Retaining the vintage character was primary when Tom and Lynn Hinkel remodeled and expanded a cottage that was built in 1900 on Put-in Creek in Mathews, Virginia. During the two-year project that created their retirement home, the couple lived aboard their center cockpit Gulfstar 44.
Now, after being in their 4,375-square-foot home for almost a decade, the Hinkels want to downsize.
Their 4.65-acre property with 400 feet of water frontage, a floating dock with two boat lifts, a five-bedroom, four-bath home, an in-ground swimming pool, a pool house, a three-car garage with a gym, a carriage house with an apartment and several outbuildings is on the market for $1.5 million.
Chesapeake Light, at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, is a 9-mile sail from their dock via the East River and Mobjack Bay, unobstructed by bridges. “[An infrequently used] boat ramp is just off our property, but we never hear any noise from that or from boaters who anchor in Put-in Creek during the migration season,” says Hinkel, a 71-year-old semiretired real estate developer from Washington, D.C., who has sailed Chesapeake Bay for years, exploring every creek.
When they renovated and expanded the cottage, the Hinkels retained the small windowpanes and steep, pitched roofs while adding Hardiplank exterior siding, architectural roof shingles, hardwood floors, dome ceilings, indirect lighting and custom cherry cabinets throughout.
The driveway winds through the wooded lot to the front entrance. Inside the original parlor is now the foyer, which contains a billiard table, a wet bar and a gas-burning fireplace. A screened porch and the master bedroom flank the foyer. The slate-floored porch has a wood-burning fireplace, a dome ceiling and tray lighting.
To the right of the foyer, the domed-ceiling master bedroom features a sitting area with a gas-burning fireplace, expansive windows and walk-in closets. The shower in the master bath converts to a steam room.
The heart of the house is the great room. The cherry paneled living area (with a wood-burning fireplace) and dining area share a wall of glass overlooking the water. French doors open to the lawn.
At the rear, a granite-topped island has seating and provides storage while serving as a wall of the kitchen. Appliances include a Wolf range, microwave and convection ovens.
The media room, which has a gas-burning fireplace, and the adjacent full bath are accessible from the great room. So is Hinkel’s office, but its cherry paneled door seems part of the great room’s paneling. Custom cherry built-ins furnish the office, which is wired for electronics and has a gas-burning fireplace. A door accesses the waterfront porch.
Across the driveway is the gunite-lined 20- by 40-foot swimming pool and a pool house that has a kitchen, heat and air conditioning.
Above the carriage house is a two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and full bath. The three-car garage includes a second-floor exercise room and attic storage. Other outbuildings include storage and utility sheds.
The home has a 25-kW generator that can power the entire house, an electric heat pump with propane backup, a well and a private septic system. Annual taxes are about $4,300.
Neena Rodgers and Diana Burton, (804) 436-2326, (RodgersandBurton.com) of Isabell K. Horsley Real Estate, Deltaville, Virginia, (info@rodgersand burton.com) list the property.
May 2015 issue
