Whenever I drive to Tilghman to visit friends, I always glance at a one-story house that captured my eye several years ago. It is a great example of how breaking out of the box by adding porches, bay projections and details can transform a simple rectangular shape from Plain Vanilla to Neapolitan. The house is divided into two sections. One part contains the side facing garage and primary suite and is slightly offset from the other section; the other part contains the open plan living-dining-kitchen area, laundry, two other bedrooms and one bath. Taking advantage of the offset, a wide gable was added over the  living room and a shorter gable projects farther to emphasize the front entrance. Then a deep shed roof was added to create an open porch that extends to the corner of the house and wraps around to meet the screened porch at the side elevation.

I also write a bi-weekly column for Bohl Architects and a recent column addressed my architectural “Pet Peeves.” I was very pleased to see here that instead of plain posts masquerading as columns, this house has Craftsman columns of stacked stone bases below tapered wood columns that greatly enhances this elevation. I also admired the shake siding that infills the gable fronts to contrast with the house’s lap siding, the 6/1 windows and the light aqua shutters that I soon discovered were a preamble to the visual delights within.  

Before going inside, I walked around the house and saw the screened porch at the side of house that is a delightful outdoor room. The end gable is also clad in shake siding to match the gables at the front of the house. Inside the screened porch, the sloped roof rafters are exposed and the wide spacing of the openings frames panoramic views. At the rear elevation is a box bay projection and a deck off the mud room with views of the woods.

I opened the front door into the open plan layout and I was greeted by Hollace Kutay, a Marine Artist and Coastal Designer who reimagined every room of this house. She offers her coastal homes fully furnished and decorated with accessories and art to give each home its own distinctive personality. She explained how the living room was once the primary bedroom and how she reworked the interior layout to create vistas through the “L” shaped open plan living-dining-kitchen. She relocated the primary suite between this area and the garage for privacy from the other two bedrooms off the screened porch. To add spatial volume, she removed the flat ceiling to create a pitched ceiling plane over the dining-kitchen area. I admired her “Coastal Casual” design scheme with white walls that were the perfect backdrop for the splashes of color and texture from upholstery, colorful accessories and art that celebrates both waterfowl and sea creatures.

I coveted the kinetic and colorful design of the living room’s rug design of vibrant and whimsical oversize fish and the large octopus artwork over the fireplace, both of which are Kutay’s designs. The seating is grouped around the electric fireplace between built-in millwork and the triple window unit floods the space with sunlight. 

The focal point of the dining room’s wood table and rattan chairs is a large artwork featuring a giant Blue Osprey. Being a July Crab, I coveted the dinnerware set on the dining table with its crab design centered below a colorful border around each plate. 

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The kitchen’s island is centered on the double window at the rear wall with a stunning countertop of “Vetrazzo” fabricated from recycled sea glass/crushed oyster shell. The combination of white cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, aqua tile backsplash with open wood shelves matching the wood band around the stove hood, shiplap accents in the stove hood and end wall of the island create a fresh and sleek look. The long wood hunt table on the opposite wall is an accent as well as a buffet table for the dining area. 

 

The kitchen extends to the pantry’s galley layout due to the box bay projection that widened the space. The pantry is outfitted with a second sink, built-in microwave and beverage fridge, deep aqua cabinets, and live-edge butcher block countertops. A tall cabinet separates the pantry area from the washer and dryer and the hall to the primary suite. Next to the hall is the mudroom opposite the glass sliding door to the deck. The mudroom wall has a wide live-edge wood slab at a bench height for storing wellies below with hooks above for jackets against a full width and height wall of deep aqua shiplap. At the end of the panty/mudroom is the door to the attached garage.

The luxurious primary suite has a spacious bedroom with a double unit window and ample space for a bed with nightstands, an upholstered bench at the foot of the bed and a long dresser. The light aqua and blue colors create a serene retreat. Barn doors close off the bedroom from the spacious walk-in closet. 

 

The primary bath has double vanities with dual mirrors framed with shells, a tile floor and a large shower with deep sea green tile. A recessed area in the shower wall is tiled with the same polygonal tile in soft green shades that matches the floor tile.

The two guest bedrooms are located at the opposite end of the house from the primary suite and are side by side with exterior doors opening onto the screened porch. One bedroom has a delightful octopus theme with a blue padded headboard, blue chest of drawers below an octopus artwork, and an accent pillow with an octopus perched on top. 

 

The other guest bedroom has a light blue padded headboard and accent pillows of colorful seaweed and coral matching the panels of the armoire and  a light blue side table for guest luggage.

One House of the Week last year had a bath with delightful mermaid wallpaper-this bath’s wallpaper has a background of floating octopuses that complements the color of the lavatory cabinet and the white shiplap walls add texture. 

This two acre property in a water privileged community also includes a two-car attached garage, large deck, storage shed and broad expanses of lawn for play. High marks for a stylish exterior and interior renovation and the delightful interior design inspired by the sea and its creatures by Hollace Kutay who reimagined every room. This is the perfect time of year to claim this turn-key property for your summer sojourn or contact Hollace Kutay to enhance your existing home with special touches that remind you of the sea. I left “Barnacle Bungalow” smiling and humming the Beatles song that begins-

“I’d like to be 

Under the sea

In an octopus’ garden 

In the shade….”

For more information about this property, contact On Design sponsor Tiffany Cloud with Meredith Fine Properties at 410-822-2001 (o), (570) 751 8637  (c) or [email protected]. For more photographs and pricing visit www.meredithfineproperties.com, “Equal Housing Opportunity.”

Interior Design by Hollace Kutay, whose background as a marine artist and her childhood summers on Grand Cayman Island influences her designs. Her paintings and whimsical ceramic sculptures of sea creatures have won her national recognition. Contact Hollace Kutay at 717-341-0518 or [email protected],  www.hollacekutay.com.

Photography by Atlantic Exposure LLC, 310-973-7325, www.atlanticexpoaure.com.

Lyrics to “Octopus’s Garden” by Richard Starkey

Jennifer Martella is an architect with Bohl Architects’ Annapolis office and a referral agent for Meredith Fine Properties. Jennifer is an integral part of Bohl Architects’ design team for projects she brings to the firm. She is also the writer of  Bohl’s website’s  bi-monthly blog “Tango Funhouse” where she highlights the firm’s vision and other fun aspects of life by design. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday.

 

 

 

Over the past six and a half years of writing House of the Week articles, I have discovered many historic houses but this one is unique in its being the oldest house in Chestertown, if not the state of Maryland. What is known about this property is that its use as a single family residence began in 1668 and has been continuous for three-hundred twenty-five years when the house became vacant. 

Captain John Palmer is believed to be the original owner of the house, christened “Rock of Ages” by a Kent County historian. The name refers to the large pieces of stone Captain Palmer carried in his wooden ship on voyages from England to his property that was located at the head of a cove that once existed off the Chester River. The stones were not only cargo but also ballast for stabilizing Captain Palmer’s wooden ship. Many other connections to Captain Palmer were found over the years.

A silver platter that was engraved with the image of the house and the name “Rock of Ages” was found on the U.S.S. Maryland. Investigations resulted in the discovery that Palmer family descendants had presented it to the Captain of the battleship. 

The house has undergone several renovations over its life. When repairs were needed for the living room fireplace, the original firebox was revealed that was modified in the 1880’s for a Latrobe stove that used coal for fuel. A previous owner, Chief Samuel E. Cooper, found an old ship’s clock that had been hidden under the attic flooring. The clock was inscribed with Captain Palmer’s name and the date of 1668. 

I have driven down so many times along High Street but this story and half house with attic dormers is hidden by trees along the sidewalk. The day of my tour I had time to appreciate the very pleasing proportions of the three bay front façade. The front door is detailed with half glass and half wood panels and is centered between two 6/6 double hung windows with true wood shutters and shutter dogs, with three dormer windows above. The three -bay front porch has turned columns arranged to create a larger middle bay on axis with the front door. The original brick steps have been demolished so a new owner could add wood steps to match the porch flooring or new brick steps to match the original brick steps. The textures of the large stone pieces, with a water table projection along the front façade, the uppermost part of the chimneys’ brick at each gable end of the house, the black wood shutters and the exposed wood rafters of the front porch’s hipped roof create a very harmonious façade.

At the rear of the house is the kitchen that completes the “L” floor plan. This room and the adjacent open porch were added later. The kitchen is clad in wood lap siding and the porch is open with turned columns to match the columns on the front porch. From the porch one exterior door opens into the stair hall and the other opens into the kitchen.

Since the house has been vacant for twenty-seven years, the house will require a gutting to the studs renovation The “L” shaped first floor plan has a center stair hall between the living room on the right and the dining room on the left. Since the exterior walls are thick masonry, the sills of the windows are deep and inviting for potted plants or a perfect spot for the family cat to bask in the sun. 

Both the living and dining rooms have identical dimensions and fireplaces at the side walls. The dining room fireplace will need to be restored.

Behind the dining room is the large kitchen and open side porch. 

If I were renovating the house, I would remove the porch roof and extend the kitchen roof over the porch for simplicity and better drainage. The porch could be screened or the wall between the kitchen and porch could be removed to add this space to the kitchen for a sunny family room with wrap-around windows overlooking the yard. 

I would leave the original built-in cabinet between the door to the dining room and the corner of the kitchen as it adds historical context and character to the space. The unit could have upper glass fronted doors to display china and glassware for the dining room. 

The stairs to the second floor lead to a bath at the front of the house and bedrooms over both the living and dining rooms. The bath is shared by both bedrooms and has a vintage clawfoot tub and lavatory. 

In each bedroom, the collar beam is set lower than the header height of the dormer windows. Raising the collar beam would solve this problem, add needed headroom and enable more sunlight to penetrate into each room. 

The deep rear yard extends to a row of eight contiguous carriage houses, built during the time when transportation was by horse and carriage. The building opens onto the rear street. There is also another anachronism of a wood clad privy, complete with a toilet(!) that should be demolished to open up the yard for longer vistas from the house. The rear yard has both shade from the large tree and space to develop the rear yard into a verdant oasis. The sunny space by the open porch would be the perfect space for a kitchen garden.

Great in-town location, deep lot with potential for a gardener to create an urban oasis, a cottage that needs a complete rehab with the reward of cozy spaces with deep windowsills, fireplaces, many original details such as the paneled doors, radiator heats and spacious second floor bedrooms. The best reward would be the satisfaction of being the steward who enables this historic house to proudly reclaim her place in Chestertown’s residential streetscape for future generations to admire. 

For more information about this property, contact Mary Fielding, who helped sponsor this article, at Coldwell Banker Chesapeake Real Estate Company, at 410-778-0330 (o), 410-708-4852 (c) or [email protected]. For more pictures and pricing, visit www.cbchesapeake.com , “Equal Housing Opportunity”.  Photography by Patty Hill, www.pattyhillphotography.com, 410- 441-4719

Historic photograph from the publication “Chestertown, Maryland, An Inventory of Historic Sites, based upon an historic site survey conducted by Robert Neill, Michael Bourne and Kathleen B. White, with additional survey information by Marsha Fritz, Robert J.H. Janson-La Palme, and Peter Newlin.

Jennifer Martella is an architect with Bohl Architects’ Annapolis office and a referral agent for Meredith Fine Properties. Jennifer is an integral part of Bohl Architects’ design team for projects she brings to the firm. She is also the writer of  Bohl’s website’s  bi-monthly blog “Tango Funhouse” where she highlights the firm’s vision and other fun aspects of life by design. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday.