Windows wrap house in Harford hunt country

Reclaimed old-house parts provide charming details

By Andrea F. Siegel

September 21, 2008

The home of Dr. Jed Smalley and his wife, Peggy, at first blush looks like an updated old house on a horse farm in Harford County's hunt country. But a second look reveals a modern house built to seem older than its years.

Reclaimed pine plank floors, ceiling beams made from an old corn crib and antique chandeliers that have been electrified are among the old items given new life. Some windows really are old, some are copies newly made by Amish craftsmen.

The couple bought the two-story White Hall horse farm four years ago, lured by the setting: a house on a hillside, with rolling pastures, woods, a spring-fed pond and a meandering creek.

"For me, the thing is the privacy," Jed Smalley said.

In enlarging the house, the couple took advantage of that and filled their home with natural light.

About the house The original house was built in 1968. Through several renovations, the couple wrapped it in window-filled rooms that overlook the acreage, using old-house parts they accumulated over the years. Spanning much of the front is a window-lined foyer with sitting areas. A curved staircase leads up to the main floor and down to the lower level. The Smalleys lined the expanded rear of the home with French-style windows and doors, creating a sunroom on the main floor that stretches across the entire back of the house.

"The plants love it," said Peggy Smalley.

Octagonal two-story wings on each side provide more views, plus rooms for studies, exercise, unwinding and more.

The cedar-sided house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and one powder room. It has six fireplaces, plus one that is a "double" in the main floor's master suite, for use in both the bedroom and dressing area/den. The master bathroom, done in tile and granite, has a two–sink vanity, deep tub and separate shower.

Ceilings are high and vaulted on the main level, where skylights illuminate the kitchen and powder room. They are standard height on the level below, which includes a large living room that opens onto a slate patio. There is ample storage throughout.

Address 4530 Harford Creamery Road, White Hall 21161

Asking price $1,750,000

Taxes $4,745

Size The house has 7,000 square feet of living space. Sharing the 36.36 acres are a heated in-ground pool of about 20 feet by 34 feet and an adjacent electrified open-air pool house with a slate floor and shake roof, a utility building, a storage and work shed, a nine-stall barn with a heated tack room, and a loafing shed. The property has two pastures.

Features The kitchen, overlooking the foyer, has black appliances, including a Jenn-Air cooktop with a grill, black granite counters, cream-colored wood cabinetry and a ceramic tile floor. It includes two peninsulas, one of which accommodates a breakfast bar.

The house has a circular driveway. It is landscaped with boxwoods, magnolias, tall pines and other trees.

Listing agents Frank H. Durkee, 410-409-5067, and Louisa M. Townsend, 410-935-4260, both of O'Conor & Mooney, Phoenix.

To submit a candidate for Desirable Spaces, send photos and a description of the property to Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, Real Estate editor, The Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278. Questions may be sent to homes@baltsun.com