Homeowner Kim Kerr knew this circa 1913 beach cottage was meant for her family the minute she walked through the front door.
KIM KERR drove past her dream home for eight years and never knew it. Then one day as she was driving her daughter through the Round Bay community on the Severn River, she stopped at a stop sign and caught sight of a “For Sale by Owner” sign. On this same day Kim was scheduled to meet her husband Tom and sign-off on the paperwork to begin construction on their new house on a lot in Severna Park. But something didn’t feel right.
Despite the circumstances, “I felt led, that I was supposed to go look at this house,” says Kerr.
She immediately called the number on the sign and looked at the house later that day. Once inside she felt that this was meant to be her new home and she could see its potential. She and Tom delayed the new construction signing and she took him back that same day. He did not share his wife’s vision.
“He said he could see the charm but that it needed a ton of work and it’s small,” she recalls.
A faithful family, the Kerrs returned to their existing home to pray and make a pro and con list pitting the new construction house against the circa 1913 beach cottage Kim felt so drawn to. No matter how they looked at, the Round Bay house was a loser. It was too old, required too much work and was too small for this growing family of six. But understanding how strongly his wife believed they were meant to be in that house, the next morning Tom offered to look at the home one last time and to bring along a professional, architect Neal Hodgson.
“I told them they would have been hard pressed to get that level of detailing [in a new house],” says Hodgson. “It had a great staircase, wood floors, an antique fireplace.”
Thus, the Kerrs embarked on the process of transforming the aging property into a modern home that met the needs of their large family without sacrificing any of the yesteryear charm that made it so attractive. One thing the home lacked was a large family room, an essential for a family with four children. At first, the Kerrs thought a large screened-in porch would do the trick, but the idea morphed into an enclosed solarium for year-round use. Hodgson designed a hipped roof addition topped with a glass cupola to create an open, inviting family space. The directive was always the same: do not disturb the existing charm.
Hodgson opened the basement space to create recreational rooms for the Kerr children to play pool, storage areas with cubbyholes for stashing wet boots and sandy shoes, and updated a powder room.
“I’m not an architect who puts flying saucers on the side of houses,” quips Hodgson. “If a house has nice detailing, we want to emphasize the architecture. …We weren’t trying to do verbatim architecture, but to slightly twist it into a new style that kept the old feeling of the house.”
Like many old houses, the existing rooms were small, forcing the design team to aggressively space plan, especially in the living room.In the 1920s, when Round Bay was a popular destination for summer tourists, the basement of the Kerr house was cut into apartments for seasonal rentals. Hodgson opened the space to create recreational rooms for the Kerr children to play pool, storage areas with cubbyholes for stashing wet boots and sandy shoes, and updated a powder room.
While Tom prefers a formal, classic aesthetic, Kim likes the laid-back formality epitomized by Ralph Lauren. “I’ve always loved older homes with big porches that give you that ‘put your feet up’ kind of feeling,” she explains. Working with Karen Atkins and Elizabeth Tinkler of Bennett & Company, Kim created a coastal house in the Nantucket style that retains a tasteful sophistication uncommon in a typical “beach” house.
“It needed to be elegant enough for entertaining, but it needed to be family and dog friendly, too,” explains Tinkler. Atkins adds that, “We were true to the house and to who they were as a family and we made a lot of updates, but we really respected the history that was there.”
The home’s color scheme is drawn from the natural environment of the Severn River and the large pieces of furniture were kept neutral (for longevity) while pops of blue make the design vibrant. Most of the materials are natural—linen, cotton, leather, sisal—to give the design texture, but also to keep everything washable. For example, the formal dining room gets a casual touch with the use of washable slipcovers on the chairs.
In the family room, ample seating was important, so the design team chose a large sectional covered in hard-wearing chenille and a leather ottoman that does double duty for seating or for holding drinks and plates. To brighten the sandy color palate, the designers selected a striped rug (hand needlepointed in Brazil) that evokes the nautical elegance of the Hamptons, and paired it with hand embroidered linen pillows depicting coral.
Like many old houses, the existing rooms were small, forcing the design team to aggressively space plan, especially in the living room. “Karen had to search and search for the sofa and navy mohair chairs,” Tinkler recalls. “And we worked very hard so that nothing was too tall as to cut the space off.”
The revitalized home seamlessly blends the quaint, old character that first attracted the homeowners to the house with the modern amenities and space requirements of a 21st century family.
In the breakfast room, blue striped upholstered chairs from Baker surround the Guy Chaddock distressed walnut table, while a Herredon hutch serves as a place to display dishes and hide the home's surround sound system below.
Tinkler and Atkins like to use local artisans in their projects, which came in handy when they ordered the dining room chandelier from the Millersville, Maryland company, Niermann Weeks. “The project was in a time crunch to be installed while the owners were on vacation,” says Atkins. “I went to pick up the chandelier at the factory, however it was not completely finished. One of the owners, Claire Niermann, finished it that day and delivered it later that evening to the owner’s home.”
Clearly, Kim Kerr saw beauty in the bones of the Round Bay house that a team of professionals helped uncover. Nowhere was this more true than in the yard. “Basically, it was a weedy, overgrown mess,” says Keith Kratz, owner of Outdoor Expressions. Taking in the broken and falling down stairways and walls, the driveway that overtook the entire yard, and the overgrown trees and shrubs, Kerr recalls that Kratz looked at her and said, “This place is a nightmare.”
“We needed a yard where our kids could run and play lacrosse,” says Kerr, “and a patio for entertaining.”
Though he tried to leave many trees on the site, Kratz removed those that threatened the house or were overbearing on the landscape design. He redesigned the driveway using a paver that mimics antique cobblestone and jettisoned a rickety, picket-style property fence in favor of a black wrought iron with a fleur de lis design. He uncovered an existing ornamental pond and made it a peaceful water feature in the landscape.
“We wanted the landscape to go with the age of the home so we stuck with classics—hydrangeas, ferns—to keep it natural looking,” says Kratz.
The revitalized home seamlessly blends the quaint, old character that first attracted Kerr to the house with the modern amenities and space requirements of a 21st century family. According to Kerr, “I felt this is what God really wanted for our family; a peaceful family retreat that is not showy, that’s down-to-earth.”
Perhaps it was meant to be. When the Kerrs took ownership of the house they discovered that the first owner of the property in 1913 was another woman who was drawn to this sight, a woman named Charlotte Kerr.
Christianna McCausland is a Contributing Editor to ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
Bennett & Company Home and Design: bennettcompany.net or 410-721-9555
Hodgson Architects: hodgsonarchitect.com or 202-362-0196
Niermann Weeks: niermannweeks.com or 410-932-0123
Outdoor Expressions: outdoorexpressionsmd.com or 410-343-0575
Stob & Company, Inc.(Builder): 410-544-3776
