Project Summary

Annapolis locals can immediately identify a classic Chesapeake Cottage with its signature plain façade, screened back porch, and subtle charm. Rather than presiding over the rivers they face; these cottages have surrendered to them. This carefree character is exactly what the clients loved in the dilapidated 1940’s cottage they purchased on the Magothy River.
When it came time to design “ the clients wanted a classic reinterpretation of the cottage. How to keep the kick-back, easy style that you-don’t-have-to-wear-shoes feelings?” After many conversations with the couple, the architect designed a quintessential bay cottage, using their memories of summers on the water to drive the details of its design – right down to an outdoor shower, oyster shell/gravel driveway, and the big front porch.
They wanted a house that “ spoke cottage” not only in style but in experience. To accomplish this, “ we chose a blend of shingle and craftsman style with large bracketed overhangs,” describing the metal standing seam hipped roof. The home, measuring 50’ by 50’ has seven bedrooms, six baths, and best of all, a screened-in back porch the depth of a living room. Interior glass pocket door slide back to merge the waterfront porch and the great room.
“ The number one priority was the porch and the house was built around this idea. A river breeze drifts into the informal great room, whose character-great bleached oak floors are pock-marked & veined. An easy style is evident in the kitchen, where the color scheme is driven by the delicate hues of the focal piece range. The walls reinterpret the usual pipe paneling and square grooves of older cottages with horizontal wood paneling. The center island, clad in shiplap, has the shape and dimensions of a dining room table. Along with its gravel drive and back porch, the home has a true “cottage garden.” There are flowers and grass to glimpse from the window , to pick from the garden and smell, hummingbirds and insects to observe, and water to hear.” To encourage connections with nature all year round, the landscape architect repaired the existing pool and designed a hot tub, a fire pit, and a water feature with serene sounds.
Simple grasses, perennials, and native plantings wrap sinuously around the cottage that us also energy efficient – a departure from early bay cottages that are designed to meet LEED Silver and pre-date today’s zoning laws. The house has four geothermal wells underneath the driveway and routing roof gutters to divert storm runoff into underground containment basins.
Whether it’s relaxing on the screen porch, the outdoor shower in the open air, sitting by the campfire, or sleeping with the fresh breeze off the water, these things stir the feeling of a kick – back lifestyle, away from the daily work routine. The home’s inner space is much like a tidal pool, where friends, family, and all of the life eventually flow out of the generous porch.