Eastport Jam

by Dylan Roche
Photography by David Burroughs

Over the past 40 years, Eastport—the quaint waterfront neighborhood just across Spa Creek from downtown Annapolis—has shifted from a working maritime enclave to one of the city’s most sought-after residential areas, known for its walkability, water access, and increasingly upscale homes.

But through it all, the sense of community found there is what keeps Eastport feeling like Eastport. Take a walk through Eastport today, and you might no longer see as many sailmakers or fishermen as you once did, but the sense of community and Eastport pride is just as vibrant among this new generation of residents.

“There’s something special there—you can feel the foundation of a real maritime industry in place with the balance of residential and maritime commercial,” explains David Orso, a leading Anne Arundel real estate agent with longstanding ties to the area. “It’s a really good blend of urban meets small suburbia, and there’s a sense of work-life balance. You’re going to see your neighbors having a drink out on their porch or going out on the water.”

This kind of lifestyle is reflected in a 1980s home that recently underwent a full renovation by designer Lauren Stiles and architect Devin Kimmel. The house was originally built as a single house and was later converted into two conjoined houses divided by a doorway in the foyer. In this project, Stiles and Kimmel took it back to its roots as a single house again: the latest iteration in a long evolution, just like the evolution of Eastport itself.

As for the Eastport lifestyle, the renovated home has plenty of outdoor living space, maximized water views, and room for entertaining. It’s the kind of place where you could easily imagine a friend stopping by on their walk around the neighborhood and kicking back with the owner on the extensive back porch.

The main living space is open and airy—a great contrast to the way it once was: dark and divided into smaller spaces. “The goal was to make the house feel cohesive and up-to-date while maintaining its original scale,” Kimmel says. “The updates reflect Eastport’s evolving architectural trends, moving from the ’80s style to a more modern look.”

They kept the original footprint: long from left to right but shallow, as Stiles describes it. By using consistent white oak flooring from the interior living space out to the exterior living space, they gave the house a much deeper feel.

In total, there are about 2,000 square feet of outdoor living space between the expansive back porch and the rooftop deck, which overlooks the water. By opening the back wall to the garden with doors and windows, and the front wall to the street with extensive windows, the house now has all the light it greatly needed, according to Kimmel.

The warm white oak floors that seamlessly connect the exterior and interior serve another important style purpose. Their transitional aesthetic, like the shaker-style cabinets in the kitchen, balances out the more modern elements, such as the floating stairs, the geometric light fixtures, and the sleek furniture. “Those little details add up to strike that balance,” Stiles says.

The furnishings are another important part of that balance: modern but transitional, comfortable but timeless. “We wanted to pick silhouettes that weren’t so unfamiliar to the clients that they didn’t feel comfortable to them, but also had a fun play into this modern style,” Stiles says.

The walls and floor of the house have a primarily neutral base, but shades of blue and green give it a maritime essence without being too obvious. Each room has its own unique personality, but Stiles repeated colors and materials to unify them all. “It’s repetitive. All the materials show up again, in some form, having multiple forms of material, wood, stone, concrete,” she says. “And I tried to incorporate them in each space so it would hit those repetitive points. As you walk throughout the home, it feels cohesive.”

In some ways, updates didn’t need to be complicated. Stiles decided to modernize the existing fireplace by simply painting it a deep shade of midnight blue, giving it new life without completely remaking it.

Given new life and brought into 21st-century Eastport, this fully updated home has kept the same footprint and the same location in the middle of a thriving community, still pays tribute to the Eastport of old, and achieves Stiles’ goal of being timeless.

Though located in Eastport’s coveted “Peninsula” where space is at a premium, this home manages to have an ample front yard.

The staircase leads right to the third story and opens onto a tiered roof deck.

Skylights and custom floor-to-ceiling windows ensure natural light floods the space.

The custom light fixtures throughout this home are mostly minimal, deferring to white walls and black-framed windows.

This quintessential rooftop deck overlooks the mouth of the Severn River, where yachts of all sizes come and go all year round.

Natural grasses and perennials soften the scene, introducing a touch of the wild.

INTERIOR DESIGNER: Lauren Stiles, LifeStiles Design
ARCHITECT: Devin Kimmel and David Mallon, Kimmel Studio Architects
BUILDER/REMODELER: Greg Younger, Younger Construction
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Kimmel Studio Architects
LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR: Michael Prokopchak, Walnut Hill Landscape Company

Kitchen Countertops and Backsplash – In Home Stone
Kitchen Hood Lime Plaster Finishes – The Artists Republic
First Floor Fireplace Lime Plaster Finishes – The Artists Republic
Entry and Dining Room Chandeliers – Giopato & Coombes

Eastport Jam

Eastport Jam

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