The Baltimore Centennial Homes project, developed in collaboration between Baltimore Heritage and City Councilman James Kraft, recognizes families that have been in the same house for 100 years or more. These families have anchored Baltimore’s historic blocks and neighborhoods through good and bad times. Their stories show the changes that our communities and our city have experienced as well as the critical roles that neighborhoods and their families have played in keeping historic neighborhoods thriving.

The Centennial Homes program has received generous support from the Maryland Humanities Council and the Middendorf Foundation.

Has your family or a family you know lived in the same house for over 100 years? If so, we would love to hear from you. For more information feel free to call our office at 410-332-9992.

Centennial Home Families

 Pente Family in Little Italy

The Pente Family has lived on High Street in Baltimore’s Little Italy neighborhood since 1904.  Click here for a brief profile by Cristina Ambroselli of this remarkable family and its commitment to their community.

Watkins Family in Highlandtown

Baltimore Heritage welcomed the Watkins family of Highlandtown into the Baltimore Centennial Homes Program last year during the neighborhood’s Salsapolkalooza festivities. In 2007 after his maternal great-uncle had passed away, Lee Watkins IV and his wife, Diana Alonzo, purchased the family house in Highlandtown.

Martin Family in Federal Hill

In April, Baltimore Heritage welcomed Mrs. Carol Martin and the Martin/Lowe Family into the Baltimore Centennial Homes Program. Mrs. Martin has lived in her South Charles Street house in South Federal Hill since she married Martin Lowe and moved into the home that had been in the Lowe family since 1894.

Rist Family in Overlea

On November 6, 2010, Baltimore Heritage welcomed Mrs. Norma Schwarz Rist and her family into the Baltimore Centennial Home program. The Rist family built the house that Mrs. Rist continues to call home in the Overlea neighborhood in 1905 when the area was largely wooded and family members drew water from a well in the back yard.