The Cloisters (Lutherville, Maryland)
The Cloisters, also known as Cloisters Castle, is a historic home in Lutherville, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It was built about 1930 and is a -story house, irregular in elevation and plan with much architectural ornament. It is built of large, random-sized blocks of a native gray and gold colored rock known as Butler stone, with details principally of sandstone, wood from the site, plaster, and wrought iron. The main façade is dominated by two asymmetrically placed, projecting sections topped by massive half-timbered gables which were originally part of a Medieval house in Domrémy, France. It also has a massive stone octagonal stair tower, which contains a stone and wrought-iron spiral staircase and is crowned by a crenellated parapet and a small, round, stone-roofed structure from which one can exit onto the roof of the main tower. The house's roof is constructed of overlapping flagstones secured by iron pins, the only roof of this kind in America.
The property is owned by Baltimore City, although it is located in Baltimore County. The city ran a children's museum in the building until 1996, when it moved to the Inner Harbor area and was renamed "Port Discovery". The Cloisters is currently operated as a rental facility.
The Cloisters was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.On December 31, 1997, about 100 guests attended the wedding of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith at The Cloisters.
