The Homewood Estate was offered as a wedding gift in 1800 by
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, (1737–1832), the longest surviving signer of the
Declaration of Independence, to his son
Charles Carroll Jr. It occupied acres in northern Baltimore and was first known as "Merryman's Lott." Carroll had purchased the parcel of land in 1794. Charles Carroll Jr. began construction on a stately and modern country home of his own design in 1801 and had mostly finished by 1808. It cost $40,000, four times the budgeted expense. For reasons both personal and political, "Homewood" led to a severe breach in relations between father and son. Ultimately,
Carroll (Senior) bought the house from his son in 1824 and managed the "most improvident waste" until his son's death the next year. The house then passed to
Charles Carroll III, (the grandson), who lived there until he inherited the rural landmark family estate,
Doughoregan Manor (in modern
Howard County), from his grandfather. The house was the birthplace of
John Lee Carroll in 1830, second son of
Charles Carroll, III, who would become
Governor of Maryland. In 1839, Charles Carroll III sold Homewood to , a Baltimore merchant, who lived there with his family until 1865. During the Wyman family's tenure, Wyman's son William commissioned
Richard Upjohn to build an
Italianate mansion on the grounds, named "Homewood Villa." The Villa was demolished by Johns Hopkins University in 1954; however, the gatehouse to the estate remains, and can be seen as an example of the villa design. On Samuel Wyman's death the property was divided between his sons. In 1897, Homewood House became the first
Gilman School, known at its founding as The Country School for Boys. In 1902 the property was reassembled and given to
Johns Hopkins University. In 1916 the mansion became the University Faculty Club. In 1936, Homewood was converted to offices for the university president and deans. Johns Hopkins University now operates Homewood Museum, which opened to the public in 1987, and its
Federal-style architecture, with its red brick and white marble, serves as the inspiration for the campus' design. ==Architecture==