Front Room

Calling all literati and English majors with decent paychecks: You have a chance to own a home once graced by F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. The Bolton Hill home where Fitzgerald lived during a stint during the 1930s and wrote "Tender Is the Night,"  just went on the market in an estate sale. The handsome rowhouse at 1307 Park Ave. has four bedrooms, four baths and 3,600 square feet of pure conversation starter. The ad on Estately boasts "gracious & elegant" living and "unadulterated" original details.

The man arrested Thursday in the fatal beating of a 17-year-old girl and the assault of her disabled mother struck them repeatedly with a hammer during a drunken rage ignited by an argument with his girlfriend, court records say. William Jones, 32, was ordered held without bond Friday morning by a District Court judge. Jones, who has no prior criminal convictions, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. Baltimore police arrested Jones on Thursday morning after he had barricaded himself in a nearby home.

A 2-year-old boy was killed and his mother and infant sister were injured yesterday when fire broke out in their two-story row house in Pimlico, according to fire officials.Firefighters found the body of Taneka Mackey on a sofa in a second-floor front room at 2915 Oakley Ave., Capt. Patrick P. Flynn, a Fire Department spokesman, said."It was not a big fire," Captain Flynn said. "Firefighters got to him within minutes after it started."The child was pronounced dead at the scene.The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said the boy may have set the sofa on fire while playing with a lighter.

Four people were being treated for injuries or chest pains today after a two-alarm fire that destroyed a two-story brick rowhouse in the 2400 block of W. Baltimore St.Chester Jacobs, 17, was in University of Maryland Medical Center with burns on his arms after he jumped from a second-floor window.Four other people in the house escaped uninjured, but two firefighters sustained minor neck burns when they rushed into the flames after being told people were trapped inside. They were being treated at the Fire Department infirmary.

Annapolis police were looking yesterday for a man who stole a $2,100 bronze horse from a well-known city art gallery. The thief was the only person in the McBride Gallery on Main Street at 7 p.m. Thursday and was "walking around in a manner that [the owner] wouldn't see him," according to the police report. After he slipped out, gallery owner Cynthia McBride immediately noticed that the 12-inch statue of a horse by artist Sandy Scott was missing from the front room. Judy Brick, a manager at the gallery, said thefts are rare and losing the horse felt a bit like losing a member of the family.

POLICE* North Laurel8300 block of Mary Lee Lane: A resident heard rapid gunshots fired about midnight Jan. 1, and later discovered that one of his rear windows had been broken. Several pellets were found inside the window sill.8300 block of Mary Lee Lane: Someone fired a BB pellet through the front living room window of a home between 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31 and 10:30 a.m. Jan. 1.

Inside the former Barclay Recreation Center on Saturday, the smell of fumes filled the air as a band of volunteers spent the morning putting on a fresh coat of paint in anticipation of its reopening under new management later this year. The city's Department of Recreation and Parks shut down the center last August after 32 years and handed it over to the neighboring Barclay Elementary and Middle School. Volunteers from the area finally started working earlier this year to get the facility back up and running.

Alton Lott, a Baltimore man far smaller than Santa Claus, was rescued early today from a 1-foot-square chimney police say he entered in a bungled burglary attempt.Mr. Lott, who is 5-foot-8 and about 140 pounds, was pulled from the chimney in the 1100 block of W. Mulberry St. about 1 a.m.Mr. Lott, 26, of the 800 block of W. Lexington St., told police he had taken refuge there about 8 o'clock last night because he was being chased by several people. However, police planned to serve him with a warrant charging him with attempted burglary today, once he is released from University of Maryland Medical ++ Center, where he was in good condition.

POLICE LOG* Hickory Ridge: 6100 block of Covington Road: A resident was awakened by noises early yesterday morning and saw a burglar run from the dining room and climb out a front living room window, police said. A rifle and other property were taken. The burglar had removed a screen from an open window to enter.* Harper's Choice: 10400 block of Twin Rivers Road: A VCR and cash were stolen from the Family Life Center on Friday or Saturday. A rock was used to break a window for entry. Police said blood found at the scene indicated the thief had been cut by glass.

A 63-year-old West Baltimore man was killed in a fire yesterday morning at a three-story rowhouse in the 700 block of Gilmor St., city fire officials said.Albert Griffin was found on the third floor after fire officials received a call about 5: 30 a.m., Battalion Chief Hector Torres said. He was declared dead at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The fire was under control before 6 a.m., officials said.The first floor of the rowhouse had been a church, but was being used as a soup kitchen, Torres said.