Hot House: 5602 Roxbury Place, Baltimore MD 21209
Victorian-era cottage, circa 1865, stone and wood frame with shingle roof, front and rear screen porches. Five bedrooms, 3.5 baths over 3 levels and 2, 648 sq. ft. High ceilings, grand staircase, large rooms, hardwood floors throughout. Living room and dining room with fireplaces, kitchen with original exterior wall. Lower level studio and office space. Whole house generator. Lush private setting on .3 acre property, sold in as-is condition: $385,000
What: Recently listed, this house was the longtime home of renowned Baltimore artist Herman Maril, whose nature-based, pared-down, early conceptual works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Phillips Gallery in Washington D.C. and museums throughout the world.
Maril died in 1986, but his son David (former sportswriter and Voting Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame) still owns the house. It is a special place with lots of quirks, which will endear it to the right buyer. Built into a hillside, the location feels more remote than it actually is. The overgrown garden and adjoining lot are a birder’s paradise. The kitchen has a stone wall, once the exterior wall of the house. Windows occur in unexpected places. Bathrooms are vintage 1970s. It is rich in charm and possibilities. The “as-in” condition should not scare you. The systems are good, the roof is less than 10 years old, and it has been maintained. While there’s not a lot of interior architectural detail, the windows are large and there is a lot of light.
Where: Down a crooked lane, through a meadow, to a sunlit clearing in the woods — Roxbury Place is a tiny enclave of three or four unusually pretty Victorian cottages, built as summer homes for Baltimore City dwellers. Although the feeling here is of deep country, in fact, it is just about a half mile, and a nice walk, to Mt. Washington Village, with its Light Rail stop, schools, restaurants and shops. Whole Foods is a little bit further.
Would Suit: Romantics with off-the-grid inclinations, nature lovers
Why: You never met a quirk you didn’t like…
Why Not: Needs new kitchen, new baths, and central air — probably sooner rather than later.
NB: Down the lane from the house, the city is extending the Jones Falls Trail a biking/walking trail that will continue down to the Inner Harbor when completed.
