- © 2025 Annapolis Home Magazine
- All Rights Reserved
By Walinda P. West
Photography by David Burroughs
For Trish and Leo Dunn, their move to Annapolis started in a small yellow cottage with peeling paint, weathered shingles, and a breathtaking water view hidden behind overgrown trees.
Trish Dunn, a real estate agent with Annapolis Fine Homes, and Leo Dunn, founder of Bay Capital Mortgage Corporation, saw past the aging structure to the promise it held. Armed with a clear aesthetic—part Southern gentility, part coastal chic—they set out to create something that felt timeless from the very first glance.
With passion, patience, and an unwavering eye for detail, the couple tore down the humble home and created a modern jewel box in its footprint: think Palm Beach glamour wrapped in Charleston grace. The result is a dreamy retreat that feels both rare and deeply familiar.
To bring their vision to life, the Dunns worked with ABS Architects Senior Associate Sarah Favrao. With a background in architectural history and preservation, Favrao took the lead on the project, creating plans and elevations based on the lot size and city zoning, while maintaining the neighborhood’s character. Because the footprint was narrow, the challenge was to make a long, skinny house look anything but long and skinny, Favrao says. “In the end, the home reflects 100 percent of the homeowners’ personality, 100 percent the personality of the community; it’s a lovely house.”
From the entryway of the Dunn’s house, a glimpse of Spa Creek shimmers in the distance, pulling you forward. Sheer curtains on soaring 27-foot windows billow softly in the light to the right of the entry, framing the windows, much like a waterfall cascading down a mountain. A sweeping, hand-crafted staircase—the work of an artisan family from Pennsylvania—curves upward, becoming a sculptural centerpiece.
In the living space, the fireplace commands attention not through grandeur, but through ingenuity: to the uninitiated, it appears to be clad in classic glass kitchen tile, but it is really imported glass tile—and nothing short of inspired. The kitchen is a study in restraint and refinement, fitted with the finest appliances and materials. Just beyond is a butler’s pantry. The initial plan for this space was as an office for Leo, but it was later found to be too small. The pantry, with its sage gray cabinetry, wine refrigerator, sink, and extra dishwasher, doubles as a place to store dirty dishes out of sight during a dinner party.
Greg Younger, principal of Annapolis-based Younger Construction, was responsible for demolishing the old house and rebuilding the new one on the narrow lot. Because Trish Dunn is a real estate agent who has walked through hundreds of high-end homes, Younger credits her ability to see past the plans and trust what the space wanted to become despite the limited footprint. Younger says he marveled at many bold decisions, from introducing a curved wall upstairs to countless macro- and micro-adjustments. These include converting an elevator shaft into a shoe closet until an elevator is needed as the couple ages in place and other gutsy decisions that help the house move effortlessly from floor to floor and room to room.
Upstairs, every bedroom is its own private retreat, each with an ensuite bath finished in classic Waterworks fixtures. In one guest room, twin beds dressed in opulent Serena & Lily bedding evoke a feeling of barefoot luxury, while a daring design decision elevates the space even further: a wallpapered ceiling. The result is enchanting with delicate florals that seem to spill across the ceiling, soft and whimsical.
While the interior is striking, it’s the exterior that makes the first and most lasting impression, where the staggered flagstone meanders through curated plantings and a gracefully arched gate frames the entrance like a scene from a storybook.
“I told the architect I wanted the beginning of the charm to start at the front gate so guests could feel welcomed right away,” says Trish Dunn. “I wanted the gate to be different than any other gate she designed. When people knock on the door, their very first comment is always, ‘We love your front entrance.’ They almost don’t want to go inside the house,” she jokes.
Walnut Hill Landscape Company was responsible for creating the outside design, which Dunn says exceeded her expectations. “I feel nothing but pride for that job,” says Kane Cunningham, a landscape designer on the Dunn project, which took two weeks to complete. “Our goal was to match the aesthetics of the house and complement the architecture and its surroundings,” Cunningham says. “This house really draws you in.”
After eight years of imagining and 13 months of steady work, the Dunns are finally spending their first summer here. The cottage lot, once quiet and unassuming, now holds a home that feels unmistakably theirs—shaped by decisions big and small, revisions, and dedication. This is not a pretentious home that shouts out to impress. Rather, it is skillfully crafted and situated to make the most of its place on the creek.
ARCHITECTURE: Sarah Favrao, ABS Architects | BUILDER: Greg Younger, Younger Construction | LANDSCAPE DESIGN: Walnut Hill Landscape Company | INTERIOR DESIGN: Carey Reid Kirk, Inc.
Flooring: Lynn Flooring
Tile: Atlas Marble & Tile
Handcrafted Outdoor Lighting: Deep Landing Workshop
© Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 16, No. 4 2025