Town House

Four months after its builder filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the Village of Homeland town house development in northern Baltimore is back on the market.Homeland Acres Limited Partnership, the group building the 120-unit community off the 400 block of Homeland Avenue, resumed sales late last month, with Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. in charge of marketing.Doug Magill, regional manager for Long & Foster's new homes division, said the Bankruptcy Court has approved the builder's plan to resume sales.

Final plans for a new subdivision of 52 town houses in Dorsey's Search village in Columbia received county Planning Board approval yesterday.The board approved a site development plan for the as-yet unnamed development on 4.4 acres off Columbia Road on the former site ofAllview Golf Course.Columbia Builders hopes to sell the homes in the low- to mid-$140,000 range, said Ted Wies, the company's project manager.Construction is expected to begin around the end of next month or early March, with models opening in mid- to late-April, Wies said.

The daily business of running Sykesville takes place on antique desks amid display cases filled with items from the town's past.A Turkish tapestry sent home by a World War II soldier, a 1927 railroad banner, a century-old bank ledger and an 1885 family Bible all help Sykesville look to its past while planning for the future.Thanks to Thelma C. Wimmer and the other members of the Sykesville Historic Commission, many such treasures fill Sykesville's Town House on Main Street.The town manager's desk, the clerk treasurer's desk, the mantel clock in the meeting room -- all are donations procured through Mrs. Wimmer's efforts.

Stanley I. Panitz, a former real estate developer whose Bolton Square town house community earned him national recognition, died Monday from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Springwell Senior Living in Mount Washington. The Roland Park resident was 88. "Stan was a lovely, dear man who did so much for Baltimore and the Baltimore metro area. He loved both his family and his community," said Shale D. Stiller, a longtime friend who is a partner at DLA Piper and former president and trustee of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

Sykesville will build an addition to its century-old Town House, an estimated $140,000 expansion that would preserve the building's historic character while making the seat of town government more accessible to those with disabilities. A state grant for historic improvements will pay for the work that will give the building a new entrance, a roomier meeting area and two bathrooms. "Our plans are nearly complete, and we have our historic district's approval," said Matthew Candland, town manager.

Skiers on Marsh Mountain in Garrett County can schuss right into their own backyard at the Villages of Wisp town house community, a 390-acre site south of the Wisp Ski Resort in McHenry.The first section of 95 units is completed and now 18 of 40 town houses in the second section are for sale.There are two town house models available. One sells for $100,000 and is 16 feet wide and has 1,536 square feet. It has two floors plus a finished clubroom basement, two bedrooms and two baths.A larger $120,000 model is 20 feet wide and has 2,200 square feet.

As Isabella Litchka awaits her husband's return from a business trip, she puts the finishing touches on a home project she has been working on in his absence - the placement of crown molding running along the base of the first-to-second-floor staircase. "I can't wait until my husband comes home and sees [this]," said the 57-year old, semi-retired teacher. It is not that she is refurbishing an old home. On the contrary, she and her husband, Peter Litchka, a professor at Loyola College, purchased their new three-story town house in the northern Baltimore County community of High View just two years ago. Empty nesters for many years, the Litchkas fit the familiar story of downsizing to a smaller home in a community that offers amenities such as lawn maintenance, an outdoor swimming pool, and clubhouse with a gym, cafe, movie theater and rentable party rooms.

The story of Sykesville is hanging in the foyer of town hall -- a series of simple black picture frames that carry the photos of every elected official going back more than 50 years.In a town like Sykesville, (population 3,500), the pool of candidates is small, and the same folks tend to serve through the years. Visitors to town hall, which is known as the Town House, can watch their neighbors and relatives age and change appearance in the photos along the wall.The display is the same in each case: a beige mat with seven oval cutouts -- the mayor surrounded by his six-member council.

The builder of an Annapolis retirement community has started construction on a new town house project in Arnold that will overlook a public golf course.U.S. Home Corp., developer of the 1,260-unit Heritage Harbour on South Haven Road, has broken ground on Pine Valley, a 92-unit community that won't be age-restrictive.The developer will build town houses on 11 acres adjacent to the Bay Hills Golf Course. The homes, surrounded by woodlands, will overlook the third fairway of the 18-hole Professional Golf Association course and country club.

More than 50 Glen Burnie residents, armed with petitions and toddlers in tow, packed a zoning hearing yesterday to protest a proposed town house development.But they never had a chance to argue their case.Before the residents could voice their opposition, Robert C. Wilcox, the county's zoning administrator, denied the zoning changes needed to build seven clustered town homes off Glen Oak Lane.The property owners, Alexander and Eldora Graboski, were seeking a special exemption to develop town homes in an R-5 residential district.