Last year as I drove through Rock Hall on my trips to meet with an architectural client outside of town this house always caught my eye. I admired the stately American Four-Square style house with its distinguishing characteristics of symmetry, center door surrounded by windows aligned horizontally and horizontally on both floors, hipped roof with a center two-window unit dormer and articulated cornice with eave brackets. At some time, the house was added on at the rear to create its current “L” shape footprint. Another addition was the one-story sunroom that wraps around the rear addition. The masonry façade of rose red brick laid in a running bond pattern, white stone window headers and sills and the front porch with its pitched roof creates great curb appeal. You can see shadows of former shutters at the sides of the windows and adding them back would add even more architectural character.
The side driveway leads to a garage behind the house. The depth of this outbuilding creates room for a range of uses including a home office, studio, apartment or storage. The lot can be accessed both from Main Street and from an easement off Liberty Street at the rear of the property. Although on the day I visited the landscape was dormant, the mature Magnolia, other mature trees and crape myrtles holds “promise of flowers that bloom in the spring-tra la”! The hedgerow at the front sidewalk is broken by an arbor with a gate leading to the brick edged sidewalk to the steps at the front porch.
The front door opens to a hall by the stairs with its original stained wood balustrade leading up to the unique double winder landing to each side of the second floor. To the left of the entry is a parlor and to the right is a double parlor divided by a wide elliptical arched doorway on axis with the fireplace at the rear wall. The original fireplace is detailed with corbeled brick that steps up to the mantel for a delightful focal point from both rooms. The front parlor is furnished as a sitting room and the rear parlor as the dining room. The other front parlor is currently used as a bedroom.
The original center hall plan now ends at a full bath opposite the front door. The bath had been added in a previous renovation but there are options to restore the original circulation pattern. One option is to modify the laundry/utility room behind the kitchen to include a full bath. Between the dining room and the laundry is the kitchen with another original winder stair leading to the second floor rear bedroom. Across the kitchen is the sunroom with wonderful diagonal views of the landscape from the wall of windows that wraps around the corner and sliding doors that open onto the brick terrace.
The “L” shaped second floor contains three bedrooms and one bath. In the middle of the bedrooms at each front corner of the house is a smaller room that could be a second bath or walk-in closet. The existing bath off the rear hall is centrally located to the bedrooms and has been renovated and detailed with a tile wainscot and top border that repeats above the shower wall. The wood floors and wood lavatory cabinet are a pleasant contrast to the white fixtures with sunlight from the large window. The third bedroom is located at the rear of the addition so its three exterior walls have a window on each side wall for sunlight throughout the day. This could also be a great master bedroom since the adjacent hall bath and walk-in closet would create a master suite with the second stair next to this room providing easy access to the kitchen for popcorn or other snacks! Bird’s eye views of the landscaping below would make this a delightful space.
Great opportunity to live in Town and work from home that could enhanced by more landscaping to create a private oasis in the heart of Rock Hall! The possibility of renovating the outbuilding to become a seasonal rental is a plus.
For more information about this property, contact Cindy Genther with Rock Hall Properties Real Estate at 410-639-4003 (o), 443-480-1953 (c) or [email protected]. For more photographs and pricing, visit www.rockhallproperties.com, “Equal Housing Opportunity”.
Spy House of the Week is an ongoing series that selects a different home each week. The Spy’s Habitat editor Jennifer Martella makes these selections based exclusively on her experience as a architect.
Jennifer Martella has pursued her dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. Her award winning work has ranged from revitalization projects to a collaboration with the Maya Lin Studio for the Children’s Defense Fund’s corporate retreat in her home state of Tennessee.
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