Hot House: 6610 Darnall Road, Towson (Ruxton), MD 21204

English manor-style house, stone with slate roof, circa 1933. Six bedrooms, 5.5 baths over three stories and 6,604 sq. ft. Nine-foot ceilings, foyer entrance, hardwood floors. Living room with fireplace, dining room, chef’s kitchen with marble counters, breakfast bar and island. Family room, main-floor workout room, mudroom, sunroom overlooking terrace. Central air, invisible fence, underground irrigation, security system. Detached five-car garage, extensive hardscaping, professional landscaping, outdoor living room with stone fireplace and backs to woods: $2,175,000

What: Less then a half-hour drive, but a world away from the family’s original H&S Bakery on S. Caroline Street, Bill Paterakis‘ Ruxton home has recently hit the market. “You’ve passed by it, you’ve admired it…and it can be yours,” reads the listing.  You have passed by it only if you regularly travel Ruxton Road, but whatever. If you have passed it you would surely admire it, as it’s a grand English manor house in Butler stone with a slate roof and an impressive setting. The home sits well above, but facing, Ruxton Road — the driveway is on Darnall Road. With good bones to begin with and a lot of money having been spent on it recently, it’s a pretty awesome place, and now “it can be yours.”

Where: Darnall Road is just east of the intersection of Falls and Old Court roads at Rockland, the tiny enclave of 18th-century stone mill houses in Brooklandville. As it crosses Falls Road and then I-83, Old Court Road becomes Ruxton Road, and Brooklandville becomes Ruxton. Ruxton Road carries on past Darnall Road and ends a mile or so east at Bellona Avenue, conveniently in front of Graul’s Market. A great advantage of being on this side of Ruxton is having immediate access to both Falls Road and I-83 for travel downtown and to points north. Darnall Road has no outlet and backs onto the Lake Roland preserve. The Valley Inn is your local watering hole.

Why: Farm truck parked nearby on Ruxton Road from May till October.

Why Not: Highway noise.

Would Suit: Scion.

NB: There isn’t much original architectural detail here. It feels like a new house, which will appeal to some buyers and disappoint others.