Cleveland Cottage Open House Tour Benefits HART for Animals

Originally built in 1884, the restored “Cleveland Cottage” will open to the public on Saturday, June 25, from 10 am to 4 pm, to benefit HART for Animals. The historic cottage was, for five days in June of 1886, the most famous house in America. It was where Grover Cleveland, the 49-year-old U.S. President honeymooned with his 21-year-old bride, Frances (Frank) Folsom. Cottage Number 2 was part of the famous Deer Park Hotel, a one-time luxury retreat built in 1872 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The hotel and some of the cottages were later demolished after the Great Depression. Cleveland Cottage and a few other cottages were boarded up and later converted to civilian housing after World War II.

In 1994, the dilapidated cottage was purchased by Mary Brown and Roger McClung, who spent fifteen years restoring it back to its original Victorian grandeur, while updating for modern times. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to view all of the rooms in the house, as well as the owners’ collection of President Cleveland memorabilia and souvenirs.

The cottage tour is an added event to the “Secret Country Gardens” tour, presented by the Mountain Laurel Garden Club. The cost of the Cleveland Cottage self-guided tour is $5 for those who have purchased a ticket to the Secret Garden tour, or $10 without a garden tour ticket. Tickets for the cottage tour are available at the door. Proceeds of the Cleveland Cottage tour benefit HART for Animals new Adoption Wing.