Several years ago, when I was active in real estate, I showed this house to potential buyers and it still has great appeal to me. I liked the “T” shaped footprint which creates spaces for front porches on both of the two floors, and a terrace at the back. The short leg of the “T” has a gable roof at the front and back and the long part of the “T” has a shed roof extension which provides shade for the second floor porch. The front gable is articulated by a bay projection at the first floor, a double window at the second floor and a single arched top window at the attic level. Fretwork brackets enhance the bay eave and the header of the double window and between the porch columns is a decorative fretwork motif.
The front door opens to the living room with the stair at the side for maximum floor area. I liked the easy flow from the covered front porch through the living room to the open rear deck accessed by two single French doors. A fireplace at the side wall of the living room is the perfect finishing touch for relaxing with family or entertaining friends.
The front elevation’s bay window defines the dining area that is open to the spacious kitchen. Behind the kitchen is a one-story mud room/pantry with high wrap-around windows above shelving for storage. When I showed the house, the buyers loved this space but wished it could be a sunroom with longer windows for better views of the rear yard. I suggested extending the shed roof over behind the stairs and flipping the powder room and utility closet to that space. Then the entire width behind the kitchen could be a sunroom/TV area.
The second floor has three bedrooms and one bath with a laundry closet. My favorite bedroom was the front bedroom with private access to the covered porch for sleeping al fresco. The second floor area over the mud room below could be extended to create a second bath and closets so the rear bedroom could become a master suite.
Historic District location close to the park, boat ramp at San Domingo Creek, Rails to Trails and Talbot Street’s “Restaurant Row”- plus great potential to create an expanded master suite on the second floor, a sunroom below and a rear yard that is a blank canvas for the avid gardener to transform-hard to resist!
For more information about this property, contact Gene Smith at Benson & Mangold Real Estate, 410-745-0417 (o),410-443-1571(c), gsmith@bensonandmangold.com, or “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.
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