House of the Week: Lands End

Last month, I featured the historic “Readbourne” Georgian style house on Lands End Rd. This week ‘s feature is also on Lands EndRd. and in the immortal words of Monty Python, “and now for something completely different”. When I first saw the aerial photograph of this 25 acre property, the contemporary roof of the two-story house seemed to be a sculptural element set into a broad expanse of lawn. Mature trees lined the edge of a bluff 30 feet above the Chester River, Southeast Creek and Island Creek. The distinctive main roof caught my eye for its part convex, part concave, metal shape that is aerodynamic since the high winds so prevalent in our area would sweep over the surfaces without danger of uplift. A secondary one-story wing has a curved roof and the roof over the porch that marks the front door is a curved “hat” shape.

Underneath the contemporary style roof,rustic vertical boards of primarily southern yellow pine aged to a deep brown and new wood shake siding that will weather naturally clad the exterior walls. The vertical boards were rescued from an old tobacco barn, dissembled, the nails pulled and wolmanized and then shipped to the site. 2/2 windows and French doors in a deep accent blue complete the exterior color palette.

I was captivated by the artisan front entry detailing with the sinuous supports of wood, the custom door of reclaimed wood, the pegged joints and the exposed roof rafters. It was not surprising to discover that the master wood artisan Vicco von Voss had left his indelible mark on this truly unique house.

The front door opens into a great room the full width and depth of the main wing. Large windows and French doors bring sunlight within throughout the day. The chimney for the masonry heater/stove defines the kitchen, sitting and dining areas. The main sitting area furniture is grouped around one of Vicco von Voss’ free form low tables with flared legs in a light wood. The “L” shaped kitchen has two front windows and one side window for daylight and the absence of upper cabinets is offset by ample storage in the adjacent mud room. The heavy timber framing with buttresses of wood, the exposed decking of the ceiling and the wide plank reclaimed wood floors add great interior architectural character.

The one story wing next to the great room is the mud room/laundry and stairs leading to a full basement and to the second floor. The master suite wing has a sliding barn door to separate the spaces from the great room. The corner master bedroom was especially pleasing with the bed between two side windows and a pair of French doors leading to a deck.

The second floor ceiling follows the curvature of the roof slope to create dramatic interior spatial volume. The family room is between one bedroom large enough to accommodate two double beds and a cozy bedroom with a ladder to a loft area and its own door to the open porch. The open porch spans the depth of the house with solid railings clad in shake siding and instead of windows a rhythm of wall openings frame panoramic views of the landscape. What a perfect spot for sleeping in the summer!

Great waterfront site with 25 acres of privacy, a very unique house that blends the best of contemporary and rustic styles with all the modern conveniences and best of all, Vicco von Voss’ artisan touches -who could ask for anything more?

For more information about this property, contact Brian Gearhart with Benson & Mangold at 410-822-6665(o), 410-310-5179(c) or [email protected]. For more photographs and pricing visit www.briankgearhart.com, “Equal Housing Opportunity”.