Hot House: 105-107 Castlewood Road, Baltimore, MD 21210
Early modern house designed by Lawrence Menefee circa 1940, in painted brick with slate roof. Entrance porch with copper roof and custom iron-work. Four bedrooms, 4 baths, 3,610 sq. ft. over two stories with finished basement. Gourmet kitchen w/ Italian glass walls, stainless appliances, new period cabinets, original stainless countertops. Many original and restored architectural features. Open plan first level, cozy wood-paneled den w/ fireplace. Master suite with new bathroom. New Pella windows throughout. Three zoned systems for heat and central a/c. Double lot, with .7 landscaped acres, stone patio and specimen trees: Price upon request.
Open House Wednesday, April 20, 12-2 p.m. and Sunday, April 24, 1-3 p.m.
What: An architecturally-significant house that’s modern in its own quiet way. Happy in the company of its more traditional neighbors, the sleek interiors embrace a different, more modern, sensibility. There are beautiful floors of polished granite, terrazzo and hardwood, a wall of glass block and unique oak and steel ‘ship’ railings. All of the elements are used to define the space in a generous, open floor plan that’s great for entertaining. The architect, Lawrence Menefee, built a house in the 1920s for S. Duncan Black, founder of Black & Decker. Arriving from Cleveland, the company’s new head of marketing admired Black’s house and chose the same architect. What’s noteworthy here is how well tradition blends with modernism, and the owners have gone to great lengths to preserve the 1938 design. The longer you are in this house, the more you appreciate its integrity. Best room in the house: the little wood paneled den with fireplace off the kitchen. You’ll never want to leave.
Where: The Orchards is a quiet, north Baltimore neighborhood where tree-lined streets surround the grounds of the Bryn Mawr School. Once a private estate, the Orchards still has the feeling of an exclusive enclave. Castlewood is a winding road (not a thru street) with attractive houses — an easy walk to the bridges that connect the local schools, and just down the road from the bus stop for McDonogh School. The Orchards neighborhood association is active and organized: $175 per year provides snow plowing, tree service, and help with city services.
Why: Everything has been done — and done right — to honor the house’s architectural integrity.
Why Not: Looking for a Victorian.
Would Suit: Connoisseurs.
NB: A beautifully-sited young oak tree on property is a seedling of the late, great, Wye Oak of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
My grandfather designed this house. But the spelling of the last name is Menefee.
Thanks for writing — I was reading off of a signed architectural rendering and got it wrong. Do you know the location of the house your grandfather built for S. Duncan Black?