Townhouses

Flooding from heavy rains and melting snow forced five families out of their townhouses in the Oakland Mills section of Columbia early Saturday, according to Howard County police. A team of volunteers from the Red Cross of Central Maryland provided 15 adults and children with food, clothing and an overnight stay at a hotel, according to a Linnea Anderson, public relations director for the Red Cross. The homes, in the 9400 block of Indian Camp Road, were without heat, Anderson said. Up to three other homes appeared to have been affected, but their residents were not at home at the time of the flooding.

A home in Odenton was heavily damaged after a two-alarm fire on Sunday afternoon, Anne Arundel fire officials said. No one was injured, but fire and smoke spread to two adjoining townhouses and some cars in the 7600 block of Found Artifact Court, fire officials said, and the total damage was estimated at $300,000. About 50 firefighters had the fire under control about 40 minutes after it was reported at around 2 p.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation. cwells@baltsun.com twitter.com/cwellssun

A two-alarm fire burned through five townhouses in Elkridge early Tuesday morning, requiring one person to be transported to the hospital and three to be treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Firefighters responded to the homes in the 6900 block of Ducketts Lane shortly before 12:30 a.m. for reports of a fire on the rear deck of one of the homes, the department said. At the scene, a second-alarm was called after it became clear the blaze had spread through the home's attic and roof and into multiple adjacent homes, the department said.

A family was displaced after their Columbia townhouse caught fire and was heavily damaged on Saturday evening, Howard County fire department officials said. The home, in the 7500 block of Swan Point Way, caught fire at around 6 p.m., with fire showing from the basement, fire officials said. It required the response of 40 firefighters and paramedics. No one was injured and the fire was under control quickly, but the home is expected to be declared uninhabitable, fire officials said.

A midday, two-alarm fire heavily damaged the western Ellicott City townhouse where it began and two adjoining units Monday, according to Howard County fire officials. Howard County Fire Department Battalion Chief Gordon Wallace said the fire in the 10500 block of Old Ellicott Circle was reported at 12:50 p.m. and arriving crews found the garage townhouse engulfed in flames. Units on both sides of the three-level house were also damaged, and two vehicles in the garage were destroyed, he said, though the homes are equipped with sprinklers.

A townhouse complex in Owings Mills erupted in flames Tuesday afternoon, and some 80 firefighters battled the blaze. The 3-alarm fire, reported shortly after 2 p.m., affected at least 13 townhouses in the complex at 15 Old Coach Lane, according to Jay Ringgold, a spokesman for the Baltimore County Fire Department, who was speaking from the scene. The fire was under control by about 3:50 p.m., officials said. Ringgold said the fire burned in a stretch of 3-story houses that occupy "one long building.

In the area around Hollins Market in West Baltimore, more than 50 restored town houses used as rental housing have been put up for sale, at prices ranging from $60,000 to $120,000.Known as the Hollins Townhouses, the 54 historic properties represent one of the largest single groups of rehabilitated residences ever to go on the market at one time near Hollins Market and Union Square.With state funding assistance that enables them to be sold for little or no down payment and at below-market interest rates, they also represent an opportunity for renters to become first-time buyers.

Accusing town and county officials of hypocrisy, a lawyer for a Sykesville developer told the town Planning and Zoning Commission last night that his client should be allowed to build townhouses in an area zoned for industrial use.Attorney Clark R. Shaffer chided County Planner Helen Spinelli and Sykesville Town Manager James Schumacher for not giving full consideration to a petition for rezoning offered to the commission by the developer of the 32-acre Raincliffe...

The Howard County Planning Board last week approved plans for 58 townhouses next to Snowden River Parkway in the Kendall Ridge neighborhood of Long Reach village.The townhouses would be across Snowden River Parkway from the planned Eastern High School, a source of some concern for the Long Reach village association. Kathryn Mann of the association told Planning Board members during their Thursday meeting that village board members were concerned that children would be crossing a four-lane, divided road to play.

A three-alarm fire swept through eight townhouses in Edgewood yesterday just before noon, leaving 26 residents with little more than the clothes they were wearing.In all, 12 adults and 14 children were displaced from the Meadowood complex.About 75 firefighters from Joppa-Magnolia, Abingdon, Bel Air, Aberdeen, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Kingsville, Fallston and Cowenton battled the blaze that rose from the kitchen at 1630 Candlewood Court. The flames fanned out through the attic, Mr. Thomas said.

A fire damaged a townhouse in Aberdeen Wednesday evening, displacing the residents. The home, in the 700 block of Custis Street, was reported on fire about 5:20 p.m. with smoke showing from the basement, according to monitored Harford County emergency radio broadcasts. About 30 firefighters responded from the Aberdeen Fire Department, Susquehanna Hose Company of Havre de Grace and Aberdeen Proving Ground Fire Department and brought the fire under control in about 10 minutes, according to a notice of investigation from the State Fire Marshal's Office.

In Baltimore, the creative transformation of many waterfront industrial structures into restaurants, businesses and homes is making room for developments copying the same industrial and maritime flavor as their older counterparts. Joe and Meg Biscoe's four-story townhouse is one of several Fells Point properties built by Merchant Homes, a developer offering small groupings of homes in popular Baltimore neighborhoods. To the couple, now with a newborn son, Milo, their home was a wise investment, made at a time when the two were rapidly growing out of their nearby 650-square-foot Water Street condo.

When Alexandra Adkins looked out the window of her Columbia townhouse at the nearby stream and took walks along its banks with her dog, Titan, she didn't like what she saw. The streambed was eroded, the banks looked like scoured cliffs with roots of leaning trees dangling above the water, and muddy channels sliced into the stream. That was last winter, as Adkins took walks as a break from studying for the Maryland bar exam. Once she took the exam in February - and passed - she turned her attention to the nameless stream that's part of the headwaters of Wilde Lake, seeking information about possible restoration.

To its developers, Crystal Spring Annapolis represents a new wave of retirement living: Senior apartments and nursing home rooms nestled in the woods. A cluster of specialty shops a short walk or golf cart ride away. An inn and village green attracting people of all ages. To the proposed project's detractors, Crystal Spring represents another attempt to burden congested roads with an oversized development in one of the state capital's last remaining forested areas. Battle lines have been drawn over the project, which at 180 acres and 540 units is one of the largest Annapolis has seen in years.

A two-alarm fire burned through five townhouses in Elkridge early Tuesday morning, requiring one person to be transported to the hospital and three to be treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Firefighters responded to the homes in the 6900 block of Ducketts Lane shortly before 12:30 a.m. for reports of a fire on the rear deck of one of the homes, the department said. At the scene, a second-alarm was called after it became clear the blaze had spread through the home's attic and roof and into multiple adjacent homes, the department said.

Situated in the city's Bolton Hill neighborhood is a relatively new development of brick townhouses solidly placed among the late Victorian and early-20th-century structures that once housed the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Woodrow Wilson and, more recently, pianist Leon Fleisher. This little enclave within an enclave is called Lions Park Fountains. The two-story houses hug the periphery of an open, brick-paved courtyard with benches and fountains. Large statues of lions guard the entrance to the 1980 development.

Vincent J. Gardina, the Baltimore County councilman who has crusaded for more single-family homes and larger lots as the county redevelops the east side, said he plans to ask for less restrictive zoning to allow a townhouse development in the Bird River area. The County Council will vote today on a community development plan for a largely undeveloped 1,000-acre tract in the Middle River and Bird River area. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, said he will submit the zoning change for 50 acres as an amendment to the community plan, although he did not present it when the council discussed the plan at its work session Tuesday.

On Saturday, Barbara Henry will move into a new, three-bedroom townhouse in a blighted area of East Baltimore."I've been looking for decent, low-income housing for a long time," Ms. Henry said yesterday at the official opening of a $4.1 million, 55-townhouse development in the 1100 block of Aisquith St. in Johnston Square."

Many Marylanders live on the water, but the owner of this contemporary townhouse in Baltimore can walk out on three balconies and be over the water. The five-level home, built in 2006, sold for $1,125,000, about $100,000 less than the asking price. "This home was fun to sell because it showed so well and had excellent views of Baltimore's Inner Harbor from every level," said real estate agent William J. Ganz III, who listed the townhouse at 647 Ponte Villas South. "Combined with the fact that it is located in the private, gated Pier Homes at Harborview community, it was just a matter of time before it sold.

In the beginning, the search for a new home was all about studio space for artist Tendai Johnson, an instructor at Montgomery College. When his former work space in a large building in Washington's Chinatown was sold and working in his house in the H Street corridor became impossible, he and his family made the move north to Baltimore. Realtor Marci Yankelov of Century 21 found them a three-story stone Victorian townhouse in Baltimore's Reservoir Hill neighborhood. It was love at first sight.