For nearly 30 years, Carole and Mickey Fox lived in the "Sugarville" section of Pikesville in Baltimore County. But when they were looking for a home that required less maintenance, they bought in Baltimore -- at the Village of Cross Keys.
"We go to Florida in the winter and come north every spring," Carole Fox explained. "We didn't want to downsize, but we wanted all the conveniences of living in a condominium -- to have someone else take care of the grass cutting and snow removal. This is wonderful. I love the location. I love the house."
The Foxes are among 16 families that have purchased homes at Roland Green, the last residential phase of Cross Keys, the mixed-use community that the late developer James W. Rouse launched 35 years ago.
The houses were sold out before construction began -- with prices ranging from $350,000 to $750,000. Nearly half the buyers, like the Foxes, came from outside the city limits.
"We didn't do any advertising, didn't do any brochures," said Larry Rosenberg, president of Mark Building Co, the builder. "Yet we had a waiting list."
This is Mark Building's first project in the city. Rosenberg attributed the quick sellout in large part to the unconventional design of the houses he built at Cross Keys -- large, two-story residences with all of the key living spaces on the first floor -- including the master bedroom and bathroom suite -- and guest quarters above. He said there was nothing else like it in the city -- and that was part of its appeal.
"We call them cluster patio houses," he said. "They are truly townhouses. You could also call them single-family attached. They're 56 feet wide, with two-car garages and one or two steps into the mudroom. They're light and airy, with cathedral ceilings in the living and dining areas. And the master bedroom is not just tacked on but very much incorporated into the plan."
Rosenberg said the buyers are primarily empty nesters -- couples whose children have grown and who want to move to a secure community where homes are relatively maintenance free but who aren't yet ready for a retirement community.
Many are still working and want to have guest rooms available for use when their grown children or others visit.
Word-of-mouth sales
"This was a perfect opportunity for an infill development in an existing neighborhood where there was underutilized land," he said. "We were very fortunate in that the sales were done by word of mouth. Once word got out that we were contemplating building this type of product [a first-floor master bedroom floor plan], many people expressed interest, because it hadn't been available in this area."
Completed this summer, the development adds at least $4.8 million in housing stock to the city tax rolls -- or about $184,300 in annual taxes.
City Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III said the sellout shows that affluent buyers will purchase new homes in the city, as long as builders provide the layouts and quality of housing they want.
"Getting Larry Rosenberg in Baltimore City was an important event for us," Henson said. "He built a product which to my mind is a great product -- not too much grass, but just enough -- and [in Cross Keys] he built upon a market that was already there.
"It's a gated community that has not only the perception but the reality of safety. It shows that there is a strong demand for housing in the city. If you give people what they want, they'll come."
Prototype for Columbia
The Village of Cross Keys, a 78-acre community on former property of the Baltimore Country Club, is on the west side of Falls Road between Northern Parkway and Cold Spring Lane.
James Rouse, founder of the Rouse Co., launched it in 1962 as a model for urban living and a prototype for Columbia. In 1964 the first resident moved in and the retail center opened a year later.
The new houses were built on a 4-acre parcel just north of the Shops at the Village of Cross Keys. They bring to 688 the number of residences at Cross Keys.
The land was the last parcel available for residential construction in Cross Keys.
Rosenberg had worked elsewhere with the Rouse Co. and was interested in building at Cross Keys because he liked its convenient access to shopping, highways and established neighborhoods such as Roland Park. But he felt that a conventional townhouse development would not be appropriate.
"That was not what the market dictated," he said. "Baltimore was really lacking in options for the empty nester."
Fla. community was model
Rosenberg said he looked at housing developments around the country to identify prototypes that would appeal to affluent empty nesters. In Longboat Key, Fla., he said, he discovered the cluster patio houses, and adapted them for the Maryland climate.
With the master bedroom on the first level, he said, a couple can have access to every major part of the home without climbing stairs. But if they have grown children or other guests coming to visit, they'll have room upstairs for them to stay overnight.
"Empty nesters don't want to downsize," he said. "They want the same amount of space. They just want a new environment and a more secure environment."
Because Mark Building Co. has a good working relationship with Rouse Co., Rosenberg was able to persuade executives there to go along with his idea. Donald B. Ratcliffe & Associates prepared the final design, with Daft McCune Walker as the landscape architect, and construction began in 1997.
As designed by Ratcliffe, the basic three-bedroom house has 3,400 square feet of space -- 2,600 square feet on the first level and 800 on the second. The first level has a large foyer, expansive living and dining rooms, powder room, family room, gourmet kitchen, two-car garage and master bedroom suite.
The second floor has two additional rooms that could be used as bedrooms, studies, exercise rooms or home offices. The exterior is clad in brick and glass, with shingle roofs. Some of the houses have partial basements; all have patios or decks or both.
Room for visiting daughters
Nancy Kohn Rabin, a buyer who came from a large Colonial-style house in Fallstaff, said the design appealed to her and her husband Joel. She said they have daughters who are out of college now but often come back to Baltimore for visits. With the upstairs bedrooms, she said, there is room for them to stay overnight.
Kohn Rabin, the daughter of one of the partners of the old Hochschild-Kohn department store chain, said she particularly likes the convenient location of Cross Keys, the security of a gated community, the low maintenance and the design of the houses.
"One of the real advantages of these houses is that the master bedroom is on the first floor," she said. "There's great living space in the house, so you could totally live on the first floor."
Larry Rosenberg is the son of Lee Rosenberg, who ran his own building company for many years in Howard County and retired in 1985. Both are highly respected builders who have completed 3,000 residences in Maryland and have a loyal following.
Lee Rosenberg is particularly pleased that so many of the buyers came from outside the city limits. "It's bringing people from the counties back to the city," he said. "It shows that people want to come back into the city."
Mark also is building townhouses in Frederick and Columbia and detached houses in White Marsh and Owings Mills.
Rosenberg said his experience at Roland Green has been so rewarding that he's now looking for other locations to build the cluster patio model.
Mark is already building the homes at the Beaverbrook community in Baltimore County and has built one of the cluster homes as a freestanding residence for a Baltimore County client.
One advantage of identifying buyers before construction begins, Rosenberg said, is that the houses could be customized to suit each resident.
Working with their own interior designers, such as Alexander Baer and Richard Taylor, buyers at Roland Green were able to incorporate special touches ranging from "surround sound" systems and high-speed computer links to finished basements, elevators, ornate molding and imported tiles.
Plumbing fixtures were ordered from Italy. Sun rooms were added to a couple of units. At least one resident put in a large work of outdoor sculpture.
"This was truly a unique community in the sense that the initial owners had a chance to customize their residences," Rosenberg said. "They all have their own features. No two houses are exactly alike."
Roland Green
What: Homes ranging in price from $350,000 to $750,000
Where: A 4-acre parcel just north of The Shops at the Village of Cross Keys
Who is buying: Primarily empty nesters who appreciate a design that places all of the key living spaces on the first floor.
Other features: All the buyers signed up before construction began and were able to incorporate special touches ranging from "surround sound" electronic systems to finished basements, elevators, ornate moldings and imported tiles.