Hot House: 224 Tunbridge Road, Baltimore MD 21212
Stone cottage designed by Baltimore architects Palmer Lamdin, circa 1928, with new slate roof, circa 2011. 2,640 square feet, with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, wood-burning fireplaces. Two-story timber-beamed living room, hardwood floors, custom millwork, casement windows with original hardware. Landscaped grounds with extensive stonework: $579,000
What: A dream cottage. They rarely come more charming than this — except maybe in the Cotswalds, where you’d have constant rain. Current owner, a Hopkins professor, lived here for 45 years, and commissioned the late, great landscape designer Wolfgang Oehme to create the woodland garden that surrounds the house, with its beautiful stonework, plantings and basin fountain. After meandering up the stone path, and through the heavy, arched front door, the living room is a surprise. It’s large, and in the scale of the house, feels huge, with a 18’ beamed ceiling and a large fireplace. The rest of the house is upstairs from here. A step up to the dining room, and a few more to the kitchen. A short flight up to the master bedroom, with fireplace, master bath and walk- in closet. More bedrooms and a nice den on the second floor. Everything could use, but does not absolutely need, updating. The kitchen is quite small, but for one person or a couple, it would be perfect. It would be a shame to “blow out the kitchen” into the idyllic garden, as the architectural integrity of the cottage is a big part of its appeal. There is a small unfinished basement, and a breezy covered porch, as well as central air.
Where: Tunbridge Road is a long street that winds through Homeland from N. Charles Street over to York Road, and even a little beyond. There are many pretty cottages here, and house and lot size seem to get perceptively smaller as the road heads east. The property, while not large at .3 acres, feels private, almost secluded, with large trees and mature plantings. It’s about equidistant from N. Charles Street and York Road, near the corner of Springlake Way.
Would Suit: Small family of connoisseurs. Downsizers.
Why: House is so charming, owners will be perceived to be also.
Why Not: No garage, so street parking only.
The house looks to be lacking charm.