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March 4, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

Habitat Habitat Portal Lead

Modular Habitat Home Delivered in St. Michaels

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Future Habitat homeowner, Shay, waves as the modular home she will move into with her family arrives in St. Michaels.

The last three of the seven Habitat Choptank homes in the Brooks Lane neighborhood will be modular homes built to the specifications of a Habitat home. The first of these homes arrived in the Brooks Lane neighborhood on Friday, January 29th. After its safe installation on a very cold and windy day, work quickly began on the front porch and the interior of the home through the use of local contractors. The two remaining modular homes on Brooks Lane are expected to arrive later this month.

Prior to the pandemic, Habitat Choptank had plans to explore the use of modular housing in order to continue to meet the need for affordable housing in Dorchester and Talbot Counties. These homes are not only durable and cost-effective but can be built in under six months as opposed to a stick build with the use of volunteers which takes 12 months. This approach has been ideal for current times when fewer volunteers have been available due to COVID-19 precautions. Moving forward, Habitat Choptank plans to utilize modular housing in both Talbot and Dorchester County when it is feasible to do so. However, there will still be lots of work for current, future, and returning volunteers — from the construction of porches to the siding on each home.

To keep everyone as safe as possible and based on national recommendations from Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity Choptank has limited the use of volunteers on job sites since last year. Habitat Choptank was able to continue work in the Brooks Lane neighborhood through the use of contractors and their staff team (as allowed by federal and state requirements). To date, four of the seven homes are completed.

In late December, homebuyer Shavonte Greene and her two boys were able to move into their safe and affordable home. She was the fourth and most recent Habitat homebuyer to move into the neighborhood; her home was a “Faith Build” home, supported by churches and other people of faith in the community.

Habitat for Humanity Choptank celebrated the groundbreaking of the seven-home neighborhood in September of 2018. This project would not have been possible without the generous donation of property by the Dodson family; the additional support provided by the estate of Robert and Beverly Wolffe; and the collaboration among Habitat Choptank and Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development, Maryland’s Affordable Housing Trust, Bay 100 Churches, Talbot County, and the Town of St. Michaels.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 18 million U.S. households were paying half or more of their income on a place to live. Now, as the significant economic impacts of COVID-19 continue to unfold, the number of families struggling to make ends meet is only growing. In this moment of global crisis, Habitat Choptank’s work to ensure that everyone has a chance at a brighter future in a safe and affordable home is needed now more than ever.

For more information, to make a donation that benefits our local community, or volunteer, call 410-476-3204 or visit www.HabitatChoptank.org.

A Chat with Architect/Town Planner Jay Corvan on Denton’s Tragedy and Trappe’s Promise

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Not so long ago, the town of Denton had given tentative approval for a significant housing development that would have permitted 2,500 new homes to be constructed. The community leaders showed minimal hesitation in giving the go-ahead since it doubled the town’s size, increased the tax base, and presumably added significantly to its economic development.

But on closer inspection, the planned community showed significant flaws. Denton’s doubling in less than two years would have caused major stresses on the town’s infrastructure, contrasted significantly to the community’s historic rural aesthetic, and highlighted fundamental weaknesses in how small municipalities can control this form of aggressive development.

As the town began to push back on the developer’s plans, investors lost interest in Denton, and in the end, the project was scrapped entirely.

According to Jay Corvan, who has practiced architecture and town planning for decades from his office in Trappe, the Denton case perfectly outlined what can happen when developers are on their own in determining the scope and design of housing projects on the Eastern Shore.

Jay’s solution, supported by many of his colleagues, is creating a “pattern book” that can be applied to an entire region like the Mid-Shore to provide clear and straightforward guidelines for developers to avoid what took place in Denton.

The pattern book approach would give towns like Trappe, the location of another major housing development on the other side of Route 50, the tools needed to appropriate scale these new communities with far more precision than existing zoning and planning regulations. The result being a better build project, a more intact community, and far less risk for the developer and their investors.

This video is approximately twelve minutes in length. For more information about town development pattern book approaches please go here.

House of the Week: Cottage Charm with Big Surprises

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To tour this house was absolutely delightful – from the street I appreciated the charming cottage look of the one and a half story massing with the double garage perpendicular to the street.  Two gables at each end and a center shed dormer break up the steep roof area and the wide recessed porch underneath the dormer leads to the front French door flanked by full height windows. Textures ranging from the scalloped wood shake roofing, metal roofing at the eave returns and the shed dormer, brick walls of the garage articulated by quoins, lap siding, checkerboard patterned battens under the garage gable and the paneling at the Craftsman styled garage doors enrich the cottage’s charm.  

The listing agent had told me the house was designed by an DC based architect, Darrell D. Rippeteau.  When I opened the front door, it was immediately clear the architect had very cleverly shifted one’s perception from the front “L” shape by rotating the floor plan to set the rear wall of the house parallel to the angle of the shoreline.  This geometric sleight of hand maximizes the breathtaking views of the Tred Avon River and the Choptank River beyond from the interior of the house. The spaces created by the “hinge” contains angles and curves that create imaginative interior architecture.  

The front door opens into the two-story foyer with a curved stair that beckons one upward.  Behind the stair is an angled hall that enlarges the two-story foyer and links the living room, dining room and kitchen/breakfast/sitting area together.  All of the spaces have French doors leading to the dramatic veranda that spans the rear of the house. As you pass through the rooms, you are always aware of the water through wide wall openings that provide vistas through the French doors of the veranda to the water. The veranda’s detailing of full height walls of sliding French doors with transoms above with minimal framing open onto the spacious stone waterside terrace. 

The living room has a corner cabinet that hides the TV and other built-in millwork at the side exterior wall with three high accent windows above that provide sunlight and privacy from the neighboring house. French doors link the living area to the veranda and a wide wall opening between the living and dining rooms creates easy flow among the rooms. Next to the living room is one of my favorite rooms, the inglenook. This clever part of the floor plan “hinge” contains a fireplace at the corner of the room next to the living room and a four-unit tall window with transoms to the ceiling that blends into a curved wall to embrace the space. The room is accented by a stained wood coffered ceiling and a mural of Oxford’s Strand by artist Maggi Sarfaty.

I also appreciated the delightful geometric surprise of the corner kitchen including a triangular shaped area for breakfast with exterior windows on one side and an identical wide wall opening to the veranda on the other side.  The window of the “L” shaped kitchen area has a triple width/triple height window above the sink area and the island separates the prep area from the breakfast area next to the sitting area in front of the fireplace flanked by built-in millwork.  Accents of deep aqua in the back wall of the millwork highlights the display of ceramics, the colors of the art above the fireplace and the upholstery of the chairs enhance this cozy area for keeping company with the cook. Behind the kitchen is a hall with closets on one side and the powder room. Another stair leads both to the bonus room over the garage and to the second floor and at the end of the hall is an exterior door to the side yard.

The second floor contains one bedroom at the front of the house that is currently being used as office with appealing interior architecture formed by the knee walls below the steep sloped ceiling under the two intersecting roof gables infilled with double windows. The other bedrooms are arranged along the rear wall and have sliding doors and windows open to another favorite room, the screened porch that is stacked above the spacious veranda below.  With panoramic views of the water and sunsets, it is the perfect sleeping porch for summer slumber parties!

Imaginative house sitting that takes its inspiration both from its orientation perpendicular to the street and the angled shoreline, cottage architecture that opens up to soaring interior volumes with floor to ceiling walls of windows and doors and the outdoor rooms of veranda and screened porch-in the heart of Oxford’s Historic District very close to the park, shops, The Robert Morris Inn and the ferry-simply heavenly! 

For more information about this property contact Jane McCarthy with Benson and Mangold at 410-822-1415 (o), 410-310-6692(c) or jmcarthy310@gmail.com. For more photographs and pricing, visit  www.oxfordmaryland.com, Equal Housing Opportunity”.

Photography by Janelle Stroup, Thru the Len Photography, 845-744-2758, janelle@thruthelensphotos.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.

Please support the Spy’s House of the Week project by making a donation here.

Eastern Shore House of the Week: Orem’s Delight

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When I first saw this waterfront property on Fox Hole Creek, I was enchanted by the two small cottages; one was clad in Flemish bond brick and the other was clad in white German shiplap siding. I wondered if they were all that remained after an estate house had been destroyed by fire but I soon discovered there never was a main house. I also discovered from the many entries in my primary reference book, “Where Land and Water Intertwine” by Christopher Weeks, that this small house has a big place in Talbot County’s architectural history. William Smythe sold the land known as Fox Hole to John Morris in 1676 and Morris’ grandson, Morris Orem, built the brick house.  One of his later descendants, Andrew Orem, retained a surveyor to confirm the tract’s size and Orem then patented the property as ’Orem’s Delight”. 

The brick house was built in 1720 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Immaculately restored and loving maintained by the current owners, the house is celebrating its 300th birthday this year. It is remarkable that its compact 20 x 25 foot story and a half footprint has never been incorporated into a larger house on this approximately 50 acre tract. 

You don’t have to be a historic preservation architectural buff to appreciate its many original details such as the brick gable north end with a glazed interlocking pattern above the two-brick wide belt course, the stepped water table brick around the perimeter and the late 18th century interior paneling and woodwork. The south end telescopes down to a one-story addition clad in white siding that replaced a much earlier wing that had been demolished in the early 1960’s. 

The front door of the brick house opens into a charming living-dining-kitchen area with wood floors, painted wood plank ceiling and windows on both exterior walls for water views.  The seating is grouped around the brick fireplace flanked by built-in cupboards, one slightly recessed and behind the sofa is a drop-leaf table for dining. The “L” shaped stair with white risers and wood treads has winders as it ascends to the upper floor. The other end of the room is a galley kitchen separated by a wall opening leading to a hall with a closet, front and rear exterior doors, and another door that opens into a suite containing  a bedroom, bath, and laundry room. 

The upper floor master bedroom is simply enchanting with its interior architecture defined by knee walls, sloped ceilings underneath the roof rafters, wood collar beams stained a slightly darker color than the wood floors and the doors with quarter circle tops leading to the walk-in closet and to the bathroom.  I loved the symmetry of the end gable windows being on axis with the bath and walk-in closet doors that are opposite the windows in the gable wall flanking the chimney, the front and rear knee walls with a dormer window opposite the other and the knee walls with pairs of doors to access storage under the eaves. The black iron bedframe is placed opposite the exposed corbeled brick chimney and the soft sage green walls, off-white trim and the light blue and sage green bedding create a soothing retreat.

The one-story “white house” has a totally different design for a delightful contrast with its much older companion. The entry door is slightly recessed into the lower wing of the telescoped massing to create a foyer with a closet that links the open plan living room and dining room to the screened porch. The living, dining and kitchen areas have pitched ceilings accentuated by stained wood collar beams, lightly stained shiplap wall covering and terra cotta floors for a great flow. In the living room,  double unit windows opposite each other, the higher windows on either side of the fireplace and the comfortable furnishings create an inviting space for relaxing by the fire for TV watching with family and friends. The end wall of the dining area has a centered French door with an arched window above and full height windows leading to the porch that spans the full width of the house. 

The kitchen has light wood cabinets, white appliances and the wall area above the upper cabinets provides display space for the owners’ collection of baskets, trays and other collectibles.  I especially liked how the small tile squares of the backsplash were the same terra cotta color as the floors. This house has two wonderful outdoor rooms-the main floor porch and the rooftop deck.   The porch has the same terra cotta tile as the interior rooms, a flat stained wood slat ceiling and wide framed openings for panoramic water views. The white house is located near the brick house but the latter’s side solid brick wall with small windows only at the second level provide privacy for both houses. The roof top deck above is accessed by an exterior stair so this space and its panoramic water views could be enjoyed by both houses’ owners.

Approximately fifty acres of farmland, woods and water views from the dock or the shoreline, numerous sites to build your own dream home, pool, a water pond popular with waterfowl and other wildlife and two existing houses that could become guest and/or caretaker houses makes this site unique. Even though it is impossible to state which house in Talbot County is the oldest, “Orem’s Delight” offers a rare opportunity to own one of a unique group of about thirteen houses that give a glimpse of life on the Eastern Shore in the 17th century.  

 

For more information about this property, contact Cornelia Heckenbach at Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., 410-745-0283 (o), 410-310-1229 (c) or info@corneliaheckenbach.com, “Equal Housing Opportunity”. For more photographs and pricing visit www.stmichaelsmdwaterfront.com or watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB5JnAQN4Kk , “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.

 

Habitat: WC’s Semans-Griswold Environmental Hall Nominated for AIA Award

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Semans-Griswold Environmental Hall, home of Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society, is up for one of the prestigious Maryland Architecture Excellence in Design Awards this year.

The building commands a picturesque site on the Chester River. The river is physically and programmatically integrated in every aspect of its design. In addition to providing an idyllic setting, the river acts as a living laboratory that affords students with an immersive, hands-on experience in support of the building’s programs in environmental science and wetlands ecology.

A testament to Washington College’s waterfront renaissance, the net-positive building relies solely on renewable energy sources to operate pollutant-free year-round. Designed to meet the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge Petal Certification, Semans-Griswold is expected to produce 105 percent of its energy needs on-site utilizing rooftop photovoltaic panels and a ground-source heating and cooling system.

The design features clear visual and physical connections to the Chester River which reinforce the work done in the field and in the lab. Inspired by biophilic design, the building celebrates daylight with a rooftop clerestory and connections to the riverfront landscape with ample glazing. A welcoming wrap-around porch with warm wood finishes complements the scale of the building and its natural setting.

The building was designed by Ayers Saint Gross.

The winners will be announced later this year.

Photography provided by Maryland AIA Chapters

 

The Master of Wood – Vicco von Voss by Jenn Martella

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During a tour of a home in Kent County that would be a Chestertown House of the Week, I admired the graceful stair to the second floor. The 2” diameter cap of curly cherry wood had a 45 degree turn from the upper landing to the straight run to the floor below.  As it passed the last stair tread, the wood cap became a semicircle before it came to rest at the newel post.  Very thin ½” vertical brass rod spindles reminded me of a string instrument and Goethe’s famous quote “Architecture is Frozen Music” came to my mind as I resisted the urge to gently strum the spindles.  The owner proudly told me Vicco von Voss designed the stair hand rail and his first step was to ask her and her husband to cup their hands so he could take their measurements to determine the diameter that would be most comfortable for them.  She demonstrated how her hand fit over the handrail like a hand in a glove.  I was also awed by the superb craftsmanship of the handrail’s 45 degree turn with its outside mitered corner that was seamless. 

Another House of the Week had stunning timber framing with column supports whose sleek forms of tree trunk and branches devoid of bark, sanded and stained once again bore Vicco von Voss’ signature.  Clearly, it was time to meet the master. Before my appointment with Vicco von Voss, I visited his website to familiarize myself with his other work and I was fascinated  by his creative range, sometimes using ordinary pieces of  wood that became, in his talented hands, works of art.  His portfolio includes millwork, sculpture, seating, sideboards, shelves and timber framing. One of the illustrations featured on his website is a commission for a shelf that started its life as a piece of curly maple, with a natural hole at one end.  How to turn a flat piece of wood into a three-dimensional piece of sculpture?  Vicco met the challenge and the knothole led to the evolution of the “L” shaped ribbon design. He cut many individual segments and joined them to form the curve for the transition from the top horizontal element to the falling vertical element. After successfully jointing all the individual pieces, the surfaces and edges were carefully carved and the result is a fluid effect, as if a breeze floated over a piece of fabric.   

Vicco’s work is rooted in his belief that relationships are crucial.  He has a Zen connection to trees as living things and his keen understanding of the unique inherent design possibilities for each piece of wood’s design flows through his collaboration with his clients.  As a designer, his goal for each commission is to exceed his client’s expectations and to create a custom piece that is in harmony with their home environment.

To Vicco, each tree has its own story, just as each book in unique. The grain and color of a finished piece reflects the story of a particular tree that has been subject to the fickleness of weather, proximity of nearby trees, amount of sunlight, pests, etc. These factors all influence the grain patterns that are not apparent until the wood is cut. Vicco is a “Tree Listener” who respects the tree’s past life of its shape and branches as he gives it a new life as a functional object that will be treasured by its new custodians. 

Vicco was born in Kiel, Germany and design permeates his DNA.  One grandfather was a forester and woodcarver; another was an architect who had worked with Frank Lloyd Wright in post-war Germany.  Vicco received a degree in Fine Art from Chestertown’s Washington College in 1991.  During his college years, he was the Assistant Waterfront Director for the restoration and conservation of wooden boats. After graduation, Vicco returned to Germany for a three-year apprenticeship in carpentry in Hamburg, Germany, under the tutelage of Heinrich Meyerfeldt. His apprenticeship introduced him to contemporary furniture making that enabled him to combine traditional wood joinery methods with contemporary design as unique as the tree from which each design sprung. At the end of his apprenticeship, he graduated Summa cum Laude in Theoretical and Practical Exams. 

In 1995, he returned to Chestertown and set up his own studio, Bolz Shop,  for custom work. To date, his designs have been part of twenty-two exhibitions in the US and Germany and the subject of numerous local, regional and national publications.  He is also in demand as a speaker to organizations and conferences. 

On the day I visited Bolz Shop, I was fascinated to have the opportunity of seeing  three commissions in various stages of completion. Each piece was crafted of a different wood that Vicco carefully chose for its function. The first was furniture for a dining room.  Vicco chose black walnut with live edges for the undulating thick slabs that will be the benches, end chairs and tabletop. The tabletop will have a poured resin insert to infill the center opening.  The second piece was a desk of curly maple with two curved file drawers at each end with the curved ends facing each other and the left one resting against a side panel.  My favorite piece was a sensuous curvilinear bench of Osage Orange wood. Vicco selected this wood species for its flexibility of indoor or outdoor use.  The elegance of the curvature is stabilized by the end panel of walnut that becomes a head rest just waiting for a modern day Madame Recamier to recline against.  

Against one wall of the shop were 15 foot tall thick slabs of walnut that will soon become stair landings for the stacked wood treads awaiting their final position on a floating stair to be installed at a Chestertown restaurant. I was fascinated by the chalk marks on the works in progress so they become full scale models for fine tuning.  Vicco also uses transparent tracing paper for making patterns just like a master tailor uses to cut fabric. This master wood artisan tests and refines the tracing paper pattern before he is satisfied he is ready to cut the wood.  

Outside the Bolz Shop, stacks of wood await cutting and drying and a pile of waste wood will be used in the winter for fuel so nothing in the production process is wasted. The architecture of the Bolz Shop evokes the rural Eastern Shore vernacular with its center three story bay with clerestories along its long sides above one-story curved burgundy colored metal shed roofs. Vicco gave me a tour of Bolz Shop’s expansion that will contain a drive-through breezeway connecting the existing building to another building for dry storage and wood storage.  

As I left the studio, I noticed a charming path with a portal of wood branches forming an arc.  Next to the portal was a beehive on top of a tree trunk that had once been the home of the bees and they seemed quite content with their new home. Further along the path I glimpsed the residence that Vicco built for his family that will be a future Spy house of the Week. As an architect I am always fascinated by another creative person’s design process and as I left I reflected upon how lucky our area is to have this innovative and creative Master of Wood.

For more information about Vicco von Voss and Bolz Shop, visit their website www.viccovonvoss.com and prepare to be amazed by their extraordinary portfolio.  To schedule an appointment for a custom piece, call 410-708-4698 or email vicco@viccovonvoss.com.

 

 

Planning Your Landscape Like a Pro (Part 2), by Meredith Watters

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“Planning Your Landscape Like a Pro (Part 1)” described how to begin the process of creating your own home landscape design, how to measure, document, and print a sketch of your land plat.    Now comes the fun part — making design decisions to create a beautiful, well thought out garden plan!

First, take a good, analytical look at your house.  Consider design features you already have, such as arches, columns, materials (such as brick, stone, wood), or perhaps the color scheme.

No Landscape

Bad Landscape

Good Landscape

Consider these elements when putting together your overall design.

Form: mostly refers to the architecture, which can be seen as a sense of bulk, expanse, emptiness, height, breadth, straight/curvy, or geometric shapes.  Questions you should ask:

–Do I need to add a sense of height (such as for ranch style architecture)? Include including vertical elements?

–Do I need to reduce height? Use weeping plants or distracting the eye with a great deal of interest on the ground plane.

Color: expressed through plant leaves, flowers, fruit, stems/bark, or even furniture, colors of stone, brick, paint, pottery.

–Use three colors max (not including green).  Yellow or light green plants can make plants look sick; dark green is somber and heavy; bright blue can distract; warm colors (red, yellow, orange) advance toward you; cool colors (blue and pastels) recede; white is neutral.

–Choose your color palette by referring to a color wheel.  On it, find the color you love and what works well with your house color, and then choose the complementary color on the opposite side of the wheel.

–Use brightly colored plants in limited quantities.

Texture: found in plant material (fine textures recede and coarse texture enlarges space and makes for a good accent).  Also found in hardscape, which can be soft textures and therefore recedes, or bold (like the use of boulders), which are focal points.

Line: the easiest element to use.  Lines draws the eye. Curvy lines show movement and relax the viewer, and slows the pace.  Straight lines establish formality and purpose.

The following Design Elements will also provide a sense of order, structure, and unity for planning your landscape.

Simplicity: achieved through repetition, massing, line, materials, color. Limit the different types of plants or their colors. Limit the different kinds of surface or structural materials.

Balance: symmetrical creates formality, asymmetrical creates informality – what’s your preference?

Variety: too much is confusing, and monotone is too boring.

Dominance: be careful not to create too much dominance of one element such as too many accent pieces, repetition of over-powering types of plant shapes, color, etc.  A special specimen or accent plant can provide strong interest, so be careful not to overuse it.

Scale/Proportion: a height-to-width proportion of 2:1 yields a nice personal scale, 3:1 is an excellent social or larger setting.  If a house is two stories tall plus roof (30’high overall) and has a very dominant physical presence, I would suggest your landscaping beds should be at least 15’ deep(wide), i.e., out, from the house foundation.  Within the 15’ setting, sidewalks or patios should be included in the landscaping when analyzing the scale/proportion.  If you had only a 6’ wide plant bed along the tall house foundation, the house doesn’t feel “grounded or well-blended” into the landscape.

Repetition: accomplished through repeating curves, angles, shrubs, ground covers, color, hardscape material can all create unity.

A few more suggestions:

–Try using your garden hose to outline a new bed design.  Put your patio furniture (tables and chairs) in the space where you think you want a new patio.

–The more the plant beds are covered with spreading ground covers, perennials, and shrubs, the fewer weeds because sunlight, critical to survival, is blocked.

–Don’t plant tall shrubs just 2’ away from the house foundation. Doing so will create problems for cleaning windows, painting the house, blocking crawl space air vents.  Research the ultimate size of all your plant purchases.  Just because they are 1’ high now, doesn’t mean that they won’t grow to 10’wide x 10’ tall.

–Pop the plants out of their container and see if it is root bound in the pot before purchasing.  Roots growing in circles in the pot is a long-term problem for some woody shrubs, and especially trees.

–When deciding on how many plants to use, try to use groupings of 3, 5, or 7. Consider staggering them in a zig-zag fashion, instead of planting in a row.  After all,  if one dies years later, what are you going to do with an empty hole?

Of course, there are many other environmental considerations to make, such as water drainage, presence of pesky rabbits or deer, soil quality, etc.  Look for previous Spy articles that I wrote about soil quality (Spy Gardening: Let’s Talk Dirt) and how to prune plants (Spy Gardening: Winter’s False Start (to Springtime)).

If you have any questions, please call me to discuss your situation.

Meredith Watters, Watterscape Designs, received her Masters in Landscape Architecture in 1985. In her consulting and design of residential landscapes, she maintains a strong focus on ecologically sensitive and creative outdoor solutions.

House of the Week:  The Charles W. Willey House (The Leonard House)

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The Charles W. Willey House was built one year before the Civil War began and remained in the Willey family until the turn of the century. Since 1959, it is also been known as the Leonard House for the owners who built a single story kitchen wing at the rear that was later expanded to add bedrooms on the second floor. Like many of its nineteenth century neighbors along this section of E. Chestnut St., the house steps down to create a street façade of two sections, each having two bays with a brick foundation, lap siding and 6/6 windows with shutters. The front door section of the house is a full two-story and the other section has short windows to accommodate the reduction in height. The brick stoop at the front door is covered by a gable roof with inset shake siding and the four-panel red front door has a transom above. The light grey lap siding, white windows and trim along with black shutters and the red accent of the front door create a pleasing traditional color palette. 

When New Road was built the property became a corner lot and luckily the two gigantic Magnolia trees in the rear yard were saved.  One tree is located at the rear corner of the fenced back yard that backs up to the alley and the other tree is closer to the house. When the rear kitchen/family room addition was built, the deck carefully enclosed the tree that now provides shade for the deck. Mature trees, lawn and plantings along the fences create a wonderful outdoor room for family play and relaxation.  

The front door opens into the living room and the walls surrounding the center chimney for the two-sided gas fireplace have been modified to create two doorways between the living and dining rooms for a better flow and additional  daylight between rooms.  The chimney side wall has a bookcase insert for books or serving pieces. I liked the contrast of the stained hand hewn ceiling joists with the beautiful hardwood floors in the dining room and the French doors in the living room that lead to the deck and views of the landscape beyond.

The open plan kitchen-family room is located in the addition at the rear of the house.  The “U” shaped kitchen has room for a center island and barstools. The  window over the kitchen sink and windows along the hall to the family room provide sunlight throughout the day. A door to the side deck provides easy access for al-fresco meals under the Magnolia tree. The tile kitchen countertop could be replaced with a solid surface material and the tiled partial height wall between the two rooms could then be removed to create a more open connection between the kitchen and family rooms.  The family room is a very pleasant and private space with millwork for books and TV between the sliding French doors to the side deck. The sliding French doors at the rear corner add diagonal views of the landscape. Additional millwork along the rear wall is ready to be filled with books, family photographs and memorabilia.  

The second floor bedrooms have sloped ceilings to add volume to the spaces. The front bedroom’s windows are located in the knee wall that rises to meet the sloped ceiling to create a charming space for a child’s room or office.

Great starter or retirement home in the heart of St. Michaels’ Historic District and close to the shops, restaurants, Marina and Muskrat Park!

For more information about this property, contact Leslie Stevenson, GRI, at Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., 410-745-0283 (v), 410-253-7293 (c) or Leslie.Stevenson@longandfoster.com. For more photographs and pricing visit www.OwnAMarylandHome.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.

House of the Week:  “Shotgun” Style 

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The one-room wide gable front houses that were nicknamed “shotgun” houses were the predominant architectural style in many Southern urban neighborhoods from the late 18th century to the early 20th century.  The style’s nickname came from the observation that a bullet fired through the front door would go right out the back door without hitting a wall. The form was a perfect fit for narrow urban lots; but this shotgun house is unusual in its Historic District setting for the wide fully fenced side and rear yards perfect for children and pets at play. Guest parking and a garage are conveniently located off the rear alley.

The two-bay wide house is separated from the sidewalk by a planting area and the inviting full-front porch keeps one in touch with neighbors out for a stroll.  The gable front façade with its symmetrical arrangement of windows, side front door with half-glass sidelights and a full transom above, white trim, earth toned lap siding, shutters and fencing all contribute to this well maintained house’s curb appeal.

The vista from the front door opens into the living room, dining room, kitchen and mud room/laundry.  Only the width of the fireplace chimney separates the living and dining rooms and a two-sided gas fireplace could be installed for both rooms for additional charm.  The spacious dining room easily accommodates seating for a family meal to larger gatherings or holiday celebrations.  The open railing at the stair and the front and side windows of the living and dining rooms make these spaces sunny throughout the day.

The kitchen has extra room for bar seating and a breakfast area and the exterior door provides easy access to the brick terrace for outdoor meals. The rear mudroom/laundry also has a door to the rear yard for easy clean up after an afternoon of gardening or play.  A side addition to the kitchen could easily create an open plan kitchen-family/sunroom set into the landscape. 

The second floor also flows well from a spacious front bedroom, middle bedroom that is currently used as an office and the hall bath and master bedroom at the rear. One could also build over the main floor mudroom/laundry to expand the master bedroom into a spacious master suite with its own bath. 

Quiet and charming one-way street just steps away from the Rails to Trails and close to Easton’s shops, galleries and restaurants.  Oversized lot with side and rear fenced yards, historic charm with room for expansion with minimal impact to the generous open space.  Outdoor rooms of the front porch and brick terrace in the year yard to expand your living space- all combine to create this property’s great appeal! 

For more information about this property, contact Meg Moran, GRI, with Long and Foster Real Estate-Christies International Real Estate at 410-770-3600 (o), 410-310-2209 (c), or megmoran007@gmail.com. For more photographs and pricing visit here  “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.

 

House of the Week:  Majestic Modernism 

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The aerial shot of this house illustrates its “L” shape that is the perfect solution to break down a linear plan that also fully maximizes panoramic views from its site on a waterfront point.  The exterior materials of the house were carefully selected for minimum maintenance; walls of zinc and Ipe wood are scratch, abrasion and weather resistant and the juxtaposition of their different textures of vertical vs. horizontal panels is a wonderful play of materials and shapes. The massing with its interlocking offset rectangular forms seamlessly fit together like pieces of a 3-D puzzle that step up from the entry level, increasing in height to the main living areas with transoms above walls of windows for greater ceiling height and finally to the two-story wing.  At night, the transparency of the backlit walls of windows along the water takes center stage and moonlight spills onto the recessed entry terrace courtyard set back from the front exterior wall with a pitched glass roof that becomes a skylight over the door.  

The front door opens onto a hall with a vista to the landscape and water beyond with cross vistas to a window at one end and a wall with art on the other end. The floor plan is zoned extremely well for function and privacy with the master suite next to the entry and the open plan living, dining, study, breakfast area and screened porch defined by a perimeter wall of windows and unobtrusive interior wall planes. The kitchen is open to the living areas and as cook, I loved this space with its two story ceiling capped with skylights, water views through the informal dining/family room and the white cabinets accentuated by bright red walls. Behind the kitchen are the stairs with an artisan stainless steel sinuous handrail, laundry and garage.  Above the kitchen wing are five en-suite bedrooms.  

The open plan living areas are quite conducive to entertaining or relaxing with family.  The informal dining area is across the main hall from the kitchen and next to the family room with a wall for the TV.  On the other side of the informal dining area is a study with a raised fireplace set into the wall, built-in millwork and wrap-around windows for views of the landscape and water. At the end of this wing is the formal dining area surrounded by full height windows on three sides and the  screened porch near the pool terrace.

The master bedroom also has full height wrap-around windows and sliding doors for panoramic water views and perimeter soffits below a higher ceiling plane.  The master bath is simply sumptuous with a free-standing tub nestled into a niche surrounded by partial walls with windows above, dual lavatories opposite each other whose mirrors visually expand the space, a large shower with a pebble style floor, glass door and window and a French door to access the landscape and pool.

The second floor bedroom suites share the same interior architectural details such as minimal trim, large picture windows above lower window units and some rooms have an additional accent window.  Discreet shades disappear above the window header for unimpeded  views to the landscape. All the baths have white cabinetry but different wall colors with art and accessories selected to complement the wall color.

The design team of award-winning Philadelphia Architect David Amburn and Oehme van Sweden of the internationally known landscape firm of OvS of Washington, DC, are both known for their harmonious blend of architecture and landscape. I loved the exterior interlocking gray forms, the serene white and gray interior palette enhanced by accents of color in the furnishings, rugs, accessories and art and the beautiful hardwood floors that flowed like water to connect the spaces.  The floor plan is quite adaptable to any lifestyle-one level living with the master suite located on the main floor, guest suites for children and grandchildren or a houseful of guests zoned for quiet above the service areas of kitchen, laundry and garage. 

Sophisticated Modernist Magic built with extraordinary materials to the highest standards of commercial construction, interior fixtures selected from an array of international designers for their elegance, exquisite craftsmanship and function-all this in sought after Royal Oak!

 For more information about this property, contact Adam Light with the Light/Ruppert List Residential Group of Monument Sotheby’s International Realty at 410-525-5435 (o), 410-829-3127 (c) or adam.light@monumentsothebysreealty.com. For more pictures and pricing, visit https://youtu.be/tL5sttxjzKo  “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.