About Baltimore's Mount Washington

Baltimore truly is a city of neighborhoods. Despite the many hundreds of thousands of people who live within the city's borders, we are not a homogenous mass. The city has grown from pre-Colonial as new groups came for the commerce that a port city offers and the jobs that grow from that. And as the center of the city filled up, people moved out to find more space and new opportunities.
Mount Washington is one of those "street-car suburbs" that began in the 19^th century when people looked for a way to escape the crush and heat of the city. Originally a summer retreat to the country, Mount Washington quickly grew into a year round community which now includes about 1,600 homes of just about every style and every age from brand new condominium to houses that are more than 100 years old.. With many homes of Victorian and Georgian style, there is a bit of a New England village feel, especially in the Mount Washington Village area.

Mount Washington Village snuggles into a bend of the Jones Falls with tree-lined streets and shops, boutiques, galleries, cafes and professional offices. There are great places to eat and shop, plus one of my favorite creative spots, Baltimore Clayworks, a nationally recognized non-profit educational organization housed in an wonderful old library building. Any time I need a creativity boost, I'm glad Clayworks is nearby.

Up the hill from the Village is the Mt. Washington Conference Center owned and operated by The Johns Hopkins University. Across the Jones Falls from the village sits The Mount Washington Mill, an historic mill complex that has been reborn as a shopping center with Whole Foods, Starbucks, and other fun stores and galleries. All that Mount Washington has to offer is made easily accessible by the Light Rail system with a stop right in the Village.

For the athletic, Mount Washington also has two swim clubs, one of which is a year-round facility that has produced Olympic swimmers. The Meadowbrook Aquatic Center has two famous alumni - Katy Hoff and Michael Phelps. For a less athletic experience, a walk along the Cylburn Arboretum's well marked nature trails is a great stress reliever, especially in the spring.

The Mount Washington Improvement Association, one of the oldest neighborhood associations in the country, rightly claims that their historic neighborhood is "diverse, eclectic and very stable" and "an ideal setting for families." All this, and the attractions of downtown Baltimore are just 15 minutes away. I guess you can see why I think of Mount Washington as My Baltimore Neighborhood.

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My favorite place in Baltimore City is in the 21209 ZIP code. That would be my house, of course. But besides having HomeRome's home, 21209 includes many of the things that make Baltimore attractive.

Mount Washington is in the northwestern part of the city, and combines many of the pleasures of country living with easy access to the attractions of downtown Baltimore by way of the Jones Falls Expressway and Maryland's light rail system. The area is home to some 1,600 residences from 100-year-old mansions to modern condo developments. If you're looking for Georgian and Victorian architecture, this is a good spot to visit.

Though it is now within the city limits, Mt. Washington began in the mid-nineteenth century as a place to escape Baltimore's oppressive summer heat. When the city became intolerable, many of the wealthier families escaped to Mt. Washington which was one of the first "street-car suburbs" of Baltimore. Before long, the neighborhood became home to year-round residents, and a neighborhood association was born in 1885. The Mt. Washington Improvement Association is one of the oldest such groups in the country, and still very active in preserving Mt. Washington's charms.

Besides having lovely neighborhoods, Mt. Washington has a shopping and dining center in the Mt. Washington Village. The Mt. Washington Conference Center provides an elegant "in the country" venue for meetings. There are wonderful restaurants here like Crepe Du Jour and the Mt. Washington Tavern. There are salons and wellness centers to make you feel great inside and out, and fun shopping for clothes, jewelry, and handcrafts at places like Something Else and Jurus. Speaking as a ceramic artist, one of my favorite places is Baltimore Clayworks; even if I don't create in clay anymore, I can still enjoy the events and exhibitions and find irresistible treasures there.

Naturally, I love to list and sell houses in 21209. A couple of years ago I sold this house in the Pill Hill area (so named because of all the doctors who lived there!). While showing the house back then I met a couple who went out of the country for two years. When they came back they remembered me, and by chance the same house was back on the market due to a divorce. It wasn't quite right, but a smaller house across the street was in immaculate move-in condition, and that's the one they chose – we go to settlement in February.

In addition to the Victorian charm of Mt. Washington Village, 21209 includes such modern and desirable residences as the Heather Ridge Condo on Red Cedar Place. The combination of country-like setting and near-to-everything convenience makes this another example of why this ZIP is so popular. Some older homes are taken down and replaced with two, while other people simply add on as we've seen in the desirable Cheswolde neighborhood. Green Gate is another popular community in 21209 where town homes offer convenience and comfort.

When you come down to it, a ZIP code is just a number. But a long time ago I learned that a number can bring attention to my listings…many of which are in 21209.