Great Room

 "No trespassing," reads a sign at the gated entrance to a winding, mile-long gravel road in the mountains west of Hancock. "Not open for public use. " But Saturday, park rangers opened not only the gate, but the doors of the majestic 1930s-era Woodmont Lodge at the end of the road for a twice-yearly open house. The lodge, part of Fort Frederick State Park, has a storied history as part of the Woodmont Rod & Gun Club, founded in 1870 as a fishing and hunting club for "men of prominence.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Until Sunday, the last time Carolyn Holzer had been in the Marion, Pa., home of Ardell and Michele Martin was 1948. Moving through the Colorado Street residence on the Greencastle-Antrim Lioness Club Fall Home Tour, Holzer remarked that a lot had changed in nearly 60 years - the brick facade has been replaced, a row of evergreen trees is gone and an addition stretches behind the original structure. Yet, wooden bookcases, a recessed mirror, wood paneling and a functional dumbwaiter remain in the home, which was built in 1920.

This is not your typical rectangular floor plan, though you'll find enough squared corners inside to put you at ease. The dining room is an elongated octagon, linked to a basically rectangular kitchen that is wide open on another side to a vaulted, half-octagonal great room. The short hallway linking the foyer to the carport is almost straight. But the hallway that leads to the owners' suite cuts a long, bold diagonal that leads past a home office, before offering entry to the owners' bathroom, huge walk-in closet, and finally the roomy sleeping area.

Raised brick trim highlights the Crosbyton's lofty arched porch. The trim and brick veneer columns serve as an artful frame for the multipaned arched transom sparkling in the background. Taken together, these features give this single-level ranch-style home a European flavor. Natural light spills into the high-ceilinged entry through the arched transom plus a multipaned sidelight. The short passageway there, angling off to the left, opens out into a vaulted great room that is open to the dining room and kitchen.

Last January, astrologer Jeanne Mozier told a Shepherdstown audience that events in 1848 in Europe was the basis for her prediction that 2011 would be a year of revolutions around the world. Hence the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. “The good news for 2012,” she told an audience of nearly 25 in the Great Room at O'Hurley's General Store in Shepherdstown Tuesday night, “is that it won't end. The bad news is that you'll wish it did.” Her lectures are an annual January event for Mozier in Shepherstown as well as before audiences in Baltimore, Annapolis, Pittsburgh and her home of Berkeley Springs, W.Va.

We are all looking forward to warm weather, and soon the new owners of this week's featured home can anticipate dining in the enclosed gazebo on the multi-layered deck, dipping in the hot tub,and even swimming in the heated free-form in-ground pool. You could get used to this. You might also get used to the spacious interior. Three finished levels inside offer five bedrooms, three full and two half-baths. On the upper level is a master suite: bedroom 22-by-22 feet, cathedral ceiling, a closet the size of another bedroom, large dormer window seating area, and a luxurious master bath with large tile-enclosed Jacuzzi tub, separate shower and sky light.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Land development plans for subdivisions are nothing new for the Washington Township Supervisors, but the latest one looks a little different. The plans presented by Rod Krebs on Wednesday feature 110 patio houses, which he described as approximately 1,500 square feet with the kitchen, great room and master bedroom on the first floor. Additional bedrooms would be upstairs. The homes would be priced between $150,000 and $200,000, Krebs said. "I think there's a need for it," Krebs said, "and it gives you work-force housing for maybe a teacher in the area or a single parent.

Dear Pat: Whenever we use our great room fireplace, some smoke comes out into the room. I am going to add one to the master bedroom. How can I keep the new fireplace from being smoky like the old one? - Patty M. Dear Patty: You definitely are not alone with the problem of a smoky wood-burning fireplace. More than half of fireplaces cause some smoky conditions inside homes and it is difficult to ever totally rid the room of the smoky odor. There are many possible causes of a smoky fireplace.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, PA. - Fifteen bedrooms and as many baths, three dining rooms, a great room, a large tile-floored study, a game room, double oak-paneled stairways leading up from the generous foyer, basement living quarters and a full attic all fit nicely inside the 20,000-square-foot, four-story, brick building known as the Mercersburg Inn. The nearly century old inn and restaurant at 405 S. Main St. was bought...

chambersburg@herald-mail.com GREENCASTLE, Pa. - For the visitors and hosts, Sunday's Heritage Christmas Home Tour offered more than a walk through halls decked with boughs of holly. It also was an opportunity to gather decorating tips and lessons in history, and discover connections with others. "That's one of the cool things about the tour, the connections you make that you otherwise wouldn't," said Eric Murr, whose Grant Street home was among five on the tour this year, along with the First United Methodist Church.