Hotel Baltimore
Sam and Desaray Conaway are inveterate travelers who have stayed in some of the world's finest hotels, from the Hotel Arts Barcelona to the Esperanza in Cabo San Lucas. A love of luxury hotels helps explain the aesthetic in the Canton town home they share with Sam's sons, Austin, 16, and Aaron, 18, and designed by Steven Appel, President of Nouveau Contemporary Goods.
"I told Steve I wanted it to...
Great design is the common thread in six diverse projects—from an 18th-century urban row house to a sprawling contemporary retreat.
Sequestered in a conference room at CSD Architects in Oriole Park for this year's juried, 25th annual Baltimore magazine/AIA Baltimore 2008 Residential Design Awards, a trio of architect jurors pored over before and after photos, elevation plans, and architectural renderings detailing the goals of the dozens of submitted projects.
"The field of candidates was incredibly rich," says juror...
Down on the Farm
It's Baltimore's answer to Green Acres. Eight years ago, Ilene and Phil Spector were living in a wood-and-stone contemporary in suburban Pikesville when they did a complete about-face and moved to a pastoral 33-acre horse farm in northern Baltimore County. The move to their farm, with its A-frame log cabin home, was prompted by Phil's desire to have a place for their horses and his love of the...
This gorgeous galley became the raison d’etre for an Annapolis home rehab.
When a Washington, D.C. couple sought a full-scale renovation for their 20-year-old Annapolis-area weekend home, they originally imagined doing a "surgical renovation"—a nip here, a tuck there, and a bigger kitchen area in which to entertain family and friends.
But Jay Huyett, principal of Annapolis-based Studio 3 Architecture and President of Studio Snaidero D.C., in Washington, took one...
If you're thinking condo interiors are doomed to be cookie-cutter and boring, think again.
This is the story of four homeowners who were tired of weeding and fertilizing, shoveling mounds of snow, replacing withering roofs, and cleaning out muck-ridden gutters. Some had beautiful, gargantuan homes full of keepsakes and character—filling 6,000 square feet of space or more—and long expanses of landscaped lawns that demanded manicuring and pruning. These homeowners finally called it quits...
We uncorked three fabulous wine cellars owned by some of Baltimore’s most particular aficionados.
No expense was spared by a Baltimore investment manager to create the wine cellar of his dreams for his Greenspring Valley home. He started by asking his friend, architect Patrick Jarosinski of PDJ & Associates, to add a 320-square-foot wine cellar to a new pool house that was under construction. The basement, measuring 24-by-40-feet, is decorated to suggest a medieval dungeon. Trompe l'oeil...
A couple and their home keep alive the spirit of Samuel Owings Jr.
Judy Burch and her husband, Dr. Joseph F. Williams, live in the historic Samuel Owings Jr. house in Owings Mills. Okay, it isn't really a historic house. It is a replica of the home once owned by the influential 18th-century resident for whom Owings Mills is named, built to exactly match old photos and descriptions. But for the couple, Samuel Owings's spirit is alive and well.
Samuel Owings Jr.,...
If you think fall means time to give up on the garden, think again: Here's a short "to do" list.
For starters, Fall is the time to look for disease and infested areas: These may appear on roses, fruit and ornamental trees, and shrubs. Trouble spots are easily detected during fall when foliage is thinning out and leaves begin piling up underfoot. Such fungi should be removed by hand (wearing gloves) then thrown away in a plastic bag. If you remove leaves on roses that display blackspot, rust...
Cockeysville, Deconstructed
Despite the fact that construction was completed four-and-a-half years ago, it's not uncommon for visitors to Joyce Hesselberth and David Plunkert's Cockeysville home to ask when the space will be finished. But the graphic designers, who own the Hampden-based Spur Design, take it in stride. After all, the light-filled, loft-like residence uses a palette of pure and raw materials not commonly...
The wave of foreclosures is helping nonprofit rehabbers.
The bad news first: The rising foreclosures that are the fallout from the housing crisis are forcing millions of Americans from their homes. The silver lining: In Baltimore and other cities, it's offering nonprofit rehabbers like Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity (CHFH) the chance to snap up more houses that they can then repair for affordable resale to the working poor.
CHFH Executive Director...
