Home of the Week: Oyster Bay home is a phoenix rising

Just after halftime, there was a frantic pounding on his door. "The Jaicks' house next door was on fire," said Dan. He immediately ran out of his home and into a nightmare.

Through the long night, he watched helplessly as sparks from the blaze devouring his neighbors' house set his home and another one afire. Stymied by a lack of fire hydrants in the community, more than a hundred firemen from three counties struggled to control and extinguish the roaring flames. The fire was so intense, vinyl siding on houses across the street melted, nearby trees were set ablaze and the roof of the community's gazebo on the beach was blackened. By sunrise, nearly all of Dan's possessions were ashes. His boat and pier survived intact. For a wardrobe, he had the clothing on his back.

Fast forward 18 months - past the shock of loss, past the inventorying of a lifetime of collecting unique artworks during trips around the world, past the meetings with insurance agents and officials in the county's Department of Inspections and Permits.

Phoenix rising

Dan, 44, and his daughter Madeline, 9, are nearly ready to move into a new home - on the same spot as the old one. It's like a phoenix rising from the ruins. The residence is still not furnished. A work in progress, it's a good way to see how Dan's design ideas coalesced in a home he says "is not a standard cookie-cutter house."

Hopefully, Dan will invite The Capital back to see how the home looks when it has been lived in for awhile.

"I initially chose Annapolis so I could commute to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and be on the water," said Dan, who is the chief operating officer of ACA Compliance Group.

"It's the nation's largest regulatory compliance consulting company in the financial area," he said. Born in Syracuse, his family moved to Columbia, Md., when he was six. "After the stress of deadlines at work, it's good to come home and get out on my boat."

All traces of the fire are long gone - the toasted lawns and scorched trees are verdant again. The fire was so destructive, even Dan's well and septic field were ruined. Before any home construction could begin, those had to be ripped out and replaced.

Annapolis architect Catherine Purple Cherry handled most of the new home's design. Neighbor Jim Sturman, of Asgard Custom Home Builders, was the general contractor and builder for the 3,000 square foot structure, with an additional 1,200 square feet of storage and garage space.

Dan also consulted with two people in his life whose opinion matters: Madeline and his fiancee Lisa Horton, whom he credits as "a valuable creative influence throughout the house rebuilding process." Lisa especially guided the kitchen design layout, the home's stairs and the choice of exterior siding.

Open and airy

"I wanted the house to be open, to take advantage of the water views, a whole lot of views," Dan said. "The house had to be built within the old footprint, but I wanted it taller than the previous house with high ceilings, about 10 1/2 feet high. I wanted to open up the foyer area and the ground floor. The home had to have a soft but contemporary look. Soft and opened up."

A visitor driving down the street passes the fenced community beach with its charming gazebo, playground equipment and communal grills. A canal at the end of the street connects Oyster Creek with the bay.

At first glance, a passer-by might not realize the house is built on pilings, to reduce flood damage. The lower level is constructed as two single-car garages and ample storage space. The outside is clad in a durable, maple wood colored Nichiha fiber cement siding. Reminiscent of the cedar-shake shingles on Nantucket beach cottages, Dan's house is one of the first in the area to utilize this product.

The handsome painted stair railings, banisters, balconies and columns highlighting the exterior look and sound like wood, but are Fypon, a sturdy, high-density urethane.

From the outside, in daylight or at night, it's hard to miss. The twisting, curving, gigantic DNA strand spied through the front bay windows is the main staircase. "I wanted the stairs to be my signature piece," said Dan. "It was custom-built for this space by Eastern Stair Builders of Jessup. I was looking for something that would open up the whole area and that you could see through. I didn't want it to block the view of the windows. It's made of dark Brazilian Cherry and light oak woods."

Granting Dan's wish for lots of windows meant the building needed additional structural support in the form of steel girding throughout the building. "Like the I-beams you see in high-rise buildings," Dan said. Every window has a transom, as do some of the walls that do not have windows.

In tune with keeping the home open, "In the living room, all the audio-visual electronics are tucked into the wall that also contains the gas fireplace. The speakers are in the ceilings throughout the house," Dan pointed out. Several rooms also have a Niles Audio IntelliControl system. A small touchscreen panel near the light switch provides individual keypad control of music, iPods, radio, TV and DVDs. Another switchplate has toggles to dim the lights and various controls for the overhead fan.

A cook's kitchen

Striding into the kitchen, Dan said, "I wanted to cook. I took this as an opportunity to load up on heavy duty appliances." With a grin, he said, "I spent a lot of time looking at magazines and the internet."

The six-burner propane Thermador stovetop and heavy-duty oven are swoon-worthy. The Mascarello granite for the countertops is also used as a backsplash. "It stands out, but blends with the cabinets," noted Dan. The dark, spacious cabinets don't take away from the home's scenic views: they were arranged along the side of the home facing the residence next door. A transom window over the cabinets brings additional light into the kitchen area.

To get him going in the morning, a Miele Espresso system is built in under the main island's countertop. A smaller island houses a refrigerated wine storage unit and a small beverage refrigerator. A five-sided bay juts out into the Oyster Creek scenery - it may eventually house a small dining area. A powder room divides the kitchen from the living room area. The sink, balancing on a dark wooden pedestal topped with a marble slab, is a sheer glass bowl. It is set against a wall tiled in a moody, wavelike pattern.

Staircase as art

Ascending the spooling staircase is an experience. A bit like being enveloped in a piece of art - it's hard to think of these floating steps as utilitarian objects.

At the top and to the left is Madeline's room. In a house that has walls painted Claret or sandstone, her room is a standout in two shades of robin's egg blue accented with white. She picked the colors. In Madeline's bathroom, the glittery tiles used in the shower are repeated in the frame encircling the vanity mirror. The white bead board vanity is topped with a milky marble slab.

Using a connecting door, the bedroom on the opposite side is smaller but has a five-sided bay similar to the one in the kitchen below. In the hallway is a cleaning closet that doubles as a laundry room with a stacked washer-dryer.

To the right of the stairs is the master bedroom. Beyond it: the master bath. Inside, the vanity and Jacuzzi are topped with white marble veined with gray, matching the slate gray palette of the walls and the tall, solid-looking cabinets. The oversized shower is lined with a similar marble. The Jacuzzi and shower both have unobstructed views of Oyster Creek. Right now, a dozen boats are gently rocking in their slips.

"It's been a long road to recovery. It's great to be back in the neighborhood and get my life back," said Dan. "We're almost there."

Would you like to see your house, townhome, condo, apartment or cottage featured as The Capital's Home of the Week? To nominate your home, e-mail Wendi Winters at wendi@quantumstep.com. Include your contact information and details about your residence.