Update: See the back gate of Westmoreland place here.
I’ll never forget that wonderful day on my birthday when I was showing my friend Ruth from Baltimore around the city. She is a fellow art historian, so we were enjoying our sojourn around the city. Driving down Lindell Boulevard, I decided to hang a right on Lake Street and show her Westmoreland Place, one of the toniest private streets in the city. Hey, I’d done it a million times with my parents in their Mercedes Benz.
To put it bluntly, trying to drive a Chevy Cavalier with Maryland license plates down Westmoreland Place is not a good idea. A rent-a-cop appeared out of nowhere and angrily demanded the reason behind our presence in such august surroundings. I stammered that I was taking my friend home, at which he requested the address. My BS skills were lacking that day, so I was bereft of my usual quick lies that I am so good at in difficult situations. He told us to turn around and leave, which I did.
The gates to Westmoreland Place are always locked now, and you can see them along Kingshighway. Quite frankly, the private streets in this area are hardly a quiet enclave anymore, beset at one time by housing projects to the north and the loud, thumping stereos of locals–not to mention that constant roar of traffic from the busiest north-south thoroughfare in the city.
It’s fascinating to see how the stone has slowly deteriorated over the years.
I had this same experience. A friend of mine and I were going for a walk in that area and some security cop car stopped us and asked what we were doing in the area. He then threatened to arrest us for trespassing and told us never to come back in that area. This infuriated me but I nevertheless left without saying a word. I was curious to ask him however, since we were on a sidewalk at the time, on who’s property exactly we were trespassing on.
Unfortunately for us, while the streets look like regular, public streets, they are technically collectively owned by everyone who owns a house in Westmoreland Place. Consider them in effect private driveways. If you know someone with an expensive car (I’m not joking about this) get them to give you a ride around the streets. You won’t be harassed that way by the rent-a-cop; the way I get in is with my parents’ Mercedes Benz.
hey, nice pics! I found out tonight that these deteriorated gates were designed by Theodore Link — you know, from Union Station.
loli live on this neighborhood the cop is dennis he is sooooo nice if you no him !!!!
Are the gates being locked kind of annoying for people that live in that street. They have to go the long way out to get out onto a Main Street?
Apparently they do not mind driving down to Lake Avenue to get out.
The unfortunate McCloskey incident in 2020 at #1 Portland Place certainly cast the city’s private streets in an unduly unfavorable light. Also, there is a sense among architecture buffs that these spectacular historic homes, once described as “an outdoor museum”, should be more accessible to those of us who appreciate and admire them. Some Portland/Westmoreland residents might reply that that is why there are routine house tours often including these very homes for which one may purchase tickets. Otherwise, in a strictly legal sense, walking uninvited down the sidewalks of Portland/Westmoreland is as much an act of trespassing as going up on one of the porches or front lawns. It seemed strange that so many people had difficulty grasping this, continually pointing out that protesters “stayed on the sidewalk.” That that sidewalk, its curbs, and every blade of grass in the ornamental parkways are all privately owned seemed to confound people. Part of this, I am sure, is related to the emotional tone of the time and place. I do not admire the McCloskey’s, but neither do I accept that the protesters innocently sought a shortcut to the mayor’s house. Their alleged “shortcut” included going through a locked, gated entrance plainly marked PRIVATE and NO TRESPASSING. I was not there, but suspect that protesters saw this signage and it impelled them to take the very course of action they did. I speculate that the McCloskey’s, first house on the right, yelled inhospitably and angrily at the trespassers to leave, and things escalated from there. I really wish it had never happened and am glad that it was not worse. It certainly could have been. For whatever reasons, other nearby private streets are more laid back: Washington Terrace, (a personal favorite) Hortense and Lenox Places, and others seem relatively okay with non residents strolling up and down. I think that historically Portland/Westmoreland was always the most very exclusive enclave and that carries over to our day.
How noisy is Westmoreland Place?
The couple of times I’ve visited, it’s been relatively quiet away from Kingshighway, but the houses one or two houses down have to pick up a lot of the noise from that busy thoroughfare. They were laid out before the rise of the automobile!