I have several friends who live in Cooke’s Hope and they love being on the highly desirable Oxford corridor and their proximity to the attractions of both Oxford and Easton. As an architect, Cooke’s Hope’s additional appeal is its New Urbanist site design, the entrance drive framed by an allee’ of mature trees and the bucolic setting on either side of the drive with those irresistible banded cows grazing in the open pastures.
The community was built upon land that was part of a land grant in 1659 to Major Miles Cooke and now there are five neighborhoods with housing varying from townhomes to single family residences. This house in the “Springfield” neighborhood had great curb appeal with its full front porch and Cape Cod design. The front door with a transom and sidelights is centered in the symmetrical façade and is flanked by pairs of windows on each side with three dormers above.
The “L” shaped floor plan worked very well- the short end of the “L” contains the garage, laundry, and office and leads to the kitchen and the rest of the house. The spacious entrance hall divides the master suite from the living, dining, family room and kitchen. It is no secret by now that I love porches and this house gets high marks for its three porches-one on the front, a small one on the side off the kitchen and the screened porch at the rear.
The welcoming entrance hall has wainscoting and the stair railing is open on the entry side to expand the space. The color palette of warm gray walls, cream upholstery, patterned rug over beautiful hardwood floors and warm wood accessory pieces was carried through from the living room, dining room and family room.
The kitchen had my favorite “L” shape with an island and other cabinetry on the opposite wall. Direct access to the dining room, family room and rear screened porch and to the spacious brick terrace created a great entertaining space. The terrace had broad vistas of sweeping lawns with colorful planting beds and mature trees.
The master bedroom had French doors to the rear screened porch and the second floor bedrooms were tucked under the roof eaves with high knee walls for ease of furniture arrangement and dormers on both sides of the rooms for light throughout the day.
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For more information about this property, contact Chuck Mangold with Benson and Mangold Real Estate at 410-822-6665 (o), 410-924-8832 (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.
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