A Frank Lloyd Wright Mother's Day

First, I must apologize for temporarily abandoning my blogging post. Life simply got in the way....good thing we don't get paid for this! It's been a busy few months but we hope to get back into all things modern.

I hope all the Mom readers had a fabulous Mother's Day! Mine was splendid, and had a wonderful modern architecture theme. My son (20 months old) "gave" me a present I cannot wait to use with him. The directions state it is appropriate for ages 16 and older but I'm not sure I'll be able to wait that long. Check it out:

I was so excited by my gift I suggest we spend the morning visiting a fabulous home in Eastport. The home had been featured in our local paper. For better pics check out their site HERE

This is one of those homes that takes your breath away. I think Frank Lloyd Wright came back from the dead and as penance for leaving his first wife and family, was forced to design just one more home in Eastport, MD.

The home is about a block away from the water and the most amazing view of downtown Annapolis and the Academy. Designed by Albert E. "Al" Graf of AEG Associates, the home uses material acquired within a 500 mile radius of the home. A green touch, the house funnels water to their gardens, yielding only 5% of the runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.

The home tips its hat to the father of modern architecture. For those who want to see more, the Graf house will be part of the Eastport home tour next Saturday June 13th. No high heels or kids under 12 please. http://www.eastportcivic.org/

Years ago, my husband and I took a weekend to visit Falling Water in Western Pennsylvania.

If you haven't seen this work of art, I strongly suggest you make it a priority on your long weekend visits. Be warned, there isn't much else here, except for another FLW home Kentuck Knob. Falling water is now set in a park-like environment, but the amazing intimacy and interaction you have with this home is intense.

Once inside, you get a first-hand look at FLW's furnishings....and an appreciation of the larger open kitchens of today. His bedrooms are also tiny but filled with art like an original Picasso.

My Mother's Day legos gave us a theme for the day, and pointed us to a local home where we could soak in a talented architect's nod to an architect god.

-K

and it's for sale

This beautiful home was on the market a few months ago. We assumed it had been purchased. Just days after taking this picture the home was placed on the market again. Built in 1986 this four bedroom home is nestled in a quiet community in Broadneck. It has sparse landscaping but the outside of the home is immaculate...as if it was built yesterday.

We could easily do with this three car garage.

The home sits on a gorgeous corner lot, with an excellent deck overlooking the backyard.

The inside of the home could use some updating. We haven't requested permission from the realtor to use their pics so please take a look at the listing

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/327-Martins-Cove-Rd_Annapolis_MD_21409_1117824133

It's the same 1980s kitchen we had in our basement apartment in DC....the carpeting and tile while new aren't quite our style...some of the light fixtures are probably original and may not be old enough to maintain retro cool status. However we deem this home a cool contemporary with lots of potential.

The Library

A Sunday drive. We always wanted to know how to get to the beautiful homes bordering the Severn River on the other side of the bridge. Hidden neighborhoods sprout off a strip mall drag…..you would never know these pockets of waterfront homes exist without some serious google mapping. The architecture wasn’t particularly impressive, until we came upon THIS house…..we call it The Library

Why the Library? In many ways this house looks like a public-use building....notice the front door....it could totally have a neon EXIT sign hanging in the foyer and still look stylish. We can picture stacks of books leading to the grand reading room...a two story square structure made of wood siding and glass.

According to Zillow, the house was built in 1959. Overlooking a small creek, the building is embedded within a forest. In a few weeks we wouldn't be able to take a picture of this private dwelling.
This picture of the back of the home doesn't do the grand room justice. I seriously wanted to run up this hill to get a better shot.

Maybe the original owner was an architect, as is often the case with homes before their time. We really hope the homeowners come through with more information about this cool contemporary.

Bear House

Built in 1981, this stylish contemporary is nestled in a gorgeous community, surrounded by Whitehall and Ridout creeks. The neighborhood has its own waterfront parks, wooded walking trails, and acres of farmland. According to Zillow, the home was purchased for $40K and has not been sold since.

I found this area a couple of years ago while taking my 1971 Beetle convertible on a Sunday drive. The entrance looks like a service road off a main drag. But the curvy entrance winds behind beautiful open fields. It looks like most of the homes were built in the 1980s. Contemporaries are mixed with more traditional family homes, but each one is meticulously cared for and landscaped. It’s one of my favorite places to take our son for a drive. We always encounter joggers or folks walking their dogs, and are greeted with a friendly wave.

This home is across the street from the water and sits on a huge corner lot. There is a two-car garage and plenty of storage from a large shed. While this is a relatively dark neighborhood, most of it was once forest; there are plenty of windows on all sides to welcome the light.

One of the most attractive aspects to this home is the stonework fence and stairs. This is my favorite style of stone landscaping…. so much more attractive than red brick.

The front door still sports contemporary lighting fixtures. In our own home, we spent a great deal of time finding just the right cylinder lamps to replace the traditional night-lights. Curiously, the homeowners sport a large wooden bear at this front entrance. He poses in front of a grass-etched window. Sure it’s no Bertoia sculpture, but the bear has attitude and adds to the personality of this house. Grrrrr.

-K

2035 Chesapeake Rd...a Mystery on the Bay

We normally won’t give out addresses for our Cool Contemporaries, but this home is unoccupied and for sale. Actually, it has been on the market for some time.

I really thought there would be a cool story to go along with this modern home, but the real estate agent was unable to answer any of my questions. Turns out the owners are “out of town” and not easy to reach.

This is a strange neighborhood to begin with. A long drive down Log Inn Rd. and Tydings Road takes you past very rural land spotted with rustic cottages and a few new modest homes. It’s only when you get closer to the bay do you see fancier homes near the Podickory Point Yacht Club.

It’s amazing there aren’t huge estates and endless mansions absorbing the water front view. But that’s the charm of the Broadneck peninsula…cottages from earlier days mixed with middle incoming dwellings and the occasional huge house.

I really wanted to know who the architect is for 2035 Chesapeake Rd….

Clearly someone who knew how to frame a natural view. Seems like every window is a picture perfect image of the bay.

The most notable feature is the enormous stucco mural facing the street. Signed by the artist, I was dismayed the realtor had no idea who made this wall.

So my imagination goes wild. Back in 1989, who would have commissioned such a detailed home only to abandon it some twenty years later? I think of some young socialite, smitten with contemporary homes in California or maybe Miami stuccos. The pink kitchen and bath features also lend to the Miami vice trend. You will notice the ceiling in the kitchen is missing.

There are several spots in the home where the ceiling has been stripped to the rafters, probably by some serious water damage. My first thought was, "hmmm maybe after a drunken binge the socialite falls asleep with a cigarette, triggering a sprinkler system which destroys the home….or maybe a neglected overflowing bath tub"…the mind wanders!

The realtor either really doesn’t know or doesn’t want to share the details of why the home is in such bad shape. I remember the house on the market for $3 million at one point….today it’s on sale for a bargain $1.3, less than the value of the land.

I wonder who is going to buy this place. Is it a million dollar tear down? I can only hope a lover of contemporary homes will restore this unique and mysterious place on the bay.

-K

Pictures published with permission, Charlie Buckley.

http://www.homesdatabase.com/home-listings-TYDINGS+ON+BAY-ANNAPOLIS-MD-MRIS-AA7265491

Modern on the Magothy

This modern masterpiece is situated in a gorgeous Arnold neighborhood, overlooking the Magothy River. The house stands out among more traditional homes. What do we like best about this house? Hmmmm I dunno, the towering windows, the waterfront decks, the stone work, the three car garage? It looks to have two huge chimneys, so we can just imagine sitting in front of a fireplace in our Eames lounger.

I guess the only drawback to this beautiful home is the lack of privacy and secluded yard. I mean, folks could just drive right up and take a picture! I am sure this is a fabulous home to entertain in....but probably not the best place to live with an 18 month old. Regardless, it remains one of our most favorite cool contemporaries in the Annapolis area. We placed a Cool Contemporaries award in their mailbox but have not received any additional information on the house. Here's hoping for a future update.

-K and M

Vertical Siding

Our 1200 square foot home is covered in cedar siding. When we first moved in the siding was black and dismal. The previous homeowner used some kind of clear finish on the wood which allowed the sun to damage each knotty board.

One of the first things we did to our home was have the cedar restored. This is a process of chemically stripping off the finish, gingerly cleaning each plank, then re staining. The folks at See Dirt Run, did an amazing job.

Which brings us to this Arnold home pictured above. We love the vertical planks across the entire house, but can't imagine the love and care (and money) needed to keep this contemporary from looking dingy.

We thank these homeowners for keeping up the good fight. Too many cedar sided homes are falling to bad taste and convenience. These natural wood homes should never....I repeat NEVER be replaced with vinyl siding. Oh the horror. Yes, it costs money to maintain a cedar home, they need to be re stained about every 5 years...but it is a commitment contemporary homeowners should be aware of before purchasing.

These homeowners received a Cool Contemporaries award but we have not heard from them yet. We'd love to know more about this natural home and its upkeep.

-K and M

...In the Middle of Our Street

Our house. We'll show you ours if you show us yours! Yup, it's a "Cookie Cutter Contemporary," but it's OUR contemporary and our first home. We lived in a basement apartment in a Dupont Circle Victorian (DC) for six years. We each had a 25 minute walk to work, the grocery store was a block away, the metro stop was ten minutes away. But things started going wrong...horribly wrong. Several sewer backups, floods, caved in ceilings, and rats drove us out of our apartment. Six years ago all we could have afforded in DC was a postage- stamp sized condo, so we knew the search would begin outside of our beloved city.

On weekends, we would escape to Annapolis. Why? Well it reminds us so much of our home town, Newburyport, Massachusetts. Beautiful brick buildings lining cobblestone roads, situated on water, with boaters, and beer and crabs...well back home that would have been boaters, beer, and lobsters. We decided to begin our search in the town that already felt like home.

My hubby lived in Annapolis while in Middle School. His family owned a gorgeous cedar sided contemporary off of General's highway. I think we both had the image of that house tucked into the back of our minds while on the search with our real estate agent. We saw plenty of homes...mostly townhouses that were either way too small or way too large...some single family homes that were utter disappointments..."the cat pee house," the "moldy deck house."

But then! But then!! I spotted a for sale sign in a contemporary development..."let's go check it out!"

The second we walked into this cedar sided house we knew it was ours. Contrary to our basement in DC, this house, built in 1981 by Palmer, was filled with light from the four foot skylight perched above the staircase. The previous homeowner had done a great deal of work on the home, including painting almost every room what I called "FLESH" color. But it was move in ready. Just a few months later that's exactly what we did.

While we always appreciated contemporary architecture and coveted mid-century modern, we didn't really find our domestic style until we found this house. We hope you will tune in to future blogs on how we decorated our cool contemporary.

-K

Contemporary Lives on in Lon Overton

It was my first interview in 20 months, and much like conducting a pre interview for a radio show, this too was over the phone. I had about 45 minutes left of my son’s nap to get to know this seasoned architect.

Lon Overton is the principal with the Overton Design Group in Arnold, MD. Mr. Overton is not new to the business of architecture. He has over 40 years of experience designing and managing the construction of residential, business, and community buildings. Overton also started the architecture program at Anne Arundel Community College.

While Overton is partial to contemporary architecture, he keeps the client and their environment in mind. A line from ODG’s web site states it best: “Buildings by their nature should display a form that is expressive of their use as well as the era and region in which they are situated.”

Overton’s architecture is most influenced by Eero Saarinen, think Tulip chair, Dulles airport, Gateway arch. Overton says while other modern architects like Frank Lloyd Wright or I.M. Pei had a recognizable, repetitive signature style, all of Saarinen’s works were different. “There is always something about the need of the client and the geography” Overton says. “The solution there is not like the solution someplace else.”

This made me think of the rare individual contemporary. Most homes in our area (including my own) are what Overton calls “cookie cutter contemporary.”

But some homes stand out because of how they are situated in their environment.

We discussed the Epping Forest neighborhood off of General’s Highway. Clearly the hills, trees, and gullies lend to buildings with multi levels and generous windows…who needs curtains when your yard is surrounded by forest? Epping Forest is covered in gorgeous homes from the 60s, 70s and 80s, but Overton says Contemporary is coming back to Annapolis. “Look at Dwell magazine…contemporary is here but some of it is hidden.”

These homes are often hidden, and make our quest to find them such an adventure. Overton suggests taking a ride up the Severn to see some great homes (next big purchase: boat), and also the Eastern shore between Chestertown and Easton (first spring day trip.)

I asked Overton what some of his favorite buildings are from his profile. He laughed and said he never has a good answer for that question, and after 40 years has he really done that much? Such humility from the man who designed such local buildings as the Fleet Reserve Club, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Antioch Church in Arnold.

Overton mentions some industrial and office type buildings on West St. but seems most proud of a recent renovation of a home on the Severn. You can bet this home will the destination for our next Saturday drive.

When asked what his favorite building is in the Annapolis area, I was surprised that he didn’t have an answer. Overton just said, “there is something about Annapolis, everything is right here.” We both agree it is a great place to live.

-K

www.overtondesigngroup.com