Active on Baltimore - 4303 Kensington Road

Who better to tell you about this gracious classic home than the Seller. 

When we found our home at 4303 Kensington Road, I was first attracted to the untouched, original features still in beautiful condition. I loved the large pane windows with the antique wavy glass, and there were just so many windows! Light floods into the house on a bright and sunny day. I studied historical preservation at college, so I was drawn to the home's original features like the oh-so-sweet Kitchen Nook and separate Oven Room. I had considered putting in a half-bath in the oven room, but in the summertime the kitchen does stay nice and cool with the oven on in it's separate little area. They knew what they were doing back in 1928 when the house was built. I loved the sconce lights, the working fireplace, and the French Doors in the living room. The three-season porch was a big draw too.       What we love about our home is catching up with friends in the Kitchen Nook after dinner. It's such a cozy little space, like a booth at an old classic Diner. That Nook has been the center of our home, where homework is done, meals are enjoyed, and most importantly, there have been many heart-to-heart conversations in that sweet space, usually accompanied with a good glass of wine...or two. We love sitting in the living room in the winter with the fireplace crackling away, listening to Nat King Cole on the record player. The side porch is a great place during the warm months to keep a jungle of house plants. I used the side porch as an art studio for a little while, until we had the art studio shed installed in the backyard a few years ago. We loved being in the garden, and the backyard was a great spot for the kids to play. There may or may not have been some pretty competitive badminton matches played there....!              We didn't need to to any big renovations in the house, but we did replace the furnace and the water heater a few years ago. An electrician updated the outlets, installed an attic fan, and replaced some of the ceiling fans. We did paint the entire house blue to give it a richer cottagey feel, and the original front door was found in the garage, so we put that back in place after sprucing it up a bit. (The aluminum storm door with the eagle silhouette from the 1970s wasn't the look we were going for!) We also reglazed and repainted the original storm windows for the entire first floor. One of the biggest upgrades we did was put in a French drain system around the interior perimeter of the house, install two sump pumps, and fill in the dirt crawl spaces with concrete floors. Since then, the basement has been happily dry and great for storage. At the same time, the contractor poured a beautiful concrete driveway and poured a concrete floor in the garage. Another big expense was installing two backyard sheds, one for the pottery studio, and one for garden tools and bikes. The art studio got electricity so I could run my kiln. During the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, I used my time at home to insulate, drywall, trim out and lay flooring in the art studio. I was ready to move in, it was so cute!              

The Kensington neighborhood is quite a little gem hidden away from the hustle and bustle of Wilkens Ave. It's a diverse neighborhood, with retirees, new families, and everyone in between. A lot of neighbors walk their dogs here, and at the top of the neighborhood is a community garden space. It's not a vegetable garden, but it's a green space around the old railroad tracks. There are a few garden cleanups a year and that's a great time to get to know your neighbors. We have a big block party every year for the whole neighborhood, and we usually celebrate National Night Out with a large spread of fried chicken, watermelon, cookies, soda; the local policemen and firemen always know to join our party that night for some great food! A busload of neighbors with discount tickets in hand go every year to an Orioles game at Camden Yards, and every Easter holiday there's an egg hunt for the kiddos in the old cow field adjacent to the neighborhood. Christmastime brings out the singers who go caroling then land at a neighbor's house to feast. Every year we raise money for a few families who need help during the holidays. All in all, it's a great neighborhood vibe!       

Some of the things we love about living in Baltimore: Patapsco State Park is a five minute drive from the house! Great trail loops for any level of hiking and biking are at your doorstep off Rolling Road across the 195 Park and Ride. Our house is close enough to downtown Baltimore to make it easy to have dinner and see a show, but being in the suburbs, you don't feel close to downtown. The Catonsville High School fireworks are a tradition we love: just park at UMBC and walk down Hilltop Road for a great view of the best fireworks in town. Historic Ellicott City has always been a favorite spot for us as well with all the small shops and quaint eateries. The Howard County Fairgrounds is not too far away, either, so we would love to attend the famous Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, the biggest of its kind. The farmlands of Howard County are big draw for us, too. Great roads for cycling and just driving.  Some of our favorite restaurants in the area are: The Trolley Stop in Ellicott City, E.C. Diner on Route 40, Catonsville Gourmet, Mission Barbeque in Columbia, Sorrento's of Arbutus, Elkridge Furnace Inn, Tio Pepe's and The Helmand in Mount Vernon, The Brewer's Art in Charles Village, The Evergreen cafe near Roland Park, the list goes on!         The Grocery stores we use are: Weis Market on Maiden Choice Lane, Giant Food on Wilkens Ave, Trader Joe's in Elkridge, and Whole Foods in Columbia. We moved to Baltimore County because of it's proximity to a variety of experiences: you've got the city life and country life. You can shop small or go to the big box stores. The 95 corridor is close by so travel is a breeze. We like driving into Frederick to go antiquing, but we like living close to Baltimore's amenities. The airport is very close to our house as well, so it's easy to pick up friends and family who come into town: they call when they land and we're there when they're ready with luggage. Fifteen minutes, if that.