Maryland
Peek Inside a Historic Maryland Home That Also Doubles as a Wedding Venue – Washingtonian
Photograph by Amanda Martin.
Pleasant Hill is a historic five-bed, four-and-a-half bath home in Charles County, Maryland. The original section of the Tidewater-style house was built in 1761, and today, Travis and Tig Wright own and live in the home. The Wrights—Travis, 51, is a consultant, and Tig, 52, is a Realtor—also operate the property as a wedding venue.
The couple was debating moving out of Maryland when this home came on the market last year, and they purchased it and decided to stick around. “We have always loved and appreciated old homes,” says Travis—when he and Tig met, she owned an old shotgun-style home in Cincinnati that they ended up renovating together. “We were hooked!”
The couple renovated Pleasant Hill, too, and live in it with their children, Brooke, 18, Harrison, 16, and their cats, Oppie and Awnie.
Here, we talk with Travis about fixing up the home and outfitting it in a French country style:
What was your inspiration for the home’s aesthetic?
With old homes, many times you work with what you have—Pleasant Hill had strong bones. We wanted a mix of modern and historic, and we love the French country style and wanted to incorporate that, as well. Since we’re providing a luxury experience for our guests, we wanted to make sure they would feel transported to someplace special.
What’s the biggest splurge you’ve purchased for your home?
The Susan Harter wallpaper in the dining room. The room is narrow and has poor natural light, so knew it needed more than just new paint to create the luxury feeling we were after. We initially thought about a painted mural but then found this amazing wallpaper. We worked with our designer, Amanda Martin of Amanda Elizabeth Interiors, to ensure the scenes fit well into our decor and vision for the room.
What’s the best deal you’ve received on an item for your home?
We repurposed several pieces of furniture from our former home with new paint and stain. Also, the previous owners left behind a beautiful wood dining table that fit the narrow room perfectly. Additionally, we found unique vintage items on Chairish and Ebay.
What renovations did you do to the home?
Most of the interior renovations were cosmetic, such as giving each room a fresh coat of paint and refinishing the original wood flooring. We replaced the living and dining room fireplace surrounds with Calacatta marble and updated the half-bath.
The most interesting renovation was in the basement, where we had to add posts and replace some structural beams that were 200 years old. Before installing the beams, we distressed the wood by burning and beating it with chains and axes to achieve that old antique look. Now they are structurally sound and fit the tavern look we were going for.
The exterior renovations included extensive landscaping in the front and refurbishing the back garden. We completely renovated the pool, adding new plaster, tile, coping, and pumps. We installed synthetic grass in the expansion joints, too.
What DIYs did you do to the house?
The hyphen and butler’s pantry connect the old house to the new house, where our kitchen is located. After installing a marble backsplash, it became very clear that the wood counter had to be refinished—it was fading and peeling from sunlight, and it looked dingy. I decided to tackle the staining and refinishing on my own, and I’m proud every time I walk by it.
What’s your favorite part of the house?
There are so many special places, but I do enjoy my office. It was originally the kitchen, but is now lined with bookshelves. The vaulted ceiling has open beams and the fireplace has the original wooden hearth with hand-hewn ax marks. I get a sense of the history every time I sit in there.
Tig would say the pool area. She routinely works from a chaise on the pool deck while taking calls and writing contracts. When she needs a break, she takes a dip. The pool is surrounded by nature, and looking up, all you see is the sky framed by trees.
What’s your favorite item in your home?
The original wood beams from the basement, which we had to remove based on our engineer’s recommendation. These large beams have so much character and have held the house firm for 200 years. I’m repurposing them into shelves in our mini museum area. This will be a space to display the history of the house, as well as artifacts found on the property.
What’s your favorite thing to do when at home?
Every day we take time to walk around the grounds outside. We check on the garden, talk about plans for the house, and catch up on our day with each other.
Who would your top three dream guests be for a dinner party at your home?
Abraham Lincoln, Samuel L. Jackson, and Martha Stewart.
Home & Features Editor
Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She’s written for The Washington Post, Garden & Gun, Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Del Ray.
A 16-year-old student at a high school in Maryland has been detained after he allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old student in one of the school’s bathrooms.
The name of the suspect has yet to be released. The victim, Warren Curtis Grant, died following the shooting at Joppatowne High School. Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler made the announcement at a press briefing.
The suspect fled the scene but was detained close by just minutes later.
“He has yet to be charged but will be charged, and at the time those charges are preferred as an adult, we will release the name of the suspect,” Gahler told the press, according to The Guardian.
The sheriff added that his office has handled more than 10 cases in the last two years “where the suspect was either the victim, witness or the suspect in an incident handled by the Harford county sheriff’s office.”
While the sheriff’s office told the public to avoid the area after the shooting, it said that it was an “isolated incident, not an active shooter.”
An “active shooter” situation refers to when a suspect is firing against everyone they see rather than targeting a particular person.
An area church was used as a reunification center for students and their parents. The school is located about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore.
Gahler noted that more than 100 law enforcement officials responded to the scene.
The fight at Joppatowne High School took place just two days after the shooting at a high school outside Atlanta, Georgia where a 14-year-old shot and killed four people.
Michigan State got the job done in its season opener, but it wasn’t pretty as it hung on at home against Florida Atlantic. Now, it has to head on the road to open Big Ten play in what promises to be a tougher test.
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Michigan State is 1-0, but the road gets tougher now. The Spartans go on the road and start Big Ten play early in Week 2 with a trip to Maryland. The Terrapins have a new look this year without quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa but looked strong in their season-opener against Howard last week.
· Who: Michigan State at Maryland
· When: 3:30 p.m.
· Where: SECU Stadium, College Park, Maryland
· Twitter: Follow Matt Wenzel
· Live updates: Beginning at 2:30 p.m. at mlive.com/spartans
· Latest line: Maryland -9.5
TV Network: Big Ten Network
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Five must-reads before kickoff:
* Michigan State lost two members of its secondary, Dillon Tatum and Khalil Majeed, to long-term injuries in its season opener. The team is turning to some new faces to fill in the holes from those injuries.
* Alex VanSumeren was once Michigan State’s top-rated recruit, but he’s been seldom seen on the field due to injuries. Now, though, he’s healthy and making his mark on the Spartans’ defensive line.
* Aidan Chiles’ 10-completion, two-interception performance in Michigan State’s season-opener was his “floor,” according to offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who has a plan to improve the quarterback’s performance going forward.
* Jonathan Smith had a name for Week 1 in college football: overreaction Saturday. He’s cautioning fans not to put too much stock into an opening performance that likely underwhelmed many.
* The run game and discipline are two of Matt Wenzel’s five things to watch in this week’s matchup.
Michigan State
* Passing: Aidan Chiles 10-14, 114 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT
* Rushing: Kay’ron Lynch-Adams 9 rush, 101 yards, 1 TD
* Receiving: Michael Masunas 2 rec., 29 yards, 0 TD
* Tackles: Angelo Grose 12
* Sacks: Khris Bogle 1.5
* Interceptions: Grose, Nikai Martinez 1
Maryland
* Passing: Billy Edwards Jr. 20-27, 311 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
* Rushing: Roman Hemby 14 rush, 66 yards, 1 TD
* Receiving: Tai Felton 7 rec., 178 yards, 2 TD
* Tackles: Glendon Miller 6
* Sacks: None
* Interceptions: Ruben Hyppolite II, Miller 1
Friday, Sept. 6
Western Illinois at Indiana
Duke at Northwestern
Saturday, Sept. 7
Texas at Michigan, noon (FOX)
Rhode Island at Minnesota, noon (Peacock)
Bowling Green at Penn State, noon (BTN)
Akron at Rutgers, noon (BTN)
Iowa State at Iowa, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
Michigan State at Maryland, 3:30 p.m. (BTN)
Eastern Michigan at Washington, 3:30 p.m. (BTN)
South Dakota at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m. (FS1)
Kansas at Illinois, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Colorado at Nebraska, 7:30 p.m. (NBC)
Western Michigan at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. (BTN)
Boise State at Oregon, 10 p.m. (Peacock)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Michigan State has an excellent chance to make a strong statement this weekend that the rebuilding job under new head coach Jonathan Smith is ahead of schedule, if the Spartans can take down 8-point favorite Maryland on Saturday.
A Michigan State victory would be a strong statement within the football industry, but maybe not as strong from a fan perspective. I’m not sure Maryland’s football brand is as respected in the state of Michigan and regionally as it should be, for a program that has gone 8-5 in the past two seasons and defeated Auburn and North Carolina State in bowl games the past two years.
Maryland is good. The Terrapins are coming off a 50-7 victory over a weak UConn team last week. Maryland’s offense looked very good against a weak, soft, conservative UConn defense.
Michigan State’s defense was ahead of schedule last week against a mediocre Florida Atlantic offense. Michigan State’s offense was behind schedule, experiencing inconsistent accuracy and decision-making at the quarterback position, which was somewhat understandable considering it was sophomore Aidan Chiles’ first start as a college player. MSU’s running game also lacked consistency, especially in short yardage and in the red zone.
The big news from Maryland last week in my opinion was the excellent play of new starting quarterback Billy Edwards. The 6-foot-3, 222-pound redshirt-junior had waited behind the outgoing, record-breaking Taulia Tagovailoa for three years. Tagovailoa left Maryland as the Big Ten’s all-time passing leader. He went undrafted and is now playing in the CFL.
Edwards looked good last week. He’s strong in the pocket, is a physical ball carrier on designed runs or scrambles. He was accurate over the middle on intermediate routes, and seemed to do a good job processing coverages, although UConn’s coverages were simple, slow and soft.
I saw this Michigan State vs Maryland game as a swing game on the schedule prior to the season. But considering how well Edwards and his receivers looked last week, and Michigan State’s sputtering start on offense, this game goes from being a swing game to uphill slog for the Spartans.
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