Nestled on one of the area’s finest residential streets, the incredible home at 21 Blythewood Road once served as the residence of Howard Head, a visionary in the sports of tennis and skiing, who invented the oversized tennis racquet and laminated metal skis. Head meticulously redesigned the five-bedroom luxury home and grounds with wonderful living and recreational spaces. Located on nearly two acres in the highly desirable Blythewood community, this English country style five bedroom home welcomes guests into a garden courtyard accented by an antique lamppost. The beaded oak entry door opens into a classic vestibule and foyer. A wide cased portal leads into the adjoining living room featuring an oversized fireplace, concealed bar, built-ins, French doors to the front garden and a breathtaking window wall with sliding doors to the two-tier, 11,000 gallon koi pond and bluestone patio. Steps from the foyer lead to the solarium with two walls of glass and greenhouse ceiling as well as a wide stone planter open to the adjacent dining room with a fireplace and doors to the patio.

The tremendous, Trish Houck designed custom gourmet kitchen provides extensive cabinetry, quartz and granite counters, professional grade stainless appliances and an attached breakfast area, perfect to daydream over coffee through two full-length windows at the patio and pond. A hall leads to the chestnut library with built-in bookcases and cabinetry as well as floor length triple casement windows and a fireplace. A powder room and an exquisite family room with vaulted, wood paneled ceiling, built-ins, wet bar and billiard area complete the main level.

A large hall on the second floor flows to a seating area with a fireplace and banister overlook. A private hall provides entry to the primary bedroom suite where a window wall with sliding doors opens onto a large balcony overlooking the koi pond, pool and extensive woodland garden. Pocket doors lead into the attached dressing room with extensive custom fitted wardrobe cabinetry and a triple casement window and into the primary bath with heated porcelain tile floor, full-width cantilevered double vanity and glass-enclosed shower stall. Two additional, large en-suite bedrooms (one with fireplace) and a bedroom passage leads to bedrooms four and five as well as a hall bath. The third level provides a walk-in cedar closet and additional storage.

A back foyer on the lower level leads to the attached three-car garage while a separate hall opens to the laundry room, climate-controlled wine room, exercise room and bath. In addition to the extraordinary back patio and koi pond, extensive decking and patios lead to the picturesque pool complex with a hot tub, built-in bench seating, and a large custom built-in teak bar. The pool area overlooks the fabled tennis court, specifically designed below grade to ensure a natural barrier to wind. This competition quality tennis complex is one of the most beautiful private courts in the country. Terraced lawns accented by extensive stone garden walls lead to the wooded hillside garden area with floating curved steps, a man-made stream and waterfalls creating a fairytale setting. Designed throughout with state-of-the-art lighting and irrigation and stormwater management systems to maintain this lush venue and showcase it to the best advantage. Located on nearly two gorgeous and thoughtfully landscaped acres, this is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the most spectacular properties in Baltimore.

 

 

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Located in the highly coveted Caves Valley Golf Club, this spectacular southern living-style five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom luxury home was custom built by GYC Builders and designed by Jeff Penza of Penza Bailey Architects.

An inviting veranda with classic columns leads to a two-story foyer with a gracious staircase and archway to the formal dining room. Two archways from the gallery hall lead into the spacious living room with fireplace flanked by built-in bookcases. Two sets of French doors open to the adjoining sunroom with heated bluestone floor and three walls of windows including double doors to the patio. A family room with fireplace flows to the gourmet kitchen with top appliances, granite and vaulted breakfast area. A sunny back hall leads to office, laundry room, and garage.

The sumptuous main level primary suite enjoys two dressing rooms and a marble spa bath. The second level includes four large bedrooms, one fitted out as a home office, plus a bonus room with a cedar closet and bath rough-in. The incredible lower level includes a large recreation room with fireplace and wet bar, exercise room, bath, wine room, and indoor resistance pool.

Outdoor living spaces include the covered front veranda, a wrap-around bluestone patio, stone cooking center, and professionally landscaped grounds accented by stone garden walls and a picturesque koi pond.

Nestled on 4.39 partially wooded acres and boasting fine finishes, extensive built-ins, birch hardwood floors and state-of-the-art systems including geo-thermal HVAC, 3125 Blendon Road offers an incredible luxury home!

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The view from the kitchen window into Kirsch Jones’ backyard is not what you’d expect in Charles Village, where rowhouses typically have postage-stamp-sized yards.

His vista reveals a lush sanctuary anchored by a water garden teeming with colorful fish. It’s a vision Jones had when he moved into the neighborhood in the 1980s—a peaceful refuge from the concrete urban jungle, with the sounds of water babbling in a fragrant, floral setting.

So, he began digging up the tiny yard to create a 1,600-gallon fish pond with stone waterways, a biological filter, a stream, a waterfall, and a mixture of perennials and tropical annuals. “It adds a lively oasis in the middle of the city and supports a diverse bird population,” Jones says.

“This backyard is like, ‘ahhh!’” concurs Jones’ friend Nancy Perlman. “The most Zen place I know. I swear it’s almost like being in church, but way better. It’s like the secret garden.”

Such reactions are the reason people create water gardens, bringing the landscape to life with the movement and sound of water and the animals it attracts, says Tim McQuaid, general manager at Cockeysville’s Valley View Farms, which has an extensive water-garden section. Of course, there’s some work and expense—between $500 and $3,000 for a self-install.

Where to begin? Well, you’ll need a source of electricity at the pond site. Then, McQuaid recommends a variety of materials. If you want to avoid concrete, you’ll need a layer of sand at the bottom of the garden excavation, a water-garden liner and liner fabric to protect the liner, plus fieldstone and flagstone to anchor and cover the liner and make it look natural.

If you want that waterfall action, you’ll need black waterfall foam, which seals the gaps between the rocks in your waterfall so the flow won’t be lost between the stones. Add to the list a pump, filter, and tubing, plus a shovel-handled steel tamper, used to compress soil or to create a raised area for a waterfall.

Next, you need a plan: Use a rope to lay out the shape. Now it’s digging time, requiring three levels: the rock shelf at four to five inches, a shelf—like a step—at nine to 12 inches, and the bottom at 18 inches or more.

“Cut the side walls of the water garden at a slight angle,” McQuaid says. “This will add support to the walls, so they don’t collapse. It’s also important that the ground outside the pond slopes away, so water from outside doesn’t come in.”

After the sand cushion has been placed on the pond floor, line the walls and shelves with liner fabric and install the liner. The pond should be finished by placing stones, known as coping, around the edge. Presto, it’s a pond—making your backyard, like Jones’, the most Zen place you know.