Hot Property: A serene estate on St. Helena Island

The Federal-style mansion overlooking Little Round Bay might seem familiar; the 1929 home is modeled after Johns Hopkins University's Homewood House, with a columned entry porch, brick front and copper roof. But St. Helena Island, near Crownsville, where the home and its seven-acre estate are located, boasts its own storied history — it once hosted illegal slot machines at an island club and was a proposed site for an institution for the criminally insane. Today the home maintains its historic splendor, with a rotunda, marble floors and antique chandeliers, but it's been updated with modern conveniences, including a large kitchen with stainless-steel commercial appliances. Most notably, a cylindrical water tower has been converted into an office with panoramic views of the bay.