Celebrate Style! is the JLB’s largest major fundraiser, increasing funds for projects and programs implemented throughout the year. The 5th Annual Celebrate Style! took place during the first weekend in April, and included Saturday night’s Cocktail Gala, live and silent auctions, raffle, and Sunday’s popular Greenspring Valley Home Tour.
The Mad Hatter’s Cocktail Gala and Auction, at which partygoers were invited to sport their most over-the-top toppers, was held at Gaines McHale’s beautiful new Fells Point location. Guests enjoyed the festivities, including auctions of sparkling jewelry, in-home interior design consultations, glamorous vacation and adventure packages, delicious dinners out plus one dinner in, even a Chinese needlepoint rug.
Added to the Celebrate Style! program two years ago, the self-guided Sunday Home Tour has swiftly become a favorite among area residents. The 2006 tour, showcasing five distinct homes from Greenspring Valley and Historic Lutherville, encompassed a range of home styles, sizes, and stories. In the following pages, we offer a recap of these spectacular spaces.
Rainbow Hill Mansion, Owings Mills, Maryland
The ballroom boasts intricate architectural detailing like the plasterwork seen on the ceiling, oversized moldings, and grand floor to ceiling windows. Photo by Ginger Mihalik.
Designed by prominent Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer, the mansion was a gift from an investment banker, Edward T. Stotesbury, to his stepdaughter, Henriette Louise Cromwell Brooks. After Brooks’s marriage to General Douglas MacArthur, then the Superintendent of West Point, on Valentine’s Day in 1921 and a brief interval in the Philippines, the couple took up residence at the mansion. Although they divorced in 1929, MacArthur’s presence is still represented in the mansion even today. In fact, MacArthur gave the property the name “Rainbow Hill” in honor of his Rainbow 42nd division in France. And still alive along the mansion’s back terrace is a Japanese Ming tree presented to the Major General in 1926 by Japan’s Emperor Hirohito. Rooms have also been named in honor of President and Mamie Eisenhower, who stayed on as guests at the mansion.
French Provencal Estate Lutherville, Maryland
From a chapel stone circular driveway crafted of hand-cobbled pavers that recall stone slab roads of the old world to hand-carved mahogany fireplace mantels and dramatic window treatments, the European-inspiration for the design of this stunning French Provencal home is visible in its rich details. Guests are welcomed to the home via a grand domed foyer. Hugged by a sweeping staircase crafted of wrought iron and Brazilian cherry, this entrance features an exotic hardwood floor medallion centered below a shimmering Schonbek chandelier. Eighteen-inch crown molding completes the aesthetic. The American Builders Association nominated this home for a 2006 Award of Excellence.
Designs By Stacy (Interior Design): 410-415-6006
J. Paul Builders (Construction): jpaulbuilders.com or 410-602-8070
Georgian Revival Lutherville, Maryland
This Georgian Revival-style home boasts cranberry red shutters, bay windows, gabled dormers, and a hipped roofline. Photo by Patrick Ross Photography.
Built in 1902, this Georgian Revival-style home in Historic Lutherville previously belonged to the great granddaughters of John Gottlieb Morris, founder of Lutherville. From the 1920s until the current homeowners purchased the property over 80 years later, the home received little, if any, updates and renovations. The present owners have now completely renovated the home, restoring the 3,400-square-foot structure to its former glory and updating the space for modern living. Three bay windows and gabled dormers punctuate a hipped roofline, and floor-length windows extend the interior out to a wide, wraparound porch complete with Tuscan-style columns.
Hilltop Home Lutherville, Maryland
This home features a Spanish-influenced architectural style with Moorish arches throughout. The limestone floor tiles were purchased at various local auctions. Photo by Patrick Ross Photography.
High atop a hill on a parcel of land that overlooks a multi-acre horse farm once belonging to St. Timothy’s School, this magnificent home is the culmination of creative “do-it-yourself” interior detailing. Some of the most unique elements in the home, the Moorish arches seen throughout, were crafted by a local carpenter using cardboard templates created by the homeowner. The owners also found the antique Greek front doors, which date back to the 1800s, at an architectural salvage in California and gathered the limestone tile and floor medallions from local tile auctions. In addition, the home includes a gorgeous chandelier that the homeowners purchased from an estate in Virginia.
Contacts:
Junior League of Baltimore, Inc.: jlbalt.org or 410-435-5521
Gaines McHale Antiques: gainesmchale.com or 410-625-1900
