House of the Week: House of the Week: Golden Oldie

This charming Victorian is located within the boundaries of Easton’s new Arts and Entertainment District and offers the perfect opportunity for an artist or other creative entrepreneur to benefit from the tax related incentives created by this new designation. Work in part of the main floor and live in the rest of this three storied, 3,598 sf house. The site is one-half block from the heart of Easton’s shopping streets, restaurants and the Avalon Theater. The front porch is the perfect spot to interact with neighbors and the rear fenced yard provides both a sunny hardscaped terrace and shaded areas from mature trees, including a towering Magnolia and plantings of azaleas for color. There is a short alley behind this house and its next-door neighbor and an easement ensures this house will continue to enjoy off-street parking for two cars.

The front elevation is very appealing with its main gable wing and secondary wing with its gable at the side elevation. The exterior color palette is a confection of creamy yellow shiplap siding, light green window trim, light blue shutters, white corner boards and pale salmon front entry storm doors that protect the original half-French paneled wooden doors. Scalloped siding accents both the porch gable and the third floor “eyebrow” gable.

The porch’s hipped roof is broken by a gable that project beyond the side porch area to mark the entrance. Brick steps are flanked by two closely spaced pairs of turned columns with accent banding of light green and blue. On either side of the columns, curved brackets spring from the top side of the column to the underside of the beam above, forming a half-circle between the paired columns. The  brackets are painted a slightly deeper yellow color than the shiplap siding and the light blue ceiling with white trim under the deeper salmon metal roof completes this exquisite porch.

The spacious entrance hall has a “U” shaped stair with a landing between the lower and upper runs of the stair to fill the space. The original stained wood newel posts, balustrade and stair treads have been beautifully maintained. One of the sitting rooms has a fireplace with built-in millwork at one side and the other room has a corner fireplace with an antique mantel. The eat-in kitchen has space for a table for six for informal meals. 

There is a box-bay at one side elevation of the house on both floors and this creates a cozy nook for one of the bedrooms on the second floor. I was very pleased to see that the original transoms above the four-paneled doors to the bedrooms have been carefully preserved, along with the window trim around the large windows and the wood floors. All of the bedrooms would make restful retreats. However, I would retreat to the third floor room that spans from the front to the back of the front gable.  I could easily envision writing my Spy stories on a table under the bay window with a bird’s eye view for a respite from my computer.

Verdant back yard with terrace and off-street parking, Victorian loaded with period detailing and the opportunity to participate in Easton’s Art and Entertainment District’s tax incentives program for renovation/restoration-hard to resist!

For more information about this property, contact Bob Shanahan with Shoreline Realty, Inc, at 410-822-7556 (o) 410-310-5745 (c) or [email protected], “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.