The Historic Kellogg House in Cape Charles, VA
A career in real estate, I can honestly testify, is full of surprising twists and turns. After almost forty years of service to buyers and sellers, I have experienced my share of deja vu experiences, close calls and even seemingly perfect miracles. Twenty-five years ago I happened upon the Eastern Shore of Virginia on a lark, a visit during which I made a life altering decision to relocate my children here from our home in Sandbridge in Virginia Beach. I was a single dad raising five children at the time and between my work and my shorthanded approach to parenthood, I felt like I was losing control of my family. Even in idyllic Sandbridge, the big city was eating my children alive, starting with my 18 year old son who was on the verge of turning into a bonafide juvenile delinquent. My discovery of this beautiful rural community surrounded by water appeared to be my ticket to a different lifestyle, a place where I could change the scenery, a place which could revitalize my family life and bring my children closer together under my supervision. Two years passed while I studied the situation on the Eastern Shore, trying to figure out exactly where to move and what I would do for gainful employment.
A Fireplace Hearth to Warm Our Friends Hearts
A friend on the Shore phoned in March of 1990 to let me know of an exciting new listing on the market in Cape Charles, the historic Kellogg House, so I made plans to check it out. To make a very long story quite short, it turned out to be the house of my dreams, a true mansion in every respect! Being sold by an estate which was firm on price and terms, I was forced to contract for a purchase with no contingencies. Talk about stepping out in faith, I drove home realizing that if this was meant to be then I would need to sell my home in Sandbridge, sell my business in Virginia Beach and re-establish myself here on the Eastern Shore in Cape Charles. And, miracle of all miracles, it all came together without a hitch !
The Entry Hall, Grand Staircase, and Dining Room China Cupboard At Kellogg House
And so we all moved to the big brick mansion at 644 Monroe Avenue in Cape Charles, historic Kellogg House, the wonderful home where all four of my remaining children grew to maturity, graduated from high school and went off to college. I remember packing my last two children, identical twin boys, off to Virginia Tech, dropping them each in their respective dorm rooms and making the long, five-hour drive back home with tears in my eyes. For the next three months I came home from my nearby office selling Eastern Shore real estate to a big, dark, empty, quiet home with no one to talk to, no one to cook for, no one to beg for allowance money. I just about lost my mind while I bounced around this old mansion of a home where childrens’ laughter used to echo off the plaster walls and pounding feet sounded like a herd of elephants running up and down the wide central staircase.
The Long and Sandy Lane To My Eastern Shore Waterfront Home
Then one day, while out driving on beautiful Church Neck, I happened upon an old gentleman planting a sign in the ground by the road. I slammed on the brakes, threw the gear in reverse and caught the old man before he could get back in his truck. “What are you selling ?” I asked him. “My house,” he replied, “back there.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, but in the distance all I could see was a long, sandy lane disappearing behind the farm fields into the forest. He said to follow him and he climbed back in his pick-up truck and started down the lane. I followed through fields and woods, over hill and dale. We drove a half mile back until we came upon a clearing where I could get a peek at the head of Westerhouse Creek, a colorful saltwater inlet from the Chesapeake Bay. By that time I was completely mesmerized by the beautiful approach to his waterfront home and its wooded setting up high over the lovely little estuary.
Love at First Sight!
Both of us dismounted from our vehicles and gazed out towards the water. Could I look at this waterfront property to buy it, I inquired ? His whole demeanor changed for the better and I took a guided tour beginning with the view over the lovely little cove. Fifteen minutes later, after touring the cute little cottage, perfectly sized for my new status as an “empty nester”, we were standing between our trucks in the driveway and I asked him how much he wanted for the place – five acres of woodland between a fresh water pond and the salt water inlet from the Chesapeake Bay. He stated a price that I just could not refuse and we shook hands on the deal then and there ! I reached into my briefcase, pulled out a blank contract form, and proceeded to fill it out right there on the hood. We exchanged the pleasantries as I filled in his name on the contract. Some familiarity caused me to pause and look at him, and I said, “You look mighty familiar. Where have I seen you before ?” He looked me in the eye and said, “My picture is in the newspaper every Wednesday with my weekly column.” Then it hit me, I exclaimed, “You’re the Randolph Walker who writes “On the Saltier Side!” Just about choking over this revelation, I stammered, “and I’m buying your house!” For years I had been avidly following his folksy column about retired life out in the Chesapeake Bay countryside. Funny stories each one, about the tug-of-war between his wanting to fish and hunt and his wife twisting him around her little finger to finish the chores. I had salivated at his many colorful references to the waterfront home where they lived, always thinking that it sounded like heaven to me, but I had never known exactly where that place was.
At Play on Westerhouse Creek, A Chesapeake Bay Saltwater Inlet On Virginia's Eastern Shore
After signing the contract, I headed back out the long, wooded lane towards the paved road. Peeking up at the blue sky breaking through the treetops, reality suddenly hit me – I had to sell my house in Cape Charles !! Don’t you know, it dawned on me that here was another one of those occasions that, if it’s meant to be, it will be. Over the next two weeks, I worked as hard as I could, contracting people interested in Cape Charles real estate including calling a friendly purchase prospect I had shown property to a few months earlier and offering her my big brick home in Cape Charles for sale. And she wanted it! “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I sang up on high.
Heading For The Chesapeake Bay-An Eastern Shore Paddler's Paradise
That was ten years ago, and my life in that cozy cottage on Westerhouse Creek has been even better than I could have ever imagined that day. Now, I am back to square one again, with the responsibility of finding another person who will appreciate the lovely historic home on Monroe Avenue as much I did, and as much as my friend did when her purchase of Kellogg House from me helped me to buy my dreamboat place from the writer who stirred my soul.
Week before last I made a quick trip to Bay Creek Golf Resort in Cape Charles, VA to take some photos of a new golf home listing there and was excited to see that the “Spring Bloomers” show is well underway. It’s my favorite time of the year at Bay Creek, an amazing golf community built along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay featuring show quality landscaping, the time when the profusion of vibrant colors there is just absolutely wonderful, total eye candy. The color begins with a large sculpted bed of red annuals at the entry sign and just keeps on going from there, on and on and on, so just when you think you’ve seen everything, something new turns up as you round a corner. Living in a home in one of the 10 little villages at Bay Creek in the spring is sort of like being at the Philadelphia International Flower Show, gorgeous bloomers everywhere you turn, the ultimate floral color palette ( FYI, the 2012 Philadelphia Flower Show theme is “Hawaii, Islands of Aloha”, I’m sure it will be spectacular ! www.theflowershow.com )
The drive from the entrance towards the gatehouse is punctuated by a dramatic water feature, a striking, nearly lifesize bronze sculpture of a small boat with a waterman, his son and their Labrador dog. This close knit group, shown pulling in crab pots, portrays a centuries old scene of a lifestyle of working the waters along the Chesapeake Bay, crabbing in spring and summer, oystering in fall and winter. Landscaped with grasses and accented by a channel marker with an osprey nest atop, this is my very favorite Bay Creek design, it just feels so “Eastern Shore Virginia” as you pass by, a vivid reminder and a tip-of-the-hat to the Shore’s long coastal traditions.
Once through the gate, the full force of the landscaping is accomplished by having single lane, one way roads with wide medians dividing the two lanes, the medians actually being miles of landscaped beds planted with dozens and dozens of varieties of trees together with understory designs of perennial shrubs, flowers and ground covers. The landward side of each lane is bordered with long rows of trees, pin oaks, pines, crape myrtles and magnolias to name just a few, most of which which are surrounded by their own colorful beds including a long row of huge and absolutely gorgeous peoneys just beyond the gatehouse. Additional flower power throughout is provided by the numerous varieties of bulbs and annuals. The superstars of spring, the azaleas and camillias, there seemingly by the thousands, just doing their thing, blooming away, a riot of hot pinks and bright lavendars, splashes of brilliant orange here and candy apple reds there, everything in lovely contrast to the various hues and textures of green foliages. And beyond it all, the cool blues of the Chesapeake Bay and sugary white sands of its beaches complete the delightful rainbow of colors that greet Bay Creek’s homeowners every spring. So, if a Chesapeake Bay home offering a golf, beach and marina lifestyle surrounded by such natural beauty appeals to you, check out our website, www.blueheronva.com for currently available properties.
