Tudor Arms Apartments on University Parkway is one of the few cooperative housing apartments in Baltimore. It is composed of two buildings, which sit within the Roland Park Historic District. The first of the two apartment buildings, which is five-stories tall, replaced a popular tavern at the site known as Biddy Rice’s Saloon. After purchasing the site from the Roland Park Company in January 1911, the Wentworth Apartment Company would begin constructing the first building, at a cost of $100,000 at the time. The company’s secretary, J.G. Valiant, would be the building’s renting agent.

Two renowned architects, Clyde Nelson Friz and Edward Hughes Glidden, worked together on the building’s architecture, with brick and stone in the style of Tudor Revival, and terra cotta trimmings. The building opened to residents in 1912 with the name Tudor Hall. This “high-class apartment,” as it was described at the time, had a working elevator (which remains in operation), steam heat, hardwood floors, and other amenities. The nearby concrete bridge over Stony Run had only been built four years earlier, which is still intact. A train, part of the Maryland and Pennsylvania railroad, would run underneath the bridge until January 1958 when it stopped operating there.

Friz and Glidden partnered again for the second building, named Essex Arms, which had the same architectural style as the first building. It opened to residents in 1922. The building’s landlord, Guilford Realty Company, later purchased the building from the Wentworth Apartment Company. The apartments were available to rent on a month-to-month basis. On February 25, 1929, the 91ĚŇÉ«ĘÓƵ City Council unanimously voted to rename the dirt road to the south of the apartment building from “Tudor Hall Avenue” to “Tudor Arms Avenue.” The name is still used to this day.

In May 1947, three residents, Marie Codd, Nora Quillen, and Ralph Quillen purchased the buildings from the landlord, planning to make Essex Arms and Tudor Hall into a cooperative housing corporation, naming it Tudor Arms Apartments. This came to pass in October 1947.

Some residents challenged this and sued the newly-established cooperative. However, the highest court in Maryland, the Court of Appeals, ruled in favor of the cooperative, and against the tenant challengers, in the case of Tudor Arms Apartments v. Shaffer. The ruling, which reversed a circuit court decision, held that those who bought cooperative apartment units were the owners indefinitely, as long as they exercised “good behavior.” Their decision would later be cited by courts in Maryland, Illinois and Massachusetts in cases involving other housing cooperatives, such as Greenbelt Homes and Village Green Mutual Homes.

Sometime after the founding of the Tudor Arms housing cooperative, likely in either the late 1940s or 1950s, a bridge connecting Essex Arms and Tudor Hall would be constructed, signifying that both buildings were one community. Specific building names would later be dropped. The terms “North Building” and “South Building” would be used in their place. Over the years, Tudor Arms has been the home to many prominent residents. This has included epidemiologist Wade Hampton Frost, historical scholar Kent Roberts Greenfield, sculptor Ephraim Keyser (and his wife Fannie), music educators Grace Harriet Spofford and Elizabeth Coulson, Theo Lippman (father of Baltimore writer Laura Lippman), and former Maryland State Senator Jill P. Carter.

In the late 1960s, the Tudor Arms Board opposed plans by the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks to change neighboring Wyman Park into a recreation space, wanting it to be “natural,” instead. To justify their decision, they cited their support for Johns Hopkins University’s purchase of 31 acres of the park for university development in 1961, which included the creation of San Martin Drive.

In recent years, residents have honored the apartment community’s history with “Tudor Arms Day” in August 2024 and “Tudor Arms Day 2” in April of this year. This included a guided tour to historical spots of note, multiple tri-fold historic display boards, a self-guided scavenger hunt, an unveiling of a painting commissioned by residents of the North Building, and other activities.

501 West University Parkway, Baltimore, MD 21210

A Relic of Baltimore's Early Water Supply System

The Roland Water Tower was built in 1905 as a 211,000-gallon water tank to supply residents in Hampden and nearby neighborhoods. It was part of a complicated water supply system that included the Western Pumping Station at Druid Lake. The design by William J. Fizone is similar to the slightly larger West Arlington water tower built in the northwest section of the city.

The tower only served that purpose for a few years, however, and by 1930 the tower was taken out of service leaving a curious local landmark empty. Still the tower has endured as an icon for the nearby Roland Park community and local preservationists have organized the Friends of the Roland Water Tower to advocate for the restoration and reuse of the structure.

4210 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210

Designed by architect Edward L. Palmer, Jr. in 1925, the handsome Roland Park Apartments, now known as the Roland Park Condominium, is a significant example of Beaux Arts architecture in North Baltimore. The building was erected by the M.A. Long Company, owned by the same M.A. Long who served as President of the Roland Park Apartments Company. The garage, originally known as the "Roland Park Stables," was designed by architects Wyatt & Nolting in 1903.

Baltimore native Edward Livingston Palmer, Jr. was born in 1877, graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1899 and went on to receive a degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1903. Palmer returned to Baltimore and by June 1907, he had become an architect for The Roland Park Company. In this position he contributed to the design and development of Homeland, Roland Park, and Guilford. Roland Park Apartments was converted to condominiums in 1980.

6 Upland Road, Baltimore, MD 21210

Founded in 1791, St. Mary's Seminary and University was the first Catholic seminary in the United States. It was granted a civil charter by the State of Maryland in 1805 and in 1822, Pope Pius VII established it as the first seminary in the U.S. to grant ecclesiastical degrees, which it still does to this day. Originally on Paca Street, the seminary moved to its present location on Roland Avenue and Northern Parkway in Roland Park in 1929.

This massive building, designed by Boston architects Maginnis and Walsh, has a classical entrance. Immediately inside stands a statue of Mary, the patroness of the seminary, called Sedes Sapientiae, or Our Lady Seat of Wisdom. The main chapel, fitted in marble and oak, contains a Casavant pipe organ and stained glass windows imported from Paris. Today the seminary is cared for by the Sulpician Fathers and the building still houses seminarians following their calling.

5400 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210