Evergreen Museum & Library, also known as Evergreen House, is a historical museum of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is located between the campuses of the College of Notre Dame and Loyola College. It, along with Homewood Museum, make up the Johns Hopkins University Museums.HistoryThe mansion was built in the mid-19th century and bought in 1878 by the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, John W. Garrett. Railroads were then a key industry in the United States and, as Baltimore's Garrett family owned and managed one of the biggest rail companies, the home grew and became both luxurious and famous. John Garrett's son T. Harrison added a wing containing a billiard room, bowling alley, and a gymnasium, which in later years were converted into an art gallery and private theater. Evergreen House served as a home for the family until 1952, when it was donated to the university.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.ArchitectureThe house, a magnificent example of Gilded Age architecture, sits on a landscaped site in Northern Baltimore and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The initial design was a more modest Italianate house but, with the Garretts, it became a 48-room mansion with a 23-karat gold plated bathroom, a 30,000-book library, and a theatre painted by famous Russian artist Léon Bakst. The abundant decorative items in the house reflect the Garretts' travels and interests, including a red Asian room displaying Japanese and Chinese items, paintings by Picasso, Modigliani, and Degas, glass by Tiffany or Dutch marquetry.
