Winchester Homes

Ashley Winchester Homes has opened a model in Ashley, an estate home community in Anne Arundel County. The homes, in Davidsonville, range from 3,339 to 4,502 square feet on 1-acre wooded homesites. Winchester offers seven floor plans, with alternate elevations, and base prices from $504,000 to $630,000. The model, the Randall, starts at $546,000 for 4,066 square feet and includes a two-car garage. The first floor includes a foyer, 13-by-15-foot living room, 13-by- 13-foot study, 21-by-17-foot family room, 21-by-11-foot breakfast, 21-by-15-foot kitchen, powder room, mud room, walk-in pantry, and 13-by-15-foot dining room.

NEW MARKET -- As they have in years past, shopkeepers and residents in this quaint, historic town are readying to celebrate the Christmas season next weekend with a three-day bash featuring a tree-lighting, holiday concerts and craft show. But there's tension despite the festive air, as residents debate plans that would transform this small town, where almost everyone seems to know each other, into a modest-sized city with roughly 17 times as many people.

Winchester Homes has 35 townhouses remaining for sale at its Crofton Manor community in Anne Arundel County. The community offers public sewer and water systems, gas heat and gas cooking. Crofton Park and two country clubs are nearby. Standard features include a brick front, hardwood floors, one- or two-car garages, hardwood floors in the foyer and powder room, and cathedral ceilings in the master bedroom. Base prices range from $260,000 to $290,000. One of the interior models features on the first floor a foyer, a 13-by-12-foot living room, a 13-by-10 dining room, a powder room, a 10-by-14 kitchen, a 10-by-14 family room and an optional 10-by-10 sun room.

Developers backing Grassroots campaign Howard County developers and homebuilders have pledged support to the campaign to renovate and expand Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. The Developers and Homebuilders Shelter Initiative, led by Grassroots Renovation and Expansion Campaign co-chair Steven Koren of Koren Development and Rich Thometz of Hailey Development, has attracted 20 donors. The real estate industry initiative is among a number of campaigns contributing to the Grassroots capital campaign.

A developer plans to build 477 housing units on 76 acres of Mount Joy Farm, a green island in the fast-developing triangle bounded by Routes 100 and 108 and U.S. 29, according to designs submitted to the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning this month. Winchester Homes bought the land from farmer M. L. Dawson Lee last fall for an estimated $12 million to $15 million. Lee, a cattle farmer who for years resisted development of his well-situated property, decided to sell the land after suffering a stroke and realizing he could no longer farm it. Winchester's plans, which are under review by county planners, call for 294 apartments and condominium units, 118 townhouses and 65 detached, single-family homes.

Chapel Grove Winchester Homes has released nine single-family home lots with another 205 scheduled for release later in its Chapel Grove development in Odenton. The Anne Arundel County homes range in base price from $364,000 to $407,000. The community offers public water and sewer facilities as well as gas heat and is near the Crofton Golf Course and Park. Standard features include brick fronts, 9-foot first-floor ceilings, hardwood foyers and powder rooms, security systems and tiled master bathrooms with Jacuzzi-brand soaking tubs.

Crofton Valley Winchester Homes has a furnished model open and 58 home sites available at Crofton Valley, a single-family-home community in Anne Arundel County. The Gambrills community offers five home models situated on one-quarter- to one-third-acre home sites. The homes are on public water and sewer systems and come with gas heat and cooking. Standard features include brick fronts, hardwood foyer, 9-foot first-floor ceilings, ceramic-tiled bathroom floors, and a high-technology wiring package.

Winchester Homes is offering the St. Andrews rancher at Shipley's Retreat in the Anne Arundel community of Millersville, where the firm is building 75 homes on quarter-acre to half-acre lots.The 2,879-square-foot St. Andrews is a ranch design with an unfinished basement. The base price is $343,990 with a brick, stone or stucco front.In the right wing of the St. Andrews are a two-car garage, laundry room and master suite with his-and-her walk-in closets, a 19-by-15-foot bedroom, bath with soaking tub and dual vanities.

Oscar Sahlin's Crownsville farm, the last along the banks of the Severn River, won't become a subdivision as planned. Instead, a conservation group announced yesterday, 292 acres - sandwiched between land already set aside for safekeeping - will be preserved and housing development along the property will be forbidden. The move allows the land to maintain its rural character by protecting trees and birds, and will help limit runoff into the river. The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization that conserves land for public use, put together the $1.65 million deal to buy the development rights, with $650,000 coming from the federal Forest Legacy Program and the rest from grants and donations.

Winchester Homes has packed in the luxuries with its Chapel Grove townhouses in Odenton. The two- to three-bedroom townhouses include upscale standards, such as mix-and-match floor plans, open designs and kitchen gourmet islands. In the upstairs level, buyers have a choice of having two master suites or three bedrooms. An optional sitting room or expanded bathroom is available. With a traditional style and brick fronts, the 159 townhouses come with or without garages and have lower-level walkout doors, hardwood foyers and powder rooms; 9-foot, first-floor ceilings; and upgraded kitchens.

Winchester Homes has packed in the luxuries with its Chapel Grove townhouses in Odenton. The two- to three-bedroom townhouses include upscale standards, such as mix-and-match floor plans, open designs and kitchen gourmet islands. In the upstairs level, buyers have a choice of having two master suites or three bedrooms. An optional sitting room or expanded bathroom is available. With a traditional style and brick fronts, the 159 townhouses come with or without garages and have lower-level walkout doors, hardwood foyers and powder rooms; 9-foot, first-floor ceilings; and upgraded kitchens.

Wormald Homes breaks ground in Frederick Co. Wormald Custom Homes, a division of the Wormald Companies, has broken ground at its newest community, The Preserve at Maryland National Golf Club, in Middletown. The Preserve will be an enclave of 10 executive residences. The homes are priced from the mid-$700,000 and up. Lots will be offered in the 2- to 5-acre range. Maryland National Golf Club is a 194-acre facility. The 6,811-yard course was designed by Arthur Hill and opened in June.

Winchester Homes has 35 townhouses remaining for sale at its Crofton Manor community in Anne Arundel County. The community offers public sewer and water systems, gas heat and gas cooking. Crofton Park and two country clubs are nearby. Standard features include a brick front, hardwood floors, one- or two-car garages, hardwood floors in the foyer and powder room, and cathedral ceilings in the master bedroom. Base prices range from $260,000 to $290,000. One of the interior models features on the first floor a foyer, a 13-by-12-foot living room, a 13-by-10 dining room, a powder room, a 10-by-14 kitchen, a 10-by-14 family room and an optional 10-by-10 sun room.

Chapel Grove Winchester Homes has released the first 12 of 117 townhouse lots in the first section of its Chapel Grove community. A total of 159 home sites are planned. The community, with proximity to Crofton Golf Course and Crofton Park, offers residents a pool and bathhouse. Also, it offers public water and sewer systems as well as gas heat. Standard features include brick fronts, finished lower-level recreation rooms, hardwood foyers and powder rooms, cathedral ceilings in the master bedroom and vaulted ceilings in the front bedrooms, and home security systems.

They'll lose their bucolic setting, but the two old cabins at Mount Joy Farm in Ellicott City that some believe to have been slave quarters won't fall to the wrecking ball. Howard County Planning and Zoning Director Joseph W. Rutter Jr. approved a waiver this week that will make it easier for Winchester Homes, the developer of a subdivision at the farm, to preserve the cabins. The waiver will allow the developer to keep the road alongside the cabins a private way, freeing the developer from setback rules that might have forced the cabins' destruction.

Trahan, Burden & Charles Inc., Baltimore's fourth-largest ad agency, has made some profitable business moves along with its move to new headquarters at Charles and Chase streets at the first of the year.The agency has secured five new accounts for an additional $12 million in annual billings, said Robert Matz, chief executive officer, said yesterday. The additional business brings the agency's annual billings to roughly $58 milllion, he said.Two of the new accounts are Pompeian Olive Oil and Winchester Homes, which TB&C wrested away from the former Jordan Azzam, which closed because of financial difficulties in October and reemerged as Azzam Jordan.