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ENJOY! MAY 2014
Glen Burnie house prepares for reopening By Ryan Cornell WINCHESTER -- It's the nicest home in Winchester.
The Glen Burnie house, a 6,000-square-foot historic estate on the grounds of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, is set to open to the public on June 10 after an extensive two-year renovation project. The house sits on land once surveyed and settled by Winchester founder James Wood, and the oldest portions of the house stretch back to 1793 and 1794. Descendant and artist Julian Wood Glass Jr. owned the house with his partner, R. Lee Taylor, from the 1950s until Glass' death in 1992. It opened to the public on a seasonal basis in 1997. Unlike the roped-off guided tours of their home in previous years, the house can now be used for special events such as lectures, performances and dinners in the same way that Glass and Taylor entertained the guests who visited their country retreat.
Three black-tie performances of the two-act play “The Hollow Crown” will be held in the house's drawing room from 6 to 9 p.m. on June 5, 6 and 7. The play, first presented by The Royal Shakespeare Company, features eight musicians and actors performing songs and reading from poetry, speeches and letters written by or about Great Britain's monarchs over a period of 800 years, according to a release sent by the museum.
TOP: Jason Worthington, of Culpeper-based Kearney & Associates, adds LED lights to a miniature model of the Glen Burnie house located in its dining room. ABOVE: The Glen Burnie house at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley will be open to the public next month after an extensive two-year renovation project. Photo courtesy of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. RIGHT: The pink pavilion, located in the gardens surrounding the Glen Burnie house, will be used for programs and a live band will play during the Sixties Summer Soirée. Ryan Cornell/Daily
playing inside the house, an assorter garden, along with a pond filled ment of 1960s-inspired hors d'oeuvres with golden trout. and a cocktail cash bar. Inside the Glen Burnie house, original paintings and artifacts owned by According to Julie Armel, deputy director of community relations at the Glass will be on display. museum, the soirée will coincide with Armel said that the new LED lights Maral Kalbian, an architectural histori- the blooming of hundreds of roses in installed in the house not only save on the Glen Burnie garden electricity, but also doesn't damage an who worked on the Glen Burnie renovation project, will present a lec- The six acres of gardens surrounding the artworks like the previous 1960sthe house are nearly as impressive as era lighting. ture from noon to 2 p.m. June 14 A miniature model of the house sits in the house itself. about the recent discoveries of the the center of its dining room, filled with house and its inhabitants. The roses in the rose garden are plantintricate details and tiny furniture. ed by color, in assortments of yellow, On June 28, the museum is hosting pink, white, orange and red. Another Armel said the renovations and special the Sixties Summer Soirée, a 1960sstyle cocktail party in the Glen Burnie garden is filled with statues and busts events are a way to make the historical house relevant and interesting to of figures from ancient Greece, and house and its surrounding gardens. The soirée will feature dancing to live not far from that is a garden planted people. music by the Jeff Decker Swing Band, in the shape of the British Union Jack “This is an opportunity for people to complimentary champagne, a pianist flag. A pagoda teahouse sits in anoth- experience the house just as Julian
and Lee used it and lived in it,” she said. Reservations for “The Hollow Crown” performances are required by June 2, and can be made online at theMSV.org or by calling 540-6621473, ext. 208. Registration for the “New Discoveries at Glen Burnie” lecture is required by June 6, and can be made online or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 240. The Sixties Summer Soirée will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. June 28. Reservations can be made online or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 213. For more information, contact 540-662-1473, ext. 235, or visit theMSV.org. Contact staff writer Ryan Cornell at 540-465-5137 ext. 164, or rcornell@nvdaily.com
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A slate of activities is already scheduled for the house next month.