On the Market: 7110 Bellona Avenue

Another P&L on this spring market.  One of Palmer & Lamdin's later houses, just before WWII when a lot of private commissions had dried up. 

Here's the listing:

Nestled into a private and scenic Ruxton/Woodbrook site, 7110 Bellona Avenue, offers updated spaces for charmed living.

Over 4,700 square feet on this nearly one acre cherished location make this Palmer Lambdin (!!!) design a prized find. Tradtional living and dining rooms and a well appointed kitchen are complimented by a family room with wet bar.

Flow from the living room to the bricked floor screened porch and take in the tranquil vibe of the expansive rear garden.

Five bedrooms and five full baths are so accommodating.

The detached Amish barn-style garage is finished with ceramic tile, and easily evolves into an all purpose room for entertaining -

think ping pong matches and long table dinners with no worries about the rain. A rare opportunity. 

Fun fact: my prom date and long-time friend, the architect Paul Gorman, designed the front gate, the detatched garage, and the two-story addition to the left of that. Paul is the reason I became interested in architecture, specifically Palmer & Lamdin. There was a P&L house around the corner from the house where he grew up and I was always facinated by it. 

Of course, it looks completely different today!

On the Market: 5110 Springlake Way

WOW!  There are a bunch of P&Ls on the market this spring!

From the listing:

A charming, all stone, Palmer & Lamdin design situated at the southwest corner of Springlake Way and Tunbridge Road is quintessential Homeland.

The house has many architectural features common to these homes with stone fireplace (decorative, maintained by seller), step down to living room, bay window, breakfast room, front and rear staircases,

front and rear entries to lower level, bonus room, sunroom, freshly painted lower level with a rainy day playroom for children or adults as well as the distinctive oeil-de-boeuf or ox-eye small elliptical or circular window on the second floor front of the house. 

This home boasts four bedrooms and a bonus room on the second floor and three full baths. The first floor consists of a gracious living room with stone fireplace and built-in bookshelf, as well as a bay window. There is a bright sunroom off the living room, powder room, kitchen and breakfast room, as well as an oversized welcoming dining room with wainscotting under the chair rail. 

There is a breezeway that connects to an attached garage from the kitchen as well as an outside entrance to the rear patio with a lovely landscaped rear yard. The home also has its own generator as well as all copper gutters, slate roof, many freshly painted rooms and outside shutters and trim. 

You just missed the front cherry blossom but the front and rear landscaping is lovely and low maintenance. The lower level has a laundry room, what was a maid's room, storage areas and a playroom or adult hangout. Homeland is a charming neighborhood of diverse architectural style, with walkability to colleges, access to major roadways to downtown or the County.

On the Market: 200 Tunbridge Road

From the listing:  

One of a kind Palmer Lamdin Stone Colonial. Newly Updated Kitchen with High End Stainless Steel Appliances and Custom Cabinetry.

Updated Bluestone Patio with Fenced Yard.

Four Bedrooms and Three Full bathrooms on Second floor.

Plus Half Bathroom on Main floor. Many original details beautifully preserved. Dual Zone Forced AC system. Large Living Room with Wood-Burning Fireplace. Dining Room with Period Fixtures and French Doors to Patio.

Updated Butler Pantry off Kitchen. Den off Kitchen that leads to Patio. Two Car Detached Stone garage with updated Garage door. A Beautiful home with many original details and many new updates that maintain the Character, Details and Charm of the original home.

Is is me, or could a lot of these realtors do with basic grammar and punctuation classes?

And don't you love it when a real estate listing has a floorplan!!!

On the Market: 4014 Greenway

From my column, Hot House, in Baltimore Fishbowl

As you know, if there’s a Palmer & Lamdin property on the market, I am probably going to write about it, so here’s the most recent P&L house – a gorgeous stucco home, on a corner lot in the heart of Guilford, complete with a putting green. This is the first time this house has been on the market in nearly 30 years.

This house, which sits on just over a half-acre corner lot, is a very short stroll to the famed Sherwood Gardens. It is on the corner of Greenway and Highfield Road, with the entrance to the house on Greenway and to the garage on Highfield.

One of the main attributes of this house is that nearly all of the windows on the ground floor are floor-to-ceiling arched French doors, which elevates the elegance both inside and out. As you enter the house, you will notice a small, rounded brick terrace with a portico, and an oversized set of double French doors above it.

As typical of homes of this era, you enter through a large center hallway, with the living room and dining room, both with fireplaces, on either side.

The sweeping staircase is above and behind you, and the French doors on the landing provide a lot of morning light.

The kitchen with its terra-cotta floor has been modernized and includes a breakfast room.

The second floor contains the primary suite, which includes a porch off the side, an en-suite bathroom and a walk-in closet. There are four additional bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. The third floor has a large area which could be used as a playroom, a work-out room or an entertainment space, as well as three additional bedrooms and another bathroom.

The grounds of this property feature a brick patio, outdoor kitchen, old-growth plantings, including specimen trees, mature gardens and a large lawn. One unique feature is the on-site putting green where you can practice for hours on end.

The two-story, jerkin-head garage is entered via Highfield Road with access to the upper level via the back yard.

This house is in the heart of Guilford, just a minute’s walk from Sherwood Gardens, and an easy drive to downtown Baltimore. It’s convenient to the shops and restaurants along St. Paul’s Street, including a Starbucks! It is also a short drive to the schools and shops on Roland Avenue. But it is also a quiet oasis in the city.

If you’re a fan of Palmer & Lamdin or the gracious style of living from the 1920's, this is the perfect house. The unusually large number of arched French doors makes this one of unique good looks. It is a perfect house for entertaining family and friends! The listing for the house is here.

The original plans of the house are still there. Interestingly, the plans have a "children's dining room" where the "seating room" is currently located. 

All photographs from the listing.

  

5504 St. Alban's Way, Homeland

Historic Homes of Baltimore, a great Instagram feed, posted these then-and-now photos of 5504 St. Alban's Way in Homeland yesterday.

Here's what he had to say about this house: 

A Georgian Revival stone home in Homeland, designed by Palmer and Lamdin and built in 1932. The first picture is from a few weeks ago and the second picture was taken by The Roland Park Company (accessed via the JHU archives), likely circa 1940 - it hasn't changed much!

You'll notice, originally the shutters on the first level were white, while the second story shutters were dark and louvered (with the slats). I believe this was because the upstairs shutters would be closed for sleeping (hence the darker color) and the angled slats allowed the breeze to come in (if the windows were open) during the summer months, obviously in a time before air conditioning. Today, they’ve been painted a uniform red color (possibly the original color, it’s hard to tell).

On (and Off) the Market: 3803 St. Paul Street

This great Palmer & Lamdin house was on and off the market in a flash. Actually, it probably never went on the open market, but was snatched up before it ever hit the MLS. The house sits at the corner of St. Paul Street and St. Martin's Road on a double lot, but it's set back, so you can't see it very well. There are only exterior shots of this house, but it is very indicitive of P&L's style in the early 1930s. Enjoy!

Here is the original advertisement for the house, which looks to have been built in 1929. 

Here is a 1931 advertisement for the house. I wonder if it took that long to sell (it was during the Depression!).

By 1951, the house has morphed from "Charleston" design to Georgian! Update: The new owner of 3803 said that this is absolutely not a description of her house, mainly because of the mention of a third floor. There may have been a typo in the listing!

In 1983, it was described as "New Orleans" style!

Franciscan Friars Novitiate

My friend, The Architect, was in town this lovely spring weekend for part two of our search for all things Palmer & Lamdin. Last time he visited, we did the big three: Roland Park, Homeland and Guilford. This time, we went a little farther afield, visiting Bancroft Road, Dumbarton and the Franciscan Friars Novitiate, aka the Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua, in western Howard County. 

I have visited this property a number of times because of its peaceful and contemplative nature. The Shrine appears on the list of projects from Palmer & Lamdin and its successive architectural firms. I was always surprised to see it on the list, as when it was built in in the late 1920s and was located in what was then a very rural section of Howard County. 

The property on which the Shrine is located was once owned by the Carroll family, and one of the original houses still remains just 100 yards from the Shrine. 

I love strolling through the four arcades which surround a central court-yard with a fountain.

The symmetry of the site, with its arches and groin vaulted ceilings, appeals to my sense of order.  

For the first time, we were able to have a small glimpse of the Shrine's library, and were delighted to see the small staircase leading to the mezzanine.

From the HABS report comes this description:

The library consists of a large room which is three bays wide, two bays deep, and one story high. It features a large fireplace centered on its west wall, similar to that in the refectory. This room is also beautifully paneled, and features a half story high, open book stack loft, which runs along the perimeter of the east, west and north walls of this room. The paneled library, with its fireplace of Italian stone, is stocked with volumns on such topics as Franciscans, the saints, prayer and meditation

Sadly, there were people meeting in the room, so we couldn't see all of it. Maybe next time!

Here are a few more images from our visit on Saturday:

The HABS reports have loads of detailed information on the Shrine, Carrollton Hall, which is on the same property, and the nearby Folly Quarter Farm, another historic Carroll property.