Sale of Perry Hall Mansion to Baltimore County businessman falls through

A Baltimore County businessman who initially agreed to buy the historic Perry Hall mansion for $5,000 will no longer buy the property.

In June, the Baltimore County Council approved a contract to sell the Perry Hall Mansion to a limited liability company owned by Kingsville landscape business owner Robert Lehnhoff.

The $5,000 sale was a fraction of the mansion’s assessed property value, but the county was looking to sell because it could not afford to keep up the property. County property management chief Debra Shindle said the mansion, which sits on a 4-acre property, required “extensive maintenance and repair” before it could become habitable.

Lehnhoff declined to comment when contacted Tuesday.

If the sale had gone through, it could have included a $250,000 county grant to reimburse him for capital expenditures, with state and county approval. Lehnhoff initially said he had hoped to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast and part-time event space.

In an email sent Monday to Shindle, Lehnhoff wrote that his company had found “this venture to not be feasible at this time,” according to a copy obtained by The Baltimore Sun. “The challenges with this property and its use within the residential community surrounding it appear to be too significant. I really appreciate everyone’s help with getting us to this point and I am sorry we couldn’t find a way to make it work.”

The mansion was built in 1773 as part of a 1,000-acre estate that first belonged to Corbin Lee, who died before its completion. Lee’s widow then sold it to Harry Dorsey Gough, a merchant who converted to the then-fledgling Methodist religious movement and built a chapel on the grounds. The mansion lends its name to the Perry Hall community.

Councilman David Marks, an Upper Falls Republican who represents the area, said he was disappointed at the development.

“As the author of a history on Perry Hall — and the community leader who help nominated the mansion for landmark status — I want nothing more than to find an owner who will lovingly restore this property,” he wrote in a statement. “I am disappointed by this development, but will continue to search for the right person or entity to acquire the mansion.”