Design with Jenn Martella: “Sol y Sombra”

“Sol y Sombra”, (sun and shade) is aptly named for this unique property has just enough trees to shade the house in the summer and in the other months sunlight streams through many large windows, including bay window walls. The site’s 4.8 acres offers peace and privacy along Barrett Cove, off Edge Creek that leads to the Choptank River. The 500 linear feet of riprapped shoreline includes a deep water dock with an electric boat lift as well as a kayak launch. The property contains a main house and a guest house and both offer one-level living for a multi-generational compound or for extended stays by family members. 

The house’s footprint is set high above and parallel to the water which gives it the added advantage of being slightly angled to the road for privacy. The cottage-style architecture mixes gabled and hipped roofs and hints of French design elements in the arched doorway and dormer. The house was built in 2004 by the current owners and has been meticulously maintained. The owners happen to be treasured friends of mine and on the day of my visit for The Spy, the white brick façade stood out from the tall trees festooned with their golden leaves of fall. 

The main house is surrounded by water on two sides, and the rear elevation reaches out to the water with bay-wall projections containing wide and tall windows at each corner of the house. Between the bays is a covered porch, accessed by both the living room and the family room. Brick steps lead down from the covered porch to a brick terrace for unobstructed panoramic southeast water views. Before I went inside, I relaxed on the terrace and marveled that across the expanse of water, only one house was visible.   

Walking out to the dock, I appreciated the sloped riprapped shoreline and the house’s setting in a cluster of tall deciduous and evergreen trees that do not obstruct the water views from inside the house. To the left of the main house, the guest house is angled away from the main house for privacy.  

The pair of French doors with a half-moon transom in the recessed front porch opens into the spacious foyer with its very high ceiling and gleaming white oak floors that flow throughout the main rooms.  The foyer blends into the hall that connects the bedroom wing from the main living areas. Slender white columns are spaced along the high wall that separates the foyer/hall from the living room. 

Just as I did  the first time I saw this room; my eye was immediately drawn to the niches in the chimney wall of the gas fireplace that display an artful arrangement of backlit pottery. I was also again enchanted by the crafts, wall hangings and art that reflects the wife’s upbringing in South America that give this house its unique personality.

The vista from the front door through the living room’s wall of sliding doors to the porch and to the lawn and water beyond is hard to resist.  At the side wall, other slender white columns define the edge of the adjacent dining room. The focal point of the dining room is the built-in millwork containing more enchanting artifacts from South America.  

The dining room table is centered on a wide double unit window for views through the porch to the lawn and water. If one preferred a larger living room, the perhaps decorative columns could be removed and the living room would double in size.  Seating could then be grouped around the fireplace and another seating group around the built-in millwork full of books would please this bibliophile very much. I could well imagine two loveseats flanking the fireplace and another sofa facing the dining room window with ottomans for putting one’s feet up for an afternoon of reading.

On the day of my being a hostess for an open house, during breaks I relished the serene water view from the rear covered porch. The living room’s sliding doors to the porch divide the porch into two areas for relaxation. As the sun angle changed, I moved down to the brick terrace that was bathed in sunlight. 

I returned to the house by the door that leads to the open plan family-breakfast-kitchen area. The family room has always been my fave room for its combination of the bay wall’s tall and wide windows with the side windows that offer panoramic water views. This spacious room is ideal for entertaining or for relaxing with family and friends. 

The ceiling plane from the family room to the office area, breakfast area and kitchen changes from the segmented roof line of the family room’s bay wall to a flat ceiling over the other areas. The breakfast and office areas could be combined to create a dining area and the table would be centered on the wide double unit window at the side wall. 

The custom kitchen design has corner-angled base cabinets with the sink cabinet below the windows for landscape and water views. I usually prefer upper cabinets to end below the ceiling but with the high ceiling, my friends’ display of colorful ceramics parades above the upper cabinets. There is also a walk-in pantry for additional storage.

The hall between the kitchen and the foyer contains this well-stocked bar set into the wall next to the door to the dining room. Its location is easily accessible from the kitchen, family room, dining room and living room. As the Weekend  Wine Woman at Piazza, I was happy to see several bottles from Piazza in the wine rack! Opposite the bar is the powder room and utility/laundry room with the latter having a door to the oversized double-car garage.

I continued my tour by crossing the foyer part of the hall to reach the bedroom wing. Another short hall with a linen closet leads to this waterside primary suite. The ceiling plane has a perimeter soffit for HVAC and then becomes a tray ceiling from the segments of the bay wall. I loved the artful and slim iron bedframe whose transparency doesn’t compete spatially with the room’s volume and the deep blue wall color creates a restful space. 

A pair of double doors leads to the primary bath from the primary bedroom.  The corner jet tub below a wide picture window with an up/down pleated shade privacy when needed. The mirrored walls above the separate lavatory cabinets enlarge the space and the heated tile floors are a plus now that winter is fast approaching. There is also a toilet compartment and a separate shower. The large walk-in closet completes the primary suite.

There are two other guest bedrooms that share a “Jack and Jill” bath. This bedroom at the front of the house has an alcove created by the box bay window with a picture plane between operable units and transoms above. The focal point of this room is the colorful wall hanging above the bed instead of a headboard.

This guest bedroom/office has two windows overlooking the lawn to the guest house and the blue and yellow color scheme is restful. Any guest would appreciate the ergonomic chair and computer table for checking emails before turning in for the night. The adjacent bath is compartmentalized which makes sharing easy when there are guests in both bedrooms.

Shortly after my friends bought the property and built their main house, they added this two-bedroom, two bath modular home for a guest house. The guest house is a plus for three-generation living or as accommodations for extended stays of family or friends during the summers or holidays.

The spacious guest house family room accommodates two sitting areas and the rear windows have landscape and water views.

The eat-in kitchen easily accommodates a table that could be expanded as needed for special occasions. The side door leads to the laundry and an exterior door. From the sliding door, steps lead down to the lawn and to the water. 

When the open house ended, I relaxed in one of the Adirondack chairs near the large willow tree and admired the serene, long view across the water as I basked in the late afternoon sunlight before heading home. 

“Sol y Sombra” offers a rare opportunity to own a large waterfront property with both a main house and guest house, very close proximity to St. Michaels’s many amenities, without having to drive through the Town during the peak summer months as I must. One-level living for aging in place, great indoor-outdoor flow to the outdoor rooms of the rear covered porch and the brick terrace, a pier and kayak launch for warm weather afternoons on the water, meticulously maintained houses and grounds-wonderful property!

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For more information about this property, contact Cliff Meredith, Broker, with Meredith Fine Properties at 410-822-6272 (o), 410-924-0082 (c), or [email protected] . For more photographs and pricing, visit www.MeredithFineProperties.com ,“Equal Housing Opportunity.” 

Photography by-Townsend Visuals, www.townsendvisuals.com, (443) 279-8309

Construction by Warrington Builders, (410) 820-9371

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.