One of my favorite streets in Oxford is East Strand and my favorite approach is from the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry.  As the ferry draws nearer to Oxford, the graceful curvature of East Strand becomes clear and the streetscape of historic houses amid mature trees is picture perfect. Happily, the street is too narrow for parking which gives each house unobstructed views across the Tred Avon River to the shoreline of Bellevue. 

On past strolls along East Strand, I have stopped to admire today’s featured house for its quintessential Easter Shore vernacular architectural style. The exquisite front elevation has a screened porch that spans the length of the house. The original turned columns are seamlessly integrated into the solid railing clad in lap siding for seated privacy.  The mix of rattan and wicker furnishings are front row seats for watching sailboats gliding on the river and the setting sun. Above the front porch, a trio of windows at the second floor are equally spaced and the symmetry is topped with a gable break in the roof’s eave accented by an arched top window.  The exterior color palette of the red herringbone pattered brick sidewalk between landscaping against the house’s backdrop of white siding and black shutters is timeless.

Over the years, the original two-bay, two-room deep house with a rear shed has been expanded with a two-story addition at the rear and a one-story addition that wraps around one side and the rear of the house. Both additions are set back to respect the original historic form. The current owners have left their distinctive mark on the house by opening up the interior walls to create cross and diagonal vistas throughout both floors of the house, painting the texture paneled walls and bead board ceiling bright white to reflect the sunlight and adding lighting to showcase their art collection.  When the owners greeted me at the door, I was temporarily distracted from the interior architecture by their collections of Mid-Century Modern furnishings, contemporary art and ceramics. I collect pitchers and I coveted the large brightly colored ceramic mosaic pitcher and saucer by a Polish artisan.

As I moved through the house,  I realized each room’s flow, arrangement of furniture and placement of artwork was carefully orchestrated to create a serene and inviting look.  The neutral colors of the living-dining area and the adjacent family room  focus one’s attention on the art.  Both rooms are connected by a wide cased opening and at the rear of the family room, wide and deep cased openings provide views of the kitchen.  Infilling the wall openings are sinuous metallic sculptures.  The spacious kitchen is a cook’s dream with a large center island of deep gray base cabinets and a cooktop inserted into the granite counter.  At each end of the island are the refrigerator/freezer and the sink cabinets. The base cabinets under the wide wall openings to the family room provide ample food preparation space and the sliding barn style door at the rear  wall  opens to reveal floor to ceiling pantry shelves. 

 Around the corner of the kitchen is the iconic contemporary round white table and “Tulip” chairs with red cushions for enjoying breakfast with views through two sets of sliding glass doors to the large terrace partially shaded by a majestic tree. The owners repaired and restored the perimeter filigreed black iron fence that disappears into the landscape. Behind the terrace is a deep lawn bordered by pairs of serpentine low hedges and hardscape centered in the lawn to the rear property line.

The rest of the main floor contains a large mudroom/laundry with an exterior door to the lawn and a suite with two bedrooms and a bath. A cozy interior room is lined with shelves and walls that showcase the work of modern German artists. The space could easily be reconfigured to create a primary bedroom suite with its own exterior door. The second floor originally had two bedrooms but the common wall has been removed to create the primary bedroom and office space with windows overlooking the water views.  No doubt, the famous “Barcelona” chair in the office space provides a restful break from computer work. 

A wonderful blend of historic Eastern Shore vernacular architecture and Mid-Century Modern furnishings, waterfront location on one of Oxford’s best streets and mix of outdoor rooms from the front porch, side terrace and deep rear lawn.  If this is not enough, the adjacent buildable parcel is available. Bravo to the Owners for their vision and I look forward to their next property transformation for future House of the Week articles!

For more information about this property, contact Monica Penwell with Meredith Fine Properties at 410-822-2001 (o), 410- 310-0225 (c) or monicapenwellrealtor@gmail.com. For more photographs and pricing, visit www.meredithfineproperties.com,  “Equal Housing Opportunity”.

Photography by Ryan Prell, 443-786-3693

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.

Coincidentally, this week I am featuring houses in both The Chestertown Spy and The Talbot Spy that are designed by architects which illustrate two very good reasons to hire an architect! To reach this house on Broad Creek, I drove down a gravel driveway through woods and soon the house came into view, framed by an allee of mature trees sheltering smaller canopy trees below. At the clearing for the house, the drive became circular so I could admire the elegant symmetry of the front elevation with its center story and a half wing between one-story hyphens on each side connecting to end wings perpendicular to the front elevation.  

The hipped roofs and form reminded me of Georgian architecture but instead of brick, this house is clad in white lap siding. The square skylight at the top of the center wing’s hipped roof and its window arrangement clearly are 21st century.  To break down the massing, a wide band separates the center wing’s picture window from the full half moon transom above.  At the bottom and each side of the picture window are vertical and horizontal windows and two small vertical windows flank the half moon transom to complete this striking composition.  

When the listing agent opened the entry door, I realized the one level floor plan was arranged with a circulation path connecting two bedroom suites at each end of the house between the great room and kitchen. The foyer’s glass door with full glass sidelights is opposite sliding doors to the waterside deck that spans the full seventy-foot length of the house. 

The rear elevation opens up to the tranquil views of Broad Creek with multiple sliding doors and full height windows. I especially liked the full range of outdoor rooms from the deck with its elliptical edge and deep built-in seat, covered deck off the foyer, pergola festooned with wisteria and the screened porch off the great room. Sliding doors along the house’s rear elevation create great flow between the indoor and outdoor rooms to enjoy the fall weather. 

To the left of the foyer is the corner primary bedroom with a closet whose depth creates a cozy alcove next to it.  Infilling the alcove is a window seat with cushions and accent pillows underneath a picture window with operable side units that beckons one to relax and enjoy the water views.  Behind the bedroom is the spacious bath with dual entrances for great flow.  

From the primary suite, the circulation hall bisects the great room with its stunning hipped ceiling clad in wood with a soft milky gray finish. At the top of the perimeter walls, a wide board becomes the edge of a grid consisting of large timbers below the skylight that casts shadows on the white walls below. Each interior elevation of the great room has great appeal from the front wall with the focal picture window and half moon transom flanked by built-in millwork, the side wall with a fireplace as the focal point for a seating group and the rear wall’s symmetry of three pairs of glass doors below the perimeter band with side windows at each corner. Above the band, the window arrangement of the front wall is repeated at the rear wall. At the side wall facing the kitchen, a cased opening connects the kitchen visually to the great room. 

Behind the kitchen is the mud room/laundry with its own exterior door for clean up after a day on the water or in the pool. At the end of the circulation hall is the second primary suite. I admired the interior design of the wall hanging over the bed that could have been inspired by Henri Rousseau’s Jardin Series and the painted furniture piece picks up the colors of nature in the hanging.

Walking back outside, I strolled down a brick path between a low parterre that leads to the large pool with its backdrop of the charming guest house, breezeway and garage between the pool and the tennis court.  The dark green board and batten siding camouflages the guest house in its surrounding landscape. The end bays of the guest house are gable forms perpendicular to each other that are offset from the middle two bays of the great room with transoms above long windows and the breezeway bay. Another pergola with wisteria spans across the offset in the walls and offers another option for shade to cool off after a dip in the pool or a tennis match.

Guests may extend their stay when they discover the guest house’s high ceilinged great room with a circular stair to a loft bedroom, a main floor bedroom, bath, and single galley kitchen with an easy care quarry tile floor that flows through the main floor rooms.   

This unique property includes two wooded building lots containing 2.12 acres and 2.47 acres, each with a designated County sewer hookup. The parcel containing the house and guest house is 10.86 acres for total privacy. Beautifully detailed design by architect Brier Tomlinson, great interiors (did I mention the Owner would include the furnishings that suit the house so well if a buyer wants a turn key property?), all in sought after Bozman close to St. Michaels -Bravo! 

For more information about this property, contact Bob Shanahan with Shoreline Realty, Inc,  at 410-822-7556 (o) 410-310-5745 (c) or bob@shorelinerealty.biz. For more photographs and pricing, visit www.shorelinerealty.biz , “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.

Last week I featured a “Fixer Upper” that to me had great potential so this week, I was inspired by the Monty Python movie “And Now for Something Completely Different” to search for a small house that is renovated and move-in ready.  Since I can’t resist cottages this one that was built in 1945 caught my eye. This small cottage has big architectural character from its dormer windows at the front of the house, the full shed dormer across the rear of the house for greater headroom, the box bay projection from the front wall that increases the floor area of the kitchen and the bay window at the dining area.   

The house is set perpendicular to the street with a driveway that extends past the front door’s brick stoop then ends at the 600 sf detached shed. The drive also curves around to the rear porch at the kitchen for ease of unloading the car after an afternoon of running errands. The interior renovation began by removing all the interior finishes to expose the studs for installation of new wiring and insulation. The renovation continued with drywall and paint with the same neutral color used throughout the house. The hardwood floors on the main floor were refinished and carpet was installed on the second floor for sound insulation. The finishing touches included new doors, appliances, cabinets, moldings, plumbing and lighting fixtures. 

The main floor contains the spacious living room with a picture window between two operable windows and another window on the side wall.  The pastoral view from the picture window is of farmland across the road stretching to the distant background of dense trees.  The wide cased opening on the interior side wall frames the view to the dining room’s wide bay projection with a triple window.  Another wide cased opening in the dining room leads to the kitchen and between the two wall openings is an angled wall that has been built out slightly to perhaps cover a former fireplace. This could be a perfect spot for built-in corner cabinet for additional storage.

The kitchen has two windows for sunlight and views and here the flooring changes to gray to coordinate with white cabinets, white solid surface countertops and stainless steel appliances with black accents of the microwave above the range and the top and back panel of the range. To me, it would have been better to extend the upper cabinets to the ceiling for additional storage instead of having a gap and molding above the cabinets. The cased opening from the kitchen to the dining room frames the vista of the single window at the dining room. 

At the corner of the living room is a recessed area with the stairs to the second floor opposite the door to the primary bedroom suite. The original iron grille in the bedroom floor has a new life as the HVAC supply air grille. Windows on both corner walls make the space sunny and bright. The primary bath’s lavatory cabinet is sized to contain two drawers for storage in addition to the space below the lavatory.  White fixtures and cabinets with a solid surface countertop creates a neutral palette ready for the next owner’s colorful towels and accessories. 

The second floor bedrooms share the hall bath with its white European style lavatory cabinet and white fixtures. Each bedroom has windows from the dormers at the front roof and the rear shed dormer.  

This three bedroom, two bath home’s move-in ready renovation has a bonus of the detached 600 sf outbuilding.  The lack of interior columns maximizes the space’s use for garage, office, workshop, etc.  Looking at my long list of deferred maintenance items, having a fully renovated house with a main floor suite and a detached building for my office and storage is very tempting! The lot has been partially landscaped so the new owner can add their own hardscape and landscape. 

For more information about this property, contact Joan Wetmore with Meredith Fine Properties at 410-822-6702 (o), 410-924-2432 (c) or JoanWetmore@msn.com. For more photographs and pricing visit www.meredithfineproperties.com , “Equal Housing Opportunity”. 

Photography by True Place, (301) 972-3201, www.go.truplace.com

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.

Whenever I buy property, I try to find the least improved house on the street so I can renovate it to my tastes as my time and budget allows.  Today’s feature is a 1900’s farmhouse that is a perfect candidate for such a renovation. I drove up the gravel drive that was lined with mature oaks whose branches overhang the road like an arbor to frame the front elevation.  After I reached the clearing around the house, it was clear the overgrown landscape needed attention but mature crape myrtles and towering trees around the house were clues that many elements of the originally landscape remain to compliment the house. 

The front elevation of the five-bay farmhouse once had an open porch and entry door centered between two pairs of single windows aligned with the five second floor windows that remain.  When the porch was converted into a sunroom with full height contemporary windows and sliding doors, the main floor’s front windows were removed to create wide wall openings between the sunroom and the two original parlors. If I were a buyer, I would remove the windows and revert to the original arrangement of the open porch and the front wall’s windows to restore the original symmetry. 

As I walked through the main floor, I found the layout works very well.  The stairs are centered between two parlors and one parlor chimney appears to be original but the other has been widened for a contemporary flair.  If the latter were deconstructed, I suspect the original chimney might be revealed.  Behind the left side parlor is the spacious kitchen with its kitchen “L” and island arrangement open to the dining area. The dining area’s picture window between single double hung units creates a full window wall for views of the landscape.

 At the side of the dining area is a door and steps leading to a flagstone terrace at grade that has been enclosed to become conditioned space but the sloped roof covers up the views from the main floor.  Changing the roof to a low slope roof and replacing the windows with screened panels would create a warm weather family room with direct access to the kitchen.  If a buyer’s master plan included a pool, the screened porch could be the first step in that plan.  Off the right parlor is a large laundry/mud room with an exterior door convenient to the driveway and garage.  The powder room under the stairs could be relocated to the laundry/mudroom to open up a continuous circulation among the main floor rooms. If a pool were added in the future, the powder room would then be convenient to the pool. 

The second floor contains three bedrooms and one bath. The doors to each space have arched tops that are unusual for the farmhouse style. Adding a second bath over the one-story laundry mudroom would create a primary suite with the other two bedrooms sharing the hall bath. The rear bedroom is tucked under the gable roof and adding more windows would connect the room with the landscape. For additional guest space, the three-car garage has an apartment on the second floor.   

This is a unique opportunity to own twenty nine acres which have been subdivided and recorded with this house, its five acres and four additional lots.  The lots have platted septic reserve areas and a 10 acre reserved lot. With some demolition and modifications to the front sunroom and rear enclosed terrace, the main house would have great flow for relaxation with family and friends.  New owners could also update the kitchen and baths cabinets and finishes to their own  tastes.  The landscaping does require initial major clearing and pruning but after that only routine maintenance should be needed.  A great fixer-upper on the Bozman-Neavitt corridor!

For more information about this property, contact Debra Crouch with Benson & Mangold Real Estate at 410-745-0720 (o), 410-924-0771 (c) or dcrouch@bensonandmangold.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.

As an architect with a background in neighborhood revitalizations, I always enjoy writing about this unique and thoughtfully planned development of five neighborhoods. I also look forward to the approach along the entry drive lined with shade trees and glimpses of the belted cows. Unfortunately on the day I visited, the cows were at a distant spot of pasture but further along the drive, a group of ducks were practicing social distancing on a lawn, oblivious to my passing car.

To me, Cooke’s Hope offers the best of great neighborhood design-irregular boundaries for appealing vistas, meandering instead of a gridded streets for traffic calming and distinctly different neighborhoods to suite a variety of lifestyles, set into a landscape of mature and pristine woods. One of the most unique advantages of living in Cooke’s Hope are the amenities including over five miles of walking trails, wildlife sanctuary ponds, a covered bridge above Peachblossom Creek, and a picnic pavilion that overlooks one of the ponds. Exercise enthusiasts can work out in the Fitness Center or outside on the tennis courts. For me, the best feature is the lack of home and yard maintenance!

This property in the Springfield neighborhood is hidden from the road by dense foliage and specimen trees including several majestic magnolias, evergreens and deciduous trees with additional color from blooming crape myrtles. From the street the drive curves to cross over a culvert enhanced by the bridge-like wooden railing as the carriage house and main house come into view. I loved how the exterior palette of taupe siding and darker trim becomes a camouflage in its woodland setting.

The house is sited for westerly views across the shoreline at the end of Peachblossom Creek and the rear lawn rolls gently down to the marsh and water for a peaceful paddle in a canoe. The massing is very pleasing with the front elevation’s two-story left wing’s full length stacked porches with the main floor porch leading to the entry door. The right wing telescopes down and has another entry door under a small porch for direct access to the kitchen and the mudroom/laundry. The rear elevation opens up to the water with an elevated deck off the sunroom that adjoins the pool area. Another deck at the second floor offers bird’s eye views of the landscape and water. Low plantings soften the edges of the lower deck and pool surround to provide unobstructed peaceful views of the marsh and water.

The main door opens into a spacious entrance hall with cased openings to the living room, family room and dining room. The blue and white interior design throughout the house is fresh and inviting and begins in the living room with its lively blue zigzag patterns of the living room chairs, window treatments, blue lamp shades and accent pillows on the white upholstered pieces. The family room seating has a variety of blue from the leather sofa, striped fabric on the wing chair and valances, rug and chair. One wall has floor to ceiling built-in white millwork with shelves for books and closed storage above and below. I liked how the TV is centered between the rear windows so one can enjoy programs and the views to the landscape and water simultaneously. The sunroom is my favorite room for it is hard to resist its exterior walls of floor to ceiling windows and French doors that blend the inside and the outside. I could easily sink into the rattan chairs with upholstered cushions patterned in oversized knots of blue on a white background for an afternoon of reading. Cased openings connect the sunroom to both the family room and the dining room.

The dining room has wonderful vistas to both the entrance hall up one step and the sunroom windows for views of the landscape. Another cased opening connects the sunroom with the breakfast area and kitchen for an open plan layout. The breakfast area was especially appealing with a mix of seating from a blue upholstered end chair, wood side chairs and the banquette under the bay window with a blue cushion and accent pillows for back support. I envied the spacious kitchen detailed with white cabinets and countertops, upper glass fronted cabinets, stainless steel appliances and the focal point of the range between cabinets on the side wall. Blue accents of the wooden island and the window frames and half French doors completed this stunning look.

The second floor stair hall separates the primary suite from the other two bedrooms and the guest bath. Off the hall is the exterior door to the front porch for all to enjoy. The large primary suite’s bedroom has sleeping and a seating areas and red and white is the predominant theme here from the red valances, table skirt and pillows with white bed linens. The primary bath was a delightful surprise with wallpaper featuring lacey black trees on a white background, white cabinetry, black lavatory and dressing table countertops on white marble floors.

If I were a guest, it would be difficult to choose a favorite bedroom. One bedroom is located at the side gable wall with a shed double window dormer creating space for an oversized chair for bedtime stories with a child. The other bedroom has a black and red design scheme and sloped ceilings with roof windows above knee walls tucked under the roof framing on the third floor.

Great neighborhood in my favorite development, direct access to the Easton-Oxford corridor, appealing traditional architecture whose exterior palette blends seamlessly into the landscape, easy flow among the rooms, ten foot ceilings, moldings, tall windows for sunlight to filter through the trees into the rooms, outdoor spaces of porches, terrace, pool area and upper deck, access to Peachblossom Creek, carriage house containing a one car garage, storage space, one climate controlled work/storage room, 2nd floor office and lean on shed for canoe or garden equipment storage; quality construction by Ebby DuPont and renovation by West and Callahan-hard to resist! Bravo to the Owners for their beautiful interiors.

For more information about this property, contact Cornelia Heckenbach at Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., 410-745-0283 (v), 410-310-1229 (c) or info@corneliaheckenbach.com, “Equal Housing Opportunity”. For more photographs and pricing visit www.stmichaelsmdwaterfront.com , “Equal Housing Opportunity”. Photography by Tyler Lindsey of Home Visit, 361-813-9864, www.Homevisit.com.

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.

On a point of land along Le Gates Creek is a picture perfect country cottage seamlessly inserted into its setting among towering pine trees and mature landscaping and gardens. Today it is impossible to imagine that this site was once pasture land full of every weed imaginable, from poison ivy to poke weed, that are the bane of every gardener. After the Owners determined their house’s footprint on the site, they focused on planning the landscape of their blank canvas. First they planted a fenced raised bed vegetable garden and flowering fruit trees. Then they enhanced the banks along the shoreline with shade loving plants including columbine, day lilies and hostas. Since the rear lawn sloped gently to the banks of Le Gate Cove, they added low brick walls offset from each other across the rear of the house to link delightful outdoor terraces filled with pocket gardens, perennial borders and a formal herb garden. One can now enjoy a range of outdoor rooms from the shade garden to the sunny terrace with its edge of colorful perennials.

A circular drive of gray gravel lined with white granite blocks leads to the house and the side hedge of boxwood obscures the house from the road. On the day I visited, I admired how the one-level house nestles into its shady surroundings and I especially appreciated how the colors of the weathered wood shake siding and light olive trim blend into the trees. I learned that the wood for the shingles was delivered to the site from New Bedord, Massachusetts. A relative of the owners began storing pallets of white cedar shingles from Quebec and when there was enough for a truckload, the wood made its journey south.

The brick walkway to the house meanders through beds of shade loving pachysandra and periwinkle, dotted with several money tree plants. I was delighted to see them as it reminded me of how my mother had used them in her crafts. To break up the massing of the house’s footprint, the two ends of the front elevation have front gables that project from the center hyphen and a second entrance next to the garage is recessed into the wall to create a porch. The second entry is very convenient for clean up after tending the garden or an afternoon in the pool. Over the years, the owners have seamlessly expanded their original house including the living room, the sunroom off the breakfast room and a second primary suite in part of the attic. From the rear, the mix of gable and shed roofs, wide expanses of glass and bay windows forms a beautiful composition.

The front door opens into a foyer between the bedroom wing and the main living areas. The beautiful paneling and wood floors also originated in New England. The white pine for the wide floor boards were cut from a relative’s property in Vermont and milled in Brattleboro. I was fascinated to learn the cut nails for the flooring were from the Tremont Mail Company, founded in the 1800’s and still in business. The nails are cut from bog iron found in cranberry bogs. These square nails cut the fibers of the wood instead of squeezing them apart which eliminates leaks.

From the foyer, I was first drawn into the living room with its vista to the water. The original part of the room has a flat ceiling at the fireplace area and the gable roofed expansion opens to the landscape and water with windows and sliding doors on three sides and views of the treetops through the triangular shaped transoms filling the gable. Stained beams accentuate the geometry and the brick flooring add texture to this charming seating area that feels like a solarium. Many pieces of furniture were made by one of the owner’s father, including the tall case for the grandfather clock in the foyer and the lowboy in the living room.

The dining room off the foyer has wide pine flooring and wainscot and the stained wood beams in the ceiling create a coffered effect. The wide bay window overlooking the front landscape and the wood table and chairs create a very pleasant space for meals with family and friends. The adjacent kitchen-family-breakfast open plan works very well and the details of the fireplace and another bay window defines the waterside breakfast area. Off the breakfast area is my favorite room, the sunroom, with its white sloped ceiling and stained beam accents, brick floors, interior paneled wall and exterior walls of sliding glass doors and windows that open to the wrap-around terrace and the nearby pool.

The main floor bedroom wing off a hall from the foyer has three bedrooms and two baths including the primary suite at the rear corner of the house for views through the landscape to the water. The spacious master suite has a Dutch door leading to the landscape and the wood shutters over the lower part of the double hung windows for privacy while still allowing sunlight through the upper part of the window. The upper floor primary suite with its bedroom’s gabled wall infilled with windows and transoms provided a bird’s eye view of the landscape and the cove.

I was quite surprised to learn the house was built in 1964 since it has been so lovingly maintained by its first and only owners. A true harmonious blend of house and landscape on a slight rise above Le Gates Cove with water views from all of the main rooms-Bravo to the Owners for their vision!

For more information about this property, contact Tim Miller with Benson & Mangold Commercial at 410-822-6665 (o), 410-310-3553 (c) or timot35944@aol
.com. For more pictures and pricing, visit www.bensonandmangold.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.

It is sometimes challenging for me to balance my selection of houses that illustrate the rich character of our area’s historic architecture with contemporary designs so I was especially pleased to find this week’s feature.  On the day I visited, I drove through a wooded site with sunlight filtering through the treetops and arrived at this three-storied post and beam contemporary design that was built in 1983. The house is sited parallel to the shoreline of a quiet cove of Broad Creek with a solar orientation that must provide beautiful sunrises. The exterior color palette of light olive green textured siding and the deep purple brown of the exposed structure and trim combined with the third floor gambrel roofs with dormer windows create a striking design. At the entry side of the house,  the gambrel roof eave projects from the wall and scales down to intersect the pedimented roof over the front door.  

The floor plan is a “coastal” design with a full flight of steps from the gravel driveway to the main level. The stair landing leads to the elevated pool deck and the steps continue to the entry door at the side of the house. Before I went in, I was first drawn to the screened porch with its front two-storied wall and its rear one-story wall with a gambrel roof that creates a delightful enclosure for outdoor dining. The entry deck wraps around the screened porch and enlarges into a deeper deck that spans across the living and dining area.  I loved how the house’s post and beam structural framing extends over the deck to create a pergola that defines the three-dimensional space. From this height above the ground, the house feels like a treehouse nestled into the canopy of trees. The deck width changes again to wrap around the side of the house ending at a French door at the main floor master suite. Another flight of steps leads down from the deck to the seating area around the firepit at the waterside lawn near the pier. 

The sliding doors off the deck lead to the open plan living-dining-kitchen area full of sunlight from the window walls and the exposed beams and decking painted white to better reflect the light. The interior details of the sculptural wood stair that spirals up to the second floor, the stained trim around the windows that was slightly darker than the beautiful wood floors, the window header detail that overhangs the jamb trim, and the owners’ stylish craftsman interiors with antique accents made me want to linger.  

However, being a cook, I was drawn to the exquisite kitchen that was the work of the current owners. The design features of the white Amish crafted cabinets that contrast with the gray-green veined granite countertops with rough hewn edges, the eclectic mix of hammered metal drawer pulls of round knobs, cutlery and animal styles and the light aqua-green subway tiled backsplash is a cook’s dream.  I especially liked their clever idea of extending the backsplash around the sides of the range hood up the wall to the door header height.  This extra space on either side of the stainless steel range hood holds stainless steel hanging racks containing the most frequently used cooking utensils. Double French doors conveniently lead to the adjacent screened porch for serving meals.

Behind the living room is the spacious primary suite with the sitting area offset from the sleeping area.  The cozy sitting area has a fireplace with speakers hidden in the Craftsman style fireplace surround. The interior walls that define this space have additional perspective from the seascape over the mantel and the Gothic style window frame on the wall above the sofa.  The antique wood chest has a new life as a coffee table and the cream colored upholstered sofa with colorful accent pillows create the perfect spot to unwind from the day. The short hall leading to the primary bath is lined with built-in millwork with an uplit top that must be a great nightlight opposite the closet wall. The primary bath has dual pedestal sinks with beautiful mirrors of hammered silver inlaid with small colorful Mexican tiles.

The sculptural spiral stair beckoned me for further exploration and I was eager to explore the loft overlooking the living-dining area.  This stunning space has sloped window walls that infill the shape of the gambrel roof and wrap round the Owner’s “corner office” with fabulous views to the landscape and the water. 

The two guest bedrooms are located at opposite corners of this floor for privacy with the shared bath off the hall. I liked how the rear corner bedroom had the same gambrel wall shape infilled with glass as the “corner office”. I then realized the two walls were indeed “bookends”, separated from each other by the exterior wall’s offset. The rear guest bedroom has a minimalist look with an accent of a lacy screen as a headboard behind the platform bed.  The other guest bedroom has a dormer window inset into the gambrel shape and its carved bed frame has creamy white linens and a beautiful multicolored quilt composed of triangular designs.

The architect Le Corbusier once said “Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep”. Walking through these exquisite rooms enhanced by the Owners’ stylish interiors, with the outlooks through the glass walls to the trees to the water, I was reminded of his wise observation that this house clearly embodies-Bravo!

For more information about this property contact Dawn Lednum with Chesapeake Bay Real Estate Plus LLC at 410-745-6702 (o) 410-829-3603 (c) or dawnlednum@gmail.com,.   For more pictures and pricing, visit  www.cbreplus.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.

One of the criteria I use in selecting a house of the week is the site and this site was simply breathtaking. Turning off the highway, I drove along a straight road between fields and woods that ended in this property’s circular drive bordered by mature trees of maples, willow oaks, and magnolias.  As I began my tour of the grounds, I heard the sound of waves gently lapping the rip rapped shoreline.  Following the sound, I walked by the compound of main house, cottage and carriage house to the edge of the lawn.  I was mesmerized by the panoramic view of what I soon realized was the confluence of the Eastern Bay and the Chesapeake Bay. The sweeping view begins at Poplar Island to the south, past the tip of Kent Island and the Bloody Point Bar Light at the Chesapeake Bay to the misty tops of the Bay Bridge supports on the far horizon.  Looking across the expanse of the Bay, the freighter making its way to Baltimore seemed to be a toy boat and the fifty-four foot tall Bloody Point Bar Light a mere buoy. 

It was difficult to tear myself away from the water view but I was eager to explore the architecture and the waterside Period Cottage beckoned me first with its proximity so close to the water. The cottage’s symmetry of the front and rear gables, dormers on each side and the porch that wraps around all four sides defines its charm. I entered the cottage through the rear waterside door into the open-plan living-dining-kitchen area. The seating is grouped around the brick fireplace with its corbeled mantel on the side wall and the dining area at the rear corner has windows on two sides for diagonal views of the water.  The front galley kitchen is separated from the living and dining space by an island with bar stools and the single-run stairs separates the open plan area from the bedroom and full bath.  

The second floor is set up as a sleeping-sitting area and this truly delightful space has  windows on all four walls for water views. One side wall has a built-in seat under the dormer window opposite a double bed under the other dormer window.  Two additional twin beds offer more sleeping space. With a little creative space planning, the floor plan could be arranged to contain two bedrooms and a shared bath. 

I left the cottage by the front door and the two benches flanking the front door caught my eye.  I noticed a hinge at the seat and discovered the back of the bench rotates to become a table top.  What a delightful spot to savor that second cup of coffee and a great way to stat the day.  Reluctantly I left this charming cottage to follow the path of multi-colored flagstones shaded by wisteria intertwined with the pergola framing that leads from the cottage to the main house. 

The design of the two-story brick house was inspired by a lighthouse with a conical roof above multiple segmented walls infilled with windows on both the main and second floors with the exposed beams radiating like spokes from the bearing point.  The main floor rooms circle counterclockwise from the entry through the open-plan kitchen-living-dining areas to the main floor bedroom and bath.  Before I climbed the stairs to the second floor, I paused to admire the stunning bald eagle’s head that crowned the top of the newel post and I learned the artistic carving was the work of the owner’s father.  

The second floor contains two bedrooms and one large bath that could easily be separated into two baths.  The larger of the two bedrooms has a deck overlooking the water. As I left the main house, I thought cladding the white brick facades in Hardie board in either a board and batten pattern or lap siding would tie the three buildings together into one cohesive whole. 

Opposite the main house is the two-story carriage house with a one-story shed roofed area and an exterior stair that leads to the second floor. The entry door opens into a storage/utility room then to the living-dining space with a kitchen along one wall and a circular stair to the second floor. The utility room could easily be reduced in size so the kitchen could be relocated behind it. This would free up more space for the living-dining area. French doors at both the front and rear walls of this space provide views of the landscape and water. 

The second floor has delightful interior architecture from the front and side knee walls, a single window dormer facing the water, another single window at the side gable wall and the pitched ceiling over the bedroom area.  An octagonal window brings sunlight into the bathroom and closets along the short hall to the door to the exterior stairs provide storage. I would be tempted to enclose the exterior stair and create a  “U” shape stair to eliminate the interior circular stair.  This revision would also maintain the porch over the entry door below. 

Near the main house is the large pool closer to the water than what would be allowed today. Parallel to the long side of the pool is the screened pavilion with floor pavers in the same multi-colored flagstone as the walkway from the cottage to the main house. The wall of screening and the fireplace creates an outdoor family room with dressing rooms and a sauna directly accessible from the pool. After a dip in the pool, the pier is close by for enjoying an afternoon on the water.

Over the past five years that I have been writing Houses of the Week, Misty Point’s  water views are the most memorable.  The geography frames the layered views and the expanse across the Bay is stunning, not to mention the sunsets! The cottage has a “vacation rental” history with an Air B&B “Super Host” rating. A new Owner could reapply to continue that use, or be quite content with having a unique and tranquil family compound.

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”.

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.