6 W. Melrose Ave., The Orchards, Baltimore.
Hot House: Art Deco-style Palmer & Lamdin stone house in the Orchards. 4 bedrooms/4 bathrooms. 4176 square feet. Asking price: $799,000.
What: I am 90% sure that this is a Palmer & Lamdin house from their brief and late Art Deco period. It has some similarities with a nearby house they designed on Charles Street, just above Northern Parkway, and their self-designed offices on St. Paul Street in Mt. Vernon. I also have a P&L listed in the catalogue raisonné, but the address is one number off.
This charming stone house is located in The Orchards, a quiet neighborhood bounded by Charles Street, Northern Parkway, and Lake and Roland Avenues. At first glance, the house is simplicity itself, but when you look more closely, you see the details that make this special, from the Art Deco-style entrance to the louvered casement windows, to the P&L signature combination of brick and stonework.
As you enter the house, you immediately see the aluminum-railed, Art Deco staircase. The living room, with its working fireplace is straight ahead, a book-case lined office is directly to your right and a small powder-room and sunporch are to your left. The living and dining rooms are to the rear of the house and the kitchen is between the dining room and the sunporch. There is a large porch with the fittings for an awning off of the rear of the house. The interior of this house is very spare, as indicative of the time when it was built in 1939.
The second floor houses all four bedrooms, and two full baths, one for the principal bedroom, and the other shared between the other three bedrooms. The principal bedroom suite features a small sitting room with a skylight, a porch, and a built-in desk. The other three bedrooms are light-filled and have full closets.
The lower level features a finished, book-case lined, stone-walled, walk-out section with a working fireplace, as well as an un-finished section with the original cedar closets and space for laundry. Additionally, there is an in-house two car garage with a large parking area.
Where: Melrose Avenue runs from Roland Avenue on the west, to nearly York Road on the east side. This house is just west of Charles Street in the quiet Orchards neighborhood. It is within a 15-minute walk to Bryn Mawr, Friends, Boys’ Latin, Gilman and Roland Park Country and Elementary and Middle Schools. It’s close to the “Eddie’s” shopping center and the Roland Park Branch of the Pratt. Its location just off Charles Street makes it easy to go either north or south to find what you want.
Final Appraisal: As I mentioned, this house has very strong Art Deco echoes with a more modern take on a traditional space. With more than 4,000 square feet, there is plenty of space for the family. Since it was built in 1939, there have only been four previous owners of this house. The listing for the house is here.
All photos from the listing.
