Robert Garrett was the original owner of the thirteen-story Garrett Building. Among other things, Garrett was a banker, Olympian, collector of medieval manuscripts, and a leader in the development of recreational facilities in Baltimore. He was a participant in the first modern Olympic games in 1896. He paid for three of his Princeton classmates to make the trip and they all took home medals, much to the displeasure of the Greeks. Garrett in particular specialized in the shot put but also decided to try the discus throw for fun after realizing the discus only weighed five pounds. Unlike the Greek discus throwers who implemented the graceful throwing techniques of antiquity, Garrett appropriated the crude, brute force style of shot put throwing to the sport. Despite narrowly missing audience members on his first two throws, his final throw was spot-on and won him the gold. He also took home the gold in shot put. Garrett built 233 East Redwood Street in 1913 with the Baltimore architecture firm Wyatt and Nolting. The limestone faced skyscraper is as striking on the inside as the outside. The lobby is donned with marble walls and columns. Garrett could never turn away from his love of athletics, not even at work. He commissioned a swimming pool and gymnasium for the upper floors. The building is now home to the Gordon Feinblatt law firm.
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]]>Beginning in 1872, the mansion was the home of Robert Garrett, president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and his wife Mary Frick Garrett. After Robert Garrett's death, Mrs. Garrett married Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs and the couple added the ballroom by purchasing the neighboring house and converting it into an space for entertaining.
The mansion is exceptional for many things, including that it can boast of being the product of two renowned architects, Stanford White and John Russell Pope. The building, and particularly the ballroom, was the location of many society balls and Gilded Age parties that included dinner, dancing, live music, theater, and other festivities often for hundreds of people.
After Mrs. Garrett passed in 1936 and Dr. Jacobs in 1939, the Mansion had a series of different owners. In 1961, The Engineer's Club leased the building from the City of Baltimore. The city had acquired the property as part of an urban renewal plan to demolish the south side of Mt. Vernon Place and make way for an expansion of the Walters Art Gallery. Fortunately, these plans never received the funding required and in 1962 the Engineer's Club purchased it outright beginning a dedicated effort to preserve and maintain the historic structure.
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