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 [email protected]. For more photographs and pricing, visit www.oxfordmaryland.com, Equal Housing Opportunity”.
Photography by Janelle Stroup, Thru the Len Photography, 845-744-2758, [email protected]
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.
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Caroline Ketcham says
Seeing the House of the Week is a feature of the Talbot Spy I enjoy. However, I don’t do the dense descriptions justice and zip through this part so as to reach the photos. Why not separate the text with appropriately related photos? It’s all well done but too segmented.