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No Cookie-Cutter Community: Bayberry Believes in Dirt, Difference
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"Under moldy carpets and linoleum, we found the original hardwood floors," Andy Chapman said.
With its broad view of the Magothy River and Gibson Island, the back yard becomes a soccer field when Noah and his father step out with a ball. Two doors east is the community area.
"We walk along the beach and get other kids to get a game going," said Andy Chapman, 38. "It's a pretty nice-size field with two lacrosse goals."
Do they still drive around looking at houses?
"We're not going anywhere," Linda Chapman said. "They're going to sprinkle my ashes here."
At Scheide house No. 2, built in 1953, Bob and Janet Witter, married 56 years and in their 70s, said they're settled in, too. Once among the many people who rented the two-story, white-siding-clad house over the years, the Witters bought the home in 1981. It sits on a bluff next to the beach and playground.
"My grandchildren think I own it," Janet Witter said of the common area, which includes a swing set, slide, basketball court and picnic tables.
"It's here as a community asset, but this time of year when nobody's there, it's [like having] another three acres of our property," said Bob Witter, a member of the community's board and a retired Coast Guard naval engineer.
The house never was listed for sale. Bob Witter said he had to talk its owner into selling it, but the negotiation was well worth it. Their location gives them eastern and western vistas.
"We can see the water from every room in the house except the upstairs bathroom," Janet Witter said.
Segree doesn't have a waterfront view, but that doesn't diminish her love for Bayberry. After her husband died in 2006, friends suggested that she move. But she's satisfied where she is.
"I have wonderful neighbors," she said. "It's a place where you can feel safe. The kids -- you look out your window and they're riding their bikes, playing basketball."
