Glenview Mansion was finished in 1926, and Rockville has spent 2026 marking its hundredth year. There is one centennial event left. It is a murder mystery set in 1926, staged inside the house, with four performances from November 6 to 8. Glenview and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre share the address 603 Edmonston Drive, and between them they have a musical opening this weekend, a calligraphy show in the gallery, a Civil War-era history talk and Rockville's two big December family events. Down the hill, Croydon Creek Nature Center at 852 Avery Road runs programs for toddlers and wreath makers. All of it is inside Civic Center Park.
Why So Much Ends Up on One Hill
The ground under Glenview was farmland long before the mansion. The original Glen View farmhouse was built for Judge Richard Johns Bowie in 1838. Irene Moore Smith bought the property in 1917. After she married Dr. James Alexander Lyon, the couple hired the Washington architects Lochie and Porter to turn the farm into a country estate, and the mansion was done in 1926. The city describes a Neo-Classical Revival house with formal boxwood gardens, imported marble floors, fountains and Mrs. Lyon's collection of exotic birds. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1936 Dr. Lyon had a small playhouse built for their daughter, Betsy. That building is now the Civic Center Cottage.
In 1957 the city bought Glenview and 28 surrounding acres for $125,000 so it could build a civic center. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, the Glenview Mansion Art Gallery, Croydon Creek Nature Center and the trails around them all grew out of that purchase. That is why Rockville's arts season mostly sits in one 153-acre park. The park also has a playground, picnic areas, paved paths with historical signs, tennis courts striped for pickleball, and Glenview's formal gardens.
The centennial ran all year. The MoCo Show previewed the program in February, and Peerless Rockville led a Glenview 100 walking tour in May. As of late October, the city's Glenview Mansion Centennial page lists one event still to come.
The Weekend Both Stages Are Running
Rockville Musical Theatre opens "Caroline, or Change" at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre on Saturday, October 31, and the run continues through November 15. The following weekend the mansion holds "Funeral for a Gangster," written by Eileen Moushey and presented with A Taste For Murder Productions. Guests attend a secret sendoff for mob boss Vito "The Gut" Marzetti at a speakeasy called Ruby's Place, while his widow searches for his hidden fortune.
For three days the two shows overlap. According to the city's arts calendar, the schedule looks like this:
- Friday, Nov. 6: "Caroline, or Change" at 7:30 p.m. in the theater. "Funeral for a Gangster" at 8 p.m. in the mansion.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: the mystery matinee at 2 p.m. In the evening, the musical at 7:30 p.m. and the mystery at 8 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 8: both shows at 2 p.m., the musical in the theater and the final mystery performance in the mansion.
Mystery tickets are $40, or $35 for students and seniors. With the optional buffet they are $70 and $65, and the matinee buffet is brunch. Every ticket includes dessert. There is a cash bar for guests 21 and older. The show is recommended for ages 15 and up, and anyone in Roaring Twenties dress can compete for a prize. Tickets are sold through the Fitzgerald Theatre box office, and the city lists group pricing by phone.
The play is set in 1926, the same year the mansion was finished.
Inside the Mansion Between Performances
The rooms are open on regular days too. Glenview Mansion and its art gallery are free and open to the public during visiting hours. Through November 25 the gallery is showing "Calligraphic Journeys," the Washington Calligraphers Guild's 50th Anniversary Exhibition. Admission is free.
On Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m., Peerless Rockville presents "The Maryland 1864 Constitution: A Border State's Soldiers Stand for Freedom" at Glenview. The talk is part of a speaker series Peerless Rockville runs with the mansion. Registration is required and seats are limited. You can sign up through Eventbrite.
After the calligraphy show comes down, the Rockville Art League's Juried Members' Winter Show takes over the gallery from December 6 through January 15, 2027. Maud Taber-Thomas is the juror. The opening reception is Sunday, December 6, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., with awards at 2 p.m.
The Dates the Gardens Close
Glenview is also a rental venue, and private events close it to everyone else. When one is booked, the mansion, gallery, formal gardens and front lawn are closed to visitors and photographers. Family photo sessions and homecoming or prom photos are specifically banned, and the city says anyone who shows up will be asked to leave. Here are the remaining closure dates on the city's list, which it says may change:
- Saturday, Oct. 31
- Sunday, Nov. 1
- Saturday, Nov. 14
- Dec. 5
- Saturday, Dec. 12
The city's page lists December 5 as a Thursday. On the 2026 calendar, December 5 is a Saturday. Check the Glenview Mansion page before planning a garden walk or a holiday card photo that weekend. The two-day closure on October 31 and November 1 falls on the opening weekend of "Caroline, or Change," so theatergoers should expect to stay on the theater side of the hill.
Down the Hill, Into the Preserve
Some of the park's acreage is woodland. Croydon Creek Nature Center sits inside Civic Center Park, next to the 120-acre John G. Hayes Forest Preserve. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The preserve has more than three miles of trail on six named routes. In 2025 the city published an online map that shows your live location on a phone.
The nature center's November and early December programs line up with the busy weekends up the hill:
- Little Sprouts, ages 18 months to 3: Thursday, Nov. 12, 10 to 10:45 a.m.
- Fall Centerpiece Workshop, ages 16 and up: Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to noon
- Bear Necessities, ages 6 to 10: Sunday, Nov. 15, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
- Gentle Explorers, ages 2 to 5: Saturday, Nov. 21, 10 to 11 a.m.
- Little Explorers: Dec. 5, 10 to 11 a.m.
- Pinecone Wreath Making Workshop, ages 5 and up: Sunday, Dec. 6, 1:30 to 3 p.m. One fee covers a single wreath for up to four family members.
Registration is through the city's recreation catalog. November 14 is a useful day to know about. The mansion gardens are closed for a private event that day, but the Croydon Creek centerpiece workshop still runs a few minutes' walk away.
December 6 is the busiest Sunday of the season on the hill. The wreath workshop at Croydon Creek starts at 1:30 p.m., the same time the Rockville Art League reception opens in the Glenview gallery.
December Moves to the Theater
The last two big dates of the year are at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. The Winter Jubilee at Rockville's Civic Center Park runs Saturday, December 19, from 1 to 4 p.m., with crafts, costumed characters, movies, games, karaoke and face painting. Admission is $10, or $8 for Rockville residents. The next afternoon, Sunday, December 20, the Rockville Concert Band plays "Winter Celebration: Festive Favorites and Seasonal Classics for All Ages" from 3 to 4 p.m. It is free, with a suggested $5 donation.
The big holiday event outside Civic Center Park is the Rockville Town Square tree lighting on Friday, December 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. at 36 Maryland Avenue. This year it adds a Gibbs Street Holiday Market alongside the music, skating and photos with Santa. The tree lighting is Friday night. The Glenview closure is the next day, and the Croydon Creek and gallery events follow on Sunday.
Glenview's next century starts in January, when the Rockville Art League show is still up in the gallery. If you're thinking about how your own home's history and setting would come across to buyers, The Schuman Team would be glad to walk through it with you and start with what your home is worth today.
