By HEATHER MONGILIO CAPITAL GAZETTE | JAN 29, 2021 AT 5:30 AM
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Ogle Hall For Sale
The Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation puts historic Ogle Hall up for sale, Wednesday, January 27, 2021. (Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette)1 / 10
The house on the corner of King George Street and College Avenue has stood for nearly 280 years.
It housed governors, hosted founding fathers and, for the last 53 years, the Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation.ADVERTISING
Now Ogle Hall needs a buyer. The price of owning its history? $4 million.
The Naval Academy Alumni Association announced in 2015 that it would seek new office space after outgrowing the property. The association’s real estate agent listed Ogle Hall on Tuesday.
Already there has been interest from real estate developers, both residential and commercial, individual buyers and organizations, said John Rosso, principal with Rosso Commercial, the real estate company facilitating the sale. He called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The ideal timeline would have the Naval Academy Alumni Association select a buyer by the end of February, Rosso said.
“It’s a spectacular property, and there’s plenty of opportunity for a new buyer,” he said.
Ogle Hall was built between 1739 and 1742 for Dr. William Stephenson and his family, according to a capsule summary of the building in the Maryland archives. The home was leased in 1747 to Maryland Gov. Samuel Ogle, and it stayed in the Ogle family through Maryland Gov. Benjamin Ogle. The Ogles lended their name to the home.
The property was the home of Maryland Gov. Thomas Pratt in the mid 19th century before being owned by a family for 33 years. In 1967, the academy’s alumni association bought the property.
Beyond using the space as an office, the association also rented the space for private events, including weddings. The association will not have to cancel any rentals due to the sale, said Courtney Jolley, spokeswoman for the association.
The association will relocate down King George Street across from Max Bishop Baseball Stadium, retired Adm. Robert Natter, chair of the alumni center project committee, said in an email. They will cohabitate the space with the academy’s scholarship program.
“This new facility will offer tremendous advantages in terms of advancing our support of the Naval Academy and its worldwide alumni community,” Natter said in the email.
The alumni association is looking to make the move in late summer or early fall 2022, Jolley said. Depending on the terms and conditions of the sale, the association may rent back the property until the move.
Heather MongilioCONTACT
Heather Mongilio is the Report For America corps member with the Capital Gazette, where she covers military affairs. Mongilio previously reported at The Frederick News-Post and the Carroll County Times. She earned a master’s degree in science writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree from American University.