Friends of Orianda House

      This is a water color of the Orianda House painted by Olney Payne. I commissioned this local artist to do this rendition of the mansion. Mr. Payne was not only an excellent artist, but an incredible photographer. In the 1940's as a young man, Payne took some exceptional shots of the Gwynns Falls, Dickeyville, and Franklintown areas. I slowly started at this time to acquire a large pictorial file of historical structures and local families which I am still researching. This view of the house was what you would have seen if you were ascending the carriage path from Franklintown Road. This was at one time the original entrance to Crimea Estate. We have lost this grand view of the house due to a decision made about eleven years ago with a program called "Don't mow, let it grow" for low impact areas. I feel strongly that this area should be cleared off and brought back to open space as it had been from when the estate was built.