Home of the week: A sophisticated space

“I gave birth to all three kids at this hospital, so I always tell them I have the same view as when I was holding them in my arms,” Ellen Berger said of her downtown Annapolis condominium.

(See below for the slide show) 

The condo is located in Acton’s Landing, where Anne Arundel Medical Center once stood. This is the second of three homes in the community to be profiled as a “Home of the Week” — the first was a single family, the last will be a duplex and this, well, this is quite a spacious condominium and much better than any hospital room.

For Ms. Berger, a local real estate agent, and her husband, Mike, an Annapolis-based dentist, life has been perfect at Acton’s Landing. They moved here last June from the home in Arnold where they lived for 33 years.
“We just pinch ourselves,” Ms. Berger said.

“For months it felt like we were living in a hotel,” Dr. Berger added.

Actually, it does feel somewhat like a hotel at first entry into the five-floor building. After walking through a columned portico into a beautiful lobby, you’re greeted by a doorman. In this case it was Zechariah L. Coates, one of a few concierges responsible for signing in visitors, delivering packages and security.

Mr. Coates, with his big smile, makes you feel instantly welcome. 

View the slide show at

http://media.hometownannapolis.com/flash/2008/04/0405sshow

“Oh, yeah, I have a package for them,” Mr. Coates said. Naturally, this visitor offers to deliver the package.

“Make sure you tell them Zech said good morning,” he added with his trademark smile.

There are other amenities you’d find in a hotel, too.

“They have a great gym,” Ms. Berger said. “The equipment is wonderful and they have televisions.”

“There’s a library with wireless Internet,” Dr. Berger added.

The safety of Acton’s Landing residents is another point the Bergers speak highly of.

“The security is very important,” Dr. Berger said. “They’ve done a very good job with security.”

And there’s another feature which may come in handy one day, though not necessarily anytime soon.

“Our unit is an age-restricted unit,” Dr. Berger said. “There are 16 age-restricted units — we have pull cords (for emergency response) in the kitchens and bathrooms.”

Aside from that, there’s also a senior dining room, which the residents are considering changing to a more practical and inclusive social area for all.

The first features noticed upon entering the Bergers’ home are the space and light — there’s an abundance of both, especially surprising because this is not a house, but a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath condo.

“We love this floor plan,” Ms. Berger explained. “As you see, we have great big windows.”

Those windows let in a lot of light, and that’s a good thing. “Ellen is a little claustrophobic, so that’s a fear when you go from a house to an apartment,” Dr. Berger said.

Upon entering the condo, the kitchen is immediately to the left. Although Acton’s Landing kitchens are built with high-quality materials, incorporating top-of-the-line appliances, this one has been redone.

“I don’t think they expected us to do much cooking,” Ms. Berger said of the relatively small size of the kitchens in the age-restricted units.

So, they took matters into their own hands.

“We put in the back wall,” Ms. Berger said. “We still use the countertop they gave us, and this is a great oven — it’s a convection.”

As for the old kitchen, it too found a home.

“We gave the kitchen they gave us to Habitat for Humanity,” Ms. Berger said.

The glazed maple, furniture-grade cabinetry in a toffee tone is complemented by the cream-colored, tumbled marble backsplash, which features a bas-relief grape motif. “We wanted this to look like furniture,” Ms. Berger said of the cabinets.

The G.E. Monogram stainless hood previously in the space was replaced with one matching the cabinetry and much more in keeping with the new, classical design.

The dark wood flooring, one of three color choices standard in Acton’s Landing homes, provides sophisticated cohesion. A large, black granite counter, which provides additional work space and acts as a breakfast bar, is completed by two black iron bar stools upholstered in cream-colored fabric.

Adjacent to the kitchen, a powder room is the only room in the home not featuring soft beige walls. This room is painted in metallic bronze and provides the perfect backdrop for some special illumination.
“We bought this chandelier when we were in Greece,” Ms. Berger explained.

Throughout the home, the couple’s own finds mix seamlessly with family heirlooms. On the shelves in the dining room, a menorah collection and a Thai Buddha both appear perfectly at home.

The Bergers acknowledge they had some help with interior design in the form of Katalin Farnady, owner of Annapolis-based Design and Style.

“Katy was wonderful because she knew things were important to us,” Ms. Berger said. “She would find a way to incorporate things that were important to us. That’s a good designer — she makes it very individual, very personable and very special.”

Apparently there’s mutual admiration and it was a job the designer liked doing.

“It was close to my heart,” Ms. Farnady said. “I really enjoy Ellen’s style and we worked well to bring it to life.”

In the dining room, a two-pedestal, glass-top table is lit by another magnificent chandelier.

“One of (Ms. Berger’s) clients moved to Mexico and left her the chandelier,” Dr. Berger said.

Ms. Berger clarified she did pay a bit for it, but apparently the client had decided to offer it to her because she had admired it so many times.

Opposite the dining room, a den acts as a home office and features cabinetry similar to that found in the kitchen.

This room shares a bathroom with the guest room, which is often used by one of the couple’s three grown sons or two granddaughters.

A striking, red Asian cabinet has found the perfect home on the wall between these spaces and the living room.

“This was my grandparents’,” Ms. Berger said. “Isn’t that an amazing cabinet? That cabinet always meant so much to me.”

She went on to explain how her grandfather would hide goodies for the children in it, which her grandmother wouldn’t normally allow.

There’s an undeniable elegance to the uniformity of the cream-colored fabrics on the breakfast bar stools, the dining room chairs and the beautiful love seat, couch and settee residing in the living room.

Outside the living room and perhaps the main reason the couple fell in love with their unit is the grand, arched balcony which overlooks a courtyard below. The balcony is actually the top of one of two columned porticos acting as entries to the building.

The master bedroom, which along with the master bath runs the length behind the living room, dining room and kitchen, is very large.

“This is bigger than the master bedroom was in our house,” Ms. Berger said.

The hallway between the bath and bedroom is 12 feet long and features two walk-in closets.

In the bathroom, a 9-foot-long granite countertop houses double sinks. Light butternut glazed maple cabinetry below provides lots of storage. Ceramic flooring, a large tub and separate shower complete the space. There’s a lot to like here — there’s space, amenities and hotel-style living within Annapolis’ Historic District.

“You know what the big thing for me is?” Dr. Berger asked. “No more bringing in wet newspapers.”

Ms. Berger laughed and added, “Mike finds joy in the littlest things.”

The couple have definitely found joy in their Acton’s Landing condo, which is especially comforting after being in the same house for 33 years.

“Neither of us ever looked back,” Ms. Berger said.

That’s a good thing, especially for a couple who, in addition to finding joy in their new home, are also finding it in celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year.

———

Donna L. Cole is a freelance writer living in Annapolis. If you’d like your house considered for “Home of the Week,” please contact her at writerdle@aol.com.