Chestnut Lodge facts for kids
Chestnut Lodge was a famous old building in Rockville, Maryland, United States. It was once known as the Woodlawn Hotel. Later, it became a special hospital for people needing help with their mental health. This kind of hospital is sometimes called a psychiatric institution or sanatorium. Chestnut Lodge was also an important part of the West Montgomery Avenue Historic District, which is an area with many historic buildings.
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History of Chestnut Lodge
From Hotel to Hospital
In 1886, a man named Charles G. Wilson started building a large, four-story brick house. It was meant to be a summer hotel for guests. The building was on 5 acres of land in the west part of Rockville.
Before it was finished, Wilson had money problems. So, Mary J. Colley and Charles W. Bell bought the unfinished building for $6,000. Mary Colley owned another hotel in Washington DC.
They opened the building as the Woodlawn Hotel in the spring of 1889. The hotel was very fancy for its time. It had electric bells, gas lighting, and 40 guest rooms. Many rich visitors from Washington DC stayed there during the summer. The hotel was very popular for about ten years.
A New Purpose
After a while, fewer people stayed at the Woodlawn Hotel. Many of its regular guests moved into new homes in Rockville. By 1906, the hotel owners were in debt. They had to sell the building and its land at a public auction.
Dr. Ernest Luther Bullard (1859–1931) bought the hotel. He was a doctor and a professor who studied the brain and mental health. Dr. Bullard was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He fixed up the building and opened it again in 1910. This time, it was a special hospital for people with nervous and mental health conditions. He renamed it Chestnut Lodge. The new name came from the 125 chestnut trees that grew on the property.
A Family Legacy
For many years, Dr. Bullard was the only doctor at Chestnut Lodge. But over the next 75 years, three generations of the Bullard family ran the hospital. Many famous therapists worked there over time. These included doctors like Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Wayne Fenton, and Harold Searles.
The hospital was also known for important studies. These studies looked at how well people with mental health conditions improved over a long time. These were called the Chestnut Lodge studies.
In the 1950s and 1960s, a special dance therapist named Marian Chace held regular sessions with patients. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, Donn B. Murphy led a drama group for patients.
Later Years and Fire
In 1997, a company called CPC Health bought Chestnut Lodge. Then, in 2001, the Washington Waldorf School bought it after CPC Health went out of business. In 2003, the property was sold to Chestnut Lodge Properties, Inc.
In 2008, there were plans to turn the main building into apartments. They also planned to build new houses on the land. The old chestnut trees and some parts of the original building were going to be saved.
However, on June 7, 2009, a fire destroyed the building. It happened around 3:00 AM. The building was empty at the time, and no one was hurt. The cause of the fire was not known right away.
