House of writer H.L. Mencken remains in disrepair

BALTIMORE (AP) Al Reed is used to strange cars being parked on his block of Hollins Street. He'll watch people get out and examine the three-story brick row home a few doors down from his, snap some pictures and peer into the windows.

That's just fine with Reed. He's thankful the old house on Union Square still brings people to the community, even if they can't get inside.

"The interest is incredible despite the deplorable condition," Reed said.

The house at 1524 Hollins St. belonged to iconic Baltimore writer H.L. Mencken. It's been deteriorating for years, opened only on special occasions, a source of frustration to West Baltimore residents and legions of Mencken admirers who believe it deserves a better fate.

What is even more infuriating to many of them is that a $3 million gift to convert the home into a museum has been sitting unused in an account now controlled by the city of Baltimore. For nine years.

How this happened is partly a tale of a rivalry between two groups vying for control of Mencken's legacy and his house and a city government not eager to be on the hook for financing the house's restoration.

The home's fate has not been aided by the beating Mencken's reputation took after the 1989 publication of his diaries suggested he could be anti-Semitic and a racist and was sympathetic to Nazi Germany.

So it sits, needing an estimated $500,000 in repairs.

Throughout his years Mencken maintained a deep love for the home where he was raised, became successful and lived quietly after a stroke in 1948 robbed him of the ability to read and write.

"(The house is) as much a part of me as my own two hands," Mencken wrote.

Link:
House of writer H.L. Mencken remains in disrepair