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.

Like more and more homeowners these days, Ron Brown and his fiancee, Susan Powers, have discovered their ideal living space hidden within the same walls they have called home for quite some time. "After years of debating whether to remodel, buy an existing house or build new, we decided to remodel the kitchen," said Brown, 63, director of corporate relations at Towson University. And just like a shopper who goes to the grocery store for one item and comes out with a full cart, one remodel lead to another, and another.

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.

The Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation on Tuesday approved a developer's exterior renovation plans for the conversion of an historic former home for unwed mothers into apartments. CHAP voted 6-1 to approve staff recommendations endorsing the renovation of the mansion, the old Florence Crittenton Home for Girls at 3110 Crittenton Place in Hampden. Developer John Brooks wants to convert the house into 14 apartments, plus one in a nearby cottage.

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.

A plan to build up to 40 townhouses on a narrow tract near Red Pump Elementary School in Bel Air will be the subject of a community input meeting Monday evening, March 10, at the Fallston library beginning at 6:30 p.m. The proposed development, called Red Pump Crescent, will be on 9.3 acres off the 400 block of Red Pump Road, between the Marywood community and a new single-family home community already under development called Blake's Legacy....

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.

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.

For many people, midlife is a time for fresh beginnings, and often those beginnings bring the exhilaration of reinvention. Deb Moriarty, vice president of student affairs at Towson University, acknowledges both. After 13 years in Catonsville, her large home was suddenly an empty place filled with the memories of her recently deceased husband, Greg Giovanazzi, and a daughter, Casey, now 20, about to take off for college. It was at that point last August that the 59-year-old gathered up her favorite mementos, pieces of artwork and assorted photographs and left Catonsville for a Bozzuto-built, three-story townhouse in the new development of Towson Green.

A plan to build up to 40 townhouses on a narrow tract near Red Pump Elementary School in Bel Air will be the subject of a community input meeting Monday evening, March 10, at the Fallston library beginning at 6:30 p.m. The proposed development, called Red Pump Crescent, will be on 9.3 acres off the 400 block of Red Pump Road, between the Marywood community and a new single-family home community already under development called Blake's Legacy....

Jean H. Hepner, an early Fells Point community activist who restored one of its residential landmarks and fought a planned interstate highway, died of injuries she suffered as a passenger in an automobile accident Feb. 1 on the Baltimore Beltway at Park Heights Avenue. She was 90. Family members said Jean Rose Harvey was the first child born in Wisconsin in 1924. She was born in Milwaukee at eight minutes after midnight on Jan. 1. She was the daughter of James D. Harvey, a radio store owner who wrote a broadcasting column for the Milwaukee Journal, and Rhea Carson Blake, an occupational therapist.

Neighboring residents of a planned development that would build 204 single-family homes on 67 acres of undeveloped land in west Columbia are requesting that the developer reduce the density of the property. The development, called Simpson Oaks, is a mix of detached homes and townhouses that would be built on woodlands and open space adjacent to the headquarters of W.R. Grace, a technology company that sells chemicals and specialty building materials, off of Grace Drive near the intersection of Route 32 and Cedar Lane.

Marianne Fishman's three-story townhouse in Butchers Hill is a reflection of her life's work as an interior designer while also giving credence to Row House Interiors, the design company she owns. "When we bought the house, it was a total disaster," she recalled. "But we got it well under the market price. " She and her husband, Larry Fishman, 55, president of All-State Career School in South Baltimore, settled on their East Baltimore home in April 2006. By October of that year, they were able to move in, thanks to the work of the many contractors she uses in her business.

Townhouse Kitchen + Bar, which opened in Harbor East the spring of 2012, was the first entry into the Baltimore market for the Chicago-area Restaurants-America group, a multi-concept restaurant operator. On Friday, the restaurant's website was down for maintenance and calls placed to its published phone number were redericted to an unspecified extension. Signs that have been taped to its doors since Wednesday say simply "Townhouse Kitchen + Bar is Closed Today. " Still, it is not clear if the Harbor East restaurant, which occupies a retail space in the Eden Building, is closed permanently.

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."

An elderly woman was seriously injured in an early morning fire in Laurel, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. The fire in the 9500 block of Canterbury Riding in Laurel was reported around 5:15 a.m. by a newspaper delivery person and a neighbor, according to Cerisa Speight, a public information officer for the fire department. The woman, who was not identified, was taken to Laurel Regional Hospital after being removed from the-end-of-group townhouse by the firemen.

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