It's only a matter of time.
Just mention Reservoir Hill, and someone will remark about its convenient location five minutes from downtown and how they think it could be Baltimore's next up-and-coming neighborhood.
Reservoir Hill's historic housing stock has the potential to make the neighborhood a boom for development, putting it on par with Canton or Fells Point.
In time, there could be more people like Chris and Cassandra Forsberg, who moved into a three-story townhouse on Eutaw Place in February.
"We were staying in a bed-and-breakfast downtown called the Inn at Government House and remarked that they don't build houses like this anymore, with dark wood and ornate detailing," recalled Chris Forsberg. "But we happened to pick up a homebuyers' guide that described this 1895 townhouse, so we decided to take a look. It still had all its detailing, and we fell in love with the house."
The house the Forsbergs purchased -- like most of the homes in Reservoir Hill -- was once the residence of a wealthy family. Although no longer an upper-class neighborhood, the area, with its architecturally ornate townhouses with more than 3,000 square feet of space and 20-foot widths, is slowly attracting interest.
Buyers are discovering that elegant late 19th- century urban architecture exists in Baltimore and for an affordable price.
Houses on Eutaw Place and adjacent Madison Avenue with as many as five bedrooms and four bathrooms have sold for $140,000 to $170,000.
Sharon Oliver of the Greenspring office of Long and Foster Real Estate Inc. has had a listing on Eutaw Place for $143,000. The three-story townhouse has five bedrooms and two baths and has been renovated.
"It's definitely becoming an exciting market," Oliver said.
Some residents have been hearing that it's only a matter of time for 20 years. While market forces are slowly transforming Reservoir Hill, a number of residents feel that the neighborhood needs help from the city. But the key to the community's success is not subsidized housing programs, in the opinion of Arlen Cullors, president of the Upper Eutaw/Madison Neighborhood Association, a historic district within Reservoir Hill.
"A neighborhood has to have its own legs and sustain itself outside of any city programs," he said.
The one area in which Reservoir Hill does need help from the city is code enforcement. "We need to crack down on vacant buildings and buildings owned by absentee owners that are eyesores," Cullors said.
