News-Letter

Though the competition between Duke and Hopkins ended with Hopkins' victory on the lacrosse field earlier this year, only a few blocks north on Charles Street, the battle continues. Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education Paula Burger's home has its own friendly rivalries as Burger is a graduate of both Hopkins and Duke, has served administrative positions at both universities and has a daughter who is currently a junior at Duke.

Burger moved to Baltimore with her husband Peter and daughter Elizabeth in the summer of 1993 from Durham, N.C. -- the home of Duke University, where Burger worked.

After deciding to make the move to Baltimore, the Burgers sold their home in North Carolina and began to look for a place in Baltimore. Unable to find a house they liked, the Burgers moved into an apartment in the Broadview and continued their search for the perfect house.

Eventually the Burgers drove past their current residence, located only a few blocks north of campus. "If we didn't like the house from the outside, then we said its not going to be us," said Burger.

Both Burger and her husband Peter were so pleased with the exterior of the home, that Burger called the realtor to see the home the very next day -- when her husband was out of town. Worrying that she would lose the house, Burger took steps to buy the home without her husband having seen the inside.

"I said, 'This is it.' Peter gets to Chicago and there is a fax waiting for him," said Burger. "It was the contract, which I asked him to sign."

"We wrote in the contract that if you accept this bid, can my husband get into the house on Saturday and see the house he just bought?"

With a living room, family room, dining room, kitchen, two studies, two bedrooms and a large third-floor attic, the house the Burgers bought is spacious and roomy.

LIVING ROOM

The Burger home has an inviting living room full of natural light, complete with a piano, fireplace and lots of family pictures. After moving into the classic style home from their contemporary-style home in North Carolina, the family found that its furniture didn't really suit the new house.

"Because we had this contemporary home we had no furniture right for a traditional house," said Burger. "For a coffee table we had had a lobster trap. It just didn't seem to fit."

What does fit in their new home are the family touches found throughout the three floors. The proud parents of a college student, the Burgers prominently display on the mantle place in the living room a representation of a man in a tuxedo -- one of Elizabeth's many pieces of artwork featured througout the home.

DINING ROOM

In the middle of the dining room table sits a large floral arrangement -- Burger's effort at being Martha Stewart. "Wendy Brody is the one who really does flowers," said Burger. "I'm not in her league, but I enjoy doing it, so I ran up to Eddie's and got an arm load."

The dining room is decorated with ginger jars Dean Burger collected on trips to Nanjing, China after the Director of the Hopkins Nanjing Center took her antiquing.

"I don't think it matters what value something has if you like it," she said.

For those cold, wintry nights, the Burger home has three fireplaces, two of which are gas. "They took out the popular fire places and put in gas logs in [in the dining room] and in the bedroom. I'm a little skittish about it," said Burger. "I know we have them in the lobby in Jazzman's. But we use the fire in the living room which is a working fireplace."

KITCHEN

Every morning when the Burgers open up their cabinets to get a glass, they glance at a photo of their daughter wearing a Duke sweatshirt, which is displayed on the outside of the cabinet.

The Burgers have similar photos of other family members scattered throughout the kitchen and the breakfast area.

Burger revealed that she isn't the one who does the cooking -- her husband takes care of the culinary duties. "I don't want to be caught in a lie," said Burger. "He does the cooking."

When Peter Burger prepares a meal, he has a well-stocked refrigerator full of ingredients, including a wide selection of fruits and vegetables.

The Burgers have plenty of drinks to complement the cooking, including white wine, Heineken, Diet Coke and orange juice.

PATIO/GARAGE

Large trees and bushes in the Burgers' patio area provide the family with a great place to relax when the weather is nice. "For a city neighborhood, this is actually a fair amount of privacy, so we eat out here a lot," said Burger.

Just around the corner from the patio is the garage and driveway where the Burgers have two of their three cars parked.

Elizabeth's Duke-blue BMW complete with Duke sticker in the rear window sits alongside Burger's Audi station wagon with a Hopkins sticker in the rear window.

THE STUDIES

The Burger home is spacious enough to allow for two studies, one for Burger and one for her husband. Holding up a picture of a Boxter in her husband's study, Burger explained, "This was his mid-life crisis at age whatever." Peter Burger's study is filled with the usual computer, iPod, and books, some of which are textbooks he co-authored.

Burger's own study which doubles for a guest bedroom, is decorated with a poster of Duke University, given to her when she left. Along another wall hangs artwork Dean Burger received on her travels to Nanjing.

On top of one of the shelves sits a small finished wooden music box. "This was given to me by the President of Duke University. In fact it plays the Duke alma mater if you can believe it," Burger explained.

THIRD FLOOR

The Burger's third-floor attic is a typical in that it houses all of the loose ends that don't really seem to fit anywhere else.

Over in the corner of the attic sits a rocking chair with the Duke seal painted on it. "This actually has a little plaque. It was given to me," Burger said. "What am I supposed to do, burn it because it has a Duke seal?"

Although the Burger house may have Duke University paraphernalia throughout, Burger has made her real home at Hopkins.

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