Creekside offers new beginning

“This is going to change our lives,” Hartzell said.

Eddie, 11, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. When Kristine was house hunting, she needed to find something that was at least relatively wheelchair-friendly.

 “It was in my price range and had a first-floor master suite,” she said. “I’m going to turn the dining room into Eddie’s room so we can basically live on the first floor. Mandrin widened all the doors, made some changes to bathroom, added a walk-in shower. They’ve been absolutely great.”

The builder, Pasadena-based Mandrin Homes, is more than happy to add extra bedrooms or bathrooms to the 14 single-family homes in the Anne Arundel County development. The houses come standard with three or four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a two-car garage. The 1,700- to 2,200-square-foot homes start at $349,900.

“The whole concept is these are meant to be houses people can afford, and afford to pay the utilities,” said Fred Brandt, sales manager for Mandrin.

The two-story residences have basements, and attics that can be transformed into living space.

The neighborhood sits off the end of a dead-end road and has plenty of open space, making for a quiet, intimate setting. Each quarter-acre-lot has 40 feet of open space behind it.

“It isn’t a typical community where there are just houses jammed together,” Brandt said.

Hartzell is a lifelong Pasadena resident, and she wanted to stay in the community because of its tight-knit feel, safe environment and location near the Chesapeake Bay. She obtained a loan from a Maryland state program for people with disabilities, and said Mandrin has gone above and beyond to work with her throughout the sale process.

Any day now, she and Eddie should be the first residents to move into Creekside. A new life awaits them — and they can hardly wait.

“We’re so excited,” she said. “Every day we drive by just to take another look.”

At a glance