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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and his family moved into Government House in Annapolis — home to the state’s chief executive since 1870 — shortly after his inauguration in January. They moved out of this Baltimore mansion now on the market for $2.75 million.

This is where Moore, his wife, Dawn Flythe Moore, and their two children lived during his 2022 campaign for governor. “This is definitely, as they say, where it all started,” Dawn Moore said of the 1925 mansion. “There’s a lot of good things that have happened in this home.”

The house is in Baltimore’s Guilford neighborhood, for 35 years — 1872 to 1907 — the estate of Baltimore Sun founder Arunah Abell. The Guilford Park Co. purchased the property in 1907 and developed it into a fashionable northern Baltimore community. The first owner of the Moores’ house was William Holland Wilmer, a prominent ophthalmologist and founder of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

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The Moores lived in the neighborhood in 2017 and were planning a house renovation when Dawn Moore visited this property while helping a friend shop for a home.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this house has every single thing that we wanted to do to our home,’” Moore said. “I told [Wes], ‘You have to come around and see this house because there’s some really fabulous things going on here that I thought we could maybe take some ideas from.’”

The Moores bought the house for $2.35 million.

They added chandeliers and Venetian plaster to the living room, refinished the floors with a darker stain and installed an island in the kitchen.

Moore described her style as transitional. “It’s very clean, but it’s comfortable. It’s elegant,” she said. “I tend to like cool tones. I find it very relaxing. … I tried to mix modern with traditional, because I did want to honor the home.”

Wes Moore began planning his run for governor around February 2021, and launched it that June. He held campaign meetings in his basement office during the pandemic. He hosted a campaign launch party and made a campaign ad for TV in the backyard. About 300 guests attended his birthday party at the house less than a month before the election.

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“It’s the perfect entertaining home,” Dawn Moore said. “When we bought this house, one of the things we said was, ‘If we’re going to buy this house, this is a home to share.’”

The Georgian mansion is on about three-quarters of an acre. A stone walkway leads to the French doors in front, which open to a foyer with a curved stairway and a chandelier. The first floor has a living room, a dining room with a fireplace, a family room, an office, a powder room and a kitchen with a breakfast nook.

Moore said she appreciated the location of the home office next to the family room on the first floor. “It’s for a working mom, who is sort of going in between spaces,” she said. “It’s like the perfect location [for] kind of like what I call Central Command space for doing work at home.”

The second floor has a primary bedroom suite and three other bedrooms, each with an en suite bathroom. The primary suite has a walk-in closet between the bedroom and the bathroom.

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The third floor has a bedroom that the Moores used as a playroom and a bedroom suite with a sitting room. This level also has a hall bathroom and space for a home gym. The lower level has a bar, a wine room, a billiards room, a powder room, another office and another family room.

In back, the house has a veranda and a bluestone patio with an outdoor kitchen and a wood-burning fireplace. The pool area has an outdoor shower. There is a one-car garage, and the driveway has room for additional parking.

The property is across the street from Sherwood Gardens, a six-acre private park open to the public from dawn to dusk, and it’s close to Johns Hopkins University.

It’s not uncommon for Maryland governors to sell their homes. Moore’s predecessor, Gov. Larry Hogan, sold his Edgewater house for $1.35 million after moving to Annapolis. According to Maryland’s state Constitution, the governor should reside in Annapolis, the “seat of government.” Government House is on State Circle, across the street from the Maryland State House, where the General Assembly meets and the governor and lieutenant governor have offices.

“Baltimore will always be our city,” Moore said. “But we will honor that, as governor, we will live in a home that is supported by the citizens of Maryland. … I think it’s time for someone else to enjoy this beautiful home and make it their own.”

$2,750,000

207 East Highfield Rd., Baltimore, Md.

• Bedrooms/bathrooms: 6/7
• Approximate square-footage: 7,956
• Lot size: 0.78 acres
• Features: The four-level house has a pool, patio and several fireplaces. A kitchen island, updated appliances, lighting fixtures and Venetian plaster walls were installed in 2019. There is a one-car garage and additional parking in the driveway.
• Listing agent: Lydia Travelstead, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty

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