Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Modern House - Eastern Shore

[Brian R]

I’m renovating a house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It’s a twisting and long story on how this place came to be ours and I plan on telling that story with this thread. First things first – a picture of the house when we bought it.

Before I can add a garage I first need to rebuild the structure from inside out.

A few points of interest:
Post and beam construction
Built in 1966
Designed and construction by original owner who we purchased the place from
It had served as a rental property for the last 25 years and multiple families had been renting the same week or two for 20+ years.
There had been no updating of any sort since it was built

Summer of 2015 (when purchased)

Summer of 2020 (pea gravel is for a landscaping project)

I need to update this thread but here is a more recent picture after landscaping Summer of 2024.

 

[APEowner]

That is an awesome building! I'm really looking forward to this one.

 

[Brian R]

That is an awesome building! I'm really looking forward to this one.

Thanks. It spoke to me. That and the location right on the water.

BTW - I live in Texas and always love when I can get away to New Mexico for pleasure or business!

 

[captain14]

I'm in college Park so just accross the. Bay Bridge from you.

 

[mast240]

I'm on Kent island... Literally minutes from the eastern shore. Really is a great area

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[Mavawreck]

Beautiful area and sweet house!

 

[12husky]

Awesome house! I'm down in Cambridge if you ever need a hand and I would love to check out the house


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[Karl's Garage]

Nice home

 

[shaner3721]

Fascinating house, looking forward to seeing what you do with it and how you add a garage!

Gorgeous view/location as well!

 

[cdd1]

Interesting home. If you're in TX, what drew you to the eastern shore of MD?

 

[Brian R]

Interesting home. If you're in TX, what drew you to the eastern shore of MD?

Originally from Philadelphia and moved to TX for a job in 2005. We kept a small cottage on the Bay when we left and my wife and kids have summered there (and I take all my vacation there) ever since.

Here is a picture of our original cottage. On the water but a tiny parcel (60x100) with no easy way to add a garage. Also there is less then 2 feet of water at low tide.

 

[Brian R]

Thanks for the compliments of the house. And for those of you in the area (12husky, mast240, captain14) the Bay is like no other place on earth.

 

[Brian R]

Awesome house! I'm down in Cambridge if you ever need a hand and I would love to check out the house


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Be careful, I might just take you up on your offer.

 

[Vette60]

Very Cool Place! We always traveled from Pittsburgh to OC MD for vacation when growing up and my sister now lives in Severna Park. Love the Bay for sure!

Interested in following along.

R.

 

[C_F]

I dunno...it looks like it may be dark inside, I think the place needs more windows.

The view from the shore sure looks nice, I would love to have a spot like that. Looking forward to updates!

 

[Bib Overalls]

Does adding a garage denote retirement digs? Looks like a great place to live. Country quiet and big city amenities in reasonable driving distance.

 

[Brian R]

Very Cool Place! We always traveled from Pittsburgh to OC MD for vacation when growing up and my sister now lives in Severna Park. Love the Bay for sure!

Interested in following along.

R.

Thanks. Nothing like heading Down the Shore to OC and Severna is sublime.

 

[Brian R]

I dunno...it looks like it may be dark inside, I think the place needs more windows.

The view from the shore sure looks nice, I would love to have a spot like that. Looking forward to updates!

Thanks. More on the windows later.

 

[Brian R]

Does adding a garage denote retirement digs? Looks like a great place to live. Country quiet and big city amenities in reasonable driving distance.

Thanks and re: retirement and garage, you are a smart man.

 

[12husky]

Be careful, I might just take you up on your offer.

I work for an architectural products manufacturer and love checking out different styles, the offer stands.


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[Brian R]

First things first. It needs to be gutted.

Ground floor is a warren of rooms that are tiny and odd-shaped. It includes a closet, utility, bath/laundry, and 3 'bedrooms' (one bedroom fits a queen bed and hides the furnace behind a piece of trellis and the other two are bunkrooms that maximize beds but blocks view of river).

Middle floor is dining, kitchen and family room. The problem here is that the kitchen includes pantries, chases and cabinets that block view of water.

Top floor is a 2 bedroom and bath room with odd walls that leads to make you feel boxed in.

And everything is old and outdated.

 

[Brian R]

Pictures taken during first inspection of property Feb. 2015

 

[Sharpest]

Wood on the walls, wood on the floors, wood on the ceiling! That's a lot of wood Kind of a bizarre layout but at least you have lots of natural light!

 

[Brian R]

Wood on the walls, wood on the floors, wood on the ceiling! That's a lot of wood Kind of a bizarre layout but at least you have lots of natural light!

Yes. Lots of wood. My wifes favorite part is the wood floors. My favorite part is being surrounded by wood(s).

 

[Voi]

Subscribed.

 

[abstamaria]

Very interesting house and a lovely location. The challenge will be how to build a garage to complement it. Good luck! (I have a modern home, too, but of the white house school).

Andy

 

[Brian R]

Subscribed.

Thanks.

 

[Brian R]

Very interesting house and a lovely location. The challenge will be how to build a garage to complement it. Good luck! (I have a modern home, too, but of the white house school).

Andy

Thanks for stopping by. Your thread is a favorite and I appreciate that you share your house/garage/cars and other interests. I was going to name this "Modern House (Far) East(ern Shore)" but was worried about copyright issues.

I'm not certain what exact style this house is. When I submitted some renovation plans to the local permit office (along with original photos) the clerk said, "Oh my! It almost has a Frank Lloyd Wright meets Piet Mondrian feel to it".

Which sort of impressed me since I'm a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and I was a little taken off guard that a clerk in the middle of nowhere Maryland could pull out a Mondrian reference like that.

The house has been totally gutted and we're now working on the interior. We have a few ideas on what to do for a garage and that will be a challenge.

However, I was looking for a challenge and this place has that going for it.

Brian

 

[wasfast]

Well, at least the paint scheme is predetermined thanks to Mondrian.

 

[Brian R]

wasfast -

I think the pattern more (see picure below) than colors but if I could get away with those colors I would.

It's close to the water and so bright colors would really stand out so we're going to try and make it blend in a little. Well, as much as a 3 story glass house can.

Thanks for stopping by and I liked reading about your base business/shed. I'm much more a framing guy so I'm always impressed with guys that can create such great things out of wood.

 

[abstamaria]

Thanks, Brian. I'm glad you liked that old thread on my garage. Enjoy the planning and the refurbishing. It seems aside from making repairs and restoration, the house is fine. I think it will look great with the furniture we have! Or Eames'.

Your garage will be separate I assume? It seems you have space for that. The challenge will be its exterior design. But that will be fun for you. I am envious of your location by the water.

Again best of luck, and best regards,

Andy

 

[Brian R]

Thanks, Brian. I'm glad you liked that old thread on my garage. Enjoy the planning and the refurbishing. It seems aside from making repairs and restoration, the house is fine. I think it will look great with the furniture we have! Or Eames'.

Your garage will be separate I assume? It seems you have space for that. The challenge will be its exterior design. But that will be fun for you. I am envious of your location by the water.

Again best of luck, and best regards,

Andy

Andy,
I guess we are even - I'm envious of your cars. Yes, the house would look great with the furniture you have - is that an offer? Better yet, your skill with minimizing objects would come in handy also. We are in the renovation / planning stage although I agree that Eames furnishings would work perfectly but that part of the project is a little further down the road.

You are correct in that the garage will be a separate structure and we do have plently of space to put it. We have already made some plans for this structure but haven't finalized them yet.

A more pressing problem right now is trying to determine the best way to add a car port and some cover from the elements at the entrance door. As you can see in the pictures the current parking spots are uncovered and there is also no cover over the door.

In the first picture, on the lefthand side, you can see the fender of a car parked at the entrance. We've already removed these stumps but want to add a car port. In addition, you can see that the door offers no protection from rain or snow for guests waiting for entrance or if you had to fish for keys.

The second picture is the same area from above. The clear area around that tree with a basketball hoop (right side of dumpster) is probably where I will build the garage.

 

[Brian R]

Work begins.

Everybody that sees it asks why we don’t knock it down. We don't knock it down because they wouldn’t let us build it again. It was built in 1966 when there were far fewer regulations for building on the water. One, it is built too close to the water. It is 80 feet from high-tide and the minimum is now 100 feet. In addition, it is 3 stories tall and now the maximum is 2 stories.

So we set out to rebuild from the inside out and started in the Fall of 2015. We had purchased it in May of 2015 and wanted to get started right away. However, the house had been used as a rental for the past 25 years and multiple families requested the house for one last summer to say goodbye. We ended up renting it out for the summer. We met most of the renters and left a guest book for them to sign. They had fantastic stories to tell and wrote entries several pages long in the guest book about their history with the “Glass Tree House”.

The seller said he would leave the house as-is for free if we so desired or he would empty it for us. I selected the prior since we were renting it out and that worked since they left all linens, furniture, pots, pans, and appliances. This was both a blessing and a curse. One, we needed these items to rent it. But then getting rid of it was time consuming. We packed up useful items and then recycled the rest.

However, there was a ton of junk that I really didn’t quite understand. For example, there were boxes and boxes of used light bulbs and junk like that. Including an examination bed in the upstairs hallway.

Here are a few photos of working on emptying the objects and starting demolition.

 

[Brian R]

Kitchen Remodel

The pantry (first picture) was in a very odd position. It is basically in the center of the house and was accessible from the dining room and not the kitchen. Here is a picture of the pantry with the kitchen behind it (I'm standing in the dining area). To the right is the family room which overlooks the water.

The pantry is right behind the couch (second picture). I guess in 1966 this layout made sense but we're redoing the kitchen so that it will be totally open to the family room and the dining area.

 

[BoostAddiction]

Fascinating house. Subscribed!

 

[Brian R]

Fascinating house. Subscribed!

Thanks. Your garage is fantastic and that SLC is sublime - well done!

 

[Bib Overalls]

Are you going to keep the same general floor plan or will you be shaking things up a bit? I like the idea of a master suite on the top floor with a water view and a study.

 

[Brian R]

Are you going to keep the same general floor plan or will you be shaking things up a bit? I like the idea of a master suite on the top floor with a water view and a study.

Yes. The nice thing about post & beam construction is that the interior walls are not load bearing and can be removed with ease. Demo has included removing all of the interior walls and we will reshape and resize accordingly. Designing new rooms has not been an easy task because there are many variables (both size of rooms and number of rooms). But we finally have agreed on a floor plan.

I will post old and new floor plans when we get to that stage but for now here are a few pictures of removing the walls on the 2nd (middle) floor between the family room and the kitchen.

 

[Brian R]

Here are pictures from the other side of the 2nd (middle) floor. This shows the dramatic difference of removing the walls of the kitchen and removing the pantry from the center of the room.

These pictures were taken from the dining area toward the family room and waterside of the house. Removing the walls will open the entire floor to water views!

 

[mtm_motors]

Looking forward to seeing this unfold, both the house and garage!

Also, I just noticed you have a Vincent in your profile pic, hands down my ultimate bike!