Family Room

A master suite with a sitting room would be a desirable feature in any house. But what if there were four master suites - in the same house? That's the embarrassment of riches in this Tudor-style house sitting on more than 2 acres in Harford County. Four of the five bedrooms are on the upper level; each spacious bedroom has its own adjoining seating area - some with fireplace - and its own bathroom. "It's not a cookie-cutter house," says owner John G. Berger. "It's unique." Berger, who has owned the property for about four years, has overseen many of the renovations, including transforming a deck into a sunroom, upgrading the floors to a deep-red mahogany and refacing the kitchen cabinets.

Contemporary styling and minimalist aesthetic define this brick townhouse in Baltimore's Roland Gate community. The open floor plan and high ceilings add depth to the main floor, which includes the kitchen, family room and breakfast area. The large bay windows allow natural light to emanate throughout the room while strategically placed track and recessed lighting illuminate the house during evening hours. According to owner Samuel Chung, he and his wife, Sarah, have been entirely pleased since they bought the house in 2006.

"I think the house fits into the woods perfectly," Yvonne Kovacic said of her family's contemporary home tucked into a treed slope in Highland. The natural cedar-plank exterior and unpainted decks blend with the trees. The soaring walls of windows and multiple decks use the serene setting to advantage, with views all around. Even straight up through the skylights in the high ceilings, said her husband, Nick. The couple wants to find a smaller house, as their children are grown. "We've been here for 20 years," she said.

When it came to purchasing a new home and subsequently furnishing it, Nick and Ana Lazarides knew exactly what they wanted - even if the acquisition was slightly less than conventional. "I learned through a friend about houses being built in Carroll County," said Nick Lazarides, referring to the Peppermint Springs development in Westminster. "The builder there, John Sweeney, had a model that didn't appeal to us, but said if we found a house we liked, he'd build it." And so, after checking a variety of new homes elsewhere and deciding on a style they liked, the couple took Sweeney to see the model they picked out. They then purchased an acre of land on the development's hilly topography for $108,000.

A grand foyer with a 38-foot entrance hall, rooms with 12-foot-high ceilings and deep, detailed moldings mark this stately Guilford home. "It's great for hanging art," said Tony O'Brien, who has lived there with his wife and their two children for nearly three years. Soaring windows, including a dramatic bank of leaded glass windows at the staircase's marble landing, allow the sun to illuminate the house and warm its wood floors. A front veranda greets visitors, a sunroom with a half-moon window lies off the 34-foot-long living room and in the back, huge trees and landscaping seclude the stone patio.

Whether through skylights or multi-paned windows, sunlight streams into this Monkton home. Nearly every window has a view of Baltimore County's hunt country, and the Elkridge Harford Hunt Club events run through or behind the property every fall. The house and its setting offer a respite from the city. Yet, "it's definitely a home, it's not an estate," said owner Susan Boone. "We use every single room," she said. That includes a two-bathroom master suite, an office with a semicircle of window seats, an expansive dining room with deep molding and a kitchen-family room area where all parties seem to hover.

History has never looked as good as it does at the home on Duke of Gloucester Street in downtown Annapolis. While historic homes are the norm in this area, this tidy single-family home with Colonial-blue shutters and a green tin roof is a successful blend of old and new. Old studs, new faux-painted walls. Old exposed brick, new walnut floors. Old slate fireplaces, new granite countertops. Old glass windows, new stained-glass inserts. Victoria and Ron Duncan, the relatively new owners (they've lived in the house for just over a year)

A sweeping staircase leading to a ballroom and stage. A stone terrace overlooking a sparkling pool. Plus a billiards room, two family rooms and six fireplaces. There's living large, and then there's living grand. The 12,000-square-foot home of Dr. Donald E. Wilson and his wife, Patricia, is an excellent example of the latter. The couple live in Green Spring Valley, which is known for its estate-sized homes, but the Wilson house, which took two years to build, is significant for its features and design.

Larry Strassner and David Reed are the first to admit that they have "over-customized" their Abingdon home. But the ambience they have created in the past 10 years suits their lifestyle perfectly. In 1997, after a burglary at their Hamilton home in Baltimore, the men purchased a two-story, brick Colonial in the Harford County development of Timberwood. The base cost of the four-bedroom, three-bath home was $180,000, but they sprang for upgrades that included all-wood flooring, ceramic kitchen tile, a cathedral ceiling in the master suite, two gas fireplaces and upgraded door moldings.

The Kirchhoff family home at the end of a quiet cul de sac in Sykesville in southern Carroll County looks pretty much like any other 30-year-old rancher built of concrete and aluminum siding. But pass through the front door under a three-column portico, and that changes. "It's your typical rancher," Diane Kerchhoff said matter-of-factly. "We just opened it up and doubled the size." No interior walls define any specific area in two-thirds of the home's living space. An open banister for the stairs to the lower level is the only break in an open floor plan that sweeps 50 feet in depth and 35 feet in width.