The Mansion at Strathmore

Parking for events and exhibitions in the Mansion is free in the Mansion lot on a space available basis. The public-private partnership between Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc. assumes the day-to-day management and artistic programming of the Music Center and Mansion. Hundreds of donors stepped forward to help build, equip and sustain the operation of the Music Center. Ownership and usage of the land is not well-known until 1823 when a toll road was built to connect Georgetown and Frederick. One of the road’s tollgates was near the intersection now known as Strathmore Avenue. As shown on an 1879 map, local landowner Frank Ball operated a stagecoach station and blacksmith shop on his farm at this location.

The Mansion at Strathmore is home to intimate artistic programs presented by Strathmore. A six-story, 64-foot (20 m) high glass wall in the Lockheed Martin Lobby features 402 panes of glass, and opens to the outdoor Trawick Terrace that overlooks the Strathmore campus. Parking at the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro garage (off of Tuckerman Lane) is free for ticketed events in the Music Center’s Concert Hall. At the end of each event, the exit gates to the garage will be open for 30 minutes to exit the garage.

1. The Music Center at Strathmore and the Strathmore Mansion are located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, Maryland, just off of the Capital Beltway and adjacent to the Grosvenor/Strathmore stop on the Washington, DC Metro’s Red Line.
2. The Mansion at Strathmore is home to intimate artistic programs presented by Strathmore.
3. The Washington Performing Arts and other world music performance groups perform throughout the year.
4. At the end of each event, the exit gates to the garage will be open for 30 minutes to exit the garage.

In 1977, the Sisters of the Holy Cross sold the mansion to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) as a temporary headquarters. On June 21, 1983, after major restoration of the facility, Strathmore opened its doors to the public. Land records show that in 1943, two parcels of the original Corby estate—including the Mansion—were conveyed to the sisters directing St. Mary’s Academy. In 1942, Filipino president Manuel L. Quezon used the Mansion to set up temporary governmental headquarters and World War II operations for the former Commonwealth of the Philippines. Strathmore is in the process of researching the history of the land that we occupy to ensure proper acknowledgment of those who were here before us.

Located on the Bou Family Terrace, “Tetra Con Brio,” a monumental sculpture of cast bronze, steel, and polished concrete, stands 12 feet (3.7 m) tall and weighs 4,500 pounds. In 1998, the Montgomery County Council and the Maryland State Legislature approved matching capital support ($48 million each) for the Music Center at Strathmore. After the design team was selected in 2001, work began under the direction of the county.

The Corby Years

In 1979, Montgomery County, Maryland acquired the Mansion and 11 acres of land from ASHA. The house was renamed Strathmore Hall, after the newly established nonprofit, and the Mansion with its surrounding grounds were developed as Montgomery County’s first center for the arts. After extensive restoration, the Mansion at Strathmore opened its doors to the public on June 24, 1983. The concert hall was designed in the traditional “shoebox” form of many international concert halls. Above the stage, a mechanized canopy of 43 individually controlled acrylic panels can be adjusted to fine-tune sound for clarity and reverberation. Tunable sound-absorbing curtains behind the bronze grilling and banners in the ceiling can be deployed out of sight to dampen or enliven the sound.

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The complex is thus accessible for patrons coming from Washington, D.C., as well as the northern part of Montgomery County, Maryland via the Metro rail system. Your generosity brings distinctive programming and renowned artists to Strathmore’s stages and galleries and ensures that everyone in our community can experience the joy and wonder of the arts. Today, the organization’s hallmark is the Music Center at Strathmore, with a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex that debuted in 2005. Strathmore quickly established itself as an important new cultural resource—not just for Montgomery County, but for the entire Metro DC region. The Mansion was bustling with energy and many of Strathmore’s most enduring offerings—including intimate concerts in the Music Room, Afternoon Tea, visual arts exhibitions, and wedding venue—began during this time. Read on to trace the history of the Mansion at Strathmore, from its turn-of-the-century roots as a grand summer estate to its transformation into a spirited arts center.

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The Education Center provides rehearsal space and practice rooms for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, CityDance Ensemble, and the Levine School of Music. In March 2015, Strathmore opened an additional performance and event space – AMP by Strathmore within Pike & Rose, the new mixed-use development located about one mile north of the Music Center on Rockville Pike. The property features a 250-seat music venue offering live performances including jazz, rock, folk, indie, and more. The concert hall opened in 2005 and was built on the 11-acre site of the Strathmore Mansion, a 19th-century home which had been owned by Montgomery County since 1981.

Sculptures

Strathmore, which began as a turn-of-the-century mansion featuring small chamber performances and art exhibitions in 1983, developed its plans for the Music Center over 20 years ago. In 1985, Strathmore’s Board of Directors and President and CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl began discussions about the need for a larger educational and performance space. In 1996, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of former president John Gidwitz, expressed interest in creating a second home in Montgomery County, and joined Strathmore as a founding partner of the Music Center at Strathmore.

For more than two decades, the Mansion at Strathmore has provided intimate artistic programs with its 100-seat Dorothy M. And Maurice C. Shapiro Music Room, the Gudelsky Gallery Suite exhibition spaces, the outdoor Gudelsky Concert Pavilion, and outdoor Sculpture Gardens. Built in 1902, the Mansion at Strathmore is home to intimate artistic programs presented by Strathmore including our Music in the Mansion and Artist in Residence concert series. Visitors can also explore our galleries and current exhibitions, indulge in Afternoon Tea, stroll through the sculpture gardens, and find a special something at the Shop at Strathmore. There are more than two dozen exhibitions each season from local artists and from Granada House Review collaborations with renowned museums, such as the Baltimore Museum.

The hallmark of the arts center is the Music Center at Strathmore, a 2,000-seat concert hall that brings world-class performances by major national artists including folk, blues, pop, jazz, show tunes, and classical music. The Music Center at Strathmore serves as the second home for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), providing top-notch acoustics for classical, pops, holiday and summer concerts. The Washington Performing Arts and other world music performance groups perform throughout the year.