Great Room

From the time Henry Hopkins III ("Hoppy" to all who know him) was 15, he worked in his dad's Mount Vernon silversmith's shop. A former carriage house built in 1897, the building was converted to a shop in 1936, with an apartment above in the space that had been the hayloft. Hopkins loved the neighborhood so much that when he graduated from high school in northern Baltimore County, he fulfilled his dream of living close to work and to the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he enrolled in fine arts.

Late one night 30 years ago, Bob Brenner entered the Clarksville home he had just bought. It was the first time he had set foot in the house after dark. What he saw astounded him. "A full moon shown through the skylight," he remembered. "It was so bright I thought the lights were on. My shadow, and the shadows of things around me, was like nothing I'd ever seen before - long, like in sunlight." From then on, a sign has hung at the entrance to his Howard County property showing the home's name: Moonshadows.

Apple Tree Homes has opened three new models at Willow Oaks, a senior rancher home development in Laurel. Public water and sewer, gas heat and hot water and electric cooking are standard features in this Prince George's County community.The Charleston starts at $144,900 for 1,600 square feet of finished space.Two full baths, a foyer, garage, 13-by-11-foot kitchen, 20-by-21-foot great room, 16-by-12-foot master bedroom and 11-by-11-foot bedroom complete the model.The Boca Raton starts at $137,900 for 1,400 square feet of finished space.

Gilligan Homes has opened its Hunt Cup model in Greenspring Overlook at McDonogh Township, a townhouse community in Owings Mills.Public water and sewer and gas heat, cooking and hot water are standard features in the Baltimore County developmentThe Hunt Cup starts at $108,490 for 1,920 square feet of finished space.A sunken foyer, powder room, 18-by-10-foot great room, 13-by-9-foot dining room and a 11-by-9-foot kitchen are housed on the first floor.The second-floor bedroom is 14 feet by 13 feet with two walk-in closets and an option for a garden bath or sun room.

It's "back to school" for children throughout the area, but those words have taken on a new meaning for Linda and Bob Stevenson since they bought a converted schoolhouse in Relay as a home for themselves and their daughter, Heather.Built as a one-room schoolhouse during 1860s, the building has seen numerous expansions, including a library and additional classrooms. The Stevensons became the third family to live in the schoolhouse since it was converted into a residence in 1920.And while they intend to make the 19th-century structure comfortable for modern living, they're also determined not to forget its original purpose.

Masonry Macks Homes Inc. has begun pre-construction sales at Kensington in Owings Mills, where the firm is building 93 three-level townhouses with gas heat and cooking and public utilities.The Hampton is an end-unit townhouse with 1,496 square feet of finished space on two levels and an unfinished lower level with a beginning price of $125,990.An entry foyer with guest closet, powder room, 14-by-20-foot great room and 21-by-13-foot kitchen/breakfast area with walk-in pantry are on the first floor.

W. F. Utz Construction Co. Inc. has nine lots remaining at Severna Enclave, the gated single-family condominium community in Severna Park where the firm is building 22 traditional and transitional homes with gas heat and cooking.A community association takes care of lawn mowing and snow removal in the Anne Arundel County development.Standard features at Severna Enclave include brick fronts, blacktop drives, steel-door entry system with deadbolts, Colonial base and casing moldings, and unfinished basements.

No, the rain doesn't pound like a hailstorm when it hits the hand-formed tin roof of Karen and Mike McConnell's "dream home in progress" -- but they hear the question all the time.When the couple moved in, the home had a new, cedar shake roof. But then it began growing."It was beautiful, but we have lots of trees," said Karen. "We had vegetation growing off our roofs. The skylights were leaking, too. Another cedar roof wasn't the answer."The tin roof was just one of the rustic elements the couple added as they began to enhance their Phoenix home, part of which is a pre-Civil War log cabin.

When Anne and Jayant add the finishing touches to dishes for a dinner party, they don't feel isolated from their guests. Instead they are center stage, working in the expansive open kitchen of their Baltimore County home while chatting with friends who are mingling in the surrounding living area of the great room."

While kitchens often get the nod as the room that conjures the most memories, I have to vote for the dining room. My grandmother's dining room, in particular, still lingers in my mind because it was always the place of celebrations and ceremony as I was growing up.My family gathered there for holiday dinners, birthday parties, wedding showers and christening brunches.The dining room was probably the most elaborately furnished space in my grandmother's small, simple home. She had saved pennies after the Depression to buy the mahogany-veneer set of furniture -- pedestal table, formal chairs, china closet.

The large, sage-colored house on a quiet corner in Annapolis' Murray Hill neighborhood began in 1930 as a cozy cottage. Many years later, JoLynn and Robert Sheehan decided that an addition would give their growing family a main-level great room for gathering and a little more privacy upstairs. "We actually added the addition for the kids when they got bigger," JoLynn Sheehan said, noting that she and her husband wanted to provide a spacious area for their daughters to hang out at home with friends.

Patrick F. Mullaly A Celebration of Patrick's Life will be held on Sunday, March 1, 2009 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the Great Room at Historic Savage Mill, 8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763. Donations on his behalf can be made to Howard County ASPCA or Companion Animal Rescue Alliance (CARA) 3351 Corridor Marketplace, Suite 400-90, Laurel, MD 20724-2383. Flowers can be sent directly to the Great Room at Savage Mill on Sunday, March 1, condolences for the family can be sent to Norton Clouse 5251 Patriot Lane, Columbia, MD 21045 or Cynthia Hereth, 5255 Patriot Lane, Columbia, MD 21045.

From the time Henry Hopkins III ("Hoppy" to all who know him) was 15, he worked in his dad's Mount Vernon silversmith's shop. A former carriage house built in 1897, the building was converted to a shop in 1936, with an apartment above in the space that had been the hayloft. Hopkins loved the neighborhood so much that when he graduated from high school in northern Baltimore County, he fulfilled his dream of living close to work and to the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he enrolled in fine arts.

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.

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.

In 1982, Nancy Thompson and her husband, Rick, purchased something she always wanted - a historic home in the country. Twenty-six years later, Calvert County's Little Cove Farm, circa 1820, continues to delight the couple through the ups and downs of continuing restoration, extensive landscaping and open houses, as in the recent Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage tour. "We were tearing off siding two weeks before the tour," Thompson said. "Thank goodness, my husband is into this. He's willing to sacrifice along with me to get things for the home."

Blending classic Greek ornamentation and elegant Tuscan-style color themes, this architecturally traditional house offers rural privacy in the southwest tip of Howard County. "I was inspired by the look and feel of '60s movies," says homeowner Madelene Bates. "I liked how the rooms are classically decorated, but show restraint." She helped decorate the home that was designed and built by her husband Bruce Bates, a custom homebuilder and real estate agent. The two have lived in the house with one of their sons since 2005, perfecting the interior and making small additions to the decor.

After equipping our great room with a custom-made built-in unit for storing books, games and CDs, we realize that the piece should have been made larger to accommodate a serving bar and a rack for bottles. Can you suggest where we might find a free-standing bar unit that would complement the look of our home? It can best be described as transitional in its styling. An at-home bar was once predictably located in what used to be called a club basement. That liquor would be served there was an equally safe assumption back in those days.

Brooke Steuart, a petite mother of four young children, enjoys living large. Her 9,200-square-foot home in the Calvert County town of Owings is a testament to that. The house, clad in vinyl siding with generous use of Pennsylvania fieldstone, sits on seven acres, its exterior punctuated by 20-foot-tall white columns. In 1991 when the couple purchased the property for $450,000, the home, almost 30 years old at the time, was about a third its current size. It wasn't until 2001 that Steuart, an interior designer, felt the need to expand.

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.