OCEAN CITY — The palatial single-family home with five bedrooms and a fantastic kitchen — across the street from a park, a shrub-lined brick path meandering through — could be in Anywhere, USA …
The spacious home — there’s 4,000 square feet of living space plus a walk-up attic with headroom — is on a beautifully landscaped property at 17 Michigan Ave., but the front faces Richmond Drive and the passive park bordered by Michigan, Richmond, Bayshore Drive and West 18th Street.
Standing proudly on a 9,000-square-foot lot, “the home is like a private oasis,” listing agent Gray Haenn said during a recent tour.
A two-car attached garage is to the left of the gray house with white trim and a brick parking pad provides more spots in front of the separate doors, which have arched tops and windows. A brick path leads down the left to the backyard, where flowerbeds bursting with hydrangeas and other shrubs line the fence and foundation of the house. Hedges combined with vinyl fencing completely encloses the property.
Out front, a grassy yard gives way to more flowerbeds filled with shrubs, a lamppost standing to one side. The home is sided in gray vinyl with white accents that include railings, window and door trim and round pillars.
A brick path leads to composite steps rising to the wrap-around covered porch, where a white door with side panels and a transom opens onto a grand foyer with hardwood flooring and a 9-foot ceiling.
The home is very colorful, with green walls atop white bead board wainscoting in the foyer. Other millwork includes casing and crown molding.
Wings open to the left and right of the central corridor, which continues straight toward the great room.
On the left, a formal dining room has white shadow box wainscoting beneath what I’ll call “mauve” or maybe “corral” walls. Three tall windows overlooking the front porch have plantation shutters. A hall leads through a pantry with a buffet counter and 6-foot-tall Viking wine refrigerator.
To the right of the foyer in front is another room on the pink pallet. It has three tall windows in a curved alcove and hardwood flooring like the rest of the first floor. A doorway on the far side leads into the living room through a hall with an oval window overlooking the swimming pool.
Back in the foyer, a door on the right midway toward the great room opens to reveal a powder room with a slate-tile floor and porcelain pedestal sink, conveniently located off the main living space.
The heart of the home is in the rear, where a large living room features two sliding glass doors opening onto the back porch, providing abundant natural light. On the right, a gas fireplace has a tile surround and wood mantel with a wall-mounted television above.
Knee walls with pillars flank the entrance to the eat-in kitchen, which is truly a marvel to behold. A curved center island with a three-level granite top provides space for three stools beneath a trio of industrial-style pendant lights. On one side, a stainless-steel Miele dishwasher is left of the deep Blanco farmhouse sink.
White cabinets with a granite top and tile backsplash line one wall. Appliances include a GE side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, a four-burner Thermador range/double oven with a griddle beneath a hood, and a Thermador warming drawer to the left beneath a microwave oven.
Against the back wall, just inside four windows with plantation shutters and beneath two skylights, the dining area is bright and cheery, a chandelier picking up the rays as they enter the home. A set of glass doors opens onto the back porch.
Off the dining area is a green media room with a Dutch door that opens onto the butler’s kitchen, which connects directly to the kitchen on the other side. There’s also a door to the garage.
The butler’s kitchen has more cabinets with granite counters, a KitchenAid dish washer to the right of a porcelain farmhouse sink and a stainless-steel Jenn-Air refrigerator with bottom freezer drawer.
Wood stairs with a carper inlay rise to the carpeted second floor.
The first of the bedrooms is painted a pretty periwinkle room with an en suite bath featuring tile on the floor and halfway up the walls, a vanity and tiled shower.
Back in the hall, steps lead down to a bonus room half carpeted and half tiled with a washer and dryer.
The hall bath has a long vanity with dual sinks and a pocket door closing off the tub/shower.
Two other bedrooms are on the way to the master suite. Featuring a lofty tray ceiling, the bedroom has a king-size bed flanked by windows. Three more with a half-circle above overlook the front of the home.
The master bath has tile flooring, a KraftMaid vanity with dual sinks beneath a wide mirror, as well as a makeup station and a fully tiled shower. Bead board wainscoting lines the bottom half of the walls.
Out back, wood steps rise to the covered porch from two sides. Below, a brick patio has a built-in stainless-steel grill.
A gated fence surrounds the large swimming pool and hot tub off to the side, while trellises with flowered vines line the fence on the Michigan Avenue side. A gas fireplace next to the pool provides ambiance or warmth on those cooler September nights.
… but it’s not, it’s in America’s Greatest Family Resort.
Ocean City is one of the most popular shore resorts on the East Coast, featuring a 2.5-mile-long oceanfront boardwalk filled with hundreds of shopping, dining and entertainment venues, as well as miles and miles of pristine beaches. There also is an award-winning downtown business district centered on Asbury Avenue and a watersports district around Third Street on Bay Avenue.
A great location doesn’t only mean beachfront or bayfront on this 8-mile-long island — there are 10 distinct neighborhoods, each with its own characteristics.
The Riviera is a boater’s paradise with many Mediterranean-style homes set right on inland lagoons, providing a safe anchorage for pleasure boats as well as a great place to go kayaking or paddle boarding. It’s a destination rather than a throughway, meaning traffic is limited to neighbors and guests.
