Ernest and Debra Gayles had been renting a house in Hanlon for seven years when they felt the time was right to purchase the house and turn it into a real home. This house was an exceptional house, built almost a hundred years ago, and owned at one time by the Chief Judge of Baltimore City— truly a house with heritage! The problem was, the house had remained in the 1920s, needing a twenty-first century make over, particularly in the kitchen.  The Gayles wondered, how to turn a grand, stately home into a modern one without losing the historical appeal?

The Gayles decided to use the Healthy Neighborhoods Loan Program for financing the purchase and renovation of their home. Through the Healthy Neighborhoods Purchase and Renovate loan, they were able to take advantage of the low interest rate, no mortgage insurance—and especially the matching grant—to make their house into their dream home. Healthy Neighborhoods is a community preservation program available to homebuyers and homeowners in the Hanlon, Garwyn Oaks and Howard Park communities to purchase and/or make improvements on their homes.

For Ernest, one of the best features of the loan was getting to work with an architect. “As a realtor, I pretty much knew what I wanted to do. And working with Healthy Neighborhoods was a great experience. It’s good to have these loans available to do this kind of work.” The couple used the loan to renovate the main kitchen, a pantry, remove an unused stairway, improve the back porch, and replace the front window. With a bit more work needed to complete the project, the Gayles look forward to completing their dream home.

If you visit the Gayles’ Hanlon home, you’ll find a beautiful combination of the historical and the new, and a thoughtful preservation of the past. They wanted to keep the historical dimensions of the house, but didn’t want it to look old and dated. The house’s new look certainly achieved this goal.

And that’s in keeping with the Healthy Neighborhoods’ philosophy of blending the past with the present, creating a better community for all of us. If YOU are interested in making changes to a new house or your current one, contact GO Northwest at 410-947-0084 x 101 and tell us what you’d like to do. We’ll help you get started on a Healthy Neighborhoods loan and a path to your dream home today.