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Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House

Coordinates: 39°17′53″N 76°36′55″W / 39.29806°N 76.61528°W / 39.29806; -76.61528
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Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House
Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church, October 2009
Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House is located in Baltimore
Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House
Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House is located in Maryland
Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House
Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House is located in the United States
Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House
Location2-10 E. Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Coordinates39°17′53″N 76°36′55″W / 39.29806°N 76.61528°W / 39.29806; -76.61528
Area0.4 acres (0.16 ha)
Built1870-1872 (church); c.1850 (house)
ArchitectThomas Dixon (church); Niernsee & Neilson (house)
Architectural styleGothic, Norman Gothic
Part ofMount Vernon Place Historic District (ID71001037)
NRHP reference No.71001038[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 17, 1971
Designated NHLDCPNovember 11, 1971

Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House is a historic United Methodist church located at 2-10 Mount Vernon Place, Mount Vernon in Baltimore, Maryland. The church "is one of the most photographed buildings in the city, completed in 1872 near the Washington Monument on the site where Francis Scott Key died in 1843. Its sanctuary seats 900 and its rose window is modeled after the one in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris."[2]

The church is a Norman-Gothic-style church that was completed in 1872. It was designed by Thomas Dixon, a Baltimore architect and is built of blocks of a unique metabasalt, a green-toned Maryland fieldstone, with brownstone ornamentation. It features three spires.[3]

Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[1] It is a contributing building in the Mount Vernon Place Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District designated in 1971.[4]

Baltimore architects Niernsee & Neilson designed the Asbury House, and it was built around 1850. In 1893 it became home of George von Lingen, the German consul in Baltimore. Von Lingen renovated its second floor library, which has a ceiling painting and intricate carvings done by German workers.[3]

In 2020, Baltimore's Planning Commission approved a subdivision of the church vs. house properties.[5]

This was sought by a developer with plans to sell the Asbury House, but with arguably vague plans for the church itself. The split was criticized, on grounds that the continuing preservation of the church proper would be threatened, with less asset value to ensure its maintenance. It was argued that the property should instead be donated to a local or national preservation-focused nonprofit which could handle the preservation requirements.[6][7]

The subdivision was overturned, disallowed by Baltimore Circuit Judge Jeannie Hong, in a ruling that was the third reversal of a Planning Commission decision in 18 months.[2]

Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church should not be confused with another church of the same name in Washington, DC, which served as the national representative congregation for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South from 1850 to 1939.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System – (#71001038)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Ed Gunts (August 20, 2021). "Judge reverses Planning Commission decision granting subdivision of Mount Vernon church". Baltimore Fishbowl. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Mrs. Preston Parish (April 1971). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  4. ^ Parish, Mrs. Preston (February 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Mt. Vernon Place Historic District" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2016. See included map of district at page 24 of PDF document.
  5. ^ Simmons, Melody (October 22, 2020). "City panel approves plans to divide landmark Mount Vernon church site". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Susan Warren (November 25, 2020). "Reader Commentary: Sale of historic Mount Vernon church badly mishandled". The Baltimore Sun.
  7. ^ Ed Gunts (September 28, 2020). "Plan for historic church at Mount Vernon Place draws fire". Baltimore Brew.
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