Since the Spring Equinox occurs this week, I thought it would be appropriate to select a property that has outdoor rooms for extending the living spaces to enjoy nature’s harbingers of spring.  Meandering walks through the wooded site end at the pier with its panoramic water views. This contemporary house’s setting on popular Davis Creek blends beautifully into the surrounding woods with its color palette of shades of brown accented by the dramatic story and a half fireplace chimney of multi-colored stone.  The floor plan of this one-level house works very well with its simple geometry of one long wing with gable ends bisected by a shorter wing also with gable ends. A continuous waterside deck extends along the rear of the house connecting the glassed three-season room, dining room, great room and master suite.  

The shorter gable wing contains the great room, bedrooms and a bonus room at the loft level. The bonus room overlooks both the great room below and views of the water through the great room’s transom windows. The ceiling of the great room soars to the underside of the collar beams and flanking the fireplace are triple windows with two stacked levels of transoms whose jambs and headers follow the pitch of the sloped ceiling.  Skylights and side windows also fill this space with sunlight that filters through the trees.  

A wide wall opening leads to the dining room with its double window and half French door to the deck. The master suite has its own one-story wing and the master bedroom has a low pitched ceiling and a window and French door to the deck. The brown color palette is echoed in the master bath’s tiled shower surround with decorative tile inserts, tile floor and warm mocha wall.  A storage tower unit separates the two lavatories with framed mirrors above. The base cabinet and countertop in front of the storage unit is offset so the counter can be fully used.

The three-season room exterior wall is a series of sliding doors to the deck for a great entertaining area. With a hot tub, bar with stools and other seating this space is ready for warm weather enjoyment. One end of the deck has a table and benches for al-fresco dining with an outdoor fireplace to ward off the nighttime chill. 

Wooded, waterfront site, great one-level living and wonderful three-season room and deck for relaxing with family and friends to watch spring unfold! 

For more information about this property contact  Lynn Hilfiker with Gunther McClary Real Estate at 410-639-2118 (o), 443-480-1163 (c)  or lynnhilfiker@gmail.com. For more photographs and pricing visit www.rockhallrealestate.com , “Equal Housing Opportunity”. Photography by Stephen Buchanan, www.buchananphotography.com, 410-212-8753.  

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.

 

I am always drawn to Kent Street for its proximity to the amenities of Chestertown’s shopping district, waterfront and Washington College. The charming houses on the south side of Kent are compact urban dwellings dating from the early 20th century.  This house’s  pale siding and white trim with eave brackets onto the cornice board and window boxes at the front ground floor windows has a traditional style that belies the artistic interior design found within. 

Opposite the front door is the stairway to the second floor which optimizes the floor space on both floors. The open plan living room, dining room and kitchen is cleverly separated into these three areas by partial wing walls with framed interior “windows” for daylight to penetrate through the spaces and to illuminate the beautiful pine flooring throughout the first floor. The living room has a fireplace and built-ins on one side of the room and the dining room has both a triple window on one side and a single window on the other side for daylight. 

I immediately recognized the designs of the Aurora, NY, based MacKenzie Childs, as I have dessert plates and glasses from that talented firm founded in 1983.  The owners of this house have used some of MacKenzie Childs’ signature black and white checkerboard and diamond patterns, colorful floral window treatments, hand painted furnishings, rugs and accessories to give this house great charm and personality. There are so many clever interior design ideas but the oval clock face dining tabletop and the living room settee’s upholstery are two of my favorites. 

 I also loved the kitchen with the sleek honey colored cabinets and the black and white checkerboard door pattern that complimented the stainless steel appliances.  The island that separates the kitchen from the dining area has three of MacKenzie Childs’ ceramic serving pieces on the countertop. Instead of one door to the rear covered porch and access to the fenced rear yard there are two French doors for symmetry that divides the kitchen into prep, cooking and serving areas and creates a lovely vista from the living and dining areas. 

The master suite at the rear of the house is a serene retreat overlooking the landscape and hardscape below.  The ceiling follows the angles of the roof joists adding height to the space and the side window, rear triple window with transoms and skylights fill the space with sunlight. The light blue walls and painted bedframe, brightly colored floral bedspread and shams, painted nightstands, colorful lamp bases and the curvaceous settee in front of the wide window is visually delightful. The hall that connects the upstairs rooms becomes a gallery with a high three-unit window for daylight, an accent rug over the pine floors and walls of art.

The rear elevation with its wood shake siding, hipped roof over the porch and the symmetry of the doors and windows looks out onto an urban oasis with a serpentine hardscape of brick and stone under the shade of a mature tree and the fenced perimeter for privacy.  Bravo to the owner for renovating this house while preserving its historic details and for their stylish interior design!

 

For more information about this property contact Marshall Owings with Benson and Mangold at 410-643-3033 (o), 410-708-5382 (c) or marshallowings@gmail.com. For more photographs and pricing visit www.marshallowings.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.

 

I had toured this property when it was for sale several years ago and it was such a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the French Country house whose architecture and interiors are trés magnifique! Like many houses on the water, there was a previous house close to the shoreline that enabled this house to start its new foundation much closer than is allowed today to take full advantage of vistas to Broad Creek. There are not enough superlatives in either French or English to describe the blend of the exceptional architectural design of architect Jon Braithwaite, Principal of Atelier 11 Architects and his Associate, Tom Batchelor, that inspired the exquisite French Country interior design.

The house has a remarkably compact footprint considering its over 4,000 sf size. All of the elevations are equally appealing due to the architect’s masterful studies in massing, scale, proportion and texture, executed in stone and brick detailing that will last for centuries as the great French country houses have. The front elevation has a center three-story gable stone wall in gray tones and full height brick quoins in reddish brown tones.  I loved how the brick quoins turn and follow the outline of the roof as a frame for the stone. Tucked under the roof ridge are two double windows accentuated by brick headers and sills. At the second floor is a box bay supported by brackets back to the exterior wall with a pair of arched top windows a la Francaise surrounded by irregular shake shingles in gray. 

At the main level is the stained mahogany entry door edged in brick and covered by a triangular roof supported by brackets. The left side of the front gable roof continues down to the first floor and a tapered brick chimney is flanked by tall and narrow arched top windows with another small rectangular accent window at the top right wall.  On the other side, a curved room with a metal roof is set on top of another larger curved room below that creates a  balcony for the second floor bedroom suite above. Two small dormers on each side of the main roof complete the composition.

The waterside elevation is defined by the 9 x 47 foot screened porch with its sloped metal roof.  Rising behind it is another chimney that bisects the gable roof of the second floor with stacked windows on each side topped with quarter arched windows, a shed dormer on one side of the main roof and the curved rooms that connect the porch to the main house wall. 

The symmetrical interior vistas of the main floor resulted from careful studies by the architects.   The front entry door is opposite another door that leads to a bedroom suite with a pocket door to close off the suite for privacy.  The foyer hall leads to the dramatic suspended stair between the living and dining rooms whose ceilings rise to the second floor.  The large hand-hewn roof structural supports were rescued from a Singer Sewing factory and the exposed wood decking above is finished  in stained wood punctuated by small dormers for light. The exterior fireplaces in the dining and living rooms are opposite each other and rise to the underside of the second floor ceilings. The living room is between the “his” and “her” library/study rooms. The doors to these rooms are opposite each other for beautiful vistas to the fireplace in one study with a window seat and to a curved bay with a window seat below flanked by bookcases in the other study.  I loved the kitchen with the exquisite curved continuous windows meeting French doors to the screened porch and the water views beyond. One does not often see  window frames and glass that are curved!

The two master suites on the second floor are located at the waterside corners  of the house on either side of the bridge overlooking the two-story living and dining rooms.  One suite has a “Juliet” balcony accessed by French doors and an inglenook under the shed dormer with its curved interior ceiling for a cozy sitting area. The other suite has a longer balcony whose curved shape was formed by the kitchen perimeter below. The sleeping area has a barrel vaulted ceiling and two small windows artfully placed just under the spring line of the barrel vault to filter light onto the ceiling. The flat ceiling over the curved wall of windows defines its cozy sitting area with water views.

Both the guest house and carriage house were built by the current owners and the architectural style and interior detailing matches the style, level of detail and craftsmanship of the main house. The current owners also added a pool surrounded by hardscape that connected the main house to the guest house.

7.7 acres of a private, partially wooded site with serene vistas to the water, exquisitely detailed exterior and interior design, the play of light from multiple sources of windows, dormers and doors and the very liveable floor plan make this house one of the most unique houses I have ever seen on the Eastern Shore-bravo to the Architects and to the Contractor!

 

For more information about this property, contact Tom Crouch with Benson and Mangold Real Estate at 410-745-0720 (o), 410-310-8916 (c) or tcrouch@bensonandmangold.com. For more photographs and pricing, visit http://bensonandmangold.com/agents/tom-crouch/, “Equal Housing Opportunity” Architecture of main house:  Atelier 11, Jon Braithwaite, Principal and Tom Batchelor. Contractor of Main House:  Frank Deak Guest House and Carriage House:  Knappworks LLC

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.