River Approach

Annapolis, Md., architect Wayne L. Good, FAIA, is known for his stylized tweaks on traditional domestic architecture. That sense of updated tradition sets the tone at the Thompson residence, a vacation home near Annapolis that Good designed for a family of four and sited on a slender, forested ridge overlooking Valentine Creek. Its controlled, rustic outlook—a series of hybrid wood, stone, and glass structures—was meant to evoke the feeling of a rural camp. In fact, it has what Good calls “inherited architectural genetics” that date back to the ’20s and ’30s, when waterfront colonies popped up in the Chesapeake tidewater regions. There was Sherwood Forest with its Adirondack-style cottages; Scientists’ Cliffs with its chestnut log cabins; and Piney Point with its Victorian gazebos and sleeping porches. “This house was inspired by the spirit of all those summer camps,” says Good. “Certainly part of the idea was that the house should look like it had grown over time.”