Preservationists are using new technology to bolster efforts to find a buyer for Whites Hall, the Gambrills birthplace of Johns Hopkins.
Preservation Maryland, a nonprofit organization that has advocated for saving the historic estate, recently partnered with Owings Mills-based commercial drone operator Elevated Element to create a three-dimensional model of the home and grounds for potential buyers to peruse.
Once threatened with the prospect of demolition, the 18th-century Georgian-style home is now on the market for $700,000 — with the caveat that it must be renovated and preserved by its future owner.
Preservation Maryland and developer Polm Cos., which owns Whites Hall, announced the house was for sale in April. Polm Cos. bought the 13-acre property in 2005 and in January asked Anne Arundel County for a permit to demolish the home, garnering pushback from local residents and historical groups.
Sarah Aaron, a representative for Polm Cos, said the developer has received some inquiries about the property, but it’s still up for sale for an “open-ended” period of time.
Aaron said the company approved the drone photographs of Whites Hall in the hopes of attracting more attention to the house.
Preservation Maryland’s executive director, Nicholas Redding, said his group “expect(s) this will help in our effort to market this structure and find a buyer very soon.”
The organization has pledged to help a future buyer search for financial incentives to help fund preservation work. Anne Arundel County launched its own program this spring that allows people renovating historic properties to claim a credit on their property tax bill equivalent to a quarter of a preservation project’s cost, up to $50,000.
Whites Hall was built between 1784 and 1792, according to state records. Hopkins, who is known for helping to start the hospital and university named after him in Baltimore, was born there in 1795.
The drone photos were taken July 16 and then stitched together using photogrammetry software to create a 3D image incorporating hundreds of different perspectives. The final photograph is often accurate to several inches.
Elevated Element President Terry Kilby said the project could be “the first of many” in collaboration with preservationists. The company took the photos of Whites Hall for free “because of their concern for the property and interest in partnering with Maryland’s preservation community to help document important places,” according to a news release.
“This new technology has the ability to change the way we interact with buildings and could be a game-changer for historic preservation,” Kilby said in a statement.
Drone photography gives preservationists “the ability to document (historic properties) in their environment, and relatively cheaply compared to some of the technologies that existed before,” Redding said. He suggested it could be used to capture historic homes that are not only endangered due to development, but also those that are threatened by sea-level rise and environmental damage.
Redding said he believes Whites Hall is one of the first endangered historic properties in the state to be photographed by drone. He plans to use the coordinates provided by the 360-degree picture to create a model of the house using a 3D printer.
“I hope it’ll raise some eyebrows,” he said.
