House of the Week: The First Decade

Ten years ago this week was the debut of my House of the Week in The Talbot Spy and the Chestertown Spy. I first thought about modeling HOTW on the New York Times’ Home Section that featured one picture of three houses with the same price in different cities. The Times’ information for each house was minimal-location, cost, square footage, etc.; just basic facts. 

I soon realized House of the Week could be so much more; my selection criteria became design excellence in site, architecture, interiors and landscape. My beat ranged from Kent County to Dorchester County. As an architect, my priority was to feature houses designed by architects.

Over the years, House of the Week’s readership has steadily  grown, including readers in ten states and one foreign country. I am especially gratified that so many readers come to Piazza Italian Market on Fridays and Saturdays where I host wine tastings to tell me how much they enjoy House of the Week. 

I am also indebted to the sellers who welcomed me to tour their homes and their listing agents who shared the photography with me for my weekly deadlines. 

To celebrate House of the Week’s first decade, I selected my fave ten houses designed by architects, alphabetically by last name, past and present. I hope you enjoy my trip down Memory Lane as much as I did for a second look at these great designs.  I have also included the original House of the Week articles that were available from the Spy archives. 

Jenn 

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3-6-24: “Sunnyside Up” on Irish Creek

Architect: Mark Beck

This is my fave design by the late architect Mark Beck, who spent many weekends on the Eastern Shore and soon fell under its spell. He designed this house for clients as a weekend/summer house and its design was his favorite of all his projects. Several years later, the clients told Mark they were selling the house and he quickly bought it!  

I admired how Mark created soaring ceiling heights in both the  screened porch and the living room. The porch’s waterside wall is angled so it is parallel to the water for maximum views and I lingered in this exquisite two-story room that reminded me of a giant aviary. 

The geometry of the living room’s angles and vistas were accentuated by the white walls and ceiling and the beautiful hardwood floors. The Sellers’ contemporary furnishings complimented the house perfectly.

For the original article, go to : https://talbotspy.org/2024/03/06/design-with-jenn-martella-sunnyside-up-by-architect-mark-beck/

 

5-22-19-Architect: William Draper Brinkloe 

Private Residence

One of my artist friends told me about the work of the architect William Draper Brinkloe, who lived in Easton from 1911 until his death in 1933. He also wrote a book “The Small Home” that was also a “Pattern Book” of his residential designs. When I saw the last house in the book, I recognized its front façade as one of the houses I most admired in Easton’s Historic District.  I loved this large Craftsman style cottage’s quirky details, especially the oversized and slanted piers that support the deep wrap-around porch, the wide eaves that curved over the entrance, the wide “eyebrow” window at the second floor and the earth tones of the exterior materials.   

 

During my tour, I was fascinated to discover the unique curved inglenook; every other inglenooks I have either seen personally or in books were rectangular. I entered this irresistible geometric space underneath a wide and low elliptical arch that frames the circular wall beyond. The fireplace’s top band and the top of the painted brick align seamlessly with the two top rows of the recessed bookshelves.  As a bibliophile, I could easily imagine relaxing with a book by the fire, surrounded by the exquisite geometry of Brinckloe’s design. 

For more information about William Draper Brinkloe’s projects, go to https://talbot.spycommunitymedia.org/habitat-the-work-of-architect-william-draper-brinckloe/

 

1-3-24-Goose Neck Craftsman
Architect: Charles Goebel,  www.cpgoebel.com, 410-820-9176

Architect Charles Goebel is known for his timeless residential designs that recently earned him two national accolades: being named in both (Architectural Digest) AD Pro Directory 2026 and Forbes Magazine Top 200 Residential Architects-Bravo!  

When I arrived for my tour, I stood for a long time to savor the design of the front elevation that reminded me of the work of architect Stanford White’s country houses on Long Island, NY. The beautiful symmetry of the main wing and the garage wing set back from the front elevation, the mix of gabled and hipped roofs, shake siding that gently flares at the bottom and the color palette with accents of deep teal, created a very harmonious composition.

        

Every elevation of this exquisite house was meticulously thought out by  Goebel; the rear elevation opens up to the landscape and water with the sunroom’s wrap-around windows below a wide shed dormer infilled with windows. Two double-unit windows in the gable walls complete the harmonious composition. 

For the original article, go to https://talbotspy.org/2024/01/03/house-of-the-week-the-merryland/

 

3-16-19-Private Residence: Before and After

Architect: Charles Goebel,  www.cpgoebel.com, 410-820-9176 

This was an early design by Goebel for a young couple who thought they couldn’t afford an architect. They soon discovered they couldn’t have done without one! Goebel transformed the house by replacing the low slope roof with a higher pitched hipped roof  that created a partial second floor private primary ensuite and a deck overlooking the Miles River. 

I admired how Goebel inserted a wide gable at the second floor capped with a cupola that was centered in the middle of the new design.  The double unit window with an arched transom infilled the gable and the white trim extending up to the underside of the eave added character.  At the first floor, Goebel  added a  curved pergola over the front door, a box bay projection with triple windows at the living room and pairs of double unit windows for the main floor bedrooms. The roof was extended to create a carport and access to the original garage beyond. This design shows how a gifted architect can transform a rancher’s façade into a beautiful façade that catches your eye!  

The main floor rooms were left intact with the exception of this dining area- sunroom overlooking the pool and the Miles River beyond. I may be prejudiced since the owners are friends of mine,  but in my opinion, no other house on this street comes close to this exquisite transformation!

For the original article, go to https://talbot.spycommunitymedia.org/spy-house-of-the-week-rio-vista-transformation/

 

 2-8-18 -“And Baby Makes Three” 

Architect: Jennifer Martella, jlmartella@gmail.com, 410-253-1100

I met the owners of this house through the St. Michaels’ Business Association and they later retained me to redesign their house in anticipation of their first child. The owners were living in the guest house on his parents’ property along St. Michael’s’ harbor with stunning long views down the Miles River. The guest house was the size of a three car garage with a long shed roof from the rear to the front that created a partial second floor. 

To begin the house’s transformation, the roof was demolished and replaced with  a 18/12 pitched roof that created a full second floor with high knee walls and sloped ceilings. Other additions of  a front gable projection, two side gable projections, one for a porch to the front door and the other one over the riverside living room transformed the massing. New siding and roofing tied it all together. 

 

The exquiste living room with oak paneled walls was left intact with the exception of adding sliding doors with full sidelights to open up the room to the water. The front addtion created an open plan kitchen-sitting area-dining area that became the hub of the young family’s life. 

Interior design by Higgins and Spencer,  www.higginsandspencer.com ,410- 745-5192

For the original article, go to :https://talbot.spycommunitymedia.org/design-a-home-before-and-after-after-baby-makes-three/

 

4-2-19- “Modernism by a Master”

Architect: Mark McInturff, FAIA | McInturff Architects, www.mcinturffarchitects.com, 301-229-3705

Architect Mark McInturff has won over 500 design awards for his highly crafted modern houses and this house is my favorite.  His clients had searched for the right waterfront site and finally found this seven acre property in Claiborne with an older house very close to the shoreline. The house was demolished and the new house was built upon the former foundation to maintain the close proximity to the water that was no long allowed for enjoyment of  the panoramic views of the Eastern Bay.

The house is a masterful composition in massing, solid/void interaction and transparency. The materials of glass, stacked stone and lap siding in earth toned colors become part of the wooded landscape and the slender edges of the deep roof eaves accentuate the horizontal planes. At twilight, full height glass walls, standard windows that wrap around corners of rooms, high windows that turn down along the edges of solid wall planes magically illuminate the rooms within.  

The rear wall of the living-dining area has full height glass panels that slide open to the waterside deck underneath the ceiling of the second floor deck above. When fully open, the floor area increases by 30%-great for entertaining! During the summer months, motorized screened panels at the rear edge of the deck drop down to enclose the covered deck. 

For the original article, go to: https://talbot.spycommunitymedia.org/spy-house-of-the-week-modernism-by-a-master/

 

11-20-18: “Aerie”, “The Ornithologist’s House ”

Architect: Peter Newlin, FAIA 

An ornithologist had purchased a site in Kent County and built a small one-room cabin as her get-away retreat, nestled in a wooded area with conifers, mature deciduous trees, native plants, a creek and marsh that attracted birds and other wildlife. The small cabin soon felt too small for longer stays so she commissioned Newlin to design a three-story addition. The different levels were important to her since different species of birds seek different heights for feeding or nesting areas and she wanted to observe all of them up close.  

How to connect a one-story cabin to a three-story tower was Newlin’s challenge that he met brilliantly. He created a shed roofed wrap-around porch whose depth varies around the rectangular footprint to create a variety of spaces inside and out. He broke up the massing of the tower by stepping it back as it passed through the roof behind and above the one-story original cabin. Recladding the entire house and new roofing seamlessly blended old and new.

The third floor room was my fave space since it had windows on all four sides for panoramic views of the treetops. The room’s exposed rafters and decking added so much texture to the space. Skylights and windows with picture planes above for maximum views of the birds with vented units below keeps the space light and “airy” and would make a bird watcher out of anyone!

Peter Newlin passing was a personal and professional loss to me, but the legacy of his exceptional work lives on. 

For the original article, go to : https://chestertown.spycommunitymedia.org/2018/11/20/spy-house-of-the-week-an-ornithologists-aerie/

 

1-29-19: “Davis Creek Craftsman”

Architect: Peter Newlin, FAIA

To me, Newlin’s masterpiece was his modern interpretation of a Craftsman style house and its construction did indeed have many skilled craftspersons. The series of pavilions step back on the gently sloping lawn to Davis Creek. This nocturnal photograph highlights the transparency of the screened porch with triangular windows set into the hipped roof, the two story pavilions beyond with wide windows set into the lower hipped roofs and multiple windows and doors at the main level-simply breathtaking! 

My fave design element is the tower that encloses the stair to the second floor. When I walked up the stair to the primary suite, the three rows of windows offered increasingly more  panoramic views of the woods and water. I also loved the exterior materials of the blue metal roofs and the earth toned siding that resembled the barks of the surrounding trees on its base of reddish brick. 

For the original article, go to: talbot.spycommunitymedia.org/a-tribute-to-peter-newlin-faia

10-3-24-Craftsman Country House

Architect:  Purlsey Dixon Architecture Inc, www.pursleydixon.com, 704-334-6500

The owners’ nephew was an architect and they retained him to design a new home for them to resemble a farmhouse that would be a befitting complement to this peaceful rural setting of a 9.6 acre site along the Chester River. The original cottage on the property was demolished down to the foundation and was reborn as the new guest house that became the weekend house for the Owners until their main house was completed. 

The main house was sited in a clearing to maximize the water views and the guest house is nestled in a clearing surrounding by pine trees to maintain privacy for each house. I loved how the house’s different wings varied in heights and how the one-story connections link the house together while also separating private and public rooms. Each wing is articulated with gable and/or shed roofs and shed dormers. 

The Owner met me at the front door and for the next hour, we walked through the house and then sat down in this fab two-story great room and had a delightful conversation about its architecture. From my seat on the curved sofa, I looked through the tall and wide picture window to see the massive brackets that support the roof over the terrace, accessed by single French doors at each side. 

 

8-20-26: “The House of Six Gables” 

Architect: Wiedemann Architects, Gregory Wiedemann, FAIA,  | www.wiedemannarchitects.com, 301-652-4022

Walking up the driveway to this house, one might think it was a well maintained older farmhouse. Architect Gregory Wiedemann took his cue for this charming new house from the quintessential vernacular architecture found throughout the Eastern Shore. The former dilapidated structure was demolished so that the foundation for the new house could take its place with its close proximity to the Choptank River. The simple geometry of four gables that project beyond the rectangular core of the house and the two other gables in the middle of the side walls created a lively massing. 

The house is nestled into a beautiful, mature landscape of towering trees, shrubbery and plants. Outdoor rooms abound-the main floor’s shed roofed porch at the end of the driveway, a side covered porch, and a waterside terrace and  the second floor’s screened porch and a balcony keeps one attuned to nature. 

 

Wiedemann opened up the rear of the house to maximize the views of the Choptank River with bay windows and this wall at the kitchen-dining area that is infilled with a center picture plane between French doors at each side. The flexible floor plan accommodates primary ensuites on both floors for aging in place. Vintage touches like the turned columns and beadboard wainscot evoke the farmhouse style.

For the original article go to: talbotspy.org/2026/08/20/design-with-jenn-martella-the-house-of-six-gables

 

Thanks for reading and here’s to the next decade of great houses by great architects-stay tuned!