Welcome to Evergreen.Located at 4545 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland, this house has been for two generations the house of the Garretts one of the most influential families of the area.
Their story is wonderful because the real realization of the so-wanted and so-dreamed American Dream.
It was 1790 when from Ireland a man, John Garrett with his wife and his numerous family, six children! left Ireland for the USA in search of more luck.
John died during the trip but the family was numerous and in grade to find a farm where to work once in the USA.
One of their son Robert, the youngest one, at the age of 16 left with his oldest brother the family for going to Ohio trading manufactured goods for furs with Native Americans.
This one was their great luck and the following years Robert opened the Robert Garrett And Company.
With the time the Garretts became one of the biggest philantropists families of the areas, financing every sector of the existence of the State where they lived in: from health to education.
Johns Hopskins was a very close family friend of the Garretts. Before to dying, the old philantropist Johns Hopkins decided to leave most of his money for the creation of the Johns Hopkins University and Hospital.
Time passed by in the while and the Johns Hopkins reality needed some more money for opening the medical school. Family Garrett agreed to put his money in the adventure but at a condition: that also women students could be admitted and that this institution a graduate level one.
The Garretts are people in love for books, culture absolutely! art, coins, Japanese culture, and everything beauty!
When they left this stunning, absolutely wonderful mansion at the Johns Hopkins University in the will they asked to keep Evergreen House "Open to the lovers of music, art, beautiful things and to qualified and competent students and investigators, who could make use of its collections, and in additions, that might be made to them from time to time...Certain traditions and ideals have been created and preserved (by my father and mother, my brothers and my wife and myself... said the donor). I am greatly desirous that these traditions and ideals be perpetuated."
The Garretts are not just generous but they want to continue to perpetuate who they are and who they have been so that they can be identified and recognized. A family is this one. The perpetuity of the value transmitted and lived during the existence.
It's a magnificent, beautiful trip in a mansion, a house plenty of story, culture, art, memories and desire to be a real mecenate for whoever interested to whispering what these walls and objects can tell.
Well the Garretts have been massive collectors and from the entire world. Objects, from chairs to tables, from glasses, to chandelier from votive objects to plate, from France, Italy, the USA, Persia, India, Japan, with always an exquisite great taste.
It was mainly T.Harrison Garrett at first the great collector one and his successor, John Work Garrett tried to preserve this treat of his family member. It's thanks to Alice Warrett Garrett the wife of John W. Garrett a hostess if the collection grew up with the time. Alice intertained very often actors, painters, musicians, dancers, sculpturs. There is a picture in the book with our Arturo Toscanini, when the couple hosted an event at Villa Taverna, the American Ambassador residence in Rome. It was 1930.
Alice Warrett Garrett loved to being portrayed by her painters and friends. She was portrayed by Zuloaga, like also by Leon Baskt and other ones as well involving also her husband.
From Walter Berry she inherited five works by Picasso, Degas, Vuillard. Her collections, and her friendships didn't end here. Thanks to these painters and Alice's wonderful taste now Everygreen can shows to the visitors a great collection of paintings.
It is called the Main Library the place where you can find the most beautiful and distinguish books by the Garretts collections.
The best of American and mondial literature including the Decameron by Boccaccio, the Rime by Petrarca, Plutarch's Moralia.
Other books you will love ornithologists' ones, historic ones. The library includes many important documents and manuscripts.
Amazing. Amazing to think that a house is still so alive like Evergreen continues to be: a cultural laboratory where people, artists, book lovers, students, continue the family Garrett's legacy.
I haven't never been to the USA but I hope with all myself to visit Evergreen one day!
I thank Johns Hoekins University for this wonderful book!
Anna Maria Polidori
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