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

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. 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 Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

and

Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century ...

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 was a publicly traded shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939. Beginnings: Moss-Rouse Com ...

for the planned community development

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

, 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 curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.corn crib A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It may also be known as a cornhouse or corn house. Overview After the harvest and while still on the cob, corn is placed in the crib either with or without the husk. The ...

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

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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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