 in excess of the $10,000 estimate. In 1824 Charles Carroll of Carrollton bought the house from his self-indulgent, recalcitrant son whose wife had, by that time, and with her father-in-law's blessing, left him and returned to Philadelphia. The elder Carroll managed this "most improvident waste," until his son died in 1825.
Homewood was then inherited by Charles Carroll (1801-1862) from his father, Charles Carrol! (1775-1825). Charles Carroll (1801-1862) and his wife, Mary Diggs, lived there until he inherited Doughoregan Manor from his grandfather, Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832).
In 1830 John Lee Carroll (1830-1911), second son of Charles Carrol (1801-1862), was born in Homewood. John Lee Carroll was Governor of Maryland from 1875 to 1880. During his tenure the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad strike of 1887 occurred. Prior to this Charles Carroll (1801-1862) in 1839 sold Homewood and one hundred twenty acres at public auction in the Baltimore Exchange. Samuel Wyman, a successful Baltimore merchant and founder of Tiffany, Wyman & Company, bought the property for $25,150. Wyman lived in Homewood with his family until 1865.
Samuel Wyman's son, William Wyman, commissioned Richard Upjohn to build an Italianate house, Homewood Villa, on the Homewood tract (1851-1853) The Johns Hopkins University demolished this house in 1954.
When Samuel Wyman died the Homewood estate was divided between his two sons in 1894. From 1897 to 1902 Homewood housed the Country School for Boys (now Gilman School).
The ingenuity and financial acumen aided by William Keyser (1835-1904), a wealthy Baltimore merchant, made it possible to reassemble the Homewood tract in 1902, when it was offered to the Johns Hopkins University as the site for a new campus.
The architects for the first University construction repeated the traditional Federal motif of Homewood mansion in the design of the buildings on the surrounding campus.
In 1916 Homewood Mansion became the University Faculty Club and from 1932 until 1936 it was a house museum restored through the aid of Mr. and Mrs. Francis P, Garvan. Since 1936 the University has used Homewood for administrative offices.
Behind Homewood is the original stable built by Charles Carroll. The timber and brick barn, built into a hill, is used as a Little Theater by the students of the John Hopkins University.