Roland Park, Baltimore, Maryland
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Roland Park Historic District
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House along Goodwood Gardens
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| Location | Irregular pattern between Belvedere Ave., Falls Rd., 39th St., and Stoney Run, Baltimore, Maryland |
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| Coordinates | 39°20′57″N 76°38′05″W / 39.34917°N 76.63472°WCoordinates: 39°20′57″N 76°38′05″W / 39.34917°N 76.63472°W |
| Area | 700 acres (280 ha) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | Olmsted, Frederick Law; Et al. |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian |
| NRHP Reference # | 74002213 |
| Added to NRHP | December 23, 1974 |
Roland Park is the first planned "suburban" community in North America, located in Baltimore, Maryland. It was developed between 1890 and 1920 as an upper-class streetcar suburb. The early phases of the neighborhood were designed by Edward Bouton and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Jarvis and Conklin, a Chicago investment firm, purchased 500 acres of land near Lake Roland in 1891 and founded the Roland Park Company with $1 million in capital. Not long after, the Panic of 1893 forced Jarvis and Conklin to sell the Roland Park Company to the firm of Stewart and Young. Despite the dire economics after 1893, Stewart and Young continued investment in the development.
The Roland Park Company hired Kansas City developer Edward H. Bouton as the general manager and George Edward Kessler to lay out the lots for the first tract. They hired the Olmsted Brothers to lay out the second tract, and installed expensive infrastructure, including graded-streets, gutters, sidewalks, and constructed the Lake Roland Elevated Railroad. The company consulted George E Waring, Jr. to advise them on the installation of a sewer system. Bouton placed restrictive covenants on all lots in Roland Park. These included setback requirements and proscriptions against any business operations.
Bouton and some Baltimore investors purchased the interests of Roland Park and reorganized the company in 1903.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. cited Roland Park as a model residential subdivision to his Harvard School of Design students. Duncan McDuffie, developer of St. Francis Wood in San Francisco, called Roland Park "an ideal residential district." Jesse Clyde Nichols had found inspiration in Roland Park when he was planning the Country Club District of Kansas City. Nichols continued to refer to Roland Park as an ideal residential development when he counselled other residential developers.
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Wikipedia