Hot property: Suburban Baltimore home offers stately retreat and nearly 10,000 square feet

Address/Location: 1637 Cold Bottom Road, Sparks

List Price: $1.8 million

Year Built: 1999

Real estate agent: Jocelyn Batlas

Last sold price/date: $1,050,000 on Sept. 10, 2021

Property Size: This 9,482 square-foot home has six bedrooms, five full and one half bathrooms and a three-car garage on just over 3 acres of land.

Unique features: While this gracious brick home with the porticoed front porch has any number of appealing design elements, the show-stopper has to be the electric fireplace in the kitchen, with a see-through viewing window at countertop height. The rest of the kitchen is equally impressive if more understated, with its sleek, energy-efficient stainless steel appliances, warm hardwood floors, two beverage centers, and a sliding door that leads to an outdoor patio convenient for al fresco dining. And that’s just the main kitchen; a second kitchen is located in the fully-finished lower level.

The two-story foyer has a statement staircase and crystal chandelier. The house has an open floor plan featuring three fireplaces, including one in the first floor master bedroom, which also has sliding doors providing a private access to the outdoors. The master bathroom has a soaking tub, walk-in shower, two full-sized, side-by-side vanities, and is adjacent to a laundry area. The upstairs contains a second bedroom-bath suite that is nearly as large and that also has its own laundry area.

The new owners can greet guests from a covered porch at the front of the house and serve them cocktails on a rear patio. The 3-acre lot includes landscaped garden beds, and the whole property is nestled amid a grove of mature trees that create the impression of a country retreat.