Urban Discoveries Baltimore

Looking for luxury housing, green engineering, gourmet dining, and the company of artists? Check out this antique metal-casting plant! Okay, maybe the artist part is no surprise, but otherwise Clipper Mill in Hampden is another great example of Baltimore’s unlikely but flourishing industrial-sites-turned-fancy-places movement. It’s an intriguing blend of the old and the new, with the Overlook Clipper Mill community as a prime example:  sleek, green-friendly homes in a formerly industrial setting.

Originally built in 1851, Clipper Mill Industrial Park has lately been in the process of reinventing itself, and now boasts corporate facilities, residences, the beloved Woodberry Kitchen (2010 Clipper Park Road), the slightly less beloved Flips (1601 Union Avenue), and studios for painters, glassblowers, and (most appropriately) metal workers.

Framed in broad swaths of glass with a big, inviting swimming pool, Overlook Clipper Mill bears little resemblance to Stephen King’s haunted hotel. And with numerous green features, including high-grade insulation, water saver showerheads, and readily show-off-able photovoltaic solar panels, these homes are fully prepared for the oil-starved post-apocalyptic future. The 38 duplex homes are settled prettily in the middle of the woods, with relative peace and quiet provided by Druid Hill Park; they’re also conveniently near the Woodberry light rail stop, making public transit into the city an easy option.

With a window-to-wall ratio almost double that of a typical home, these houses are unquestionably modern—a bold choice in itself. As Charles Alexander, project architect and principal of Alexander Design Studio told EcoHome,  “Baltimore tends to be quite traditional in residential offerings, so it was a deliberate choice to go modern.”

Builders Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse told EcoHome that meeting the development’s goals of energy efficiency and stylish design added about 30 percent to the project’s cost, but it was worth it:  last year, the Urban Land Institute gave Overlook Clipper Mill its Award of Excellence.

SBER development director Jennifer Goold told EcoHome that she “believe[s] every house, if well thought out and carefully planned, can be green.” Do you agree? Are communities like this the way of the future, or will the recession put a damper on green building technologies?

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