Maryland's 1924 McCormick-Goodhart Mansion stood empty for years; CASA restored the house as a social services center, preserving its grand staircase and adding a green roof

While scrolling through any real estate app, you will notice there are two types of buildings to choose from. One is brand new, and one is a good, repairable building. However, there is a third type: big, old, clunky buildings that most people assume cannot be saved. These buildings are left empty and full of potential.

According to the National Park Service, the Georgian Revival property McCormick-Goodhart Mansion in Langley Park, Maryland, was left empty for many years before being purchased by CASA de Maryland. CASA is the biggest non-profit organisation in the state offering social services to the Latino community. Here is how a landmark was given a new purpose.

From a private home to a community hub


The mansion was not originally a community hub. It was originally built in 1924 by George Oakley Totten Jr., an architect based in Washington, for Frederick and Henrietta McCormick-Goodhart, according to the Maryland Historical Trust. (Note: the NPS’s own case-study page misdates the mansion to “1824,” which is a typo, but the Maryland National Register nomination confirms 1924.) This mansion was the focal point of a 500-acre estate.

Over time, the land around the mansion changed. Maryland’s National Register of Historic Places notes that a real estate syndicate bought the mansion and built garden apartments around the property in 1963. The mansion itself operated as Willowbrook Montessori School until the early 1990s, standing vacant afterward. In 2009, CASA bought the property and began a multi-million-dollar project.

Saving an old building

Instead of tearing down the historic property and rebuilding, CASA did something more complex. They used historic tax credits to help fund the renovation, according to the National Park Service. This meant preserving the property while making it LEED Gold certified. The mansion was fitted with green features, including a green roof and geothermal heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Its grand staircase, moldings, window and door trims, wooden flooring, and ornate cornices were restored to their original condition. The result combined historic preservation with eco-friendly engineering.

What does a green roof actually do?

It may sound fancy, but as per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “green roofs can help counteract the urban heat island effect during the day and reduce and treat stormwater runoff.” However, the amount of stormwater reduction depends on the rainfall pattern, according to the same source.

Renovating an old building can be costly. The funding came in part through the Federal Historic Tax Credit, a policy that has offered a 20% credit for rehabilitating income-producing historic properties since 1986. It is the mechanism that helped fund the restoration.

Why this matters

Many renters today, looking at rows of near-identical new apartment buildings, might ask why so few developers choose to restore older properties instead. This story offers one answer: buildings can have multiple uses. This mansion was a family estate, then a school, then stood empty, and has since become a service centre, with its original staircase preserved throughout.

Not all empty landmarks will be saved. Some buildings cannot be saved, and there will always be compromises made with money, usability, and who benefits. However, Langley Park shows that when a community reimagines what an old building could become, it can turn into something remarkable.