JOIN HART ON SEPTEMBER 13TH FOR "A NOSTALGIC EVENING AT THE CLEVELAND COTTAGE"

Garrett County in Western Maryland is full of surprising bits of history. One of them is the Cleveland Cottage on Deer Park Hotel Road near Oakland, MD, which was called the "most famous house in America" in 1886.

The Cleveland Cottage is so named because President Grover Cleveland took his new bride, Frances Folsom, directly from their wedding at the White House to the Cottage, where they spent their honeymoon in June of 1886. The country was taken by surprise when the 49-year old president married the 21-year old Frank Folsom ("Frank" was her legal name), since everyone believed that the president's romantic interest was Frank's mother!

On the first morning of his honeymoon, President Cleveland described the lovely Victorian house as "a beautiful cottage where we already feel quite at home." The fact that this quotation was recorded for posterity is due to the frenzied reporters that followed the couple's every move. Writer Stephen Ackerman, in his article on the Cleveland Cottage for "Preservation" magazine, colorfully says about the reporters, "These proto-paparazzi dogged the couple at every turn, lurking in the woods and even climbing trees to spy on them."

The Cleveland Cottage was one of a series of Victorian cottages that were built as part of the luxurious Deer Park Hotel. The hotel was built in 1872 by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the cottages were added later when well-to-do families wanted more spacious lodgings. The "cottages" were full Victorian houses, without kitchens, because meals were brought in by the hotel staff.

With the passing of time and changing circumstances, however, the cottage became uninhabitable and was virtually forgotten. That is, until the current owners found it and recognized it for the fascinating piece of Garrett County history that it represented.

With great attention to historical accuracy, they restored the beautiful Victorian house over a period of many years.

It is HART's good fortune that the owners are wonderful animal lovers--with two rescued German Shepherds of their own--and have volunteered their beautifully restored home as a fundraiser to benefit HART's Building Fund for an animal adoption center in Garrett County.

They will host "A Nostalgic Evening at the Cleveland Cottage" on Saturday, September 13, from 5 to 8 p.m.

The event will be the first opportunity for the public to see the completely restored Victorian house in all its former splendor and many period antiques, and to view its President Cleveland memorabilia. Guests will tour the entire house and enjoy complimentary wine, beer, soft drinks, and gourmet food from DC's Bar & Restaurant at Wisp Resort, the Fireside Deli & Wine Shop, and Archie's Barbeque.

The changing fortunes of the Cleveland Cottage up to the restoration undertaken by the current owners are detailed in the January/February 2006 issue of Preservation magazine, copies of which will be available at the event.

Admission is limited to 150 persons. Tickets, which are expected to sell out quickly, can be purchased by mail only at $50 per person. Please, no children under 12. Tickets can be purchased by sending a check made out to HART for Animals, Inc., P.O. Box 67, Oakland, MD 21550. Please write "Cleveland Cottage" on your check and include a phone number. For additional information, call (301) 387-5878 or write giving@hartforanimals.org

We hope you can join us!