Mansion

A 1917 Baltimore County mansion that was once the home of Gen. Douglas MacArthur remains for sale after owners rejected a $1.4 million auction bid yesterday. Three groups registered to bid on the Irish-Georgian-style mansion, which sits on 19 acres at 10700 Park Heights Ave. in Green Spring Valley. Known as Rainbow Hall, the property was the Baptist Home of Maryland/Delaware Inc. nursing home for 38 years. Bidding started at $1 million, and when the unidentified high bidder raised the bar to $1.4 million with no one exceeding it, the auctioneers temporarily suspended the event.

They came. They sniffed. They smiled. They sipped. They left - still smiling. That pretty much describes the behavior of guests at last weekend's Spring Has Sprung Tea and Garden Tour at Gramercy Mansion in Stevenson. The nearly 50 participants were split into two groups and each alternately toured the Tudor-style mansion circa 1902 and its gardens at 1400 Greenspring Valley Road. In between their tours, they all sat down together for high tea, which included, along with the tea, served on fine china, four courses of scones with Devon cream, hors d'oeuvres, finger sandwiches, truffles and petite fours.

NEW YORK -- The couple of the '80s who split in the '90s, Donald and Ivana Trump officially brought down the curtain Saturday when they settled on the divorce deal of the decade.In discussions Friday that went from 5 p.m. to midnight, Donald and Ivana met face to face in the Park Avenue law office of Jay Goldberg, who represents Donald. Things were testy for a while. But, Mr. Goldberg said, "As with all final divorce negotiations, things started off hot, and then reason overcame emotion."In the end, the $14 million cash settlement came down to who gets the old Mercedes (Ms. Trump)

House hunters searching for an in-town, historic mansion in Mount Vernon, the heart of Baltimore's cultural center, need look no further than 514 Cathedral Street. The address is home to a 9,000-square-foot town house lovingly restored over the last eight years by its owner, Drew Rieger. Dating to 1847, the six-level, elegant home was once the residence of a commander of the Civil War. "It's the only house in Mount Vernon that has been restored back to its original 1840s floor plan," Rieger said.

A Taneytown couple whose historic mansion became a lead-dust nightmare want a court order allowing them to keep a mobile home on the property while they continue trying to fix the problem.Trevanion had been vacant for several years, and its price had dropped from almost $1 million to about $350,000, when Jane E. and David Williams Jr. moved in in January 1995.The couple knew the nearly 200-year-old, 27-room house in the 1800 block of Trevanion Road would need a lot of work, Jane Williams said, but they had no idea of the problems with lead paint they would encounter.

SEVERNA PARK -- Great houses, like great ideas, often outlive their creators -- and so it is with Wroxeter-on-Severn, a turn-of-the-century Normandy mansion built by a wealthy Edwardian industrialist and being offered for sale Tuesday at an absolute auction.The house has survived almost a century of shifting owners and changing fortunes, said owner Jim Bowersox, who rescued it from a wrecking ball in 1992 and has spent five years restoring it to its original elegance."By the time we got around to it, it was really on its last legs," Bowersox said of the 33-room mansion he and his wife, Linda, share with their two children.

One of the Baltimore area's most historically significant residences is headed for a foreclosure auction today, more than two years after owner and prominent businessman Stephen A. Geppi put it up for sale for $7.7 million amid the slumping housing market. The mid-19th-century mansion in Green Spring Valley known as Cliffeholme, with eight bedrooms and nine fireplaces, is scheduled for sale at the Baltimore County Courthouse with an outstanding mortgage debt of $3.25 million, court records show.

The Mount Vernon house spent decades as one of several 19th-century millionaires' mansions. But in the last 25 years, the Patrick Allison House has found another mission. Once a church office, it is now a sanctuary for the homeless where a neighboring congregation once served breakfasts. Its role changed to fit a need, and its rooms are now a year-round residence. The spacious bedrooms house homeless men who have given up drugs and alcohol and are making their way into the workforce, often after release from prison or jail.

The Baltimore County mansion known as Cliffeholme, built in the mid-19th century and owned by businessman Stephen A. Geppi, was bought back at a foreclosure sale Thursday by the mortgage lender. A trustee for lender Bank of America bid $2.8 million for the nearly 14,000-square-foot residence on 9 acres in Green Spring Valley. Geppi and his wife, Melinda, who bought the property in 2004 for $4.8 million, defaulted on the loan in February 2009 and owed $3.2 million on the mortgage, according to court documents.

The Baltimore County mansion known as Cliffeholme, built in the mid-19th century and owned by businessman Stephen A. Geppi, was bought back at a foreclosure sale Thursday by the mortgage lender. A trustee for lender Bank of America bid $2.8 million for the nearly 14,000-square-foot residence on 9 acres in Green Spring Valley. Geppi and his wife, Melinda, who bought the property in 2004 for $4.8 million, defaulted on the loan in February 2009 and owed $3.2 million on the mortgage, according to court documents.

Ray Lewis has quit football and apparently he's leaving his Florida mansion behind too. The Ravens star has put his West Palm Beach property on the market, asking $5 million for the luxury estate. The home, along the prestigious Ocean Drive, boasts seven bedrooms and more than 6,700 square feet to spread out and squirrel dance. Built in 2001, there are also nine bathrooms, a five-car garage, a pool and an elevator. It's a pink Mediterranean, surrounded by lush tropical landscaping.

Faced with the challenge of keeping a historic mansion warm for elderly residents while reining in costs, the nonprofit organization that operates the 18th-century Chase-Lloyd House in Annapolis is turning to 21st-century techniques to save the day. Chase Home Inc., an organization that runs the historic building as both housing for elderly women and a tourist attraction, recently contracted for an energy audit to determine if technology can help...

An old Victorian home, built of granite and dating to 1896, sits on the corner of two wide, tree-lined streets in Havre de Grace, welcoming visitors from near and far. Carol Nemeth, has been running her "Victorian Lady" as a full-time bed-and-breakfast since 1994, seven years after she and her then-husband, Jim, purchased it in 1987. The intention was never to turn it into a B&B, but rather to take a neglected property and bring it back to its original condition. The Nemeths had restored one home in town, but they wanted to try their hands at a larger place.

At any given time, it's fair to say there are at least a few properties on the market in Harford County that could be described as historic, if the definition of historic simply means old. One such property was brought to the attention of the Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners last week when a representative of its owner approached the commissioners about the possibility of the town buying the mansion. The house in question, owned by Judith Graybeal Eagle, is on 2.85 acres near the entrance to the Liriodendron Mansion, a noteworthy property owned by Harford County and operated as part of the county parks system.

What's new at Antrim 1844? Not much, really. If it wasn't your thing then, it still won't be now. But If you enjoyed coming up to Taneytown for your 30th anniversary dinner at the Smokehouse Restaurant, you won't regret the drive up to northwest Carroll County for your 40th. For one thing, the fixed price for six-course meal is $68.50, which is only $8 more than it was in 2002. The dining rooms, set on a lower level of the 1844 mansion, are as you remember them, formally set with pretty china and glassware, but cool and comfortable.

The following is compiled from police reports. It is the Baltimore Messenger's policy to include descriptions only when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Baltimore City Police Department's Northern District at 410-396-2455. Yellowwood Avenue 4800 block, between 6:20 and 7 p.m. Nov. 14. MacBook, purse, ID, driver's license, ATM card, credit cards stolen from unsecured office at Ruscombe Mansion.

It was one big, happy, family that turned out for the dedication of the Clifton Mansion Tower in Baltimore's Clifton Park. About 40 of the 200 people present were descendants of Johns Hopkins, who bought the Clifton Mansion in 1836 and used it as his summer home.The tower was dedicated to Samuel Hopkins, Johns Hopkins' great-great-nephew, past president and member of the Baltimore City Board of Recreation and Parks, and current board member of Civic Works. Both organizations sponsored the ceremony and reception.

Throughout the month of March, the Mansion Theater is celebrating its fifth anniversary of presenting films and videos. On Monday, Seattle-based Blackchair Productions presents a showcase of foreign short films at 8:30 p.m., followed by a program of videos from the Northern Ireland-based Video Cats at 10 p.m. On Wednesday, the Mansion will present its monthly open screening at 9 p.m., preceded by a program of erotic short films at 7:30 p.m. At 10 p.m., there...

Now that, thanks to Tribune's diligent boffins, I can return to my regular perch here, let me remind you that You Don't Say  has many mansions.  In addition to this address, which has been in effect since February of this year, there is the original You Don't Say  site, which contains posts from December 2005 through April 2009, and posts from May 2010 through January 2012: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/mcintyre/blog/ ...

Whatever you thought of the original "Dallas"  on CBS, you have to admit it spoke to its times like few other pop culture artifacts of the 1980s. In the Reagan era with its celebration of McMansions, corporations and de-regulated savings & loan presidents who got rich by stealing from their elderly clients, why wouldn't J.R. Ewing become the most popular character in prime time drama? Was any character more an embodiment of 1980's values? But why in the world would anyone think it was a good idea to revisit that turf again in 2012, simply repeating the same conflicts, themes and values almost note for note as they were first sounded some 34 years ago?