Hot House: 114 Ridgewood Road, Baltimore, 21210
Shingle style house, circa 1900, with distinctive front entrance. Three stories, 5,152 sq. ft. with six bedrooms, four baths, fireplaces, hardwood floors, two new furnaces. .68 acre lot: $785,000
What: A beautiful house, with good bones, that needs some cosmetic work.The front entrance is a striking covered archway, supported by pillars, with a Della Robbia-style carving set into the a fan above the door. It’s protected from alteration by a historic preservation easement, so if you’re thinking about modernizing, save it for the inside, where there’s plenty of scope. The main rooms are lovely. The foyer has carved walls and decorative moldings. Living and dining room flank the entrance hall and have nice fireplaces and windows. Bedrooms upstairs are large with lots of interesting features. Kitchen even, is certainly livable. But the many side rooms and porches, storage closets and laundry rooms, stairs, and particularly the exterior trim, need work. The back is a potential Eden, very overgrown, a sun dappled meadow that slopes down to private lane, and ramshackle garage. Hanging from a tall oak tree, cabled and sturdy as it’s been for a generation, is a wooden swing … waiting.
Where: Ridgewood Road is one of the nicest streets in Roland Park. A pleasant half mile walk to Petite Louis and the bank and shops there. A little further along Roland Avenue to Eddie’s. A short hop south to Cold Spring Lane, Miss Shirley’s, etc. and immediate access to Rt. 83. If you’re driving south on Roland Avenue from Northern Parkway, take a right onto Ridgewood Road just before the light at Cold Spring Lane. # 114 is seven houses down, on the left.
Would Suit: People with the confidence to take on a project like this and the money to get it done right. Several rambunctious children would be an asset, as this was a beloved family house for 50 years. Also, lots of kids in the immediate vicinity.
Why: Swing could use a workout.
Why Not: We’re not ‘old house’ people.
NB: When you’re finished with the house, slate-roofed garage would make a great studio/office.
