- Harmony Hall
Infobox nrhp | name =Harmony Hall, Fort Washington, Maryland
nrhp_type = nhl
caption = Harmony Hall
nearest_city=Oxon Hill, Maryland
locmapin = Maryland
area =
built =c. 1723
architect= Unknown
architecture= Georgian
added =June 6 ,1980
governing_body =National Park Service (1966–present)
refnum=80000673cite web|url=http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/80000673.pdf |format=PDF |title=NRHP Inventory - Nomination Form |date=1980-06-06 |accessdate=2008-08-09|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]Harmony Hall, located in
Fort Washington, Maryland , is managed by the United States National Park Service as part of theNational Capital Parks-East system. It has been a National Park Service site since 1966. [http://www.packyourgear.com/DistrictofColumbia/Harmony-Hall.aspx Harmony Hall] , PackYourGear.com website] Harmony Hall is a two-and-one-half story Georgian country house built of red brick during the eighteenth century. It is surrounded by 65 acres of land on Broad Creek, aPotomac River tributary. [ [http://www.nps.gov/haha/ Harmony Hall] , National Park Service official website]The house was built circa 1723 for Mr. William Tyler. The estate was originally called Battersea, but came to be called Harmony Hall some time after 1792, when it was occupied by brothers John and Walter Dulaney Addison and their wives. The name "Harmony Hall" commemorates the two couples' harmonious coexistence.
The home was extensively restored beginning in 1927 by Charles Wallace Collins (1879–1964), a lawyer, writer, and librarian who made his home in Harmony Hall and devoted himself to its restoration after he retired. [http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/1724 Papers of Charles Wallace Collins] , University of Maryland Libraries website] Collins bequeathed the house to the National Park Service.
Beginning in 1985, Frank Calhoun leased the mansion and lived there, investing more than $1 million into the house and its upkeep. After he fell behind on renovations in his early 60s, the Park Service asked Calhoun to leave in 1999. The property has been empty and in accelerating decline since then. Though the Park Service periodically sends in staff and enlists students to clean up the grounds, Harmony Hall competes with many other historic properties for attention and funding. [cite news |first=Marc |last=Fisher |title=Historic Md. Manor's Deteriorating Situation |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/21/AR2008062101499.html |work=
The Washington Post |date=2008-06-22 |pages=C1, C3 |accessdate=2008-08-09 ]The home has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places since 1980, at which time its condition was described as "excellent". As of August 2008, Harmony Hall is closed to the public. [ [http://www.nps.gov/haha/planyourvisit/directions.htm Harmony Hall Directions] , National Park Service official website]Gallery
References
External links
* [http://www.nps.gov/haha/ Official site]
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