6/29/2026 | Phyllis Joris, Executive Director

NeighborSpace recently added a new site to its portfolio! With the addition of Stonegate, a beautiful 16-acre property in Catonsville, NeighborSpace now protects 116 acres across 22 sites for current and future residents of urban Baltimore County.

This property is co-held with Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), the state’s land trust in the Department of Natural Resources. That means that both NeighborSpace and MET are signatories on the deed of conservation easement. In practice, NeighborSpace is responsible for monitoring the site twice a year, troubleshooting and supporting the owner in stewardship initiatives. We can draw on MET’s wealth of knowledge and legal expertise when needed. NeighborSpace is grateful for MET’s partnership: Trust staff went above and beyond to take this project from start to finish and they’ve supported NeighborSpace staff with technical advice on a variety of other stewardship initiatives.

Current owner John Zebelean III has lived at Stonegate since he was a little boy. As a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, he traveled around the world for many years, but he always knew he wanted to settle at Stonegate. The property has been in the Zebelean family since John’s grandfather purchased it in 1925.

In 1848, Gustav W. Lurman, a German immigrant, purchased a 600-acre homestead on a high hill in Catonsville with a view of Baltimore City and the harbor. He named it Farmlands. The main house was known as one of the more luxurious “country homes” that wealthy Baltimoreans kept in Catonsville to escape the summer heat. Mr. Lurman passed away in 1866 and his heirs subdivided the property amongst themselves in 1879. One of these parcels – lot #7 – is the parcel now known as Stonegate.

The Catonville area has seen intense development in the past century, but while the Stonegate property was used in different ways over the years – including as a horse pasture and a cornfield – it remains relatively unchanged. With almost 11 acres of forest, it serves as an important buffer to the two streams that run along the edges of the property and provides habitat for forest-dwelling birds, red foxes and coyotes.

We look forward to working with John to take care of this unique green space forever. Tree planting plans are already underway!