Booth Home Is Auctioned for $415,000
The childhood home of John Wilkes Booth, who shot President Lincoln, was sold at auction Saturday to a local couple who plan to make it their residence.
Robert and Elizabeth Baker made the winning $415,000 bid for Tudor Hall in the Baltimore suburb of Bel Air.
Besides its association with the assassination, Tudor Hall also is regarded as the birthplace of Shakespearean theater in America. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A local school, Harford Community College, sought to preserve the house as a museum and center for theater lovers, but the bidding quickly passed the school’s limit.
“We’re disappointed that the Shakespearean history programs cannot be built at the home site,” college President Claudia E. Chiesi said after the auction.
The Gothic-style house was built in 1847 by Junius Brutus Booth, a famous Shakespearean actor who moved to Maryland from his native England.
Edwin and John Wilkes Booth accompanied their father on his theater trips across the country. Edwin Booth was considered one of this country’s greatest Shakespearean actors.
The Bakers said they want to make the house their home and are open to allowing some tours.
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