Geothermal heating/air-conditioning, porous paving, solar panels, water conservation methods and other features make this building environmentally-friendly and have earned it the LEED Certified Platinum designation.

James and Anne Robinson cared for the property for decades and kept it from being used by developers, ultimately arranging transfer to Howard County, Maryland for enjoyment by the general public.

The Nature Center was built on 18.3 of 22 acres[1] of a 31-acre parcel that had been split from the Simpsonville Mill property by William and Rebecca Simpson and sold to Sophia Stern in 1891; subsequent sales were to Isaac Goldstein and Louis Abram in 1894, Eli Goldstein and family (Russian immigrants) in 1897, David and Agnes Johnson in 1902, Charles and Alice Baldwin in 1911, John Clifford and Martha Wall in 1914 (then 23.75 acres), and Harry and Rachel Saumenig in 1921.

After decades of offers to buy the property for dense development, Anne Robinson approached the county in 2002 about passing the land to them for operation of a nature center.

[6] After the groundbreaking, the remains of the Robinson's mid-to-late 19th-century frame house adjacent to the Simpsonville Mill,[1] in which Anne had lived until 2004 and which had been demolished in February 2005,[3] were dismantled, as was a barn on the property.

Wood from the barn was saved and, upon construction of the building, used to create siding and tables for an area in the front lobby dedicated to James & Anne Robinson as the "Legacy Room."

I want the Property to serve as a source of inspiration, education and beauty for the general public.The 18-acre (7.3 ha) park features a 23,000 sq ft (2,100 m2) LEED Platinum certified nature center building, built at a cost of $17.6 million.