Hunting Houses

In Baltimore, one of the most prolific architects in the early 1900’s was a firm called Palmer & Lamdin, who produced several hundred of the most beautiful and unique houses in the city. Over the summer, I decided to try and find as many as I could. My friend, Walter Schamu, principal at the architecture firm SM+P, is hoping to write a book about this firm, but for right now, he’s the leading authority on these houses. He says that one of the most distinctive features is the roofline on these houses: “Look at that flare at the edge that little kick at the end of the slate. It’s an easing of the roofline before it hits the gutter.”

He continues, “There’s a lot of texture to P&L houses, the facades both project and recede, your eye dances along the rooflines. Flourishes such as dovecotes, turrets, round windows mixed with rectangular ones and the aptly named “eyebrow dormers” peek out.” Another common P&L feature is a corner entry with a copper roofed turret. “Trademark Palmer and Lamdin features also include unusual brick chimneys— known as Jacobean or diamond-stack chimneys— that appear to twist as they rise.  And their houses are built with a combination of different types of masonry.”

As I drove around Dumbarton, one of the several neighbourhoods where most of these houses are located, I could easily pick out which were Palmer & Lamdin houses. I thought I’d show you a few examples, along with the distinctive features.

Corner entry, turret, round window

Flared roofline, mixed masonry

Turret, dovecote, Jacobean chimney and detailing.

Here’s a closer view.

You can just barely see the eyebrow windows.

Jacobean mixed brickwork, Tudor detailing, mixed masonry.

Flared roofline, just right of the front door.

Window and architectural detail

Varied roofline, detailed window

Varied roofline, flared root, eyebrow dormer.

I am fairly sure this is a Palmer & Lamdin, but so much has been done to disguise that fact. It really ticks all of the marks: You can see the mixed masonry which has now been painted, the turret, which was probably originally copper and is now cheap roofing, the Jacobean chimney, the dovecote, the turret, the Tudor timbering, the angled front door and all of the other beautiful detailing. So sad.

Flared roof, mixed masonry, and architectural detailing.

This house is currently for sale. Here are some interior images. Oh, no images of the kitchen, which is the kiss of death!

There was another house in the neighbourhood which I liked, although it’s probably not a P&L house.

I took the liberty of photoshopping it to a better colour… a more subdued grey.

I will be collecting more images of Palmer & Lamdin houses in other areas of Baltimore. Stay tuned.

Baltimore Bits & Pieces

Scattered around some of Baltimore’s older neighbourhoods, there are about 200 houses designed by the architectural firm, Palmer & Lamdin. These houses are noticeable with their wonderful and sometimes quirky details. They’re loosely based on English cottages, or what everyone’s ideal of an English cottage is. When you see new faux English homes, this is what they’re trying to be. These Palmer-Lamdin houses don’t come on the market very often – the people who live in them, love them, and never want to leave. Despite what is probably the most motion-sickness-inducing video I’ve ever seen from the real estate agent (it’s about the house, please, not how many special effects you can cram into three minutes), several people arrived at the brokers open with contracts in hand!

The house is filled with quirky details, including a double height front entry way with a curved floating staircase.

There are interesting windows everywhere, here…

and here…

There are several arched doorways, this one out to the center courtyard, and this one from the first floor study to the front hall.

While the kitchen is a bit dated, and is sure to be ripped out, I did love the original pantry cabinets and shelves.

The house even has its original butler bell system.

This is one of two nearly identical and adjacent houses which share a center courtyard, now...

and in 1926. It looks like there was a garage in the courtyard, but it’s now the study in the house. You can also see that the house was originally white-painted brick, but it’s mellowed to a faded red now.The house retains so much of its original charm, and for less than $600k, it’s really a steal!

For more information on these Palmer Lamdin houses, about which I will be writing more at a later time, check out these two articles. One is by pal, Lisa Simeone, and the other by some-time boss, and fellow Architecture Foundation board member, Walter Schamu, who is preparing to write a book about these houses.

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My friend Andrea, co-owner of Bosom Buddy Bags, is having her annual “Scratch, Whoopsie and Retirement” sale next week at their warehouse/workshop just north of Baltimore. I have one of the Bosom Buddy Bags, and it was the bag I wore all summer, and it didn’t look any more worse for wear, than the day I got it! I stopped in to see the gals at BBB and to take some pictures of the items they have for their sale. Most of the bags in the sale are prototypes, or were show-room or advertising models, or have some small detail that’s not quite right.

They have about 200 bags that will be sold, first come, first served. CASH ONLY!

All of the bags are made in Bali and then finished here in Baltimore with unique colours and trims.

Andrea also showed me some of the new pieces in their collection. LOVE these tortoise shell cuffs. Of course, I love anything tortoise shell!

How great would these look with a warm summer tan?

Super cute raffia clutch, with BBB’s signature finish.

The sale is Friday, March 22nd at 1:00 p.m. (and not a damn second earlier, girls!) at BBB’s world HQ at 1505 Serpentine Road, Baltimore, MD 21209. Here’s the link to the FB event page.  If you’re not in Baltimore and would like a BBB, check their website for a retailer near you. And if you’re going to the April High Point Furniture Market, look for BBB at the Marketplace with their pop-up, cash & carry shop.

I saw some P*D readers there last year and hope to see even more of you this year! It’s a great event and you’re sure to find something you will LOVE!

City Chalet for Sale

The neighbourhood where I was raised was designed by the landscape firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, and one of their main tenets was letting the land speak and direct the building. My neighbourhood was filled with steep hills and deep valleys. In fact, our house had 24 steps leading up to the front door!

There are a series of four or five houses that hang from the edge of a hillside, overlooking a 100+ year old forest and a small stream. They are the chalet houses and everyone who’s lived in the area knows them. These houses were all built in 1905.And they don’t come up for sale very often, because the people who own them love them so much that they tend to stay for decades, rather than just years. They were designed by Edward Palmer of the firm Palmer Lamdin, who designed many of the more unique houses in the area. They are quirky and unusual, not your basic square brick four-over-four. Luckily, many of the original details remain, because these houses don’t change hand very often.

The house is cedar shake siding on a stone foundation. It is only accessible via a flight of stone stairs leading down from the road. It’s been neglected, which means that there are no ghastly updates. So you find the original glass-fronted pantry doors, and cupboards in the pantry.

One of the great things about this house is the screened porches like you see at the end of this room.  I can personally attest to the fact that this part of the neighborhood is a good 5* to 10* cooler than any other part of the area in the summer, and being up in the treetops is a great feeling.

This is the porch from the outside. It looks like the house could do with a slap of paint and some sanding on the floors, which are probably original.

The cedar siding and the other woodwork emphasize the chalet-style feeling of this house.

There’s a great old wooden staircase leading up to the second floor,and down to the ground floor, which leads out to a small patio.

Because the lot is so steep and wooded, there’s no lawn at all, which is great if you’re not into yardwork!

This is an Instagram I took of the little road that meanders behind this house.

For more details about this quirky city chalet, please click here.