National Park College: Where Girls Brought the World to Maryland
Sometimes great adventures are tucked right around the corner.
Linden Lane and Woodstock Avenue is one of those magical corners. The Spanish Mission (built in 1903 as a sorority house for Theta Sigma Rho) sits at an intersection where the neighborhoods Forest Glen and National Park Seminary come together.

The history is amazing and the architecture is mesmerizing. Minutes from 495 in Silver Springs, MD a collection of eclectic homes and buildings is like stumbling into an alternate universe.

In 1887 T.F. Schneider designed a hotel for a plan to change a tobacco farm into an elite a vacation resort called Ye Forrest Inne. The business failed miserable and the property became a girls school in 1894 (National Park Seminary began as a finishing school and was later renamed National Park College). In 1942 the property transitioned into a military medical center to support the medical needs of returning WWII soldiers. Unfortunately, the worldly architecture proved to be a PTSD trigger for the wounded soldiers returning from Europe and Japan with injury and battle fatigue. Today the unique structures are homes and condos.
I discovered the area by accident following GPS directions to avoid an accident in rush hour traffic. After a left turn an impressive red pagoda presented itself and captured my interest nestled right in the middle of a crowded neighborhood next to what looked like a sprawling castle.

An entire world was built on the National Park campus with authentically designed buildings including a Swiss Chalet, Japanese Pagoda, English Castle, and even a Dutch Windmill along side Victorian houses. Everything was designed by Philadelphia architect Emily Elizabeth Holman. Read more about preservation efforts here.
Today, Mom’s post chemo energy was extremely low and a trip around the world was just what we needed. We refuse to be confined to the hotel room that’s currently home because as Mom says, “I’ll be just as comfortable in the car as in the room…at least the view will be different.”
Forrest Glen and National Park definitely rewarded us for our efforts.
Maybe another day we will up to visiting the nearby Medical and Health Museum.
To see photos of several buildings taken before renovation in 2013 read this.

