Sun archive: Dream Home

A welcome place for family in Ten Hills

A professional contractor can walk into any house and assess its strong and weak points. Tony Newton, 49, and owner of his family-run construction business, found a home in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Ten Hills with many more strong points than weak ones.

Location's key for two drawn to city house

To Nick Marulli and Tim Bennett, city means much more than their house's location.

Victorian look for a traditional house

Barbara Johnson is sure she was born in the wrong century. Once inside her grand, 5,500-square-foot home decorated almost entirely in the Victorian style, one can understand why.

First things first: Remove all the wallpaper

In the small foyer of Deni Miller and Chris Morrone's Canton rowhouse, it is impossible to take in the scene all at once. Lemon-yellow walls pop under bright, recessed lighting. Several mirrors reflect photographs on the walls opposite them. Shadow boxes and curio cabinets filled with treasures create the appearance of a well-organized, high-end second-hand shop.

Letting the house dictate decor

In her sunlit kitchen, where hickory cabinets frame the back-lit glow of red-checked cafe curtains, Lynda DeFord has hung a plaque with just one word: "Simplify." The message reflects DeFord's approach to decorating her dream home and serves as a yardstick by which to measure future projects.

In living color

In the city neighborhood of Charles Village, dark-brick Victorian rowhouses are embellished with leaded- and stained-glass windows and fancy wood pediments. Wrought-iron fences enclose some front gardens, while others are defined by flowers and hedges. Many of these houses feature second-story turrets; many more welcome guests on front porches with rails, columns and trim of multicolored and intricately painted details.

Expressing themselves

Total creative freedom is a luxury that Derek Bellomo never took for granted - not the day he purchased a piece of land in southwest Baltimore County's historic Oella and not even when his dream was realized.

Fit for royalty

Those who never had the pleasure of dining at Haussner's in East Baltimore missed the experience of fine German cuisine in the company of a vast collection of artwork. Original paintings in gilt frames filled almost every inch of the walls while marble busts on pedestals were close enough to the tables to be silent dinner partners. All of these works were from the Haussner family's private collection.

Soothing a yearning for the South

When Jamie and Fred Mansperger married in January 2002, she left her South Carolina roots - family, culture and customs - for the countryside of northern Baltimore County. He left Columbia for the same country feel. And then some.

Some big changes for little house

The transition from apartment living to first-time homeownership can be exciting, but also daunting. When Diana Mahoney first looked at her brick Cape Cod-style home in Pikesville, it was "love at first sight."

Rooms with a view and space to showcase antique collectibles

Three months before they married in June, Joe and Kathy Heisler found a house with, they said, "the right feel." That perfect fit, however, meant different things to each of them.

A cozy, rustic cottage

In the fall of 2006, a homey little Cape Cod built of brick and flagstone and situated on a tree-lined street in northwest Baltimore County waited to be purchased by people who would fall in love with it. Its former owners, one of them a contractor, had completely renovated the quaint 1940 house, rendering it in move-in condition.

Much-altered Colonial still subject to change

In the winter of 2003, Kirk Bauer bought an old mill house in Howard County's historic Ellicott City. His intention was to rehab the property (as he had done with four other houses) and then sell it.

On house hunt, it paid to get lost

Like many of us, Susan Clayton wished for a home near enough to her job so that she could walk to work every day. A co-owner of the Clark Morley Salon in downtown Baltimore, she had been driving from her home several miles north of the Inner Harbor.

Dream Home

On house hunt, it paid to get lost

Like many of us, Susan Clayton wished for a home near enough to her job so that she could walk to work every day. A co-owner of the Clark Morley Salon in downtown Baltimore, she had been driving from her home several miles north of the Inner Harbor.

Add-ons keep adding up

Ask Raina and Brian Chambers the shape of their house in the old mill town of Oella, or even its style, and they look at each other and laugh.

Sixth home is a charm

In June 2006, Ed and Stacy Hill bought and moved into their sixth house in eight years of marriage. The reasons had nothing to do with restlessness, wanderlust or dissatisfaction. Ed Hill, a private contractor, simply loved to renovate houses and then move on.

Glass wall makes room with a view

Irene Hofmann, executive director of the Contemporary Museum in downtown Baltimore, lives worlds away from traffic lights and city bustle. Her home in the Greenspring Valley of northern Baltimore County is nestled among great old trees on almost 2 acres of property that backs up to a 100-acre horse farm. But, as at the museum she runs, the emphasis is on contemporary.

Living large after making a deal

Kim Stepherson always wanted a big, old, yellow house. She grew up in one - a grand Victorian in Catonsville. However, her husband, Dave, a 41-year-old portfolio manager working in Baltimore, didn't want the work of restoring an old house.

Lots of room, but cozy still

With 5,800 square feet of intricately carved plaster moldings, sweeping archways and parquet oak flooring, it's hard to digest the beauty of Tom Hall's home all at once.

Seeking, finding oldtime charm

North of Boston Street in the Baltimore neighborhood of Canton, two-story rowhouses line the streets like cereal boxes on a shelf. The alleys behind each neat row are whistle-clean testaments to pride of ownership. Marble front steps and painted window screens set against Formstone siding define the area with the flavor of a bygone Baltimore.

History with a river view

For some, the desire to return to one's roots is a strong pull. Wendy Adams acted on that urge in the fall of 2002.

Dream Home

First time is divine

Nancy Short considers herself a blessed person and calls her little brick Cape Cod in Catonsville - the first house she has ever owned - a divine gift.

Dream Home

Collector's setting

Holly Greve has proved that it's never too late to start over. In her case, it was acquiring the right setting for a precious collection of furnishings from another place in time.

Dream Home

A mix of old, new

Five years ago, a South Baltimore property on Jackson Street was a vacant lot next to a bar and littered with bottles and debris.