Great Room

Even though residential spaces seem to be getting ever smaller, individual rooms in the home are actually getting larger.These days, it's not unusual to see food preparation, dining, TV watching and family relaxation all being performed in what's known as the "great room." But no matter how large this sort of space may be, the various activities do need to be confined to certain areas, with adequate sound and sight control, in order for such a room to function properly.This is one instance when the art of space planning can be adapted to a residential setting.

Some people purchase waterfront property with the intent of tearing down any structures as soon as possible. It's usually the land they are after. In 1991, Roy and Mary Jones purchased property in eastern Baltimore County on Middle River, one of the busiest tributaries on the Chesapeake Bay. They paid $235,000, and their intentions were a little different. They lived in the house instead of tearing it down. But after 20 years raising a family in the home, the couple decided it was time to start over.

Our new home has a great room consisting of three family-oriented areas: for cooking, eating and watching television. We moved all our old kitchen, dining and living room furniture into this large space, but it looks awkward and disorganized. The floor is made entirely of Wood, and the walls are all painted white. Can you suggest how to make our great room look great -- without adding partitions? I suspect that the style of your furniture may be more formal than what's appropriate for an inherently informal space.

The fascinating thing about the Carroll County bilevel home of Corynne Courpas and her husband, Scott Markle, is its dual personality. From the street, their home looks exactly as it did in 1977. It is only at the front door that the home expands, with rooms growing on and out. This is no typical bilevel interior. "This is a split-foyer on steroids," Scott Markle says, greeting his visitor. "Come on up!" A sunroom, a great room with cathedral ceilings and a spacious master bedroom are some of the features that make the home unusual.

THE TRADITIONAL living room, one of the last bastions of formality in American homes, is headed for extinction, industry experts say, the victim of changing demographics and lifestyles. Whereas 30 years ago most homes had a formal living room set aside for entertaining, that space has yielded to light-filled great rooms, larger kitchens and other spaces that are more informal and conducive to entertaining, or which better fit the modern homeowners' needs. "People think the living room is too formal and a waste of space," says Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president for research with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington.

When they decided to build a home two decades ago, Alfred and Marilyn Biegel had a few requirements in mind. "We wanted an open great room, so that it is open for entertaining and gives you space," said Al Biegel, a retired Army colonel. "We'd lived overseas and I liked so many of the old European chalets, so I wanted a pitched roof," Marilyn Biegel said. They wanted lots of built-ins and convenient, expansive storage for the china, glassware and books they'd accumulated. Their contemporary home, tucked into a hillside on Columbia's largest residential lot, has a cathedral ceiling that soars more than two stories high over a living room, dining area and kitchen that flow together.

If the courtyard that greets visitors to Denny and Cindi Mather's beach home in Fenwick Island, Del., looks like the entrance to a motel, that's because it once was. The walled courtyard with foliage, fountain and an arched wrought-iron gate that opens to the road was there when the couple purchased the Sea Charm Motel and the property it sat on in 2008. They purchased the former motel with the intent to tear it down and build their dream home. Since they wanted to build a home larger than what would have been permitted on a vacant commercial lot, they had to keep part of the motel to satisfy the variances.

The fascinating thing about the Carroll County bilevel home of Corynne Courpas and her husband, Scott Markle, is its dual personality. From the street, their home looks exactly as it did in 1977. It is only at the front door that the home expands, with rooms growing on and out. This is no typical bilevel interior. "This is a split-foyer on steroids," Scott Markle says, greeting his visitor. "Come on up!" A sunroom, a great room with cathedral ceilings and a spacious master bedroom are some of the features that make the home unusual.

What began four years ago as an idea for a small weekend retreat soon morphed into plans for a full-time, lodge-style homestead where Kip Fulks, one of the founding partners in Under Armour sports apparel, and his wife, Beth, could find permanent refuge. "We wanted to build a house where we could grow old together," said Kip Fulks, the 39-year-old senior vice president of outdoor and innovation for Under Armour. "[So] we had to build a home that would be exciting to wake up to every day. " Susan Major, owner of the Hestia Design Group in Columbia, was a key player in the house's story from the very beginning, as the Fulks admired her work and took her on board as decorator and adviser.

From a winding road in Howard County's small town of Fulton, it's not easy to spot the home of Dr. Francisco Ward and his wife, Nadia. That is just as they would have it. Three years ago, it was not so much about privacy, as it was - and still is - about space. Their rambling ranch house, complete with horse barn and a few outbuildings, sits on 6 acres of land at the end of a long driveway. It is, they contend, the ideal place for raising their five children. "It was getting pretty crowded in our Ellicott City house," said 42-year old Nadia Ward, who does administrative work for her husband's pain management practice in Baltimore.

From the halls of a condominium complex, every residence looks just about the same. The surprise is often in the sight that greets a visitor when the front door is answered. In the case of Wendy Galinn's condo, the wow factor is immediately apparent. "You don't expect this when you walk in, do you?" says Galinn, a petite, 53-year-old physical education teacher. Few people do, and all are more than amazed at the bright, spacious interior of her residence. "There are 12 units per building and only four are condos with lofts," she says, explaining the layout of the Perry Hall condo she purchased new in August 2002 for $155,000.

Joe Graziose and his family have recently moved into their fourth home at the same location — the Ritz-Carlton Residences along Baltimore's Inner Harbor. "We've tested locations on all fronts of the building," he said. "Our last unit overlooked Federal Hill. " It is not that the Grazioses are fickle or hard to please. On the contrary. As senior vice president of RXR Realty, developers of the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Baltimore, as well as one of its investors, Graziose has always opened his and wife Jackie's home to prospective buyers looking for a unit in the upscale complex.

The Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber and the BWCC Foundation are holding a holiday mixer Thursday, Dec. 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Great Room at Savage Mill, 8600 Foundry St., in Savage. Cost is $45 for members prepaid and $65 for non-members and all at the door. Invite your employees and clients to attend. Use this event as an office holiday party. Net proceeds are used to support scholarships for area high school students to attend college. Register, http://www.bwcc.org/BWCC_Data/getEventDetails?

The long-awaited Laurel-Beltsville Senior Activity Center, 7120 Contee Road, officially opens Friday, Aug. 26 at an invitation-only ribbon cutting. The center will be open to the public Monday, Aug. 29. To become a center member, apply for a membership card at the front desk. Prince George's County and Montgomery County residents ages 60 and up receive a free ID, which provides access to the fitness room, fireside lounge, billiards room and more. Out-of-county residents and those ages 50 to 59 can join the center by paying a nominal fee. A wide variety of classes will be offered seasonally, and registration is through the automated SMARTlink registration system.

The best way to view Peck and Patti Miller's home on Assawoman Bay is from the stern of their 22-foot runabout — to slice the water across the little cove and to see the gables of their cottage in Ocean City come closer and closer as people wave from the pier. "Now this is how to experience it," said Peck Miller, a 55-year-old transplant from Towson who came to work "downy ocean" in 1973 when he was a teen and happened to stay. " Ocean City can be a noisy place. This area is called 'Little Salisbury' [because]

If the courtyard that greets visitors to Denny and Cindi Mather's beach home in Fenwick Island, Del., looks like the entrance to a motel, that's because it once was. The walled courtyard with foliage, fountain and an arched wrought-iron gate that opens to the road was there when the couple purchased the Sea Charm Motel and the property it sat on in 2008. They purchased the former motel with the intent to tear it down and build their dream home. Since they wanted to build a home larger than what would have been permitted on a vacant commercial lot, they had to keep part of the motel to satisfy the variances.

Joe Graziose and his family have recently moved into their fourth home at the same location — the Ritz-Carlton Residences along Baltimore's Inner Harbor. "We've tested locations on all fronts of the building," he said. "Our last unit overlooked Federal Hill. " It is not that the Grazioses are fickle or hard to please. On the contrary. As senior vice president of RXR Realty, developers of the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Baltimore, as well as one of its investors, Graziose has always opened his and wife Jackie's home to prospective buyers looking for a unit in the upscale complex.

From the halls of a condominium complex, every residence looks just about the same. The surprise is often in the sight that greets a visitor when the front door is answered. In the case of Wendy Galinn's condo, the wow factor is immediately apparent. "You don't expect this when you walk in, do you?" says Galinn, a petite, 53-year-old physical education teacher. Few people do, and all are more than amazed at the bright, spacious interior of her residence. "There are 12 units per building and only four are condos with lofts," she says, explaining the layout of the Perry Hall condo she purchased new in August 2002 for $155,000.

In 1988, with only three months to relocate from Fort Monmouth, N.J., to Aberdeen, Stephen Hoffman and his wife, Sharon, set out to find a house in Maryland. The couple started their search with a historic house in Harford County that had been recorded in the Aberdeen Heritage Trust. According to the entry, the "Cole House" was originally a small log house, built in the mid-1700s on a parcel of some 100 acres that had been deeded to Col. James Cole. For the Hoffmans, it was a house with potential.

Karen Foltz finds comfort in symmetry. Add order and neatness and you have her version of the ideal home design. But when Foltz and her husband were looking to move and could not find a house that offered the comfort she longed for, the solution was obvious — they would custom-build. "I'm very particular," said Foltz, 48. "I went through book after book until I found the one. " And when that happened, she removed the page from its binder, where it was filed under the chapter "Homes With Proven Character.