Downsizers Find Room to Roam At Ashbury Courts

With space for shops and restaurants on the ground floor of her apartment building and a short walk to boutiques and antique stores on Laurel's Main Street, Victoria Bellinger says living in Ashbury Courts gives her the best of urban and suburban living.

"It reminds me a little of the city because of the retail space, but there's a suburban feeling, too," she said. "I lived in the city when I was young, and this place brings back a little nostalgia for that."

Bellinger and her husband weren't familiar with Laurel before moving into the newly opened Ashbury Courts in December. She was looking for a place between her husband's job in Towson and her work in pharmaceutical sales in the District. Ashbury Courts is in Howard County, just over the Prince George's County line from downtown Laurel.

"We were driving down Route 1 and just saw the building. When we walked in, we just got a wonderful feeling," she said. Bellinger, a jazz fan, said she liked that the apartment styles are named after such jazz greats as Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. Bellinger's apartment is the Goodman model, named for Benny.

"It's a one-bedroom, but it's huge," she said. "We downsized from a house, so space was really important to us."

Robert Woods pared down from the single-family house in Annapolis where he had lived for 35 years before he moved to Ashbury Courts in February.

"I liked the location. I liked the apartment, and there are very nice people who live here," said Woods, who works for the limousine company Prestige Motorcoach.

Aside from "a few minor maintenance problems, which were corrected very quickly," Woods said he has been pleased with his two-bedroom, one-bath apartment.

Ashbury Courts, which opened in November, is a five-story, U-shaped building with retail and restaurant spaces on the first floor.

All 140 apartments have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The kitchens also feature cherry wood cabinets. They have full-size washers and dryers, some in their own small laundry rooms. Apartments also have walk-in closets.

Residents have access to a large fitness room and a billiards room with a coffee bar, where free coffee is always available. A media room with a large-screen TV is also part of the public space.

"People are really utilizing the clubhouse area, almost as a living room," said Cheryl Rozanski, executive vice president of Patriot Realty, which manages the property. "More so than I've seen in any other property in my 25 years in this business, people are living in the whole building, not just their apartments."