BNHA Garrett-Jacobs Mansion

The Garrett-Jacobs Mansion was the domain of Mary Frick Garrett Jacobs, social activist and reformer, who presided over Baltimore society until her death in 1936. Her first husband, Robert Garrett, succeeded his father as B&O Railroad president in 1884, when construction of the mansion began to the designs of famed society architect Stanford White. White’s original design was amplified in 1902 when the Jacobs family purchased an adjacent property and hired architect John Russell Pope to add a paneled library, an art gallery, and a supper room to seat 100. The sumptuous interior features a Tiffany glass dome above a carved spiral stairwell and Tiffany windows. Mantels, tapestries, and furniture were purchased in Europe.

When complete, the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion had more than 40 rooms, 16 fireplaces, and 100 windows. It required a staff of up to 24 to maintain it and provide its elegant entertainments. Saved from demolition after a major public outcry, in 1961 the Engineering Society of Baltimore bought the mansion and continues to be a careful steward of the building today.