It was interesting to tour this house as I was an acquaintance of a former owner before it underwent its current renovation to become a licensed, successful Short Term Vacation Rental. I began my tour with a drive past beautiful century-old shade trees, including several majestic Pecan trees, flowering Plum, Pear and Magnolia. The original part of the house was a typical Eastern Shore “L” shape with a  full front hipped roof porch, turned columns and fretwork and a side hipped roof porch facing the driveway parking area. The front elevation shows clues of its Victorian style with the turned columns and pilasters at the house’s front wall, 2/2 windows surrounding the center front door and a gable at the attic level. The exterior color palette of light butter-yellow siding and corner boards, white trim and gray roofing is quite pleasing against its background of green trees and landscaping. 

I would have preferred to see an unchanged rhythm of the second floor original windows but the center window is now half its original size and the shape of the  accent window in the roof gable was changed to a small half-circle shape, set high into the gable. Since there are two other entrance foyers conveniently located at the parking area, I would remove the vestibule that projects onto the front porch, move the pair of entry French doors to the original wall, and add screening to create a wonderful outdoor room. As Mies van der Rohe once wisely said, “Less is more”.

At the rear is a story and a half addition with dormers at the parking area side and a full second floor at the other side, in deference to the massing of the original house. At the main level, the addition contains another foyer with an exterior door and a mini bar tucked between a chimney and the exterior wall. 

At the rear of the addition is a screened porch  leading to the in-ground pool surrounded by landscaping and views of the water. The deep pool surround can accommodate furnishings for both dining and relaxing on chaise lounges.

House of the Week:  Sherwood Old and New

The original part of the house contained a center staircase between two rooms, both with fireplaces on the exterior side walls. One is currently staged as a bedroom and the other as a media room with a large screen TV and built-in millwork next to the fireplace. The firebox is closed off with drywall but retains the original mantel. In all the rooms, the white walls spills onto the hardwood floors through the tall windows for sunny and bright spaces. Behind the front rooms is a foyer facing the side porch, a full bath and separate laundry. The laundry has a door to the exterior for after-pool use and a second staircase to access the upper floor for service. 

The foyer leads to another sitting room that spans the width of the addition and the triple windows on one side opposite the double windows on the other side creates a pleasant spot for quiet conversation. The pantry is notched into the room and creates  

a space below the windows that I envisioned having great potential as a cozy inglenook for a window seat, cushions and pillows opposite other chairs. 

Another foyer with new stairs are opposite the breakfast area that introduces the spacious open plan counterclockwise loop of breakfast-kitchen-dining room-covered porch-living room that clearly is the hub of the house.  

The living room has a fireplace with a rear window overlooking the lawn to the shoreline of Waterhole Cove and three side windows that flood the space with light.  The off-white furnishings and accents of the sofa pillows, the large Oriental rug and the warm wood round

The large diameter wood dining table seats eight and is centered on the pair of sliding doors to the screened porch for water views. The side wall windows are higher so a sideboard could easily be added for serving meals.  The fireplace is centered between the living and dining rooms and is a focal point for both spaces.

Pairs of sliding doors lead to the screened porch overlooking the pool, lawn and water.

The spacious galley kitchen has deep blue gray paneled cabinets with accents of a center butcher block island and stainless steel appliances. There is plenty of space for multiple cooks and the island has casters so it could be moved if needed. 

The upper level of the house is cleverly divided into two separate clusters of three suites so two families would have privacy. Each bedroom and bath have their own unique layout. The ensuites in the original part of the house are over the main floor bedroom and the media room, with the third over the side foyer.  Two of the ensuites have water views from the bedrooms.

The addition contains two spacious bedrooms, one next to the rear wall of the original house with a private stair to the small foyer leading to the exterior door or to the laundry so it would be a perfect owners’ suite for a B&B. 

The other is my fave ensuite with the bedroom’s long triple window overlooking the lawn, double windows at one side and a dormer at the other side for sunlight throughout the day.  Connecting these suites is a short hall past the third smaller bedroom, hall bath and storage/service area. 

The 3.94 acre property has water views across the confluence of Harris and Waterhole Creeks. Near the shoreline is a screened Crab Shack and a sandy beach for launching kayaks and canoes. Spacious rooms, including several sitting rooms to accommodate large groups, beautiful wood floors, large windows for sunlight, peaceful and private location. If you have ever dreamed of owning a waterside Vacation Rental or manage a B&B, this one’s for you!

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 https://thomascrouch.bensonandmangold.com/ , “Equal Housing Opportunity”. 

Jennifer Martella is an architect with Bohl Architects’ Annapolis office and a referral agent for Meredith Fine Properties. Jennifer is an integral part of Bohl Architects’ design team for projects she brings to the firm. She is also the writer of  Bohl’s website’s  bi-monthly blog “Tango Funhouse” where she highlights the firm’s vision and other fun aspects of life by design. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday.

I grew up in a basement rancher so I am always intrigued by how this popular house style can be transformed. Architect John Hutchison did just that with his imaginative transformation of this one-story rancher that is now a story and a half home. This neighborhood was originally the Byford Farm where some streets are named for the Byford children, as this house’s street is. This property is located at the end of a quiet street and the rear yard gently slopes down to the Chester River. 

The original house footprint was a “T” with a double garage at the front leg and a screened porch at the back leg. Hutchison’s design for the front elevation began with eliminating overgrown shrubbery that obscured  the  front side of the garage. 

Then he addressed the roofline over the front porch that had awkwardly stepped back to allow sunlight to the foyer. Hutchison’s imaginative solution added a sloped pergola that re-establishes the roof’s eave and casts delightful shadows over the porch’s texture of the  brick walls and decking as the sun moves overhead.

The front door originally opened into a long foyer that was modified with an angled wall to direct your eye to a new stair with black iron railings, open risers and thick wood treads. To bring light into this windowless part of the foyer, Hutchison added windows and skylights in the new second floor’s roof to filter sunlight over the stairwell. I also admired the new hickory floors throughout the main floor.

The rear elevation of the house originally had standard windows and a screened porch for views of the water. Changing the original windows to doors and full height sidelights in the master suite, living-dining room and the side wall of the sunroom dramatically changed the elevation and increased the views of the landscape and water beyond. Hutchison then added a deck that spanned from the porch to the corner of the  floor master suite at the opposite end of the house. The deck is a true outdoor room with space for a large table for dining al-fresco and seating for relaxing Steps lead down to the lawn and the planter marks the beginning of the gravel path to the pier. 

The screened porch became a sunroom and the windows with awning units below offer panoramic views of the landscape with long views of the Chester River. It is no surprise that is has become the Owners’ favorite room. The square accent window is the first of several in the redesign.

The corner master suite is a serene retreat with contemporary details of the vertical plank doors and black lever hardware used throughout the house. The new rear window wall opens up to the deck that is a perfect spot for a morning coffee to start the day. The high windows lead to the bath and provide both sunlight  and privacy. Opposite the master suite is the second bedroom and hall bath. 

The living room, dining room and family room were originally separated by walls.  Hutchison removed the walls and created partial height storage units clad in beadboard framed with wood trim. Columns at each end bear the load and create a pleasant rhythm through the now open plan area.

Next to the family room and the end of the foyer is the kitchen.  Before this renovation began, the Owners renovated the kitchen with new white cabinets, dark brown quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and a tile backsplash. They removed a closet door and their builder fabricated deep wood shelves with wood leftover from construction of the new stair. 

The design that transformed the massing of the house was the addition of a sumptuous master suite on a new second floor area tucked into the existing roof framing. After going up the stairs, the landing enlarged into a delightful space that could be an office nook or sitting area. Sunlight pours in from the skylights and the square accent window at the top of the side gable wall. I then walked through the doorway to the adjacent master bedroom and noticed the same detail of the square accent window was repeated at the wall separating the bedroom from the bath and the end gable wall. All of the ceilings on this floor are pitched for greater spatial volume.

The master bedroom is full of  light from the accent windows, clerestory windows over the bed and the glass doors flanking the gas fireplace.  I admired how the rear of the firebox was glass so from any spot in the room you could see the Chester River. The glass doors lead to a deep balcony tucked into the rear portion of the roof and has a retractable awning for shade when needed. Beyond the master bedroom is a short hall between closets and the bath at the end wall.

It is difficult to match pictures of the original 1970’s rancher with this imaginative transformation with finishing touches of the Owners’ woodworking pieces they created. Bravo!

John Hutchison Architecture, John Hutchison AIA, 302 Park Row, Floor One, 410-449-0466, www.johnhutcharch.com, john@johnhutcharch.com

Contractor: Yerkes Construction, (now the Rosin Creek Collaborative), 443-282-0063, www.rosincreekcollaborative.com, info@rosincreekcollaborative.com

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 year, I wrote a tribute to Peter Newlin, FAIA to celebrate his retirement by featuring several of his house designs that had been past Houses of the Week. At the end of my article, I mentioned how Peter’s legacy of his extraordinary work and his being a mentor to other architects lives on. One of them is architect John Hutchison, AIA, whose practice is located in Peter’s last project, Park Row, in Chestertown. When I was in Chestertown searching for Sears, Roebuck houses I called on John and I am delighted to feature his work today. 

Being a native Tennessean, I am always interested in what drew other “transplants” to the Eastern Shore. John’s father worked for DuPont and John was born in Luxembourg. When John was a young child, his family moved back to the US and settled in Kennett Square, PA. A few years later John’s parents bought a 33 foot sailboat that they kept on Swann Creek in Rock Hall and soon fell under the spell of the Chesapeake and the Eastern Shore. When John was thirteen, the family moved to an 18th century house on the Wye River and attended Old Wye Church, whose round window on the front façade would later become John’s firm’s logo. John soon bought a boat of his own that he christened the “Wye Whaler”, purchased a commercial crabbing license and became a commercial “trotliner” under the tutelage of the  local watermen who became his first mentors. These roots deep in the Eastern Shore, historic buildings, sailing and crabbing influenced John to become an architect and led to his design philosophy of “Elegant Simplicity”.  

Like me, John graduated from college during a recession so he decided to remain on the Eastern Shore and sent his resume to Peter Newlin. Peter was intrigued about John’s waterman experience and his hiring John  began a mentor/mentee collaboration that lasted until John returned to Philadelphia. Later John relocated to NJ and started his own firm in 2001. One of my favorite projects of his from that time is the stunning adaptive reuse of a barn. 

 Another recession occurred in 2010 but his first mentor came to the rescue. Peter contacted him about his Garfield Center for the Arts project and John rejoined Peter’s firm. Ironically, John moved to the second floor apartment of the Park Row building where his office is now located.  When work slowed down, John moved to Baltimore and worked for several firms until once again in 2014 the Eastern Shore came back into his life with a call from the contractor for the Garfield Center for the Arts Project with new work for John to re-establish his firm, John Hutchison Architecture. His logo (which has an “H” in it), is the image of the beautiful circular window on the front gable facade of Old Wye Church that was one of the buildings that inspired him to be an architect and the place where his father is laid to rest.

John is equally adept at new construction and renovation/rehabilitation projects and my favorites are:

It is no surprise that this exquisite project won an AIA award from the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the AIA.  This barn began its life as a dairy and hay barn until the 1970’s. The new Owners saw the great potential of the soaring spaces and asked for a renovation that would respect the historic components of the building with a modernistic aesthetic, while reducing the utility costs. What they received from this gifted architect must have exceeded their expectations. 

The five massive hay loft trusses acted as lateral bracing and within the space below were five separate living spaces for thermal isolation surrounding a three-story center core living area for sunlight to penetrate the spaces. The minimalist floating staircase and bridge access all levels. I especially admired the beautiful exterior wall with vertical bays defined by timber framing infilled with brick  and the selected brick interior walls.

 This barn was built in the 1800’s and had fallen into a state of disrepair when the Owners asked for a restoration of the barn to contain an event space on the main level.  An addition that would telescope down from the original barn would be a workspace for the working farm’s sunflower business. The original exterior cladding was removed and replaced with new cladding with insulation and vertical cypress siding that has weathered to a beautiful patina. The main level is flooded with light from the new curtain wall with thin mullions that infills the space between the structural framing. New sliding barn doors on one side of the building were designed and fabricated to close on the exterior side of the new steel window system that maintained the original appearance of the historic barn. 

It is difficult to match the original 1950s rancher with this imaginative transformation. A new post and beam structural system replaced the existing bearing walls and opened up the first floor plan with a new orientation toward the Chester River. A partial second floor was added within the original roof massing that respected the scale of the neighboring houses. The original house lacked outdoor spaces so a new terrace was added along the rear wall with steps down to the lawn. Existing windows were replaced with sliding doors  flanked by full height side windows in all the rooms facing the terrace for indoor/outdoor access. At the second floor, windows and sliding doors to a balcony give bird’s eye views of the landscape and water.

This seamless addition to a historic house telescopes down to a one and a half story kitchen-breakfast area then to a shed roofed mud room/laundry. The short windows below the roof eave of the addition reflect the custom of placing low windows in attics instead of windows at standard mounting heights to avoid taxation of these spaces. The new kitchen with its wood slat ceiling, brick flooring, cabinetry in the historic olive green color and the farmhouse sink create a warm and inviting space that is the new hub of the house.

This design challenge was how to fit a new second floor, including two bedroom en-suites, a family room and a stair, within the constraints of the maximum width of 10 feet allowed by the roof trusses. John was inspired by childhood memories of sailing with his father and older brothers and spending weeks in the small area below deck inspired this creative design that makes use of every possible space. Many skylights were installed both for natural light and views of Swann Creek. The new stair became more than a link between floors by flooding the first floor below with sunlight throughout the day. Spaces under the roof rafters provided open shelves or access doors for storage. 

The program for this project was a one and a half-story, Arts & Crafts home that would fit into the context of the Quaker Landing community and to include as many energy efficiency features as possible, within the confines of a narrow lot. The rectangular shaped footprint took advantage of the N-S orientation of the long side walls with wide and tall windows on the first floor below the windows in the shed dormer above that flood the interior with sunlight. The concrete floors and Trombe wall absorb the sunlight in the warm months for release in the cooler months. The deep roof overhangs work with the deciduous trees to provide shade during the summer months. 

The front door is located at the side elevation and opens into an alcove opposite the stairs between the bedroom suite at the front of the house and the open plan kitchen-living dining next to the stairs. At the rear of the house are a mud room/laundry/powder room and screened porch. Both the screened porch and the open porch off the bedroom suite are outdoor rooms that both break up the massing of the house and catch the cooling breezes.

An exciting current project for John Hutchinson Architecture is the design for The Sultana Education Foundation’s new Wetlands Preserve Classroom Building. The program calls for a one-story building with two classrooms, similar in size; one ADA restroom, utility room, kitchenette, storage, and an ADA ramp. The “outdoor classroom” deck spans across the front of the building for views through Loblolly trees to a pond. To make the cost of the new building as economical as possible, the geometry is simple with the identical volumes offset from each other to increase the size of the exterior deck with its diagonal edge facing the pond. This also reduces the overall massing of the small rural structure. The interior will have a playful feel with vaulted ceilings, accent walls of colored mosaics and the tall and wide overhead doors at each classroom that will extend the teaching outdoors to the deck. 

Construction of this project is projected to be completed by the end of this year. Other team members include Karlik Design, South Fork Studio Landscape Architects and Baker Ingram Structural Engineers.

John has given back so much to the community that has supported him.  Currently, he is the Vice Chair of the Chestertown Planning Commission, Executive Board Member of Main Street Chestertown, Chair of the Main Street Chestertown Façade Committee and is a member of the American Institute of Architects, Chesapeake Bay Chapter, as well as his past service to being on the CBAIA Executive Board and CBAIA Design Awards Chairman. I look forward to keeping up with this talented architect’s future projects!

John Hutchison Architecture, John Hutchison AIA, 302 Park Row, Floor One, 410-449-0466, www.johnhutcharch.com, john@johnhutcharch.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.

After the end of World War I, America became the world’s greatest economic power. The dam of pent-up consumer buying during the war years burst and riding the wave of economic prosperity was Sears, Roebuck and Co., “The World’s Greatest Store”. Whatever product consumers wanted for their homes, Sears, Roebuck’s goal was to provide it, including for a short time, automobiles! Since Sears provided products for the home, their natural next step was to provide customers with prefabricated homes. Sears, Roebuck offered plans and materials to complete a home from designs included in five series from 1908 to 1940 that totaled 447 house plans. 

The legacy of the Sears, Roebuck houses lives on and one day I discovered an exquisite  Sears, Roebuck bungalow that is now the Publications House for Washington College. Houses are quite adaptable for office use; living rooms become reception and administration uses, dining rooms become conference spaces and bedrooms become single or dual workspaces, kitchens become break rooms. I loved the earth toned colors of the deep mocha shake siding, creamy white trim and the river rock used for the porch’s half wood, half river rock columns and how the river rock continued along the sides of the steps to the porch. Most of the Sears bungalows included in the 1926 Catalog had full front porches but this house’s porch wraps around the one corner of the house to take full advantage of its corner site. The publication “Chestertown Maryland: An Inventory of Historic Sites”  lists this bungalow as being the first Sears, Roebuck house built in Chestertown. 

Seeing this exquisite bungalow on its prominent corner location piqued my interest in the Sears, Roebuck houses. I began my research with the Chestertown and Easton libraries, the Maryland Room at the Easton Library, and the Talbot County Historical Society.  Unfortunately, to date, no compilation of the Sears’ houses exists. To learn more about the Sears houses, I purchased  “The Small House of the Twenties”; The Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog”, that contained 71 designs from 1921-1926. The architectural styles featured in this series are American Four-Square, Cottage and Craftsman Bungalow with the only Spanish style house, “The Alhambra’, on the cover.

Perusing through the seventy-two house designs with floor plans, descriptions, interior renderings and an rendering of the house from a street,  I recognized several house styles that could had been built, or inspired by, Sears house designs in Easton and St. Michaels’ Historic Districts. Houses change over time and multiple owners; single pane windows and storm windows may have been replaced with insulated units and perhaps window styles may have been changed from casement to double-hung or additions made to the original house. The Talbot County Historic Society found this house for me that originally could have been “The Tarryton” design with a later addition to the right side.

I received another tip from a former member of Easton’s Historic District Commission who told me that the owner of the house to the left of the photograph below had been told her new home was a Sears design.  This is very probable since it closely resembles “The Olivia” design and is located across the street from the former railroad tracks that would have transported the house components via the railroad. Like the best streetscapes, this pair of houses are identical in layout and shake siding but their differences define their individual personalities. One house’s front porch is screened and the other is open to the roof rafters with a cross beam defining its Craftsman style. One house’s shake siding is painted and the other is stained. Both houses have porch steps at the front of the house to suit the urban sized lot.

Armed with the Sears, Roebuck 1926 Catalog to guide my search, I drove around Easton’s Historic District to study the streetscapes for Sears houses. To my knowledge, no houses I found during my driving tour are actual Sears houses but the similarities are striking.

The Dutch Colonial:

Design with Jenn Martella: Searching for Sears, Roebuck Houses on the Eastern Shore

This Dutch Colonial is very similar to the Sears Roebuck design “The Martha Washington” 

The American Four Square:

This house and many other American Four-Squares in Easton’s Historic District, resemble Sears’ “The Rockford”. This house reverses the floor plan of the Sears’ version and changes window sizes on the  second floor and the attic level. The full brick columns become half brick, half wood for a Craftsman flair.  I admired this house’s wood railing that breaks up the brick and gives a more open feeling to the porch. 

Are you wondering if your house is a Sears House? Several clues might remain, such as stamped lumber exposed in your basement or attic. Framing members were stamped with a number and a letter to expedite the carpenters’ work. Other clues would be a shipping label, found on the back of molding around door and windows and in the 1930’s, hardware fixtures often had a small circle around the letters “SR” that would have been cast into the lower corner of a bathtub or the underside of kitchen sinks or bath lavatories.  

Another hindrance to verification of  homes built from Sears Roebuck designs is that during a corporate house cleaning records of home sales were destroyed. In addition, other companies offering prefabricated homes often copied designs from each other, so there are similarities among the various models from different manufacturers. I love scavenger hunts and want to continue my photographic documentation of possible Sears, Roebuck houses. If you own a home that was a Sears design, please contact me at jenn@spycommunitymedia.org so I can begin to document these homes. Stay Tuned!

Many Thanks to the Librarians in Easton and Chestertown, The Maryland Room and the Talbot County Historical Society for their assistance.

“The Small House of the Twenties”; The Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog”, An Unabridged Reprint, Sears, Roebuck and Co., A Joint Publication of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia and  Dover Publications, Garden City, New York.

“Chestertown, Maryland, An Inventory of Historic Sites”, based upon an historic survey conducted by Robert McNeill, Michael Bourne and Kathleen B. White, with additional survey information by Marsha Fritz, Robert J.H. Janson-La Palme and Peter Newlin, FAIA

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.