Homes

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

Ocean City, Md., is the fourth most-searched location among Americans looking for vacation homes online, according to website traffic from Trulia collected over a 12-month period ending March 31, 2013. Cape May, N.J., the county encompassing that state's Ocean City and North Wildwood, and Kissimmee, Fla., were the only places that were more sought out than Maryland's leading summer destination. The median price of a home in Ocean City, Md., is $275,000, according to Trulia, about $250,000 less than the median price for a home in Ocean City, N.J. “Most people search for vacation areas close to home, rather than across the country,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist and vice president of analytics.

Inside Westminster Abbey, eight 20-foot-tall live trees lined the center aisle during the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The trees transformed the space, doing what even the most elaborate floral arrangement could not — providing a natural, living sense of permanence and an air of drama. The move was unexpected, unpretentious and bold. A potted tree on your patio or deck can have the same effect. While not every tree is well-suited for a container, there are a surprising number of options, ranging from crape myrtles to hollies.

On this Memorial Day weekend, as we remember with deepest gratitude the sacrifice of America's military heroes, we also offer our thoughts and prayers for the victims of the Oklahoma tragedy. I've dedicated a half-dozen columns to the single most dangerous federal law passed in many years, the (not so) Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"). History buffs observe that landmark pieces of legislation typically pass Congress with some degree of bipartisan support. (See, e.g., the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare Act of 1965)

Up to half of sexually active young people will get a sexually transmitted disease by the time they are 25, yet many don't seek testing because it may be difficult, costly or embarrassing. Public health officials nationally and in particularly affected cities like Baltimore, however, say they've found a method that seems to address the major hurdles — a website that supplies free in-home testing kits for three of the most commonly reported STDs. "The highest prevalence is in young adults, and we knew we had to reach these kids," said Charlotte A. Gaydos, a professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

A proposed buyout of Smith Island homeowners to help them escape future damage from tropical storms and rising waters has been dropped amid vocal resistance from residents of the low-lying community in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The Somerset County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday not to offer buyouts with any of the $8.6 million in federal aid the lower Eastern Shore county is in line to receive to help it recover from the ravages of...

The lexicon of real estate listing language has many terms for putting a positive spin on features the average buyer wouldn't like. "Bold" for the orange-and-green themed condo. "Cute" for the house decorated for princess-loving preadolescents. Now comes a phrase custom-made for homes that haven't been updated since the Johnson administration: "'Mad Men' style. " That's the creative advertising used in the listing for a Baltimore County house that just hit the market for $475,000.

Police and firefighters cordoned off a section of Fort Meade on Wednesday morning after utility workers discovered a piece of unexploded ordnance from the World War II era, base officials said. The workers were doing scheduled maintenance work in a residential section of the Army installation in Anne Arundel County around 10:30 a.m. when they found the mortar training round, officials said. The Fort Meade Department of Emergency Services cordoned off a 300-meter area near 2 n d Army Drive and Potomac Place, officials said.

The number of homes sold in the Baltimore metro area last month dropped sharply from January, but the decline likely doesn't mean the market is taking a turn for the worse. There were just under 1,500 closed sales in Baltimore and its neighboring counties during February, a 5.7 percent drop from the first month of the year, according to data released Monday by RealEstate Business Intelligence LLC. It's not unheard of for sales numbers to drop off between January and February.

December was another positive month for home sales in metropolitan Baltimore, though the market supply of homes continued to dwindle, dropping below 10,000 for the first time since February 2006. Last month, 1,945 home sales closed in Baltimore and its five surrounding counties, according to data released by RealEstate Business Intelligence LLC, an affiliate of the region's multiple-listing service. That's a 3.6 percent drop from November, but nearly a 13 percent increase over December 2011.

Several unscrupulous companies are circulating materials in the Baltimore area that are aimed at taking advantage of homeowners, according to St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, a Baltimore charity that counsels home buyers and people facing foreclosure. One type of scam sends homeowners a letter by U.S. mail that says the homeowner should have on hand an official copy of their home's deed. The company then offers to acquire and forward to the homeowner a copy of the deed - for $70 or more.

    1.          When Madison Jacobson receives her Towson High School diploma on June 1, the celebration will just be getting started. Jacobson, who will head to Roanoke College in the fall, will continue the festivities at home the day after graduation, when her family throws her a garden-themed party. "It's Madison's launch from the nest," says Debbie Jacobson, her mother. "We are working with Lilly Pulitzer colors and pretty, picnicky food, like chicken salad with green grapes, croissants, fruit salad and sangria.

A fire damaged a home in Forest Hill on Wednesday evening. The fire was reported around 6:15 p.m. in a two-story, wood frame dwelling in the 300 block of Cannery Lane, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office, which investigated. Approximately 20 firefighters from the Bel Air and Fallston volunteer fire companies responded and brought the fire under control in about 10 minutes, according to the Fire Marshal's Office's notice of investigation. No injuries were reported.

This is in response to the letter writer from Catonsville who wrote that he was "appalled" by Home Depot's decision to no longer allow a hot dog stand in front of its stores ("Home Depot hammers the little guy, again," May 20). The main thing that the writer fails to remember is that Home Depot owns the property and has the right to act like any other landlord and exercise their right to renew or cancel a lease as they see fit. Angelo Micklos was given proper notice to vacate the property and it is not up to the writer to question business practices for Home Depot.

"Estate" is not a description that should be used indiscriminately - yet the term clearly when referring to the Colonial-style mansion at 1105 Bellevista Court in Severna Park. Located on nearly one acre in the subdivision of Belleview Estates, this four-story brick home with almost 9,000 square feet of living space was listed at $1,995,900 and sold for $1,850,000. It closed April 30 without ever being formally listed on the market. "[This was] one of the highest-selling, non-waterfront homes in Anne Arundel County and an example of the positive turn our housing market is taking," said Jennifer Sowers of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, one of two co-listing agents.

Baltimore's spending board voted Wednesday to approve another property tax break for city homeowners, part of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's plan to cut property taxes by 22 percent over 10 years. The tax credit approved by the Board of Estimates would knock $140 off the median property tax bill on owner-occupied homes. That is on top of the $40 cut that came when the panel created the credit last year. The numbers are based on the taxes that would be due on a property assessed at $200,000.

Superstorm Sandy barely laid a glove on Smith Island last fall, to hear residents tell it. Though storm-driven flooding damaged hundreds of homes in Crisfield and the rest of Somerset County, only a couple islanders got any water in their homes from the surging Chesapeake Bay. Yet with the island slowly shrinking and sinking into the bay, the state is considering using $2 million of the federal storm recovery aid it's received so far to buy out...

In 2011, I spent six months in hospitals and nursing homes recovering from a bacterial infection called C-Difficile that I caught after surgery ("Nightmare bacteria," March 8). It is easily passed from patient to patient. While in the nursing homes I noticed a lack of the kind of proper care that would have prevented this potentially fatal illness. When I was admitted, not only was I placed in a semi-private room, exposing the other patient, I was given a remote control that had dried feces and blood on it. I reported it, but I'm sure this kind of thing happens constantly.

Lisa and Eric Grevin's southern Anne Arundel County home bustles with activity, with six children playing, doing homework and getting ready for dinner. With three adopted children and three foster children, it's not exactly what the Grevins pictured when they decided to start a family — but now they say they couldn't imagine life any other way. "It changed our lives," said Eric Grevin, 41, of the couple's decision to serve as foster parents. "It made our lives richer and fuller, and I'm so glad we did it. " The Grevins recently were named Foster Parents of the Year for Anne Arundel County and will be honored at a reception with Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley at Government House in Annapolis in June.

In regard to your article about the hot dog stands at Home Depot ("Home Depot tells owners of hot dog stands to relocate," May 17), I am appalled that the Big Box Bully would crush a small business owner in this environment. To throw out a long-time vendor that brings a nice added touch to this behemoth is unfathomable to me and should anger all small business owners especially the small businesses that use Home Depot for their own livelihood. Kicking a 17-employee small business out to put more lawn mowers and grills in front during the "busy season" is odd since the store has been in partnership with Angelo Micklos for 21 years.