Facade

The impressions are, after all, only skin deep. Federal Hill's rank on rank of carefully cosmetically correct buildings of early 19th century type have overtones of candlelight, fireplaces and "antique" furnishings.But the south harbor renaissance district is one of the more venturesome areas of recycled shelter in town -- residences often with contemporary styling of almost Parisian chic. There, warehouses have become balconied flats that wouldn't jar one a bit in the landscape of Montmartre.

The mother of a teen-ager who authorities said is responsible for the six-alarm Ellicott City fire last week was charged with one count of malicious destruction of property, Howard County police reported yesterday.Patricia Anne Riesner, 38, of the 2000 block of E. Hoffman St. in Baltimore was arrested Tuesday afternoon as she scrawled messages on plywood boards attached to the facades of the burned-out buildings on Main Street, police said.She told police she wrote the messages -- which appeared to imply that someone else started the fire -- to defend her son, Matthew Riesner, 17, of Pasadena.

The Maryland Stadium Authority gave final approval yesterday to plans to dismantle the last vestige of Memorial Stadium -- the trademark facade that memorializes the nation's world war dead -- and to begin planning a new veterans memorial at Camden Yards. The stadium authority, which is demolishing the old home of the city's football and baseball teams on 33rd Street, unanimously affirmed the deal, which has been approved by the city's Board of Estimates. Demolition is expected to begin within 10 days.

Sharon and Ray Johnson travel to many tropical spots in Mexico and the Caribbean. But after the sun and fun, they always return to their private paradise in Catonsville.The Johnsons regard their split-foyer home in the Ellicott Mills community as a relaxing, quiet oasis, a great place to spend their retirement."We're really centrally located and yet we're hidden because it's kind of quiet," says Mr. Johnson, 52, a retired manager for Hallmark cards.Adds Mrs. Johnson, 51: "We're sun-worshipers.

WESTMINSTER'S EFFORT to refine the outward appearance of its central business district is an encouraging sign that the Carroll County seat is experiencing economic renewal at its heart.A Frederick architectural firm is soliciting ideas and opinions from people who live, work and own property in the downtown area, to help reshape the city's existing "Standards for 'u Renovation."The city law contains guidelines for the types of building facades, signs and architecture permitted in the central district along Main Street.

The drama Beautiful People certainly delivers on its title. It presents marvelous moms, drop-dead daughters, stellar students and comely cads. Most of the beautiful people - or "BPs" - attend a prestigious New York high school. Gideon, an endearing geek, explains the importance of the "BP" title. "It's just much easier to loathe something when it has a name," he says. It would be easy to loathe Beautiful People, a family drama that debuts at 9 p.m. tomorrow on the ABC Family cable channel.

Hampstead's first firehouse -- a landmark at 1214 N. Main St. -- is getting a face lift.Our generation knows the place as Towne Pride Interiors. Back in 1902, it was Hampstead's firehouse, built to house a company that was formed in 1899. A generation later, it was home to "40 active and 150 volunteers," The Sun reported Jan. 16, 1939.A week ago, when workmen tore off the siding and signage of the storefront, the raised brickwork letters H.F. Co. No. 1 shone over the door like a forgotten pearl.

In many cultures, especially Asian, a humble facade hides a fancy home inside. In this case, though, the inside of Pho Dat Thanh (pronounced "Foe Daht Than") in Snowden Marketplace, Columbia, isn't all that fancy, either. A single room, with a small bar to one side near the entrance, features silvery green walls with a tangerine-hued chair rail in the middle and rather non-descript prints above. The tables are bare-topped, with a stainless basket of condiments providing a bit of color.

A large section of brick facade fell off a National Institutes of Health research facility on the Southeast Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, reviving concerns about a building that opened two years late because of other problems. The incident, in which no one was injured, also has raised questions about safety in a city with many large buildings - but no laws requiring their exterior walls to be inspected as they age. Experts say such problems are relatively rare, but could become more common as building standards change.

I must have driven by Chow Mein Charlie hundreds of times before I gave it a try. Sitting on a busy stretch of West Cold Spring Lane, it isn't particularly inviting. The small storefront is rather homely, with only a neon sign in the window to attract customers. ; Poor: