This stunning site is elevated above the water of a tidal lake and the Chesapeake Bay beyond where you can watch the parade of silent ships as they make their way up and down the Bay. The house’s light metal roofing reflects the light to keep the house cool and the light color palette contrasts with the surrounding trees and landscape to create a picturesque setting. I loved the night shot of the house’s front elevation with the front porch and breezeway lighting and how the lighting accentuated the house’s geometry with the two end gables and the gables of the garage. I also liked the contrast between the lap siding of the house and the board and batten siding of the garage.
The dramatic great room with living, dining and kitchen areas were open to the pitched roof with heavy timber framing. The stained columns and roof framing created bays infilled with large windows and transoms above so sunlight could flood the entire area. On one gable end, a transom was over the fireplace for another source of light. On the opposite end, another transom was above the upper kitchen cabinets.
How could a cook resist this kitchen? Creamy cabinets with period trim, warm brown countertops like slabs of fudge, stainless steel appliances, and an adjacent pantry stocked with floor to ceiling shelving. The kitchen also had direct access to the wrap-around porch with dining areas at each end separated by seating areas with views to the Bay. I especially liked how the horizontal mullions of the wall framing were carefully set for unobstructed views of the Bay.
The same attention to detail was carried through to even the smallest space, a guest bath. I loved the bright blue wall color, white vanity cabinet, black countertop and glass shower wall. I chose the same black and white tile pattern for my master bath floor and it was the perfect scale for this size room also.
I love stairs as sculptural elements and the contemporary treatment of this stair was beautifully detailed with flat steel framing, nearly invisible cable railing and wood cap with open space below the upper run at the lower floor. At the top landing, the juxtaposition of the sleek stair design and the barn door beyond was a deft touch. The stair hall at the ground level was lined with bookshelves with space above for the owner’s art collection. The hall accessed the ground floor bedrooms and a brick loggia with piers framing the views to the Bay.
I wouldn’t mind doing the laundry in this house since the wine rack is also located here! The warm deep mocha walls, the creamy white ceramic tile plaques and the appliances mounted above drawers for easy-on -the back access was certainly not your Grandmother’s laundry.
This setting has it all-the Bay as your backyard, great architecture and interiors.
For more information about this property, contact Lynn Hilfiker with Gunther McClary at 410-639-2118 (o), 443-480-1163 (c) 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.
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