For several years when I lived in Annapolis, I walked or scootered by this house on my way to work. It was clearly one of the oldest houses in the historic district of Annapolis, and the couple who lived there then were so elegant – in an 80’s Laura Ashley sort of way. The house, on Duke of Gloucester Street, was built in 1776.
It’s so wonderful to see all of the period details in this house.
And it’s even better that the décor is period-appropriate.
The first thing people do in so many of these historic houses is rip the old floors out, but you can see the wide, random width planks on the kitchen floor.
They’ve also kept the original interior doors and shutters, but added the biggest television I’ve ever seen! It’s currently owned by some Fox News person and her husband, so I guess they need a huge TV.
One of the charming things about this house is its walled garden. I remember going to a Halloween party there. In the summers, it always felt like it was 10* cooler on that corner.
The Georgian-era home has five bedrooms, three full baths, two half baths, two working fireplaces, as well as crown mouldings, chair-rails and carved mantle pieces.
The house is about 4,000 square feet and includes a new(ish) garage and parking, essential in downtown Annapolis, the capital of Maryland and home of the US Naval Academy. It’s on the market for $1.5 million. More information here.
I love this so much and wish England had this type of housing stock. It's either a pile or a chocolate box but rarely this scale...
ReplyDeleteMy friend used to live next door - other than the noise on Duke of Gloucester, it's a really nice place to live in Annapolis, in the heart of everything. Greta Von Susteren owns this now and apparently didn't do much modification from the prior owners (save for the awful baskets all along the kitchen ceiling). I hope a family buys it and gives it some soul, as it is so drab right now. Structurally sound and repointed brickwork, so now it simply needs some life.
ReplyDeleteBut for the monster telly, the décor is absolutely spot on. Nothing drab about it. Appropriate use of colour and furnishings. Not greiged to death or hospital white. I'll take it!
ReplyDeleteOh Gretchen I like the way you think. Do you have a blog so we can learn what is not drab?
ReplyDeleteThis is drab!!! It lacks soul; warmth, personality! Horrible leather chair and ottoman; corner cabinet blocking window in dining room; rugs too small, no personal feeling!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous house, gorgeous details, love the walled garden!
I am not certain what people mean when they say it lacks soul. Should we see dog beds and bowls in every room, scooters and toys strewn about? I love the style/period appropriate furniture. It clearly was styled for photos, but its simplicity only serves to magnify the quality of the furniture. I think the problem is that we are accustom to seeing rooms full of "stuff" which needs serious editing. I love this house. If Greta lives here, I am wondering why she is selling it?
ReplyDeleteI think the "it lacks soul" comment is speaking to the calibre of the furnishings, like the owners called up the store and said send me a houseful of historic reproductions -- furniture, pictures, lamps, rugs, everything. It looks Bombay-Company-closeout stock to my eye, a high gloss polyurethane finish coat [the dining room table!] is no stand in for the patina of age. This house deserves better. I'd start with the floors, knock that shine off and get the orange out. The more I look at that front entry, the more out of scale it looks, so let's get to the historic commission and research the original 1776 entry. Thanks Meg, I'll take it too! As a fantasy, I'd love to see what Reggie and Boy would do with this gem.
Delete-Flo
Exactly my take. I would love to have that house! Reggie and Boy.....omigod!! YES!!!!
DeleteThis is a beautiful house and I'm glad it has not been torn apart and "modified". So rare to find the bones of an old house still intact.
ReplyDeleteOH MEG Maybe you can feature Hickory Hill in McLean Va a tech millionaire plunked down 8.2 million for the former Kennedy residence and is in the midst of a remodel or maybe it is done by now. Anyway the thought of children running through this house made me think of HH and Ethel's brood.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very pretty house, and, even though it's not my style of decorating, it has wonderfully historical and rich architectural bones. I love the fan lights above the doors, the wood floors, the tall ceilings. Some of the architecture reminds me of my own craftsman house in Vancouver, (on a smaller scale). I looked at the listing. It's a shame the home is surrounded by so many much cheaper properties. Also a shame that the owners bought it for $300K more than they have it marketed for and the real estate estimates are still expected to drop several percentages. Oh well, real estate, the economy, it's always fluctuating, isn't it? In Vancouver my half size home is worth as much as this one, and, if I sell it, it will more than likely be bought by a developer, who will destroy the old heritage building and put up a duplex with each side costing $1.5 mil. Progress, eh?
ReplyDelete...it's a shame the home is surrounded by so many cheaper properties... is it! Cheaper do you mean affordable priced properties or tenement slum units owned by a landlord unwilling to repair and properly maintain the neighborhood. But then you live in Canada where being raided by Chinese investors scooping up real estate and pricing the locals out of home ownership is occurring as we type . Progress eh? no it is a community not providing a control --housing should be a basic necessity and where is the voice of residents where are the protests where is the rebel( as in rebellion) yell we are mad as hell and will not take this any more or vote with your feet and move but VR rent out your property to pay for your new home
DeleteI wouldn't exactly say this is surrounded by "cheaper" properties. Maybe less expensive, but not cheap. You should understand that many of these houses are very small - maybe 15 feet wide, two or three bedrooms, maybe two baths, very little property. It's on a small peninsula with extremely limited room for expansion. These are mostly 150+ year old frame houses, this brick one is an exception - which are still very expensive for what you get. It's a huge sailing area, with the US Naval Academy right there. As I said, I lived down the street from this and it's a very desirable area. As for the owners losing money on the house... I think they can afford it.
Deletevery elegant house - surprised it's 4,000 sf! Where is it all? The decoration leaves a lot to be desired but thats an easy fix - good bones!
ReplyDeleteWonderful house. And lets not forget the brick driveway!
ReplyDeleteThat's worth about half the value of the house! I never drove my car when I lived there, too hard to park. I walked or used my little red scooter. "Hell on a Honda!"
DeleteJust gorgeous. And, why would anyone EVER take out those gorgeous floors?
ReplyDeleteOne would be an idiot to take out those floors! They are irreplaceable! They just need to be restained dark. They started out raw....got really dark. Belonged dark some one bought house...sanded them (they should never be sanded; we Americans want to make everything spiffy!); anyway.....then they left the color orange..and polyurethaned them. (just a guess; a diagnosis from a computer screen!!) And they were never meant to look like that! That is what the commenter meant...if not, commenter , please correct me!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis commenter, me? Oh God no, never EVER ever EVER take up those floors! When I said "knock that shine off and get the orange out," I only meant exactly that, though I hate the idea of reducing even a millemeter of the fragile remaining surfaces on those floors. I'm glad I returned to set this straight, confession though is that I've return to this post frequently as a design puzzle in an If-this-were-mine exercise [a kneejerk thing that decorators do, I suppose]. Thanks Meg, thanks All!
Delete-Flo
So fascinating! This house is formally known as the Griffith-Worthington House, under protection by the Maryland Historic Trust.
DeleteThese pedigree/provenance papers tell that a prior owner had 1/3 of the original brick house cut OFF so that the side street could be widened: http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/001000/001600/001600/pdf/msa_se5_1600.pdf
-Flo
Everyone has their own opinions regarding houses (as any fellow HGTV addict knows)... and here are mine. The house and grounds are lovely - and how wonderful that it's in such great shape! The decor, while perfectly serviceable, is not what really speaks to me.
ReplyDelete* Feng-shui problem with the wingback chairs in the sitting room - having two large chairs with their backs to the entryway is not inviting, it's awkward. The pieces themselves are okay, but the placement is not.
* While I love the kitchen, that ceiling lighting fixture says "1980s apartment", as does the small brass chandelier glued to the ceiling in the livingroom. Just - no.
* Most of the carpets seem right for their rooms, except the dining room... with pale blue walls, a loud, busy, mostly-red rug is not the thing. Also, the table and the chairs are too small and frail-looking for that size space. That room needs a massive, carved dining table with matching chairs that have upholstered backs and seats.
* The wallpaper in the kitchen belongs in a bathroom - and does nothing to set off those beautiful cabinets! Painted walls in a warm, inviting color a few shades darker than the cabinets would go a long way to making that kitchen work.
* After going through all that effort to keep the house "period", that massive black TV just wrecks the whole vibe. If they can afford to buy and furnish a house like this, don't tell me they couldn't afford to have a cabinetmaker build something to hide it in when it's not in use.
* The only photo of the interior that looks entirely right to my eye is the hallway! Love the exterior, but I would have someone paint the satellite dish the same color (maybe even trompe-l'œil) as the bricks. Wish there were more shots of the walled garden... it looks promising!
Amusing comments here. It is most likely that those the most critical of the house and its furnishings are the least likely to be able to afford it. It is impossible to know what this house looked like prior to the real estate staging. As to having the wing chairs facing away from the entrance to the living room, it appears that there is more than one entrance to this room and from that entrance the chairs are not awkwardly placed.
ReplyDeleteThose who study birds are not able to fly. It doesn't mean their knowledge and opinions are not valid.
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