Glenelg Manor

Glenelg Manor is a former residence whose original foundation dates to the mid to late 1700s while much of the current manor was constructed by General Joseph Tyson around 1851. The manor is now a part of the Glenelg Country School campus and houses the elementary division of the school. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 for its interesting architecture, which combines a Greek Revival exterior and a Gothic Revival interior. The building features a crenelated corner tower with lancet windows, a crenelated entrance porch with Tudor arches, and hood moldings over the windows. The manor was expanded in 1845 and is connected to additions that form the rest of the elementary school.

The land on which the manor now stands was part of a large 1,030-acre property owned by the Dorsey family in the early 1700s. It was partitioned into 600-acre sections in 1735. One of these was given to a family member named Sarah Dorsey, whose husband was Henry Howard. Their son, Ephraim, is believed to have built the original part of the house in 1740. In 1838, the property was acquired by General Joseph Tyson, who was Assistant Postmaster General under President Tyler. Sometime within the next couple of years, he and his wife traveled to Scotland. Inspired by the manor houses they saw there, they decided to build Glenelg Manor around 1851. Their son, Tyson, inherited the house in 1900.

Fifteen years later, the son of Maryland governor Lloyd Lowndes, bought the house and developed the grounds, which included adding a golf course and fruit orchard. After he died in 1941, it was sold to Rowland and George Wilson who converted the property into a farm. The school was founded in 1964 by diplomat and businessman Kingdon Gould (1924-2018) and that year bought the property. By then Glenelg Manor had been vacant for eleven years. Over time the school grew. Its additions included a gym, a pool, a middle school and high school, and a performing arts center. Enrollment grew from its original 35 students to more than 750 students with 180 faculty and staff.

Coxe, Ellen. "Glenelg Manor." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. February 3, 1983. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/98488e6a-5e64-48eb-bcef-aea5eb70b3d5.

"The Manor House." Glenelg Country School. Accessed August 29, 2022. https://glenelg.org/about/our-campus/manor-house.

"Our History." Glenelg Country School. Accessed August 29, 2022. https://glenelg.org/about/our-history.