Architectural and decorative detail are built into this Charles Village Victorian house. The main floor's high ceilings have plaster relief designs, some leafy, some geometric. Underfoot, the wood floors feature parquet patterns with distinctive border designs.

Deep crown moldings, marble fireplaces and pocket doors add to the picture. A turret distinguishes the house, its windows making the parlor and a third-floor suite bright.

"There are lots of arches in this house. You see them repeated in the hallways," said Brett Cohen.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, bought the single-family home in 2005, and they have been working on it ever since.

"The two center interior walls are masonry covered in plaster," Elizabeth Cohen said. And much of that is beneath a luxurious thick, embossed, paintable wall covering from an earlier era.

The couple are hoping to relocate closer to friends in the city.

About the house --The brownstone and brick family house was built in 1898 as the home of Dr. Merville H. Carter, a founder of the Resinol Chemical Co., which developed Resinol, a well-known all-purpose skin ointment.

In more recent years, the interior had been carved up and the place turned into a fraternity house - including a chapter room tucked behind a bookcase-door in the basement, Brett Cohen said. The property originally included a carriage house that was split off as an independent residence.

Improvements the couple made include updating the wiring and plumbing, relining chimneys of the seven fireplaces - three wood-burning, four gas - repointing the brick exterior, adding three-zoned air conditioning and redoing the eat-in kitchen.

The third floor, which has an office suite, provides views of the city skyline that are expansive enough to see July 4 fireworks in five locations.

The yard includes heirloom rosebushes, fruit trees, herbs and shrubbery, as well as a partly shaded patio with a brick fireplace.

Address --2900 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21218

Asking price --$1.1 million

Taxes --$4,986

Size --The house has about 9,000 square feet and sits on .23 acre.

Features --The three-story corner house has seven bedrooms, five full bathrooms and three powder rooms; the master bedroom suite includes two sinks, a large marble bathroom with a deep Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. There is ample closet space and storage.

The kitchen, with a fireplace, has marble countertops and a marble-topped island with a sink. A "pot-filler" spigot is by the five-burner gas range. In addition, there is a black marble wet bar off the dining room.

There are several porches, including one off the kitchen that overlooks the patio.

Radiators provide heat, and several rooms have ceiling fans.

The basement, unfinished, has a metal-door safe. There is off-street parking.

Listing agent --Laird Bunch, Brandywine Fine Properties, Sotheby's International Realty, Wilmington, Del., 302-654-6500.

andrea.siegel@baltsun.com

To submit a candidate for Desirable Spaces, send color high-resolution photos with caption information on a CD and a detailed description of the property to Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, Real Estate Editor, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278. Questions may be sent to homes@baltsun.com.