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Sellers Mansion

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Coordinates: 39°17′53″N 76°38′10″W / 39.29806°N 76.63611°W / 39.29806; -76.63611
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Sellers Mansion
Sellers Mansion, October 2009
Map
Location801 N. Arlington St., Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°17′53″N 76°38′10″W / 39.29806°N 76.63611°W / 39.29806; -76.63611
Arealess than one acre
Built1868 (1868)
ArchitectDavis, Edward
Architectural styleSecond Empire, Italianate
DemolishedFebruary 24, 2023
NRHP reference No.01001369[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 28, 2001
Designated BCL2009

Sellers Mansion was a historic Victorian-era home located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was a large three-story Italianate / Second Empire style brick structure located on Lafayette Square in the Harlem Park neighborhood. It was the birthplace and primary residence of aviation pioneer Matthew Bacon Sellers Jr. until 1918, and the headquarters of the community initiative Operation CHAMP from 1967 to 1980. By the early 1990s, the mansion became vacant and was deteriorating. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001, plans for restoration never came to fruition. It was demolished by the city in 2023, after an unexplained fire.

History

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The mansion was constructed in 1868 by Edward Davis as the principal residence for Matthew Bacon Sellers Sr. (1800–1880) and his second wife, Angelina (Anne) Leathers Lewis Sellers (1842–1913).[2][3] Sellers was a former slave owner from Louisiana who sold his holdings and moved to Baltimore after the Civil War.[4] In Baltimore he became President of the Northern Central Railway.[4] In keeping with the grandeur of his southern plantation, Sellers bought an unusually large lot on the prestigious Lafayette Square in the Harlem Park neighborhood. Being on the square was a sign of privilege, and because row houses were the norm, the detached mansion set it apart.[4] The recently constructed square was considered a premier location for the upper middle and professional classes. The mansion was the first parcel sold on the east side of the square, it was one of the most fashionable places to be in the city.[4] Sellers and his wife were originally from Kentucky.[5] In 1888, Sellers wife Angelina (now a widow) bought land once owned by her family near Grahn, Kentucky named "Blakemore" and used it as a country retreat while keeping Baltimore as her primary residence.[2] Sellers Mansion was the birthplace and primary residence of aviation pioneer Matthew Bacon Sellers Jr. (1869–1932), the son of Sellers Sr. and Angelina Sellers. He lived in the mansion until 1918.[4][6]

Harlem Park transitioned to a black neighborhood by the 1920s.[7] By the late-1950's, the area was abandoned by the middle class who fled the city for the suburbs, and the mansion and its environs suffered along with an increasingly destitute West Baltimore.[8]

Samuel Sellers (1874–1954), and Annabel Sellers (1879–1953), the younger children of Sellers Sr., lived their entire lives at the mansion, and were never professionally employed, living off of their substantial inheritance. In their later years – from 1930 onward – they became reclusive, rarely leaving the premises, having food brought in by helpful neighbors and taking occasional strolls in Lafayette Square. Despite their wealth they were virtually unknown in Baltimore social circles. They hoarded; according to a nephew, "the family never threw anything away". Annabel Sellers died in 1953 and Samuel Sellers followed less than a year later. Samuel was found in the house by a nephew, his body slumped in a chair clothed in a 20-year-old suit he wore consistently. The mansion was stocked with antiques, including stacks of Confederate money, and elaborate and costly European clothes, some never worn and in pristine condition. Bags of diamonds were found hidden in stacks of sheets. The house was sold at auction to speculators in March 1955 for $20,600, by the nephew, an eldest son of Sellers Jr.[3][9][6][10][11]

After the auction, the mansion became the headquarters of the City Commission on Urban Renewal.[2] In the late 1960s the home was threatened with demolition to make way for a parking lot for the St. James Terrace apartments.[2] Other arrangements were made for parking and the mansion was restored and used as a community center. From 1967 to 1980, Operation CHAMP was run from the Sellers Mansion with three mobile units delivering games and playground equipment to neighborhoods across the city. These trucks took over city streets and turned them into pop-up playgrounds for a day. It was sponsored by Baltimore City Recreation and Parks with the support of federal funds.[7] By the early 1990s, the mansion had become abandoned.[2][12] Sellers Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.[1] For a time, the property was owned by the St. James Episcopal Church, also on Lafayette Square.[8] As of 2015, the mansion was owned by the nonprofit One House at a Time.[8]

Destruction

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Local developer Ernst Valery bought it out of receivership in late 2018 for $10,000, with the intention of converting it into 15 apartments for senior citizens. "We cleared the trash and fallen walls and stairs inside. We placed a temporary roof and completed an archeological dig," said Valery in 2019. He was publicly praised for his work to stabilize the deteriorating structure.[8] However, Valery later said he could not restore the property according to historic guidelines because it would be too costly to accommodate the many historic agency requirements, while balancing the needs to make it commercially viable.[13] There was a small fire in 2021 caused by lightening, which the mansion survived;[13][14] however, a second larger fire in 2023 led to the mansion being demolished, on February 24, 2023. The structure was still standing, the walls were two-feet thick, but the city quickly tore it down while still smoking hot.[13][15][16] The cause of the fire is under investigation. A pattern of abuse was noted by a local architect, "This just keeps on happening. A developer or builder makes a nice computer model and gets permission to build. Then, pfft, nothing happens. They just let the property rot for years, and then they say, 'Oh, gee, it has to be demolished!'"[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Baltimore City Landmark Designation: Sellers Mansion" (PDF). Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. June 10, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Mahood, Kate; Bittner, Moss (July 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Sellers Mansion" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Abandoned mansion in Baltimore: Sellers Mansion". Historic Structures. June 6, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  5. ^ "Inventions". Kentucky Bar Journal. 36: 44. 1972.
  6. ^ a b Sellers, Barbara L. (2008). "Matthews Main Residence in Baltimore". matthewbsellers.com. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Harlem Park". Baltimore Heritage. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Rodricks, Dan (May 3, 2019). "Saving Sellers Mansion, at long last, could spark revival around Lafayette Square". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024. By the 1920s, the residents were almost completely black.
  9. ^ "Victorian Mansion Brings $20,600 at Auction". The Baltimore Sun. March 24, 1955 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Stump, William (January 23, 1955). "Reminder Of A Towering Rage: A 40-Foot Wall Stands as That, Beside an Old House Relics of a Vanished Aged". The Baltimore Sun. p. M10. ProQuest 541578186.
  11. ^ Kelly, Jacques (December 19, 2015). "Sellers Mansion is sad relic, but could be a new cornerstone of Lafayette Square". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 15, 2024. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  12. ^ Condon, Christine (October 27, 2021). "Fire quickly extinguished at West Baltimore's historic Sellers Mansion on Wednesday morning". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Philipsen, Klaus (March 3, 2023). "The loss of Sellers Mansion: "All or Nothing" in Historic Preservation?". Community Architect Daily. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  14. ^ Ricks, Molly (October 28, 2021). "Fire at the Sellers Mansion". Baltimore Heritage. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  15. ^ Price, Lily (February 24, 2023). "West Baltimore's historic Sellers Mansion demolished after three-alarm fire". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  16. ^ Fenton, Justin; Quaranta, Cadence (February 24, 2023). "Sellers Mansion torn down after 3-alarm blaze". Baltimore Banner. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  17. ^ Shen, Fern (April 12, 2023). "A look at Baltimore's preservation and planning fiascos (part 2)". Baltimore Brew. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
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