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