Small Places With Small Prices: Three With Style, Uptown

Hot Houses:

3024 Calvert Street #B6, Charles Village, 21218

1 E. Chase Street, #407, Mt. Vernon, 21202

310 Ridgemede Road #310, Tuscany-Canterbury, 21210

Three Baltimore apartments in three well-run, attractive, mid-rise buildings in popular uptown city neighborhoods. One co-op, two condos, affordably priced: $82,500-$132,000

What: First up is a one bedroom duplex co-op in Calvert Court, a dignified, English-looking, circa 1915 brick building that you’ve driven by a hundred times on Calvert Street. At 1,000 sq. ft. and $132K, it’s the largest and most expensive of the three. Monthly fee is low at $545 and you get a lot –taxes, heat, gas water, exercise room and washer /dryers. No central air, although one unit easily kept things cool. From Calvert, follow the brick path and brass railings through a pretty, green courtyard, up the stairs to unit B6. Enter a small living room with fireplace, small dining area, and kitchen (updated) at the back. Upstairs is a 10’x16’ master, a second bedroom, an office and a full bath, all well kept if not modern, with hardwood floors and some real character.

Next, down to the old Belvedere Hotel, redolent with memories, now the Belvedere Grand Condominiums. #407 is a small one bedroom, the smallest of our three apartments, just 540 sq. ft., priced at $89K.  You can still see its former life as a hotel room, but it has been completely modernized — stainless steel in the kitchen, glass shower in the bath. Hardwood floors shine, and three big windows keep things bright. Great people watching in the busy and still impressive lobby. Condo fee is $339.

301 Ridgemede Road, in Tuscany-Canterbury, north Baltimore, offers a first floor, one bedroom apartment in a 1960 Tudor building  with 740 sq. ft. of living space and grand gardens out back. Hardwood floors, updated kitchen and windows, but no real view. Deeded parking space. $399/mo. condo fee. It is the cheapest at $82.5K and it’s in the quietest, most suburban neighborhood.

Where: At 301 Ridgemede Road in leafy Tuscany Canterbury, you can walk to Johns Hopkins University, Charles Village and the open spaces of Linkwood Park. At Calvert Court, walk to Hopkins and Charles Village as well as the Waverly Farmers Market, a big Saturday morning attraction for many. Here, your green space is Wyman Park. The Belvedere Grand has more urban attractions, and you can walk to the Walters Art Museum, the BMA, The Peabody, and all the eating and drinking venues of Mt. Vernon.

 Would Suit: Economizing singles, extremely compatible couples.

 Why: Endless fun visiting ‘tiny apartment’ blogs where solutions to life in small spaces (like 240 sq. ft.) run the gamut from ingenious to laughable, and where you will feel your own place to be a comparative mansion.

 Why Not: Just because I’m single doesn’t mean I can’t have a big house.

NB: Low fees and low maintenance make any of these a good pied-a-terre for part-time Baltimore residents.