Baltimore magazine - Home & Garden

Personal Space: Just Add Water

Baltimore magazine — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:53:42 +0000

Before settling on their Cockeysville home, Bonnie and Scott Tarantino looked at more than 35 different properties.

By Jane Marion

Before settling on their Cockeysville home, Bonnie and Scott Tarantino looked at more than 35 different properties.

“I would walk into the foyer and walk out,” recalls Bonnie. “I’d look at Scott and say, ‘That’s not it.’” But when they pulled up to a 1940s rancher set on a beautiful three-acre property, they felt certain they’d found a place to call home. “I loved the way the property was tucked back,” says Bonnie, “and there were peonies in bloom. Before we went inside, we just knew.”

Trowel Talk

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:19:06 +0000

A mature garden often has all the makings for some very special holiday decorations.

By Victoria M. Elder

A reader who wants to create holiday decorations from her own backyard, à la Martha Stewart, thinks she has the raw ingredients: a big white pine tree, several holly bushes, camellias, fairy roses, and a large assortment of wildflowers that can be easily dried. But she asked for a little guidance.

It's a great idea, and, in fact, she has some of the best species from which to draw. Plus, she'll save a lot of money. (It's fun, too.) Here are some ideas to get started:

Here Comes the Sun

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:08:59 +0000

Thinking about solar panels to cut your home-energy bills? Join the crowd: Efficiency is up and the cost is going down.

By Kelly Alm

Frank and Mary Smith spent three years looking for the perfect rooftop solar system for their Anne Arundel County home. Problem was, most of the products on the market looked like relics from the industrial revolution, throwing form out the window for function.

"We go to house shows a lot," says Frank Smith, "and most of the solar panels have a very commercial look with a racking system that sits eight inches to a foot off the roof. It was very important to us to have a visually appealing system."

The Unsinkable Molly Shattuck

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:52:20 +0000

The home of the former Ravens cheerleader and Constellation Energy's Mayo Shattuck successfully merges two very different backgrounds.

By Jane Marion

As if on cue at the sound of a knock, Molly Shattuck's children appear at the front door of the palatial Roland Park 1926 brick home she shares with her husband, Mayo Shattuck III, chairman, president, and CEO of Constellation Energy.

"Hi, I'm Spencer," says their 13-year-old son, greeting a visitor with his bright smile. "And I'm Lillian," says her 8-year-old daughter, wearing a pink-and-green Lilly Pulitzer sheath.

Nantucket On the Choptank

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:34:17 +0000

New England seaside architecture meets comfort and elegance in this home away from home.

By Kelly Alm

Curt Singer strolls along the edge of his backyard, seal-brown Lab in tow, as a breeze carries the faint scent of marine life. Nearby, a neighbor pulls crab pots onto the dock, the sound of seagulls in the distance and lapping water setting the afternoon's leisurely pace. "We had always wanted to live by the water," Curt says of himself, founder of a hospitality management company, and his wife, Paula, who works for Laureate Education. The couple resides in Howard County, but spends weekends and holidays at their waterfront home in Cambridge.

Forever Home

Baltimore magazine — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:14:28 +0000

By Jane Marion

It was 2007 and couple Derrick Booze and Bob Kan were each looking to make a move—Booze from an apartment in the Cedarcroft area; Kan from one in Ruxton. That was when their close friend, designer Ted Pearson, suggested they tour a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath townhome at Overlook Clipper Mill.

"Ted said, 'You've got to come look at this place,'" recounts Booze. "'I think you'll both love it.'"

Baltimore HOME: Winter 2011 Resource Guide

Baltimore magazine — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:11:11 +0000

ANTIQUES

All Together Now

Baltimore magazine — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:57:59 +0000

Robin Weiman is a condo matchmaker.

By Jane Marion

Some people are romantic matchmakers; Robin Weiman is a condo matchmaker.

In the late 1990s, she was living in a Charles Village apartment. But after one car was stolen from her parking lot and another one was vandalized, she suspected it was time to move on—and her parents were sure of it.

Home Again

Baltimore magazine — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:19:13 +0000

Comedy writer Larry Doyle is at peace reliving wife Becky’s Charm City childhood.

By Jane Marion

Six years ago, Larry Doyle and his wife, Becky Lichtenstein, were living the California dream in a 1920s English Tudor home in sunny Silver Lake, a hip Los Angeles neighborhood. Doyle, a former writer for The Simpsons and Beavis and Butt-Head, was toiling on screenplays and pitching pilots, while Lichtenstein had retired from real estate to raise the couple's kids (Ben, now 12, and twins Alice and Joe, now 7).

Picture Perfect

Christianna McCausland — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:01:18 +0000

We go in search of the region’s best sources of fine art, from Old World to new wave.

By Christianna McCausland

Whether you're a budding collector or merely in need of a conversation piece for your living room wall, there is good news, and there is bad news about Baltimore's fine-art-buying scene. The bad news is that economic forces have conspired to do in many of the old-school galleries that once so masterfully melded the showcasing and selling of art. The good news? A few still remain, and a host of smaller galleries have cropped up to fill the gap and connect consumers with works that range from the traditional to the avante-garde (and everything in between).