Take the charm of a circa-late-1800s building, divide it into four spacious apartments, add a second story porch, a view of one of Washington’s oldest churches, then plant it two short blocks from the Pamlico River, and what one gets is Elizabeth Blanchard’s historic district home.

“I love the front porch,” Blanchard said. “The people watching is great — there’re always people walking right by the church. … And the church itself is beautiful to look at.”

Blanchard’s apartment is more than enough room for her, her dog Isa, a paddleboard, surfboard and her collection of art. The space takes up a quarter of the building: the second-story front porch, where she grows tomatoes and a variety of peppers and herbs in the summer, opens into the living room. Two bedrooms and a butler’s pantry and breakfast nook that leads to the kitchen opens off a long hall. But it’s not the rooms that make the apartment so unique.

That’s in the details — hardwood floors, picture rails in the living room, many of original fixtures, a farmhouse sink and unpainted French doors. There are true gems: every closet is cedar-lined, the wood gleaming with age; an antique ironing board complete with a wooden sleeve board tucked into a breakfast room cabinet; built-in china hutches in both the butler’s pantry/nook and in the kitchen. The place is loaded — with old-world charm.

The historic feel and the neighborhood, and neighbors, were what drew Blanchard to the Bonner Street apartment.

“(It was) the charm. I fell in love with the neighbors. I like the neighborhood and with something older, you’re going to have a neighborhood,” Blanchard said.

An ICU nurse at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, Blanchard said when she moved to the area from Wilmington, there were several factors that played into her choice to live in Washington.

“I love the water. Honestly, there was no way I was going to move to this area if I couldn’t be near the water,” Blanchard said.

Once water temperatures rise, Blanchard loads up her stand-up paddle board and Isa for the short trip to the Pamlico, where she and her yellow-lab mix will spend the day on the river.

Another factor leading Blanchard 20 miles down the road from Greenville was crime — Greenville has a lot; Washington, not so much. Having grown up in Wilmington and lived in both Charlotte and Raleigh, Blanchard was looking for a safer place.

“I didn’t want to move someplace where I had to be watching my back,” she said.

She takes care of her place. Though she’s a renter, she’s done plenty of home improvement projects, such as refinishing the hardwood floors in the hall and bedrooms, painting the bathroom and kitchen cabinets, in exchange for a very reasonable rent.

“I’ve done little things here and there,” she said. “You have to weigh the costs of doing it and the fact that it’s not my property.”

Blanchard refers to her home as an “adult apartment,” a nice place that’s welcoming and comfortable. It’s that and more — cozy and classic, historic and hip. And for Elizabeth Blanchard, home.