As Baltimore’s last surviving Poe residence and a beloved destination for nearly 19,000 visitors each year, this designation reflects Poe House’s enduring role in connecting audiences to Poe’s life, work, and legacy. Today, it remains not only a National Historic Landmark but a Literary Landmark™ as well—a dual recognition that underscores its importance on both a local and global scale.
But we need your help to make this vision of our museum restoration and expansion a reality.
Currently, the Poe House & Museum is 620 sq. feet, half of the size of the original 1833 duplex that Poe called home. With the planned 2025 redevelopment of the adjacent Poe Homes housing complex to include mixed-income housing and anchor institutions, we saw an opportunity to restore the historic property’s footprint back to its original size.
This expanded space will allow us to enhance the offerings of the House & Museum by creating more space for offices, a gift shop, and a permanent exhibit commemorating the intertwined histories of the Poe Homes and Poe House.
Highlights include:
We’ll be able to lower the floor to street level to make the building more accessible to those with mobility challenges.
We’ll honor the original 1940s art-deco elements of Poe Homes by restoring the flat roof.
We’ll create a public art installation using Poe’s haunting words as the facade of the new addition to Poe House.
With your support, we will then build a new 13,000+ sq. ft. museum building that connects to the rear of the Phase I wing. It will house an exhibit gallery, classroom, visitor center, and collections. Our programming spaces will be open to the public and be available to the community and fellow organizations to conduct their critical educational and community work.
Highlights include:
A literary bioretention garden accessible from the street creates green space for the community while giving visitors a place for pause and reflection.
The new space will serve as a cultural anchor for the community, inviting more tourists to spend time in Southwest Baltimore and bolstering the local economy.
The proposed architecture evokes inspiration from Poe’s own words to emphasize the magic and macabre of his writings. Raven-eyed fans may spot details direct from the pages of Poe’s works.
To date, we have raised $345,000 for design and site planning through grants and donations. With your continued support, we can write a thrilling next chapter for the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore.
