By a funny coincidence, the House of the Week I chose for Chestertown last week had a cozy sitting room with a fireplace that the owners had dubbed the “Snuggery”. St. Michaels own Snuggery house began its life as the Robert Dodson House, circa 1798. The log house was built by Dodson on a site facing St. Michaels harbor. In 1870 Henry Clay Dodson relocated the log structure to Cherry Street, where it remains today. He remodeled the house in the Victorian style and expanded the original log restructure to its present form. The front part of the house holds the distinction of being the only early log structure remaining in St. Michaels. The original milk house at the rear of the property has also been renovated for myriad uses.
The charming cottage style architecture has many double windows to brighten the interior rooms. The 1870 renovation left portions of the original log walls exposed in the front parlor, the dining room and the ground floor bedroom which gives the rooms great architectural character. The two front parlors have angled corner fireplaces with original decorative surrounds. A wide cased opening connects the two rooms for better flow and the cross vistas through the wall opening are of double windows on each side of the house for an open feeling. The dining room between one parlor and the kitchen would be a cozy spot for breakfast.
The Snuggery is currently a B&B with a main floor guest suite. The second floor contains other charming guest rooms tucked under the roof eaves with exposed cross bracing beams under the drywall ceiling. I especially liked the Owners’ sitting room on the main floor with its wide bay window framing views to the back yard and the fireplace for cozy winter evenings. The Owners’ bedroom was located on the second floor and spanned the width of the house which created areas for sleeping and an office area with double windows at each side of the space.
Many fans of the Snuggery would be quite disappointed if the new Owners decided to convert this charming cottage back to a single-family residence but it could easily be done. Whatever happens it remains a delightful part of St. Michaels’ history.
For more information about this property, please contact Elizabeth Foulds at Long and Foster Real Estate at 410-745-0345 (o), 410-924-1959 ©, or [email protected], “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.
Sarah Eastman says
Do tell , how do the inn owners feel about Short Term Rentals (STRS) popping up all over? Are they concerned that STRS should at least have to follow the same rules and regulations as they do? At the present, there are many fewer limits for rentals that can even be up to one night. Doesn’t this new competition worry inn owners?