The morning light bouncing off the Bay in Molly and Ed’s living room is blinding, but in a good way. After all, being engulfed in a flood of rays was the point of building a wall of windows in their waterfront home in Eastport, a section of Annapolis. Their view faces south, and when you sit on the deck, there lies the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in all its glory. It’s the perfect spot for sailors Ed Freitag, a corporate attorney, and Molly Haley, a business consultant and former owner of Marblehead Handprints, a textile design company specializing in hand-printed fabrics and products.

In 1996 the couple bought their house, then a small rancher on a narrow lot. “It was a pre-fab, the Millard Fillmore model in the Presidential line,” Molly explains as Ed pulls out the original photos. Not only did the house fit their waterfront requirement, but its location mirrored the charm of Molly’s long-time home base, Marblehead, Mass., where sailing tradition reigns and everything is within walking distance. Eastport, with its eclectic mix of colorful Victorians, faded bungalows, and bold new construction-and a dock in every possible backyard, felt right.
They planned to renovate right away. Their vision was to create an airy space that combined their New England roots with a simple, almost Shaker style of design-and with as many water views as possible. “We lived in the original house for a while to get the feel for the site,” says Ed. “I would take notes on just where the light was coming in and when,” adds Molly.

Their architect, Pamela Russell Jessup, took their ideas and ran, turning the plain house into a 4,500-square-foot, two-and-a-half-story dazzler; design and construction took almost four years to complete. “It got more contemporary as we went along,” says Molly, who kept traditional touches like wide oak floorboards, a fieldstone fireplace, and her antique pine tables and chairs, which bring a homey warmth and character to the spare space.
With the infusion of natural light and white walls throughout, the house makes for an ideal gallery-like setting for their art collection, gathered during their travels to South and Central America. Masks from Guatemala peer down from shelving surrounding the fireplace, artful glass and ceramics are framed in kitchen cubbyholes. While the couple is increasingly searching out artists and craftspeople, they delight equally in objects found in uncommon locales. “We picked up those figurines in a local drugstore for a few cents when we were in Mexico during the ‘Day of the Dead,’” says Ed.

The one-of-a-kind floating stairs are the focal point of the first floor, designed by fine craftsman John Kreher of Cabin John, Md., not to block the water view. Kreher’s creation is a work of art in its own right, with each step crafted out of cypress and molded in an angular shape that’s repeated in the handrails, as well as the steel rails, carefully weathered by being left outside to rust, then sanded to the perfect patina. Sailboat rigging wire was added to the railing for detail. The painstaking design process took more than two years.
Life on the water is a natural design theme in the home, but you won’t find a stereotypical bowl of seashells around here. Rather, it is interpreted in subtleties: a mono-chrome sailboat watercolor, boathouse-style windows in the back bedroom, a wood-and-metal fish sculpture that swims along the master bedroom wall. The view from the street echoes this water theme, with the staggered roof-lines lending a fishing village look to the exterior.

The details so carefully considered make it a unique home. The kitchen counters, bathroom floors, and mantel are all poured concrete, tinted just the right shade of slate or taupe. The gray concrete floors in the mudroom and powder room have flecks of blue glass added to differentiate the space.

The second-floor master bedroom, which faces the water, includes a mini-kitchen where the couple enjoy breakfast every morning, either on the balcony in the warmer months or in front of the remote-controlled gas fireplace. Molly’s office is situated near the Bay-facing windows of the library. Ed’s is in the loft space overlooking the Bay. Even the bathrooms have a water view. “I actually lay in the tub when we were building to figure out the right height it would take to be able to look out the window,” says Molly.

Ed and Molly are continually inspired by the natural views and the light and the water they love so well. Plus, in the days of cell phones and handheld computers, Ed can stroll down the street to the sailmaker for a chat and check his e-mail along the way. Exactly the plan.

Contributing editor Kathy H. Ely got some great ideas from Molly and Ed for her Silver Spring home.