#Hearthbeat

ARCHITECTURE IN EASTON: Surviving the Sixties Styles

Story by Jennifer Martella | Photos by John Griep

Jan 9, 2020
4 min

ARCHITECTURE IN EASTON: Surviving the Sixties Styles

New architectural styles introduced in the 1960s nationwide included New Formalism and Brutalism. New Formalism buildings include Classical elements, rigid symmetrical elevations and rich materials such as marble. This style was primarily used for civic, cultural or institutional buildings — think of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., designed by the architect Edward Durell Stone. Brutalism evolved from early 20th-century Modernist architecture. The Swiss-born architect

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Story by Jennifer Martella | Photos by Caroline

Dec 10, 2019
5 min

Hearthbeat: Reinventing the stage

My Uncle Bud lived in New York City, and when I was a child, my family visited him every year during school break. We went to see lots plays and musicals while in the Big Apple, and I caught the theater bug and never have been cured. As an architect, I was a member of the design team for the Carolyn Blount Theatre, home of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, and my primary responsibility was to design and coordinate consultants for the auditorium. When I moved to

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By Jennifer Martella | Photos by Caroline J.

Nov 4, 2019
4 min

Old Easton Scavenger Hunt

Congratulations to the Winner, Judy Bottorf of Easton! **A special shoutout to Z, who took the time to document her Old Easton Scavenger Hunt using a Canon PowerShot Elph 180 on a tripod.** Take trip down the charming streets of Easton and keep your eyes peeled for these novel feats of architecture. Find them all and you may find yourself the winner of a $100 Gift Certificate to The Inn and Spa at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club. I have loved scavenger hunts ever since my sixth

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Story by Jennifer Martella | Photos by Caroline J.

Oct 9, 2019
3 min

Ghost and Goodies at the Victoriana Inn

The house on a slight rise at the end of Cherry Street on St. Michaels’ harbor was originally known as the Henry Clay Dodson House. It is a landmark in St. Michaels for its French Second Empire style with a remarkable mansard roof covered by deep gray fish-scale patterned slate shingles. Between each arched roof dormer window is an unusual painted accent shingle with a gray center surrounded in white. Other period details include the Ionic columns that support the one-story p

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Story by Jennifer Martella | Photos by Caroline J.

Sep 9, 2019
3 min

Hearthbeat: Way Up in the Trees

One of my favorite childhood movies was “Swiss Family Robinson.” I was fascinated by the house they built as separate rooms with wood walls and bamboo/reed roofing high up in the trees on branches at different heights. In one magical scene, Mrs. Robinson pulls a cord that opens a roof panel to reveal the sky. For months, I begged my parents to construct a tree house in our tall walnut tree but to no avail. In Talbot County, one family built a dual-level tree house with a zip

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Hearthbeat: Architecture and horticulture meet

Story by Jennifer Martella // Photos by Caroline

Aug 14, 2019
4 min

Hearthbeat: Architecture and horticulture meet

I recently returned from a visit to London and its environs, including the picturesque villages of the Cotswolds. As an architect, I was enthralled by the charming stone buildings with thatched or tile roofs enhanced by lush gardens with their bright blossoms and imaginative topiary. On the first day of my stay in Chipping Campden, I discovered a cobblestone mews between two buildings, and behind one building was a stone wall topped with a dense hedge. An arched opening in th

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Porches, Pavilions, and Pergolas: Picking a perfect summer spot

Story by Jennifer Martella | Photos by Caroline J.

Jun 3, 2019
3 min

Porches, Pavilions, and Pergolas: Picking a perfect summer spot

Porches James Agee, in his Pulitzer-Prize-winning book, “A Death in the Family,” wrote, “We are talking now about summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised as a child.” Like my fellow Tennessean, I remember many summer evenings spent on my front porch in Knoxville, and the primary reason I bought my home in Talbot County was its porch. After one summer fending off mosquitoes, I added screens, and the space became my outd

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Story by Sarah Ensor // Photos by Caroline J.

May 21, 2019
2 min

Hearthbeat: The Inn at 202 Dover

Beneath 32 coats of paint on a once-grand 1874 home on Dover Street in Easton, contractors found original siding made from Maryland swamp Cyprus. It was 2005, and Ron and Shelby Mitchell had purchased the building intent on restoring what was then known as the Wrightson House to its former glory — this time as a bed-and-breakfast. The neglected house had seen many changes over the years. The most famous owners were the Wrightsons, a prominent Easton family best known for the

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Sanctuary: A Gothic church converted into a home

Story by Amelia Blades Steward | Photos by

Apr 17, 2019
5 min

Sanctuary: A Gothic church converted into a home

Gunther and Anastasiia du Hoffman quip that they go to church every day, but it’s true. The couple’s home is a small Gothic Revival church near Longwoods on state Route 662 in Talbot County. The board-and-batten siding and Gothic-arched openings of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, built in 1900, reflect the influence of famous architect Richard Upjohn’s rural architecture pattern books. For the du Hoffmann family, the unique National Register structure has provided challenges, a

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The forgotten, but not gone remnants of Golden Shore Christian School

By Jeannette Spohn | Modern photos by Brae Howard

Jan 22, 2019
4 min

The forgotten, but not gone remnants of Golden Shore Christian School

In Cambridge, the grass around a large Victorian-style schoolhouse is neatly trimmed, although the building itself is boarded up and surrounded by a chain-link fence. But what might seem spooky and forgotten is a place that holds many beloved memories for generations of Cambridge children. The Dorchester County Board of Education bought the acre land in 1872 and built what was originally known as Academy School, but in 1902, workmen thawing frozen pipes accidentally caught th

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Story by Reen Waterman | Photos by Caroline J.

Dec 17, 2018
4 min

Home for the Homeless

Talbot Interfaith Shelter unites people from different backgrounds to work toward a common goal: helping their fellow man While America seems to be bursting apart at the seams due to angry social and political upheaval, the Talbot Interfaith Shelter is an encouraging story of a community uniting in love. More than people coming together to simply provide shelter, this is a story of a community successfully pulling together, pooling resources and helping restore individuals an

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A reflection on the historic Mitchell House, and the lives that passed through it

Story by Daniel Divilio | Photos by Caroline J.

Oct 18, 2018
4 min

A reflection on the historic Mitchell House, and the lives that passed through it

A home built nearly 300 hundred years ago surely has seen a lot of lives pass through it. Is it beyond the realm of reason that some part of them remains tied to the house? Such could be the case for the Inn at the Mitchell House in Kent County. It is located in Tolchester, which, back in the steamboat days, was a bustling tourist destination on the Chesapeake Bay complete with amusement park. To visit the inn today is to step back in time. And some of those times were tumult

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How the Power of Faith and Community has Helped Bethel A.M.E. Overcome Adversity

Story by Kristina Gaddy | Photos by Caroline J.

Sep 1, 2018
6 min

How the Power of Faith and Community has Helped Bethel A.M.E. Overcome Adversity

On a quiet Sunday morning on Pine Street in Cambridge, parishioners trickle into a Gothic-revival brick church. Inside, the bright summer sun shines through the colorful stained glass onto the hardwood floors, illuminating the large sanctuary. The windows and floors, the pipe organ behind the choir, the pressed tin ceiling overhead, and the radiator system are all original to the 1903 building. For 171 years, the members of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church have gathe

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Story by Reen Waterman | Photos by Curtis Martin

Aug 10, 2018
4 min

Posh Pool Party

Whether lounging away from the sun, or sneaking out for a midnight plunge, this posh poolside pad provides the perfect party place Nothing cancels backyard pool parties faster than an impending storm, but with a modern pool house, inclement weather no longer drowns out outdoor ambitions. In the same manner that the iconic Ford F-150 pickup truck debuted in 1985 (at $7,500) and has since skyrocketed to become Ford’s flagship vehicle (a living room on wheels costing upwards of

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A Wye River masterpiece that through one man’s vision became a reality

Story by Reen Waterman | Photos by Curtis Martin

Jul 12, 2018
4 min

A Wye River masterpiece that through one man’s vision became a reality

The owners of this 7,500-square-foot, four-bedroom home on the Wye River dreamed for years of a casually elegant home that drew the beauty of nature inside. Styled after Georgian center hall colonials, the waterfront home is a blend of colonial inspiration combined with modern innovations. “Because this was our first custom home, we wanted to see our dreams fulfilled and be fully engaged in the process,” the owners said in a statement. Selecting an architect and builder Annap

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Story by Reen Waterman / Photos submitted by

Jun 1, 2018
4 min

The Johnson Family’s Life at Sea

The Johnson family tells tales of life on the water. The 2004 remake of the classic movie “Around the World in 80 Days” (the movie version of a book written in 1872 by Jules Verne) portrays a humorous race to circle the globe in a hot air balloon — but taking 18 months to circumnavigate the world with your entire family aboard a sailboat is anything but comedic. For longtime Oxford residents Richard and Jessica Johnson, and daughters Molly and Emma, they wouldn’t have it any

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Turning a Historic Home into a Modern Marvel

Story by Reen Waterman | Photos by Caroline J.

May 9, 2018
3 min

Turning a Historic Home into a Modern Marvel

One of today’s popular buzzwords is “repurpose.” People find new purposes for everything, from furniture to wine bottles, housewares and even homes. Hidden away within the outskirts of Easton is a perfect study in home repurposing, 510 Diamond St. This address is appropriate, as it truly is a “diamond in the rough,” and was not converted from a barn into a personal residence until 1972. This home was further repurposed just four years ago when Kevan and Chris Full, the home’

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Story by Reen Waterman | Photos by Caroline J.

Apr 16, 2018
3 min

Heron House, A Modernized Classic

Memorable achievements in architecture and design are inspired and created by visionaries who guide us from dreams and fancies to the perfect expression of our deepest desires. Just as a river pilot who steers a ship safely through a hazardous passage must have the “sharpest eyes on the river,” so, too, must the guiding eye of a skilled architectural designer like Caroline Boutte keep her vision focused. The Heron House, located on a 70-acre idyllic family compound on tranqui

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Admin

Mar 28, 2018
14 min

Architecture of the Shore

HOUSES FROM EACH MID-SHORE COUNTY THAT REFLECT THE PERSONALITY OF THEIR LOCATION TALBOT | MCINTURFF HOME Story by Danae Spiering // Photos submitted by Julia Heine/McInturff Architects The roof is perhaps the key design element and determining factor in the overall look and structure of Mark McInturff’s Neavitt home. Nestled among tall pines, cattails, marsh grass, and quaint seaside cottages stands a unique cedar-clad modern dream home. Complete with a rooftop pool and an en

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How Granny Branch Farm Transformed From Ugly Duckling into Sophisticated Swan

Story by Reen Waterman | Photos by Caroline J.

Feb 22, 2018
4 min

How Granny Branch Farm Transformed From Ugly Duckling into Sophisticated Swan

Renovating a home is like living in the wild — you do whatever it takes to survive! In the hilarious 1986 comedy “The Money Pit,” Tom Hanks and Shelley Long encounter a series of disasters when they naively attempt to renovate a mansion. They were completely unprepared for the cost and stress involved because of unexpected problems that emerged. Jane Keller and Gordon Bjorkman faced some of these same challenges when they purchased Granny Branch Farm near Church Hill in 2005.

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