The Baltimore Rowhouse

by Mary Ellen Hayward, Charles Belfoure

Perhaps no other American city is so defined by an indigenous architectural style as Baltimore is by the rowhouse, whose brick facades march up and down the gentle hills of the city. Why did the rowhouse thrive in Baltimore? How did it escape destruction here, unlike in many other historic American cities? What were the forces that led to the citywide renovation of Baltimore's rowhouses? The Baltimore Rowhouse is the fascinating 200-year story of this building type. It chronicles the evolution of the rowhouse from its origins as speculative housing for immigrants, through its reclamation and renovation by young urban pioneers thanks to local government sponsorship, to its current occupation by a new cadre of wealthy professionals. The Baltimore Rowhouse was winner of the 2000 Maryland Historical Trust Heritage Book Award for outstanding books of scholarly or general interest.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 1997

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is exactly what you think it will be. Very informative and just interesting enough to keep you moving. Finding the joy in this book is like finding the joy in block after block of red brick row houses. You have to decided that it’s charming.

My only complaint—and it’s a small one—is that 99 percent of the images were grouped together in special signatures. I’d understand if they were printed in color or on different paper, but that wasn’t the case. Maybe they were in the hardcover edition. But even in 2001 (when the paperback edition came out), it would not have been too hard to lay out the book again with the photos dispersed to the relevant places. It’s a problem a second bookmark easily solves, but it’s still a problem.

[Kathy kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history of row houses, a particularly popular housing style in Baltimore from its beginning to present day. I learned a lot about the City and development of the building trade. What was interesting is that the rows fell out of favor to be replaced by high rises, which became a Mecca for crime ( as in most cities) The people got involved and new row houses replaced old. Agree that part of this was tedious. I wish that I had read a paper edition so as to see the diagrams better. A good read and interesting to people interested in urban development.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book - in fact the ONLY book to my knowledge - on the topic of rowhomes in Baltimore. Presented in a rather dry manner, and due for an update (references to "current" home prices are 20+ years and hundreds of thousands of dollars off by now). Would have benefitted from significantly more floorplan examples to show the evolution of home layouts (see The Decorated Tenement for a book that does this well).

[Philip Porter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's what I liked: the detailed history of some the of the neighborhoods and the perspective on the development process for the rowhouse as a type. Here's what I found challenging: the use of architecture terms without definition, the repetition, the historical facts without context, the repetitiveness of the analysis. I think they needed a different editor. As a non-architect, I wanted to learn about the different types of row houses I see or have been in. But the architectural jargon was alienating rather than helpful. It felt like the authors had a lot of knowledge they felt compelled to put into the book. While it was organized by time period, I think a more useful means of organizing would have been to take a representative neighborhood and go deeper about the architecture, the social context, etc. Also, the pictures and examples were not uniformly so clearly marked as to help me find the buildings on google earth or something. More and better maps would have been helpful.

I wanted more, but I think the authors were writing for a different audience. I will look for a history of Baltimore generally, and then one for minor hoods I am interested in.

[Callie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit tedious in detail at times, but overall a fascinating tale of Baltimore history though the story of how Charm City's unique residential architecture came to be. Having lived in one of these beautiful row houses, I loved this book. I am not an architecture professor, but if I were, I'd make my students read it.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annoy your friends as you walk around the city with tidbits like "that brick pattern is called Flemish bond and means the house was built before 1820" and "those flower panels make that house Queen Anne style."

[Cynthia]

Mary Ellen Hayward is pretty much the go-to-gal for Baltimore history, it seems. This volume is very detailed, and I love the abundance of historic photographs and blueprints. I am a bit disappointed in her system of annotation, but I'm sure I'll find what I'm looking for eventually.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much of this book is a listing of where and when rowhouse developments were constructed and what they looked like. But the narratives about the residents who occupied these homes and the developers who built them--the career of E.J. Gallagher receives much attention--was much more interesting.

[diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite non-fiction books about Baltimore. I continually refer to it, or I did before I moved to Germany.

[Bynum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably wouldn't find this as interesting if I wasn't surrounded by Baltimore rowhouses, but it is still probably of general interest to those interested in the vernacular.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oy. Not that interesting. I flipped through it and looked at the pictures, but I didn't read more than a couple dozen pages.

[Allison]

I read this book over 10 years ago and I still remember it. Cool stuff about the way Baltimore came to be as it is today through row houses. I was living in one at the time. Def worth a read if you’re in bmore.