BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood has come one step closer to getting a whole lot sweeter.
The Blythewood Board of Architectural Review (BAR) voted on Monday evening to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for the use of the historic Bookhart/Blume home as a bakery and cafe. The building is located at 193 Langford Road in downtown Blythewood.
Blythewood residents Jay and Christine Keefer and Charles White submitted the application.
“This COA is one of the contingencies, one more step in the process,” Christine Keefer said.
After Ralph Walden, the BAR’s consulting architect, met with the applicants and reviewed renovation plans, the BAR voted to accept the 10 changes the applicants agreed to make to the exterior of the property zoned Town Center – Historic.
Jay Keefer indicated in his presentation to the Board that his group wanted to preserve as much of the current building as possible, even to the extent of maintaining the current metal roof and matching all exterior colors. Plans are to add an ADA-compliant access ramp that will extend from the right side of the front porch to the onsite parking area. The onsite parking will also be to the east side of the building, using the existing curb cut on Sandfield Road as ingress and egress.
The Board requested that the applicants work with the BAR Chair or Vice-Chair regarding the outdoor signage. Keefer emphasized that their plan was to use a slice of the approximately four-foot diameter tree that currently exists in the front yard facing Langford Road. He explained that the tree needs to come down and they want to include a slice of it to create a raised and painted wooden sign for the café.
Current plans are to be open from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays.
“My sister, Chanin White, will be our bakery chef,” explained Christine Keefer. “And we anticipate catering mainly to the commuters and lunch crowd with an opening planned, hopefully, for this summer.”
Asked if they had selected a name for the café yet, Keefer smiled and said, “We Bake You Happy”.