Is Mt. Vernon the new Miami?
Baltimore makes national media lists all the time—for both good and bad reasons—but the October issue of Money magazine included, we believe, a first. That issue named the 35 best retirement neighborhoods in the U.S. for 2007, and low and behold, at No. 26, was our own Mt. Vernon, nestled right between the Cultural District in Fort Worth, Texas and the Uptown area of Charlotte, N.C. The...
We’re no Miami. How do we rate a Ritz-Carlton?
Vail. South Beach. Maui . . . Baltimore? We’re Charm City’s biggest fans, but one of these things is really not like the others. How did our decidedly un-glamorous mid-Atlantic port town wind up in such beautiful company and land a Ritz-Carlton residences project? Midtown Group principal Jack Cayre, the project’s developer, says the luxury brand’s arrival was all about the chunk of...
An Italian newcomer is setting the bar for luxe galleys.
It's the question on the minds of all Americans: How much would I pay for nice kitchen cabinets?Veteran bath and kitchen designer Marie Schwartz of Studio One Design Associates has always represented plenty of kitchen cabinet lines to satisfy the most demanding and well-heeled of her clientele. With top names like Rich Maid, Canada's Fabricant, Habersham, or Italy's Piu (it doesn't sound...
How does one actually go about getting rid of a lifetime's worth of junk? It's easy with our handy guide.
We all have it. That room—or maybe it’s a closet (or three)—filled with stuff that we don’t need, but just can’t bring ourselves to part with. Maybe it’s that peasant skirt you’re hoping is going to come back in style (again); the upright piano that would be so much fun at a holiday sing-along (if you ever actually had a holiday sing-along); the 20-year-old slicer-dicer-blender-doohickey wedding...
The elegant houses of four designers and architects illustrate all the possibilities.
When you need help picking a chintz for your couch or designing an addition to your kitchen, you call in a professional. So who do the pros call when it comes to their own homes? We talked to four local professionals—interior designers and architects—about their personal taste, the occupational hazards of being your own client, and how size really doesn't matter when it comes to matters of...
The rise of faux painting gives a deceptive new look to moldings, ceilings, and furniture.
Anyone who's ever watched an interior design program on TV has heard of faux finishing. You know, that sponge-painted wall that's supposed to transform your kitchen into a Tuscan villa. Except that, even after studying the do-it-yourself book you picked up at the Home Depot, most of us will end up with something that more closely resembles dirty cinderblock than weathered stucco. That's why...
We visit four fabulous kitchens for the best in appliances, countertops, and more.
You want more cabinet space. You're tired of looking at that 3-year-old burn mark on your laminate countertop. And lately, you've begun to think your plain-Jane white appliances aren't sending quite the message you'd like to send. You're thinking stainless steel, lots of it, not to mention hardwood floors, custom-colored cabinets, and white granite countertops with maroon and black flecks....
What do you do when the people next door are driving you insane?
If you think your neighbors are bad, with their loud music and sloppy trashcan-lid replacement, consider the tales told by the still-jittery people who lived near a Mt. Washington family we'll call The Smiths.
The tales told and recounted by neighbors (who almost all requested anonymity) are many, and include harassing calls to the police (to report neighbors as burglars when they were...
Where does a former Secretary of Defense go to relax? Donald Rumsfeld may head to his St. Michaels home.
This month, the residents and business owners of Talbot County's tiny, tony St. Michaels may be seeing a bit more of one of their more important part-time residents—former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld, 74, isn't the only Bush administration VIP with a 21663 ZIP code: Vice President Dick Cheney and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow both have homes in the town. Why is...
How a tiny hole led to a worried community and a $1 billion lawsuit.
At about 4 p.m. on Friday, February 17, 2006—just before everyone at the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) left for the Presidents’ Day long weekend—the agency received a phone call from a representative of ExxonMobil.
The petroleum giant’s representative told the MDE that a gasoline line at the Exxon station at 14258 Jarrettsville Pike (operated by Storto Enterprises Inc.) in...
