{{Short description|Defunct restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, US}} {{notability|date=December 2016}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} The '''Brass Elephant''' was a restaurant in the Mount Vernon neighborhood in Baltimore. It opened in the early 1980s, and closed in 2009 due to financial hardship.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2009/08/27/noted-restaurant-in-mount-vernon-closes/|title=Noted Restaurant In Mount Vernon Closes|newspaper=tribunedigital-baltimoresun|access-date=2016-12-15}}</ref>
== History == In the 1850s, Benjamin Chew Howard, a four term Congressman and son of John Eager Howard, and his wife Janet Gilmore, built and resided in the mansion now addressed at 924 N. Charles Street, which was a parcel of his father’s Belvedere Estate.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://theelephantbaltimore.com/history/|title=History – The Elephant Restaurant|website=theelephantbaltimore.com|access-date=2016-12-15}}</ref> Later, Charles Morton Stewart, a Brazilian coffee importer and his wife, Josephine Lurman, purchased the building as their winter residence, raising 14 children between the mansion and their summer home in Greenspring Valley, Maryland.<ref name=":0" />
In the late 1890s, George Wroth Knapp, Jr.a local merchant, purchased and used the mansion as his second home during his Baltimore work weeks. He and his wife, Sara Gilfry invested $100,000 on decorative items such as crystal (Waterford), marble (Rinehart), teak (de Forest) and stained glass (Tiffany).<ref name=":0" /> In the 1930s, the space was converted into a retail establishment. Potthast Brothers Furniture purchased the building for retail purposes. They reconfigured the first floor that fronts N. Charles Street with stairs leading from the front salon down to a lower level to serve as a furniture showcase to attract passersby.<ref name=":0" /> In the late 1970s, William (Billy) Paley, Jr., the son of William S. Paley who grew CBS from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the nation, led a group of investors to purchase and re-purpose the mansion into a new restaurant.<ref name=":0" /> The building formerly occupied by The Brass Elephant was sold at a public auction on August 3, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2010/07/14/brass-elephant-building-goes-to-auction-aug-3/|title=Brass Elephant building goes to auction Aug. 3|newspaper=tribunedigital-baltimoresun|access-date=2016-12-15}}</ref>
== Building status == Linda and Steven Rivelis purchased the building in January, 2015 with the intention of operating a restaurant.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/bal-former-brass-elephant-property-sold-20150113-story.html|title=Former Brass Elephant property has been sold|last=Gorelick|first=Richard|newspaper=baltimoresun.com|access-date=2016-12-15}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Restaurants in Baltimore}} {{coord|39|18|1.7|N|76|36|57.6|W|region:US-MD_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:1980s establishments in Maryland Category:2009 disestablishments in Maryland Category:Restaurants in Baltimore