Life’s View from an Eastport Porch

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"Gemütlichkeit,” is said to be a feeling of coziness and being contented, comforted. Merriam-Webster defines this German term as, “cordiality, friendliness.” It was this specific feeling that the owners of our December feature home hoped to capture when they took a dilapidated, ill-maintained multi-unit in Eastport and turned it into their first-ever together home. 

Why Not Think, Annapolis?

For former Howard County residents, Bill and Susan Schneider, creating that authentic home for themselves in Eastport became just as important as the community that surrounded it. They knew this dwelling, this home base, would be the jumping off point for their future community-service oriented endeavors and as such, they wanted it to tick a lot of boxes in the “welcoming” and “comforting” categories. 

To say the couple started from scratch is a supreme understatement. After months of taking three-day weekends to bicycle tour some desirable East Coast cities like Raleigh, Greenville, and Chapel Hill for retirement potential, the couple began to have some misgivings about the community of friends they would be leaving behind if they chose one of those cities. 

“And then Bill wisely said, ‘Why are we not considering Annapolis? It’s 20 minutes and 21 miles down the road. We can keep all our friends and it meets all of our requirements,’” recalls Susan of her husband’s epiphany. 

So, they hopped back on their bikes and started to explore Annapolis’s eclectic collection of neighborhoods. They noted how each one had a distinct feel and how they became fond of several of them. It would be Eastport, though, that they would tour again and again. 

“Everybody was so pleasant,” says Susan of the people they met along the way. 

At the top of the list of those “requirements” for their new city, they wanted to live in a walkable neighborhood, close to shops, recreation, and most importantly, a local church where they would be able to get involved and help serve their local community. 

During their home search the couple was introduced to home builder Brant Nielsen of Nielsen Development Group in Annapolis. With the help of Nielsen and their realtor, they learned much about what they did and didn’t want in a property. They were onboard with the thought of a fixer-upper, however, most of the properties they looked at had already had the work done and the Schneiders felt none quite hit the mark they were targeting. 

It became clear that they would require something that they could put their stamp on from the floorboards up, which is why when Bill came across an online listing for a very early, 20th century multi-unit that looked like it was a hair away from demolition, they rushed to see it. It was exactly where they wanted to be, a great street, and all the old bones of a restoration project home. 

With Susan’s background as a professionally-trained architect and Bill’s background as an engineer, the couple had every reason to want to hit the nail on the head when it came to just how the home would be refurbished. The scope of the project, since the home was sectioned into one first floor, and one second floor apartment that had suffered neglect over the years, would require even more expertise than the homeowners themselves could provide. Fortunately, their builder had an idea. 

Nielsen was familiar with the work of Terry Averill, an Annapolis-based architect who specializes in not only historical restoration, but knows that particular area of town very well.

“When you design a home in Eastport, it’s very crucial to have an architect who is familiar with that process,” Nielsen says. 

Averill quickly joined the team and they all rolled up their sleeves for the design and permitting process. 

Finding the House—Again

If there is one word that conveys the theme of the process of bringing this home, which the owners have determined to have been built somewhere around 1917, back to its original glory, it’s “layers.” 

“The beauty of it being a rental is that it was poorly maintained; it really did need a lot of work,” Bill explains. “But on the other hand, there were so many layers of stuff on top of the flooring, that the flooring was actually preserved.” 

Currently underfoot are restored, rustic, all-pine floorboards that set the tone for that warm and welcoming feeling—the gemütlichkeit the home now exudes.

With the help of Hamilton Ross Millwork of Annapolis, this aspect of preservation would continue with many of the other surfaces and treatments in the home, including the bungalow’s original German clapboard, or Dutch Lap siding that they unearthed under layers of asbestos shingles. While it was a painstaking process removing them by hand as was required, the ultimate exterior result is simplistically stunning. The process of removing the shingles provided the homeowners with another benefit; the build team discovered evidence that the home’s original footprint included a wrap-around front porch. This would prove to be a cherished bonus to Susan, a native of Charleston, S.C., who was more than thrilled to add a bit of southern charm to the front of the property. 

The 2,000-square-foot home also possessed its original staircase with a Craftsman-era wood baluster. With its positioning in the home’s front entry, it begged for preservation. The wood was so densely coated with paint, however, the staircase, molding and all, was removed from the premises and replaced with temporary supports so it could be meticulously restored off-site. It has since been returned to its rightful place in the home, just inside the front door.

To the right of that new staircase sits a cozy room bathed in the light of the home’s front windows. Like Chip and Joanna Gaines, said Susan, she and Bill got in on the demolition of this space to find the original entry to the room and some incredible paneling which was restored and then paired with a rustic, beamed archway treatment of Susan’s conception.

Two Words: Architectural Salvage

Down a short hallway from this room, the home opens up to reveal its prime gathering space rich in detail and intelligent in configuration. Space under the stair was wisely converted to a covert storage closet and a nostalgic first-floor powder room. 

It was essential to the Schneiders that this great room be comfortable for anyone who wished to visit the home, so it was purposely designed not to be pretentious or overwhelming in any way. As a focal point, a full fireplace was added to the room where there was originally just a chase. It was furnished with a slate surround, indicative of early 20th century design and constructed of salvaged brick from the property.  

The space also had to be functional for the home’s chef, Bill, who loves to cook. The kitchen was designed with his particular considerations in mind. Specifically, the Schneiders frequently entertain members of their faith community and a growing network of friends and neighbors. To be in the mix, Bill needed to be able to converse as he prepares a meal. That requirement was met with the addition of a custom-made kitchen island crafted to look like a vintage chemistry table and purposely built to appear as though it is a piece of fine furniture from the living room and provide practical open shelving on the kitchen side. The surface was topped with Alberene soapstone, notes Averill, which was widely used in early 20th century kitchens. 

While it is not recommended for splicing and dicing, Bill loves it for rolling out pizza dough. For knife work, he uses a formidable slab of butcher block to the left of the range. To the left, specifically because he is left-handed. The entire prep zone of the kitchen was designed for his ease of use and the clean-up side, says Susan, is her domain. “That’s our deal,” she adds. “He cooks and I clean up.”

The kitchen has other perks, like a slimmed-down version of the room’s original brick chase on the wall above the butcherblock, a mini, glass-door, “guest” fridge for ease of entertaining, and expanded dining area with a custom farm table made with rafters sourced from the attic portion of the remodel. Above the table hangs just one of the many details in the home that make it an architectural salvage lover’s dream: An inverted dome brass pendant light purchased from an independent antique lighting specialist through Ruby Lane. 

Another remarkable detail in this space and throughout the home are the series of restored radiators that the couple went to great pains to acquire from various architectural salvage dealers along the East Coast. Each radiator was professionally refurbished for actual use in the home. Seeing them within the context of the room, the extra effort makes sense, as the house appears as it must have when it was freshly built in 1917. Many of the elements of the home appear this way creating a sense of nostalgia and a respect for the aesthetic of that era. 

The Backyard Circa 1917

The open-plan area also receives a wealth of natural light from its period-accurate windows— each recreated to replicate the home’s original windows with their deep sills—and a tri-fold, panoramic glass door that folds into itself much like an accordion to create a seamless transition and gorgeous sightline from the indoor dining space to the spacious Ipe wood deck and beyond into the backyard. 

“The outdoor living space was very important to [the Schneiders] in that it needed to be more of an extension of the house and for people to be able to use the space, and to feel like they would be able to entertain,” Nielsen says. 

It becomes obvious that everything about this idyllic backyard scene was as methodically undertaken as the interior part of the home. With one gracious step down, you enter a scheme that also looks like it has been there for a hundred years with its newly-planted, five-year-old cherry, maple, and dogwood trees, and a stunning outdoor fireplace feature designed by Averill.

[The Schneiders] told Terry that they wanted the fireplace to look as old as possible, so he designed an 1800s-type chimney,” Nielsen explains. “We literally got big, huge boulders delivered to the job site and I got my local mason, Bob Woody, who chipped it into place.”

The finishing exterior touches, Averill says, included an extruded mortar treatment and swatches of shaved brick, make the feature appear as though it has been there long enough to have been weathered and required some repairing.  

With its mix of strategically placed crushed oyster shells imported from Louisiana, local flat stones, and lush grassy patches with stepping-stones, the entire back-of-home environment is set up for outdoor dining, convivial conversation, and relaxation. The stepping-stones lead to a carriage house born of the couple’s desire to provide a restorative space and lodging for family, and even new friends, or a community member in need of a place just to be for a while.

Inside this entirely new structure, there’s a complete studio apartment with a charming efficiency kitchen, main living area, dining area, spacious sleeping quarters and a contemporary, yet rustic full bath highlighted with a sliding barn door closure fabricated from a solid brass panel sourced from a very early 20th century bank vault. 

A single-bay garage/workshop is located on the opposite side of the structure, completing the owners’ vision of a home that has it all and has all the character of that original home built in Eastport in 1917.

What’s In a Name

For the Schneiders, though, that vision and feeling of gemütlichkeit has always started at the front door and more specifically, the front porch. With the added benefit of the wrap-around extension, the addition of period-accurate tapered square columns, and rich Brazilian hardwood flooring, for them the porch was like adding another room to the home—one where you could drink a cup of coffee in the morning, and a glass of wine at the end of the day, as they often do. This simple pleasure, they said, helped them connect to this community faster than any they have lived in before.

Recently the couple did another of their famous bicycle tours, this time to Nantucket, and noticed how homes there are often given names. This led Susan to ask of Bill, “If we were to name our house, what do you think we would call it?”

Without much hesitation, Bill responded, “Sit a spell,” referring to how their friends often check in with them and connect on that expanded front porch. 

“They’ll stop by and come round to the side door; friends that we know through community service…it’s like you just want to stop and sit and visit...like you did in a bygone era,” Susan says. “And you just have to sit a spell.”