Ammendale Normal Institute was built to house the novitiate and school of the Christian Brothers, a teaching order of the Roman Catholic Church, in an area known as Ammendale after Admiral Daniel Ammen, inventor, author, and naval officer. In 1880, the Christian Brothers purchased this 20-acre property from Admiral Ammen, who earlier that year had donated St. Joseph's Chapel and adjoining land. The novitiate opened in 1880, and the nearby Ammendale stop on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad provided easy access to and from Washington and Baltimore. In the summer of 1883, construction began on the principal Institute building, designed by Baltimore architect Thomas C. Kennedy. One hundred feet in length, this building was completed in December 1884. Construction of the flanking wings, which eventually doubled the length of the building, began in the fall of 1886. The completed building, with its mansard roofs, central bell tower, and Queen Anne style decorative detail, was blessed by James Cardinal Gibbons in May 1888. The Christian Brothers gradually increased their acreage to 400 acres and, until the 1940s, operated a farm that supplied and supported the school. In 1969, after years of decreasing enrollment, the Institute closed, but the property remained the home of the retired Brothers. On April 26, 1998, a fire severely damaged the vacant Institute building.