Historic Mansion Won't Be Sold For $5K Or Become Bed-And-Breakfast In Perry Hall

PERRY HALL, MD — The historic Perry Hall Mansion will not be converted into a bed-and-breakfast with an event space, multiple reports said Tuesday.

The Baltimore Sun, WYPR and The Baltimore Banner all reported that Kingsville landscaper Robert Lehnhoff no longer plans to buy the roughly 250-year-old property for $5,000 from the Baltimore County government. Lehnhoff would've also gotten a $250,000 county grant for site restorations, The Sun said.

The County Council originally approved the terms of the sale on June 3, but the transaction has since fallen through.

"Unfortunately, we have found this venture to not be feasible for us at this time," Lehnhoff said in an email to the county, according to WYPR.

The Harford Road Building LLC owner added that "The challenges with this property and its use within the residential community surrounding it appear to be too significant," WYPR reported.

Lehnhoff told The Banner he attended several neighborhood meetings and met with the Maryland Historical Trust, but the property's small footprint left insufficient room for parking, lighting and noise buffer.

"It wasn't worth it for me to upset neighbors in a community in which I have a lot of friends and that I do a lot of business," Lehnhoff said, according to The Banner.

County Council Member David Marks, who represents the area, was "profoundly disappointed" by the news. Marks said he spent months working with the prospective buyer and the community that immediately neighbors the mansion.

"Residents have resisted uses that could generate noise and traffic," Marks said Wednesday on Facebook. "I'm open to suggestions, except those who say that Perry Hall's most important landmark should collapse or be developed. We will continue to try to find the right owner."

Marks remains "committed to finding the right buyer or entity, particularly as we near Perry Hall's 250th anniversary" in 2025.

"The county and state made the correct decision buying the mansion, landmarking it, and completing repairs that stabilized the structure," Marks said. "But the costs for renovation likely exceed $1.5 million."

Perry Hall Mansion was built in the 1700s, state property records show. The Baltimore County Government bought the 3.9-acre site from Thomas Mele II for $335,000 in 2001. It's now worth almost $854,000, property records estimate.

WYPR said Baltimore County has never used the decaying mansion, which is Perry Hall's namesake.

Perry Hall Mansion sits atop a hill overlooking the Gunpowder River Valley. It is the oldest standing home in the community, and it's among the last remaining colonial homes in the county.

"We're all kind of disappointed," Perry Hall Improvement Association President Pat Keller told The Banner. "The Perry Hall Mansion has so much history — a mixed history, but a history nonetheless."

Ironworker Corbin Lee started construction on the home on his 1,000-acre estate in the 1770s.

Lee died in 1773 before the mansion was complete. Harry Dorsey Gough bought the estate from Lee's widow and named it Perry Hall.

Gough enslaved dozens of people on the property, the Banner said, noting that Gough was also in the Maryland House of Delegates and on a board of one of the state's first orphanages.

WYPR said the mansion in 1784 hosted a gathering to plan a conference in Baltimore that started the American Methodist Church.

An 1839 fire burned 60% of the Georgian structure. It was rebuilt in a Greek Revival style. It now has 16 rooms, including a library and a ballroom.

The Baltimore County Council endorsed landmark status for the mansion in 1999, two years before it bought the property.

The county completed exterior renovations in 2004, replacing the roof, painting and landscaping.

Perry Hall Mansion is located at 3930 Perry Hall Road.

To learn more about the history of Perry Hall Mansion, read this summary from Baltimore Heritage.