St. Mary's Spiritual Center Visitor Center

The new St. Mary’s Spiritual Center Visitor Center responds to the site’s need to interpret the St. Mary’s Chapel, which once served the oldest Catholic seminary in the United States, and the historic Mother Seton House that was the Baltimore residence of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Comprised of two distinct elements and organized around two walls—one brick and the other stone—that are remnants of the original seminary, the center mediates the site’s elevation change and provides access to both structures.  The east side of the brick wall is new construction, simple, but contemporary in design, while the west side incorporates a historic wooden colonnade that defines the eastern edge of the chapel grounds.  A sky-lit covered court provides access to the chapel site, where the setting retains its original presence.