photography by David Burroughs
photography by David Burroughs
Newer Annapolis residents and homeowners Tammy and Rob did a good deal of home work prior to having their 5,000-square-foot transitional style residence built on a prized lot along Mill Creek. Their study of location and careful evaluation of what’s important to them now has already provided rewards of the familial and convivial kind in this new city they proudly call home.
Zeroing in on a Zip Code
A native of the state of Maine, Rob says he and Tammy had some reference points as to where they might want to live after retiring. “We love the historic, protected peninsula towns of New England,” notes Rob, who also cited Charleston, South Carolina, as an area they were looking into when they thought of retiring. They also thought they would want their new address to act like a magnet that would draw friends and family to visit since they would initially be strangers there.
Recent retirees from busy careers in communications and long-time Westchester County, New York, residents, the couple was intent on finding just the right dwelling within a reasonable distance to both of their grown children; a son and daughter-in-law living in Arlington, and a daughter in Princeton.
“We asked people in our business lives, ‘Where’s the place you want to live on the water near Washington, D.C.?’— and they all said, ‘Annapolis.’”
After taking six months to do some online real estate scouting, the couple made a plan and packed a few bags for their first visit to Naptown in 2018. The plan included booking a realtor and hitting the ground running to look at existing homes for sale.
“After that first day and the morning of the second day, we were finding that very big houses on small lots were common,” Rob says.
They also found many elements in the homes they toured that they didn’t want or need, which prompted their realtor to say, “You guys don’t know it yet, but what you want is to have a house built for you.”
Another home-build was not anything the couple felt they were up for at the time, but then they learned their realtor had the inside track on an outstanding piece of creek-side property that was to go on the market the following Monday of their visit.
While it took a considerable amount of imagination to see beyond the property’s substantial overgrowth and existing structures, a certain amount of love at first sight occurred when they were on site and able to take in the lay of the land.
“I said, ‘This is sweet,’” Tammy explains. “There were three things that really appealed to us about the property: It had a 180-degree view of the water, it had a very long driveway, so we’d be set back from the road, and it had the ability to achieve an infinity edge-effect look out to the water (from the front of the home).”
Another bonus of the exceptional site was its size and the existing boat house that was located discreetly to the right of the back of the property—something extremely hard to come by these days in Annapolis.
“We liked that it was on one-and-a-quarter acres which is kind of rare for a waterfront property,” Rob adds. “We feel very fortunate to have a boat house. That was not originally on our list.”
photography by David Burroughs
Defining Transitional Style
There wouldn’t be any turning back from that point, but there certainly would be much to consider going forward. Once they had wrapped their heads around the whole home-build scenario, they recalled the name of an architect mentioned in a number of those online home listings they scoured: Cathy Purple Cherry of Purple Cherry Architects, (PCA).
As is the case with many of the properties in and around Chesapeake Bay inlets, this particular property would require some tear-down before build-up, some specific work-arounds for majestic, 100-year-old-plus trees, and ensuring strong visual connections to the water were not only maintained, but enhanced.
Two talented architects, Kellen August and Alan Cook, would work with Cathy on the design that would present a bit of a departure for the former New York state residents.
“The homeowners wanted a more youthful setting,” Cathy says, noting the couples’ most recent dwellings: A traditional primary residence and a more, rustic Adirondack-based vacation home.
This, she says, is indicative of a larger movement she is seeing with new retirees.
“There’s certainly a trend that I would say [happening among] many successful retiring couples desiring to modernize their environments,” Cathy says. “And that’s coming through to me in material selections, furnishings, storage components, and light fixtures.”
To get all the wish-list elements the couple wanted, including a through-view to the creek upon approach from the front door, the team, which included Luxury Custom Home Builder, Mueller Homes of Annapolis, set out to design and execute a floorplan for a “one-room deep” house.
This, explains Cathy, is where the traditional home of the 1980s with a formal living and dining room to the left and right of the front entry has transitioned into the more modern appeal of a spacious great room at the back of the home, helping define that transitional style.
To accomplish that “through-view” from the front door, the new home was elevated off the ground to a height of 23.5 feet, which also made sense in terms of possible future weather impacts.
“When you walk in [the front door], it’s like you’re on a ship, all you see is water; you don’t see any land,” Rob explains.
And what a gracious front entrance it is. To attain the ultimate in form and function, the couple chose a Weather Shield custom glass door with four sidelights for sublime views and a three-point locking system to provide the utmost in security and protection from the elements. The front entrance is framed on either side by a mix of Old World Stone Veneer’s Copper Canyon and Silver Bay Rustic Ashlar stone. Reflecting the transitional trend, two tiers of stylish standing-seem metal roofing accents the area above the eaves on the front façade. These accents are painted bronze to match the home’s window casings.
Once inside, more of the character of the home begins to reveal itself with the warmth of pre-engineered white oak hardwood floors flowing to the gallery hall that expands to the left and right of the entry, and then straight ahead to that blissful infinity edge creek view as you enter the great room along a wide, unobstructed path.
An effortless flow has been created in the design here, and while the room is expansive it is also welcoming with an abundance of natural light and the linear symmetry of rich wood beams above. Here transitional style takes center stage with a sleek Mexican Oak dining table with seating for eight. The couple’s custom kitchen, designed by Kitchen Encounters, is full of wish list items that will help them maintain an optimal quality of life moving forward. Two of those items chosen with ease of use in mind are the French carriage door wall oven from the GE Café Series, and tandem dishwashing drawers from Fisher & Paykel. No more bending to load the holiday bird or the dinner dishes.
Additional highlights of this highly-functional workspace are its three-foot sink with galley wash, prep, and entertaining station—perfect for the couple who likes nothing more than to host large groups—and the conversationally convenient center island. Both the cabinets in Winter White and island in Atlantic Blue were manufactured by Seville. The island is topped with a thick and beautifully veined quartz. Hanging above are a trio of Visual Comfort Prestwick pendant lights. The marble backsplash with its touch of pearlescent finish completes the contemporary kitchen look.
photography by David Burroughs
photography by David Burroughs
Anything But Retiring
Tammy had a very clear vision of what she wanted in the home aesthetically, and also tapped the services of Annie Kersey, an in-house architectural and interior designer at PCA for input for most of the home’s first floor furnishings. Annie’s services included a trip to North Carolina’s famous High Point Market where the couple was able to immerse in options that were pre-curated by Annie to their particular taste. Their builder also offered a client concierge service that the couple found particularly valuable.
“She personally went with us to the kitchen cabinet place, the tile places, to pick out hardware, and we worked together on making those selections,” Tammy says, of their Mueller Homes’ concierge Kalyn Henderson. “It was very helpful to have her there because she knew what lines fit with our allowance.”
Balancing out the great room, opposite the kitchen, the main living area offers easy sophistication for pleasant conversation with a modern accent wall that combines floating wood shelves to either side of a sleek gas fireplace feature with limestone surround and large flat screen TV placed above. A gorgeous, contemporary ring light feature suspends from the coffered ceiling above adding a crowning effect to the room. All these elements turn up the volume for a lively primary living space that is anything but retiring.
“The other thing that you see happening [in home design], if you think about the 20th century, I think that to our parents, growing old was getting old and acting old, and it’s the exact opposite now,” Cathy says, of the clean and sleek environments that many of her new retiree clients are requesting.
Another highlight of this home’s first floor is a luscious primary suite accented by a vaulted ceiling with painted beams, softened throughout with hints of subtle blue and gray tones. Above the bed, is a masterpiece of a chandelier with its cascading grouping of small glass globes that alternate between clear and frosted glass. Sourced from their trip to High Point Market, each small droplet of light evokes the tranquility of water.
An amazing architectural staircase that qualifies as a work of art itself, is set off by a series of suspended pendants, 18 in all, custom crafted by Shakuff Bespoke Lighting Solutions. Globes of clear and amber spun glass meld to create the look of cocoons dropping from leaves.
Off the great room, the couple enjoys creek vistas from another structural must-have. “We wanted a screened-in porch, which we have never had, but wish we had done 30 years ago,” Rob says.
A Second Story
Upstairs, the couple took full advantage of the aspect of a fresh home-build by planning for everything they felt the future would be about for them: Grandchildren (they are expecting their first in January 2022), artistic endeavor, and playing host to a coterie of friends.
These plans included designing a large arts and crafts room upstairs, a second-story lounge area that opens to a top deck overlooking the water, and two additional bedrooms, one with a whimsical approach to lodging for children.
The home’s bunk room sleeps six and pays homage to the couple’s New England roots with its nostalgic outhouse entrance to the bathroom. Complete with a half-moon carved in the door, the structure was built two-and-a-half feet out from the wall, so it looks like you are realistically entering an old outhouse in the woods.
“We had scrapbooked what we wanted in the house before meeting with Cathy and we arrived at three adjectives we wanted the home to embody,” Rob explains. “We want it to be a destination, a sanctuary, and a fortress.”
With the idyllic view and location, the bonus of a recently remodeled boathouse, and now growing possibilities to play host, we would have to stay that the couple’s scrapbook narrative has been fully manifested.
