The Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage sold 1,129 tickets and raised more than $40,000 during its stop in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood on April 25.
According to the Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association (MVBA), all proceeds from the one-day tour of 12 historic buildings will be donated to support UNITE Mount Vernon’s restoration and activation of Mount Vernon Place Church, one of the featured locations.
As of Friday, organizers had sold about 900 tickets, and sales on the day of the event pushed the number to 1,129. In at least one case – the “Wedding Cake House” at 718 Washington Place — the line of people waiting to get in to see the building at times stretched around the corner and halfway down the block.
Another stop benefiting from the tour was the Washington Monument, where 92 visitors had paid $6 per person to climb to the top as of late Saturday afternoon, and others had to be turned away because of occupancy limits due to the building’s narrow spiral stairway and small viewing perch on top. Hundreds more patronized merchants and saw the free exhibits at the monument’s base.
“Wow! Wow! Wow! We exceeded our sales goal and had a fabulous time!” the MVBA announced on social media. “Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage, thank you for helping us highlight the magic of Mount Vernon-Belvedere.”
A tradition since 1930, the pilgrimage is dedicated to the preservation of Maryland’s culturally- and historically-significant properties and landscapes. Mount Vernon was the first of seven locations around the state that were selected for self-guided tours in 2026. Others include Talbot County on May 9; Charles County on May 16; Cecil County on May 24; Mount Clare Museum in Baltimore on May 30; the Town of Kensington on June 7 and Frederick County on June 13.
Ticket information about the remaining 2026 tours is available at www.mhgp.org.
