Like many sites on the Eastern Shore, a meandering road leads through the woods to “Snug Cove”. The front elevation of the story and a half house is a traditional architectural style with the front door flanked by tall windows with shutters and two dormers above, a smaller depth wing and a double garage. Not unlike other waterfront houses, the rear of the house is dramatically different to open up the house to Leadenham Creek. The main floor wall of windows at the dining room, the screened porch with triple windows behind it to the great room and a two-level screened deck pavilion with a hot tub all offer expansive water views. A large dormer at the second floor creates a spacious master suite complete with a deck for star-gazing.  

The great room, sunroom, kitchen and dining room with their water views are the hub of the house and the rooms flow seamlessly to create wonderful spaces to relax with family or for entertaining. I liked the dining room with its sloped ceiling, the rear wall of windows and the window and door to the adjacent screened porch for long views to the water.  The interior design with the wood table, wood sideboard, art, pendant lights and the texture of the dining chairs creates an inviting space to linger over a meal. The adjacent sunroom/screened porch and the outdoor “pavilion” would be perfect spaces to relax after a day on the water. I especially liked how the pavilion had a two-level floor so the hot tub on the lower area did not block the water views from the upper level seating area.

The spacious master suite was simply irresistible to me. The large bedroom had a gambrel shaped ceiling for interior architectural interest. The TV armoire and  fireplace are flanked by pairs of French doors that lead to a deck for “bird’s eye” views to the water. The lovely wood furnishings, a patterned rug over the beautiful wood floors and upholstered seating completed the serene look.

For more information about this property, contact Kurt Petzold with Chesapeake Bay Properties at 410-820-8008 (o) 410-310-1050 (c), or kpetzold@goeaston.net “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.

James Braddock’s eighteenth century urban design for St. Michaels created St. Mary’s Square as a residential street with public open space.  Unfortunately, only half of the square remains today whose boundary is defined by a ring of nineteenth century homes. William Tarr made his living from the water and his home, circa 1860, is one of the largest and best preserved. The front elevation retains its original massing with a main wing, full front porch with a decorative handrail and eave brackets under a hipped metal roof and a secondary “telescoped” wing.  The lap siding, 6/6 windows with wood shutters and the wood shake roof have been carefully preserved. Remarkably, the rear yard still includes two detached outbuildings one of which was the original kitchen.

The house has been restored and renovated by a developer with a special appreciation for historic preservation whose portfolio includes houses in the Historic District on Locust, Carpenter and Fremont Streets. To update the house for today’s living, a rear addition added space on the main floor for a kitchen/family room and screened porch. The second floor of the addition added a spacious master bedroom with exposed beams and double pairs of windows, a master bathroom with both a shower and a claw foot tub, a half bath and another screened porch. The original main floor contains the center stair between the living and dining room and the “telescoped” area is now a bedroom and bath for a main floor master suite or guest bedroom. The original second floor bedrooms and bath remain. The windows, deep elliptical archways with wood trim, refinished hardwood floors and the fireplace surround and mantel evoke another era.

My favorite rooms were the second floor screened porch where I could imagine falling asleep on a hammock while catching a gentle breeze and the room behind it tucked under the “telescoped” wing with a gambrel shaped ceiling and exposed beams. I would use that room as a TV room and combine it with the screened porch to make a perfect indoor/ outdoor family room.

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.”

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.

When I was active in real estate, I attended an open house at this property several years ago. I decided to take a second look at Second Tree and see what changes the current owners made. The spectacular waterfront setting is at the confluence of San Domingo Creek and Broad Creek as they flow into the Choptank River.

The original house had a typical traditional floor plan with the living, dining, kitchen and support rooms on the main floor and the bedrooms and baths upstairs.  The house was transformed by several additions that encapsulated the original footprint. One addition contains the library and office; the “River Room” addition has panoramic views of the water; another addition contains the billiard room and media rooms and the master suite addition is also oriented to the water.  

The architectural changes begin with a porte cochere at the front door that is carefully detailed with columns, dropped beams, a paneled ceiling with recessed lighting,light-colored interlocking pavers and red brick steps that combine to create a gracious entrance. One side addition contains a gable with two windows and a porthole window above that would become a recurring detail in the architecture. Tall windows pierce the eave portion of the addition to break up the sections of walls of the library and office spaces. The other side addition has both dormer windows that match the original dormers of the second floor and another gable wing with a porthole window.

After the floor plan and the architecture were resolved, the talented owner turned her discriminating eye to the interior design. The formal living room with its coffered ceiling is exquisite with its fireplace flanked by antique sideboards and framed mirrors. The color palette of cream, light rose and light yellow was a serene space to relax by the fire and watch the sunset over the water.

The stunning river room’s perimeter wall is a series of bays with French doors, sidelights and transoms connected by soffits that rest on a paneled wall. Each bay is accented by pitched ceilings, light coves and a porthole window. The sitting area projects beyond the adjacent areas to break up the large space into intimate entertaining areas. I thought how tranquill it must be to sit in that room in the winter as snow fell to create a winter wonderland beyond. The main floor also contains a media room and a billiard room for indoor entertainment after one tired of the pool or tennis court on the grounds.

The detailing of the mahogany woodwork, arched ceilings between the tall windows and seating grouped around the antique fireplace from the Loire Valley created a dramatic library space that led to the adjacent office with its mahogany walls, millwork and coffered ceiling.

The ground floor master bedroom wing projected beyond the exterior wall and was surrounded on three sides with French doors and windows for sunset views over the water. My favorite child’s bedroom had sloped ceilings with dormer windows, and colorful splashes of light blue, orange and cream in the bed linen and furnishings.

Second Tree is definitely worth a second look and is testament to a talented owner who had the design skills and means to achieve her individual vision.

For more information about this property, contact Sheila Monahan with Benson & Mangold Real Estate at 410-822-1415 (o), 410-924-4163 (c), or shebattin@aol.com,  “Equal Housing Opportunity”.

Photography by Jim McKee, Broadview Interactive LLC, 703-593-4392, www.broad-view.net, jim.mckee@broad-view.net.

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.

My first impression of this charming house’s front elevation was that it could have been a cover of Town and Country magazine. This Anglophile loves the English cottage style and I was immediately hooked by the range of textures-stone foundation, steps, terrace and first floor cladding of the detached garage; the juxtaposition of the stucco with board and batten accents; and the metal shed roofs with the architectural shingles. The massing of the main wing of the house was very pleasing with two gables between the front porch, a shed dormer centered over the double entry doors below and two windows with shutters and a “barn” style fixed panel above on each gable.

The secondary wing was utterly charming with its accents of color and texture. The teal blue iron fence and gate opened onto a stone path that meandered through the English garden complete with a Lutyens bench.  Stone steps led to the door tucked under a stoop with a climbing plant spiraling up the column. The deep slate blue of the door and window shutters with flowering plants on the window sill and the green of the shrubbery was another magazine shot.

The dramatic entrance hall with its walls of deep salmon and the gray and white  checkerboard floor of various sized panels becomes the spine of the house that links the rooms. The spacious and stylish sitting room had decorative wood beams, sliding barn paneled doors with arched tops, a period fireplace with an artful arrangement of ceramics and objects d’arte and French doors to the terrace. The deep chocolate brown walls of the dining room, the pitched ceiling and another period fireplace created a charming spot to linger over a snifter of brandy by the fire.

The kitchen fireplace was raised and an arched alcove below echoed the arched decorative piece above. The cream color palette of the cabinetry, the stained wood island with decorative inserts, the copper accents of the range hood and pendant fixtures and the armoire for storing special pieces would be a very pleasant space for any cook. A range of options for breakfast or informal meals included the table and chairs in the kitchen by the wall of windows, the rattan dining set in the potting room or the table in the screened porch.

The master suite contained two rooms whose wall treatments were the same and the spacious bedroom with its pencil post bed, white coverlet, tall windows with transoms above with views to the rear landscape was a quiet retreat. The adjacent sitting room had another fireplace flanked by millwork for books and art, comfortable seating with a large ottoman for resting one’s feet and a window seat underneath the large bay window with views of the water.

The upstairs hall repeated the deep salmon color of the entrance hall below and the stair landing ended at a seating area underneath the front elevation’s shed dormer trio of windows. The interior architecture of the bedrooms varied from flat to pitched ceilings with dormers and sunlight from windows or skylights to create sunny spaces.

This waterfront house was built in 2005 but its style and gardens are a wonderful homage to the English country style-jolly good!

For more information about this property, contact Barb Watkins with Benson and Mangold at 410-822-1415 (o), 410-310-2021 (c), or barb.c.watkins@gmail.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.

I was completely charmed by this Colonial house that reminded me of my sister’s summer home on Long Island years ago. The exterior color palette of gray shingle siding that had aged beautifully, white trim, large windows with blue shutters and the free-standing red brick chimney gave the house great charm and character. The front porch had space for two rocking chairs for views of Broad Creek across the road and one side had a screened porch wing that overlooked a large swimming pool. The owners graciously gave me a tour of the house which began with meeting their dog, Asta, named for the famous dog of Nick and Nora Charles in Dashiell Hammett’s “Thin Man” series.

When I told the owners I enjoyed learning about an older house’s history, they shared what they knew of their house’s provenance. It had probably been slave quarters in the 1700’s and sometime in the mid-20th century the house was moved to its present location. Since then, several additions were made with great sensitivity to the original structure’s massing and with careful preservation of original details including the beautiful wood floors.

The front door opened opposite the stairs between the living and dining rooms. Instead of a wall, a pilaster next to a slightly offset column at each end of the room defined the boundary between circulation around the stairs and living space. A bay wing at the side wall contained the fireplace and chimney flanked by windows. The warm mocha colored walls, white trim and neutral furnishings enhanced the open feeling of the space and created an inviting living room.

The dining room was visually connected to the kitchen by a door and a wall opening and French doors at the side led to the screened porch and the pool beyond. The kitchen had great personality with its blend of old and new. I loved how the ceiling finish had been removed from the ceiling joists above the kitchen to reveal the hand hewn profile of each original joist. The dark color was a pleasing counterpoint to the lighter finish of the tile floor. A soffit cleverly concealed ductwork and became a portal to the back rooms.

Another original stair, this one with winders, led to the master suite above. The stair risers were painted white but the stair treads were a range of primary colors for a delightful touch of whimsy. I was quite envious of the mud room with its storage piece for coats and wellies, a half bath, laundry and side door to the driveway.

The second floor contained two rooms on either side of the central stairs. One was a guest bedroom and the other room was the owner’s sewing room with her intriguing collection of antique sewing machines. My favorite room was the master bedroom with its pitched ceiling and dormer windows. An antique iron bed with its beautiful quilt, other wood antique pieces, a splash of modern in the colorful rug and the sheer window treatments that filtered the sunlight created a peaceful retreat. All that was missing was a fireplace at the end to create a late-night inglenook with cozy chairs.

This charming house gets high marks for its architecture and lovely interiors. Ironically, the owners are moving to a contemporary waterfront house that was a House of the Week earlier this year!

For more information about this property, contact Melanie Hopkins with Long and Foster Real Estate at 410-745-0283 (o),410-310-2893 (c) or Melanie.Hopkins@LongandFoster.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.

The weekend after I graduated from architecture school at UT Knoxville, I treated myself to a weekend in Charleston, SC. I was enchanted with the historic streetscapes, especially the quiet neighborhoods with houses set perpendicular to the street for maximum privacy. Many entry doors opened onto side porches overlooking  fenced gardens with Lowcountry landscapes.

In the summer of 2000 I visited Seaside, FL with a copy of Bill Bryson’s hilarious book “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” in which after returning to the US after living in the UK for twenty years he embarks upon a drive through the eastern US. One of his stops was Charleston and he also fell under its spell and pronounced it “too perfect”.

The Owner of this charming house also loved Seaside and Charleston and while living in Oxford discovered new Charleston-style house designs available from Southern Living magazine. When a lot in Oxford became available, she took the chance to fulfill her dream.

Beautifully detailed porches on both stories, light yellow siding with white trim,  light standing seam metal roof, red chimney that gradually decreases in size as it rises and aquamarine porch floors created a picturesque curb appeal from the gravel driveway. The door at the side of the house has the “Charleston” door that opens to the porch. The interior vistas were lovely- opposite the entry door is the “U” shaped stair with a window at the landing to shed light below. The foyer led to the living room with windows to the porch. In the other direction the vista is to the family room which is open to the kitchen with a side entrance to the mud room.  The dining room is tucked between the living room and the stairwell to complete the rectangular plan and is open to the living room for a great flow.

The interior walls are white to better reflect the sunlight from the many windows and the heart pine floors, moldings and ten foot ceilings on the first floor, nine  foot on the second floor and first class construction created a feeling of gracious living. I especially liked the family room seating area with the fireplace and colorful marine art above as its focal point flanked by tall windows and the beautiful wood furnishings of the dining room with its antique corner cabinet, sideboard and Captain’s chairs around the table. Columns, pilasters and a beam above were a very pleasing way to define the boundaries of each space.

The master bedroom with its pencil point bed frame, antique armoire, a chest painted aquamarine and the brightly colored art on one wall was a delightful retreat with its French door to access the porch. The art throughout the house was a treat but the colorful art especially enhanced both bathrooms.  The master bath had a painted stool and the strings of beads that hung from the window sheers in the other bath gave these rooms a delightful touch of whimsy.

A  charming house designed in the Charleston style,  beautifully decorated with views of Town Creek-utterly charming!

For more information about this property contact Janet Larson with Benson and Mangold at 410-822-6665 (o), 410-310-1797 (c) or jlarson@bensonandmangold.com, Equal Housing Opportunity”.

Joe Balderson, Builder-interior colors based upon Martha Stewart’s “Araucana Colors” Series.

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.