It is unusual to find both a large corner lot and a house that has been completely renovated as this property has in St. Michaels. The house is set back deep from the street and the front yard is surrounded by a white picket fence. The style of the house appears originally to have been an American Foursquare house with a one-story addition that wraps around part of the rear elevation and a one-story sunroom at the side. Additional shed forms step down at the rear of the house. Two parking spaces are accessed from the side street and there is an outbuilding with a sliding barn door for storage. From the town sidewalk, a brick path leads to the front door at one corner of the three-bay house with the classic color palette of light gray lap siding, white trim and black shutters for the large 6/6 windows topped with a single dormer on three sides of the hipped roof.
On the day I visited, light streamed through the living room’s two front and one side windows and the transoms and sidelights around the six-panel front door. Opposite the windows are the wood burning brick fireplace and hearth with the firebox surrounded by layers of stylish molding and a mantel that projects out above carved brackets. The “C” shaped stairs to the two upper floors are beautifully detailed with white newel posts, balusters and risers, additional trim below the stair stringer and stained treads to match the flooring with a darker stain on the cap railing. The wood floors, light gray walls and white trim create a serene space for relaxing by the fire.
The spacious kitchen is connected to the living room, sunroom and dining area to create an open plan layout. The kitchen has white Shaker style cabinets, period hardware, white solid surface countertops and stainless steel appliances. Since the ceilings are high, the upper cabinets float below the ceiling plane to provide space for display. A pair of French doors from the kitchen open into the sunroom with its grid of fixed and operable windows that wrap around the side wall to meet the single French door with sidelights to the rear yard. It is a spacious room and is staged for both dining and seating or it could be a great family room.
The bedroom suite at the rear of the house has its own exterior entrance off the driveway and the bedroom has windows on two walls and is separated from the bath by a wide hall. I especially admired the detailing of the bath with the patterned marble floors, dual lavatory cabinet with framed mirrors and surface mounted lighting above and the tiled partial height wall between the cabinet and the tub/shower with glass door and panel. The walk-in closet is adjacent to the bath
The lower floor was artfully staged by Diane Albers but I also enjoyed walking through the second floor empty bedrooms flooded with sunlight and easily imagined how I would furnish the rooms and I noted that the second floor bath is detailed as elegantly as the main floor bath finishes of tile and marble. The climb to the third floor was well worth it for the bird’s eye views of St. Michaels’ streetscapes from the three dormer windows inserted into the knee walls and roof framing. I also liked the texture of the ceiling from the battens over the ceiling panels and the bulkheads at the floor that become seats under the windows or ledges for home office materials.
Large corner lot with room for a pool with the outbuilding as a potential pool cabana/mini kitchen, classic American Four-Square architecture, large windows that flood the interior spaces with sunlight, renovation done to the highest standards of construction including all new rough-in plumbing, and a spacious sunroom that is the jewel in the crown-Bravo!
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 [email protected], “Equal Housing Opportunity”. For more photographs and pricing visit www.stmichaelsmdwaterfront.com , “Equal Housing Opportunity”.
Photography by Liz Baker, 361-813-9864, www.lizbakerphotography.com, [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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