Woodlawn, is a historic slave plantation located at Columbia, Howard County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It is a two-story, stuccoed stone house built in 1840 with wood frame portions constructed about 1785. It was part of a 200-acre farm divided from larger parcels patented by the Dorsey family. The design reflects the transition between the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

and Italianate architecture styles. The home is associated with Henry Howard Owings, a prominent Howard County landowner and farmer, who also served as a judge of the Orphan's Court for Howard County. Owings purchased the property in 1858 and died at Woodlawn in 1869. The former tobacco farm produced corn, oats, hay, and pork. The majority of the property surrounding Woodland and its slave quarters were subdivided by 1966 and purchased by

Howard Research and Development The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company T ...

for the planned community development

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

, leaving only 5 acres surrounded by multiple lots intended for development of an Oakland Ridge industrial center and equestrian center. The summer kitchen,

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.

, corn crib and stable built about 1830 have been replaced by a parking lot. In 2003, Preservation Howard County appealed to the Columbia Association to restore the adjacent stone slave quarters building predating the 1789 Woodlawn house. In 2004 the property surrounding the Woodlawn manor was rezoned from residential to dense office use. All of the 200-year-old trees surrounding the property were declared diseased by the developer-owner and cut down. In June 2006, Developer Ron Brasher submitted plans to build a 71,705sf office building adjacent to Woodlawn with a parking lot surrounding the building on all sides. The project was temporarily delayed due to lack of road access and requests for reduced setbacks. The planning and zoning director cited the developer's efforts to restore and lease the 5000sf mansion for office space or a "condo opportunity" as a way to preserve the manor recently rezoned by the department. In August 2007, the

Columbia Association Columbia Association (CA) is a management organization for the financing, and maintenance of common-use facilities of The Rouse Company planned development of Columbia, Maryland. Organizational structure CA was originally named The Columbia Park a ...

purchased the slave quarters property and approved another $125,000 (~$ in ) for restoration with the construction of the office project pending. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1983.

References

External links

*, including photo from 1977, at Maryland Historical Trust {{Columbia, Maryland Buildings and structures in Columbia, Maryland Houses completed in 1885 Italianate architecture in Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Howard County, Maryland landmarks Houses in Howard County, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Howard County, Maryland Slave cabins and quarters in the United States

See also

References

External links