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September 27, 2010 Baltimore, Mies Van de Rohe

Mies’ Mid-Century Modern Condos in Baltimore

I stopped at Modern Capital sponsor Home Anthology on Saturday on the way to the Baltimore Book Festival. I checked out Rob and Nini’s latest finds and got a great tip about a Mies Van der Rohe-designed condo building just north of Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. I had never read about the Highfield House so off we went to 4000 N. Charles St. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. (The only other building in Maryland designed by Mies is the 1962 One Charles Center office building, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places.)

I found four listed for sale, ranging from a 1 bed/1 bath for $125,000 to a 2 bed/2 bath for $195,000. The two more expensive units have the original kitchen cabinets. The other two unfortunately have had them removed. What? You really should not mess with the master. I hope to take a tour of some of the units this coming weekend so I will report back from my tour inside.

A view of Mies' Highfield House from N. Charles Street.

Built in 1964, the 15-story reinforced-concrete and glass structure is perched on columns that shelter a glass-enclosed lobby with its Mies-designed Barcelona chairs, ottomans and coffee table.

Appropriate furniture in the lobby, which features terrazzo floors.

Mies’ plan, originally designed as an apartment building, included the surrounding grounds with a sunken pool and landscaped recreation area.

Mies' minimalist modern landscape on the back terrace.

Mies' modern planting beds.

Highland House's back terrace and sunken swimming pool.

Back lawn area with free-standing screen.

A shot of the back of Highfield House through the minimalist plantings.

Related posts:

1. Condo by Mies van der Rohe – $110K
2. Buy a Piece of Mies for $100K
3. Mid-Century Modern Foreclosures in Baltimore
4. Two Mid-Century Moderns Near Baltimore

7 comments Post a Comment

1. Michael O'Pecko — September 29, 2010 @ 12:27 pm         Reply

   Thank you for the publicity for a building in my neighborhood. I would just like to point out that it is called Highfield House, not Highland House.

   1. Mid-Century Mike — September 29, 2010 @ 12:44 pm         Reply

      Thanks. I fixed it in the places I had it wrong. Not sure why I called it that.

2. george mimnaugh — October 2, 2010 @ 2:19 am         Reply

   You know I lived in Baltimore for 3 or 4 years and I must have passed this building on my way up Charles Street, too bad I didn’t know it existed, those units seem very inexpensive, I look forward to your post with interior shots, the exteriors are very tasty. thanks

3. bikeman — October 8, 2010 @ 2:06 am         Reply

   Those buildings can carry some high maintenance fees. $568/month for the one bdrm, over $700 for the two bdrms.

   1. Mid-Century Mike — October 8, 2010 @ 7:04 am         Reply

      Yes. Pretty steep. I believe it is a full service building like in New York. You can call down and they bring your car up from the underground garage.

4. Modern Capital | Modern Snapshot: Giving Thanks for Little Modern Details — November 24, 2010 @ 9:50 pm         Reply

   […] to share with you, including the picture above of an original closet pull in a condo in Mies’ Highfield House in Baltimore. Thanks for reading. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Give thanks for your family, […]

5. Modern Capital | Buy a Piece of Mies for $100K — March 11, 2011 @ 12:05 pm         Reply

   […] in September, I wrote about Mies van der Rohe’s Highfield House in Baltimore, which was added to the National […]