She and her husband—lawyers living in DC’s Logan Circle—bought the 5,000-square-foot, 1980s-era abode early in the pandemic, then scrambled to get it ready for sheltering in place with their two young teenagers. Designer Kate Ballou, who had worked with the couple before, updated stodgy, traditional interiors in a hurry, with her clients’ spare, mid-century sensibility in mind. “They love Danish furniture and are real collectors,” Ballou recounts. “We completed the job over an eight-week period, mainly with beautiful pieces that were in stock at Furniture from Scandinavia by Annette Rachlin in DC.”

Streamlined, mid-century Nordic furnishings such as a RadioHus sofa and &Tradition chairs in the living room quickly modernized and simplified the rooms—despite a backdrop of heavy trim and dark cherry wood floors and millwork. Subtly patterned and textured rugs from Matt Camron add softness and woven Roman shades by Woodnotes let in the light. Ballou elevated the dining room with grass-cloth wall covering in deep blue tones and hung beloved, modern artworks from the couple’s collection.

Within the year, the owners were ready to embark on a more thorough makeover that would upgrade finishes and impart contemporary character to the interiors. Remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms was also on the list. “We wanted the house to be comfortable and not overly formal, with clean lines and open spaces,” says the wife. Ballou introduced the couple to architect Colleen Healey, who shares her—and her clients’—affinity for Mid-Century Modern design.

As it turned out, Ballou’s original vision was instrumental to the project’s next phase. “They wanted what we did to relate to the beautiful furniture Kate had already selected,” Healey notes.

The front entrance facing Eastern Bay opens to a two-story foyer dominated by a graceful, open stair; straight ahead, glass rear doors capture the Wye River expanse. Living and dining rooms lie to the left of the front door, with the kitchen and the home’s utility areas—laundry, garage and back stairs—beyond. The foyer opens on the right to a wood-paneled library and, down a short hall, the main-floor primary suite. At the top of the stairs, a communal space with facing banks of windows takes in both views; it leads to the kids’ ensuite bedrooms.

The architect masterminded small alterations that retained the home’s structure and scale, yet made a dramatic impact. Simplifying trim and lightening the cherry floors in a matte finish created a modern shift. Bronze elements add interest—from inserts in the built-in living room shelving to integrated wardrobes with bronze frames in the primary bedroom closet. A coat of white paint freshened up the interiors of the floor-to-ceiling library bookcases.

On the airy foyer’s staircase, iron balusters mimicking sea grass made way for a glass railing anchored by curved iron pickets (the original railing was repurposed as a fence outside). A soffit over the doorway between the living and dining rooms was softened into an archway “that has its roots in modern architecture,” Healey says. She played up the living room’s fireplace in slabs of veneered stone and lined the hearth and firebox in bronze.

Faux-wood ceiling beams were removed to “allow the focus to be on the windows,” she explains. “Those small tweaks made a huge difference in the feel of the house.”

The kitchen underwent a major transformation though its layout didn’t change. Healey collaborated on the update with Julia Jensen of Boffi | DePadova in Georgetown. Dark cabinetry is lacquered in a soft, metallic finish; the bronze-clad island is topped with Corian while the peripheral countertops are made of thin, almost-black porcelain slabs. A textured-limestone backsplash anchors the BlueStar range and white Corian covers the sink wall.

Bathrooms were also revamped. The two ground-floor powder rooms now sport custom vanities and textural tile or wallpaper. And the primary bath was elevated with walnut vanities, a sculptural soaking tub and bronze-framed shower and water-closet enclosures.

Since buying the house, the owners have added a pool, a screened porch, a patio with a built-in grill and outdoor furniture groupings curated by Ballou. “The house is functional and beautiful at the same time,” enthuses the wife. “I love the details.”

Healey concurs. “The project was a study in how to change a space without destroying or modifying its utilities and structure,” she notes. “We kept those things yet completely transformed the home.”

“We fell in love with St. Michaels when we first visited,” recalls Megan Goeller, wife, mother and chief influencer behind the project’s casual style. “It’s a calmer pace of life, with kind people and beautiful views.”

Veterans of home-building projects, the couple had previously built a getaway from scratch in South Carolina and were constructing a new residence in Wilmington—where Bill is president of an electrical contracting concern—when they called architect Christine Mizak Dayton of Easton, Maryland, in 2019.

“What brought them here was their love of the water. They also wanted to create a home that could entertain the family,” notes Dayton, who captured the spirit of St. Michaels with the couple’s relaxed, two-story, 6,000-square-foot retreat, completed by Focus Construction in 2021. Four thousand square feet of heated living space centers on an open-plan, 24-by-35-foot great room incorporating living, dining and cooking. An adjacent primary suite looks out to a screened porch. Upstairs, four ensuite bedrooms plus a bunk room over a two-car garage await visiting family. The house has six and a half baths in all, including two sharing a shower.

The interior skews lively, with a classic, blue-and-white palette that mixes export-style porcelain with easy-care rattan, cane and wicker furniture. The inspiration and acquisitions came from Megan herself. “I went here, there and everywhere,” she says of shopping adventures that took her from Delaware to South Carolina, as well as nearby Easton. “I wanted it to be light, bright and airy, but I didn’t want grandchildren to worry,” she adds. “I have a lot of antiques in our other homes but we did not want that formality here.”

Built on a tranquil, shady lane, the new house presents its charms quietly. Once inside, visitors are greeted with spectacle: a vista through the great room that extends to open water. “When you come in the front door, you immediately gain a sense of what’s beyond,” says Dayton. Wraparound, double-hung Marvin windows flood the kitchen and dining areas with daylight and views, while sliding-glass doors open wide to the porch overlooking the riverscape that drew the owners to this spot.

“We wanted the house to be built around the view,” says Megan Goeller. “Christine was really tuned in to what we had in mind.”

The layout is straightforward. The foyer opens to the owners’ suite on the right. Straight ahead is the great room, with a fireplace set in a wall of lightly detailed, painted paneling. At left, an open stair hall leads past a powder room to the laundry and mudroom that connect the kitchen and garage. Ceilings are nine feet throughout. The first floor has wide-plank, white oak flooring in the great room and primary suite, while the utility spaces and outdoor surfaces are tiled with bluestone.

The kitchen, designed in collaboration with Kitchen Creations of Easton, was especially important to Megan, who wanted to enjoy views from her Thermador range and from what she calls her blueberry-colored, quartz-topped island. “I cook a lot,” she points out. High-style cabinets improve the view from the sitting area; their design echoes glass-fronted models Dayton has in her own home.

The upper level has evolved. The architect included a sitting area at the top of the stairs. The owners gained a den by reclaiming a central bedroom that opens to the deck. A spiral staircase was added from the deck to the lawn, simplifying the route to the pool. The Goellers acquired the site by partnering with another family to split a double lot where a vintage house has since been demolished. Dayton, who designed new homes for both families, gave each its own identity. “This one is classy but not overly formal,” she says.

Siting respects a 75.5-foot setback from the water and also protects peripheral views from the porch. “I can’t see anything but nature,” Megan says. As Eastern Shore residents know well, seasons have their glories. So do porches. In the winter months, the Goellers enjoy the sunny west-facing front porch overlooking their quiet neighborhood. Come nicer weather, the east-facing porch becomes a favored spot for gazing at the pool and the Miles River.

“Christine was so good at having a vision,” says Megan. “This is a simple home, but it lives so comfortably. It’s the perfect house.”

Architecture: Christine Mizak Dayton, AIA, Christine M. Dayton Architect, P.A., Easton, Maryland. Kitchen Design: Kitchen Creations, Easton, Maryland. Builder: Focus Construction, Ltd., Easton, Maryland. Landscape Design: Solidago Landscapes, Church Hill, Maryland.

David Williams, a business investor, had dreamed of owning such a place for decades. Securing a 150-acre point of land on the Eastern Shore’s Chester River provided a great start. David and wife Kathryn, who reside in nearby Annapolis, then enlisted architect Cathy Purple Cherry to conceive a grand yet welcoming getaway. “The vision was to create a generational compound that would consist of various functions to support their family and friends for years to come,” reveals the architect.

Under her site plan, the main house anchors nine thoughtfully positioned outbuildings—a gatehouse, guest house, garage, party barn, carriage house, pottery studio, sheep shed, pool house and boathouse. Additionally, there’s a bespoke playhouse for the couple’s eight-year-old daughter and a growing gaggle of grandchildren. (David has four adult children from a previous marriage.)

As the husband imagined it, the principal abode would sit on a gentle rise overlooking the river. One hitch: The terrain was flat. “First we had to create a knoll within the horseshoe of the shoreline,” recounts Purple Cherry. The team, which included builder GYC Group and Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, undertook a colossal grading effort to raise the construction site by five feet.

David Williams also had in mind a romantic design concept, focused on making the new house appear old. “He was committed to a traditional, Georgian-style home, with a center core and flanking pieces so it would look like it evolved over time and grew as a multi-century home,” Purple Cherry relates. “The massing is my response. It’s a symmetrical layering of structures.”

A mix of exterior building materials bolsters the Old World aesthetic while respecting rural vernacular. The core’s white-painted brick transitions to horizontal lap siding, which, in turn, segues to vertical board and batten. “As you come away from the formal house, siding on the appendages breaks down the mass,” explains the architect, who specified durable fiber-cement products from James Hardie. “We blended Georgian architecture with farmhouse style.”

At 24,000 square feet, the main dwelling indulges the owners’ every programmatic wish. A library lies to the right of the front center hall and the dining room sits opposite. Two seating areas in the rear center core constitute the social hub. A den, the husband’s office and a billiards room with a bar occupy the right appendage. The butler’s pantry, kitchen, casual-dining area and mudroom are situated on the left. Purple Cherry positioned a stair at each end.

And bedrooms abound. The second floor comprises the primary suite and five more ensuite roosts, while the third floor houses his-and-her bunk rooms along with two other guest quarters. The lower level’s pièce de résistance is a brick dining/wine room with a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Oodles of glass usher in natural light and splendor. “This property has magnificent views, so we put glass in the right places to make those connections,” says Purple Cherry. Lining the main home’s core, transom-topped French doors also encourage al fresco living; they open onto a covered back veranda bookended by a pair of screened porches. Adds the architect, “There’s inside-outside engagement at all times.”

Campion Hruby developed a landscape plan to elevate that engagement while preserving much of the original tract, some of which is still farmed. “The idea was to ground the entire experience in the daily narrative of Eastern Shore living,” shares principal Kevin Campion, who collaborated with firm partner Meredith Beach on the project. “We created spaces where the agriculture and their lifestyle could exist in harmony. There are lots of places to gather, and that was really part and parcel to the overall theme of a family compound.”

Beach concurs, “Our goal was to connect the buildings through garden rooms and to create an experience as you move between those rooms. We wanted the garden to bleed out into the existing agricultural landscape.”

Linear brick pathways, lush lawn expanses and boxwood hedges provide structure to the waterfront’s formal upper garden. Other plantings, such as roses and Hameln fountain grass, soften the effect. The pool terrace rests a few steps below so as not to obstruct the scenic panorama.

Purple Cherry finished the interiors with cocooning architectural flourishes—from the living area’s coffered ceiling to the library’s built-in reading nooks. “Beautiful millwork and little delights were important to David,” she reveals. “We had this constant, symbiotic conversation that allowed us to create unique moments throughout. Layers of detail bring human scale and add texture to the big spaces.”

An exquisite level of customization also sets off the kitchen, with its handcrafted cabinetry that includes homeowner-requested double islands. A tailor-made pot rack with integrated pendant lights from Ann-Morris crowns one island. What’s more, a coffee station precisely frames a particular painting of a silver cup from the couple’s existing trove.

Finally, Purple Cherry and her design crew outfitted the spaces with an eye toward instilling refined comfort. Their schemes combine classic upholstered pieces and unfussy antiques. “The interiors are traditional blended with a little bit of coastal, mostly in the blues of the palette and some fun fabric patterns,” she notes. “To me, this is an incredibly approachable home.”

The architect documents the five-year journey to complete this peerless retreat in her forthcoming book, The Design of a Country Estate, to be released by Gibbs Smith in July 2024. Just as the owners envisioned, the compound often bustles with activity. Other times, it’s a soothing sanctuary. “David and Kathryn love being here,” reports Purple Cherry. “I’m so happy that the home embraces them in the way it does.”

Architecture & Interior Design: Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP, principal, Purple Cherry Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Builder: GYC Group, Westminster, Maryland. Landscape Architecture: Kevin Campion, ASLA, principal; Meredith Beach, PLA, ASLA, principal, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Landscape Contractor: Chester River Landscaping, Chestertown, Maryland; and Planted Earth Landscaping, Inc., Sykesville, Maryland.

The owners, two busy professionals, called on Carter and architect Donald Lococo when it was time to renovate their builder-grade abode. Years earlier, the design duo had remodeled the wife’s parents’ house to much acclaim and the couple hoped to recreate that magic in their own home. They teamed with Horizon Builders, the firm that had collaborated on the previous remodel as well. “They wanted to reassemble the dream team,” jokes Lococo.

Frequent partners in design, Lococo and Carter are both renowned for their aesthetic restraint and their ability to synthesize classical architectural motifs and modern elements—an approach that proved useful for this project. Built in 1965, the 13,216-square-foot manse has a sprawling layout featuring a central hall entry flanked by the library and the dining room; the kitchen is on the opposite side of the dining area. Seven bedrooms are spread over three levels, with most situated on the second floor.

An exaggerated French façade was exemplified by overly ornamental limestone details and an oeil-de-boeuf window. To refine the exterior, Lococo streamlined the limestone trim and swapped out the ovoid window for something more understated. He then skimmed the brick with a creamy, stucco-like finish that “allows the brick to ghost through so you see its texture but not its color,” he says. Steel-framed windows and doors replaced the old ones to give the home a more European flavor. “Darryl suggested the house skewed Belgian modern, and that spearheaded the direction of the details,” Lococo explains.

“What Donald did was return the house to a purer state,” Carter adds. “Doing away with some of the decorative elements lends it a more modern sensibility.”

A similar mindset prevailed inside, where Lococo and Carter embraced the existing segmental arch openings throughout the home but nixed many of the interior’s fussier flourishes. Out went elaborate fireplace mantels in favor of sleek stone surrounds, and overdone crown molding was replaced by inset ceiling trim that evokes artisanal plasterwork of yore, but rendered in a fresh way. Walls received a mottled finish that lends a sense of age but still feels contemporary. “The thought was to elevate the interior trim details by reducing them,” observes Lococo. “I think the success lay in making the interior architecture traditional but questioning those details that we see time and time again.”

One exception was the primary bedroom, where embellishments were added: Lococo raised the ceiling to create a barrel vault which subtly echoes the segmental arches that appear throughout the home. “That arc helps transition from the public spaces to the most private and brings cohesiveness,” he says.

To further unify the rooms, Carter finished the oak floors in a blond hue that established a quiet ground for layering furnishings and art. “We had a shared design language and sense of palette,” he says of himself and the clients. “I am prone to environments that are relatively neutral, but I always like to use a splash of color in the art.” Here, he chose a bold saffron painting that unfolds like origami over three walls of the dining room. Other notable pieces include artworks by Edward Finnegan and Purvis Young, as well as a wide range of heirloom furnishings. “When you bring antiques into a more modern setting, their patina alone makes the environment more tactile and approachable,” the designer notes.

Alongside such rarefied finds, Carter incorporated durable indoor-outdoor fabrics throughout the home to stand up to the kids’ wear and tear. And to ensure there would be places to stash toys, snacks and other necessities, Lococo hid storage in plain sight: The living room paneling conceals built-ins and the primary suite features a wall of stealth drawers. In the kitchen, cabinets were so cleverly concealed as paneling that the wife called Lococo after moving in, panicked that there wasn’t enough storage. The architect showed up and started pulling open hidden drawers.

More visual sleight of hand occurred outside in the form of a living sculptural element. Landscape architect Jennifer Horn created a courtyard terrace of reclaimed French limestone selected by Carter, then planted four mature hornbeam trees that appear to burst forth from the stone, which actually cantilevers above the soil. Horn also leveled out the sloped lot and relocated the swimming pool to improve its sight lines. At the property’s edge, she devised a wall cloaked by a row of arborvitae to frame the woods beyond the house. “We really wanted to distill the landscape down to its purest elements: water, grass, trees, stone,” says Horn. “I think that’s in accordance with what Donald and Darryl were doing with the house.”

With that kind of synchronicity among the design team, it’s no wonder the collaboration rendered such harmonious results. Lococo and Carter have often said they’re so in tune that they finish one another’s sentences. “When we work together it’s a very fluid process, like there’s one brain doing it,” avers Lococo.

Carter concurs. “It’s great to work with an architect who shares a similar sensibility because it makes the collaboration a lot easier. It’s to the betterment of the project at large.”

Renovation Architecture: Donald Lococo, AIA, NCARB, Donald Lococo Architects, Washington, DC. Interior Design: Darryl Carter, Darryl Carter, Inc., Washington, DC. Renovation Contractor: Horizon Builders, Annapolis, Maryland. Landscape Architecture: Jennifer Horn, RLA, Horn & Co. Landscape Architecture, Arlington, Virginia. Home Automation: A.B.E. Networks, Rockville, Maryland.

RESOURCES

LIBRARY
Sofa & Fabric: hollyhunt.com. Wood-Framed Chairs: newel.com. Wood-Framed Chair Fabric: hollyhunt.com. Coffee Table: Custom through darrylcarter.com. Rug: starkcarpet.com. Sculpture: Stephanie Bachiero through peterblakegallery.com. Music Stand & Clawfoot Stool: 1stdibs.com.

ENTRY
Console: Custom by darrylcarter.com. Sculpture: Senufo through trocadero.com. Artwork: Edward Finnegan. Floor Runner: dorisleslieblau.com. Stair Runner: starkcarpet.com. Stair Railing: donaldlococoarchitects.com. Ceiling Fixtures: vaughandesigns.com.

DINING ROOM
Ceiling Fixture: illuminc.com. Table & Chairs: Custom through darrylcarter.com. Chair Fabric: brentanofabrics.com through hollyhunt.com. Drapery: metaphors.com. Artwork: Custom through darrylcarter.com.

KITCHEN
Cabinetry: donaldlococoarchitects.com. Backsplash, Countertop & Island: caesarstoneus.com. Faucet: jaclo.com. Island Lighting: illuminc.com.

BEDROOM
Bedstead & Bedding: Custom through darrylcarter.com. Table Lamps: shop.thedpages.com. Reading Lights on Wall: illuminc.com. Overhead Lighting: remains.com. Pedestal Table & Chest: 1stdibs.com. Art in Window: Purvis Young. Rug: starkcarpet.com.

BATHROOM
Clawfoot Tub: kohler.com. Ceiling Fixture, Mirror & Foot Stool: 1stdibs.com. Tub Filler: newportbrass.com.

EXTERIOR
Wall Lanterns: vintage. Yellow Sculpture: donaldlococoarchitects.com. Chaise Lounges: knoll.com.

Zapatka agrees, explaining that he “creates classic, timeless structures that integrate both site and interior design.” In this case, his renovation—a three-year adventure that included extensive negotiations with DC government agencies, neighborhood groups and historic preservation societies—informed Baty’s vision, which the designer diplomatically describes as “an identity that favored a disconnect from DC style.”
Before finding its inner glamour, the home was treated to a total gut job that reconfigured the interior spaces, adding rooms, functionality and a more organic flow. At the back, recalls Zapatka, “we replaced a goofy, bright-orange, two-story addition” with a lighter, more spacious three-story extension featuring skylights and clerestory windows. Post-reno, the 2,420-square-foot residence includes three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and a wealth of artfully disguised storage areas and closets.

Homeowners Gary Jankowski and Michael Schaeffer, both real estate agents, came to the project prepared with vision boards and ideas that were more European classic than American traditional. The couple, who’ve traveled extensively in France and Italy, wanted to create a refuge where they could live comfortably but entertain grandly—one that would reflect their sophisticated aesthetic and love of art. To achieve their vision, Baty, who hails from France, modeled their home on hôtel particulier, an architectural vernacular dating from the 16th century and popular among well-heeled Parisians ever since. Combining a wide variety of styles and periods, it’s a hybrid of the most elegant examples of European and American art and design.

The transatlantic journey begins at the front entry, where a refined gray, black and white palette is established through a limestone tile floor with black diamond inlay. Artwork, an Italian fringed stool and bold purple objets atop an antique-mirrored table enliven the graphic scheme. A graceful switchback staircase leads up to the second-level primary bedroom and a third-floor guest room.

A narrow gallery flows from the foyer back to the salon—an airy, open space spanning the rear of the house and encompassing both living and dining areas. The passageway is offset by graphic, arboreal-patterned grisaille (gray-toned) wall covering with a pastoral theme; it creates a bucolic backdrop for an ebonized, antique bar cabinet and a brass-and-leather director’s chair.

For all its grandeur, the salon is an intimate space that equally enriches everyday life and more formal gatherings. Cool blues and grays, luscious textiles and decorative marble and metallic elements all invite the visitor to relax and take in the French-inspired courtyard outside three tall French doors. Baty adhered to his vision of eclectic elegance with Italian and French side tables and pedestals that serve as plant stands while a Louis XV-style settee, exuberantly cloaked in sunburst silk, is flanked by marble-topped side tables and marble-and-brass lamps. Contemporary acrylic stools play harmoniously with two gray velvet lounge chairs and an armless banquette in jewel tones; all three are trimmed with bullion fringe.

Between the two chairs rests an ebonized Napoleon III-style table that opens to seat six when needed (very rarely, the owners confess). This flexibility, Baty explains, reduces volume and clutter and keeps the sight lines to the garden clear. Large-scale grisaille paintings and a photo triptych of Versailles display classic scenes in modern mediums.

Outside the French doors, a picturesque courtyard was landscaped by Oehme, van Sweden to evoke the parks of Paris, planted with fragrant linden trees set in a sweep of pea gravel. At the far end is a loggia designed to hide a two-car parking space. Both the trees and re-built, Moroccan-inspired masonry walls contribute to a cool-and-calm oasis vibe.

To the left off the gallery, the U-shaped kitchen is a study in glossy gray, glass and warm wood. Snaidero cabinets line the walls while creamy Caesarstone counters and glazed tiles are a soft counterpoint to the sleek cabinetry, La Cornue range and custom-designed steel hood. A marble-topped bronze island—crafted by Baty from an antique bank counter—is the couple’s preferred dining table, whether it’s just à deux or for larger groups. “It’s where we do most of our entertaining,” Jankowski admits.

Upstairs—past a cozy media room and a dressing area with built-in storage and a deep walk-in closet—is the primary bedroom, a serene and spare retreat arrayed in the colors of Parisian weather: gray, white and blue. Like the salon, metallic accents are everywhere, adorning the Neoclassical night tables, a Chinese Chippendale headboard and an Art Deco screen. Soft textures prevail, from the bed linens and curtains to the rug.

It’s been nearly seven years since the owners moved back to this recreated corner of Paris and every day they appreciate anew the joy it provides. From the moment you enter, Jankowski avers, “you feel transported to another world. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen on Capitol Hill.”

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT: Paint & Trim: farrow-ball.com.

LIVING & DINING AREA
Sofa & Sofa Fabric: kravet.com. Rug: moooicarpets.com. Chair Fabric: jab.de/us. Chair Trim: Stroheim for kravet.com. Coffee Table, Chandelier, Large Round Table & Console Flanking Fireplace: Antique. Art Flanking Fireplace: Custom. Bust: Antique. Art above Stands: fornasetti.com. Bench: Owners’ collection. Tables Flanking Bench: alfonsomarina.com. Art above Bench: Brice Chatenoud. Lucite Stools: Vintage. Bench Fabric: jimthompsonhomefurnishings.com. Mirror: Owners’ collection. Dining Table &  Chairs: Owners’ collection. Chair Fabric: Vintage.

FOYER & HALLWAY
Art: mishaillin.com. Runner: pattersonflynn.com. Stool: lorenzabozzoli.com. Mural: ananbo.com/en. Director's Chair: valenti.es/en. Sideboard: antique, Neoclassical.

KITCHEN
Cabinetry: snaiderodcmetro.com.

BEDROOM
Bedding: ralphlauren.com. Wall Covering: phillipjeffries.com. Rug: nourison.com. Desk Lamp: Vintage. Drapery Fabric: dedar.com. Drapery Fabrication: greatdreamsinteriors.com. Stool: lorenzabozzoli.com. Screen: Antique. Bench: Vintage. Bench Fabric: jab.de./us. Blue Chair Fabric: kravet

“The new house stands out, but it actually fits into the neighborhood well,” comments GTM Architects’ Mark Kaufman, who designed the building. “I think the materials, with the aesthetic of bigger glass, feel right.”
A stone-and-glass stair tower dominates the front façade and sends sunlight pouring into a spacious entry hall, where an elevator is tucked into a corner. Straight ahead, a great room encompassing living, dining and kitchen spaces stars a double-height ceiling and a 22-foot-tall stone fireplace framed by an alcove of floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall glass.

“There’s a feeling of being engulfed by these windows,” observes interior designer Annette Hannon, who collaborated on the project with Kaufman and the owners, a businessman and his wife. “As pretty as it is during the day, at nighttime, with the lighting, it’s magic.”

With 6,571 square feet of finished space on three floors, this five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath house could be a millennial’s dream. Yet there’s more to the project: The owners, both active and in their early 70s, wanted to age in place—but their previous Bethesda home had become problematic, presenting steps at every turn. “When we were young, it was fine,” the husband says, “but we really didn’t want to do that anymore.” They opted for the best of both worlds: one-floor living inside a purpose-built, multi-story home.

“They wanted a great space and a really nice owners’ suite on the first floor, with all the amenities they would need,” Kaufman explains.

An opportunity arose to acquire a property nearby and demolish its existing, outdated dwelling. The couple went for it, and Kaufman began designing their new house in December 2019, with construction completed by autumn of 2021. His scheme maximized the triangular quarter-acre lot with an L-shaped plan that positioned the public rooms and garage facing the street, while the primary suite projects out in the rear.

The new abode was conceived for accessibility and ease of living rather than downsizing. The owners insisted on three second-floor bedrooms for visitors; the wife currently uses one as an office. “There’s a bigger bedroom on that level,” Kaufman points out, “so you could definitely put an owners’ suite up there.” A lower level provides a 20-by-44-foot recreation and exercise space, a wine cellar, storage and another bedroom and bath.

On the main floor, the architect eliminated entry steps. A ramp leads from the garage into the house. Doorways measure 36 inches wide, exceeding ADA specifications. Hallways are five feet wide, with generous turnaround space throughout. After the wife had two knee replacements within three months, her husband reveals, “we tested our theory of whether we could age in place living on the first floor.” Her path was smooth.

The owners’ suite is entered off a strategic hallway beyond the kitchen. Extending from the front stairwell to the rear garden door, it connects the suite directly to the home’s functional features: garage, mudroom, laundry, kitchen, pantry and elevator. Kaufman emphasizes that the passage is barely noticeable from the public spaces, giving the owners an extra measure of privacy while moving to and from their first-floor suite. “The service hall really helped tie the house together,” he says. “It provides access to everything.”

Hannon joined the project before ground was broken, partnering with the architect on cabinetry, kitchen layout and bathrooms and establishing a modern yet warm aesthetic on the glass-walled main floor with plush upholstery and subtly patterned rugs. She added splashes of color to reflect her clients’ spirited personalities while ensuring functionality—for example, a shapely blue Vladimir Kagan chair lightens the mood in the husband’s main-level office. “I firmly believe one’s home should reflect who they are and what makes them happy,” the designer avers. “I think this house reflects the fun nature its owners personally exude.”

Benjamin Moore’s Balboa Mist creates a neutral backdrop in the great room. A smattering of deep browns and blues on upholstery, together with touches of leather and bronze, complement walnut cabinetry extending from living area to kitchen. The white quartz island is lighted by a fixture of frosted glass baubles. For ease of use, seating in the breakfast nook and at the kitchen island is lightweight; the dining table, a slab of birdseye maple, has a self-storing leaf. For viewing the media screen, Hannon chose a standard sofa and swivel chairs. “Sectionals don’t allow the viewer to move around freely,” she explains. “I didn’t want a barrier. There should be flow from the kitchen to the great room during the course of an evening. I love that open relationship.” A brass ribbon sculpture by Martha Sturdy behind the sofa speaks to the clients’ appreciation for art.

In the owners’ suite, the bedroom is lined with textured wallpaper in a pearly hue under 10-foot-high ceilings, with nine-foot-tall windows that meet at a corner overlooking the garden. A door opens out to a terrace. Kaufman designed a sapele mahogany double vanity, fabricated by Sandy Spring Builders in the primary bath, which boasts a curb-less shower. Hannon enlivened the WC with a colorful, custom vinyl wall cover.

Summing up the project, the designer says, “You can age in place without sacrificing design. And you can still have fun.”

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT
Home Automation: htarchitects.com.

LIVING AREA
Sofa, Swivel Chairs & Coffee Table: aneesupholstery.com through hinescompany.com. Sofa Fabric: designersguild.com through osborneandlittle.com. Pillow Fabric: brentanofabrics.com through hollyhunt.com. Pillow Trim: samuelandsons.com through hinescompany.com. Swivel Chairs Fabric: designersguild.com through osborneandlittle.com. Contrast Back Pillow Fabric: hollandandsherry.com. Blue Chair: arudin.com through michaelclearyllc.com. Chair Fabric & Pillow Fabric: kirbydesign.com through romo.com.  Poufs: hollyhunt.com. Poufs Fabric: designersguild.com through osborneandlittle.com. Rug: carpetimpressions.com. Metal Sculpture: marthasturdy.com through hollyhunt.com. Round Occasional Table: hollyhunt.com.

DINING AREA
Table: keithfritz.com through michaelclearyllc.com. Chairs: hollyhunt.com. Chair Fabric: designersguild.com through osborneandlittle.com.

FOYER
Hardware: pushpullhardware.com. Rug: carpetimpressions.com. Art: Owners’ collection.

UPPER LANDING
Railing: custommetalsofvirginia.com. Stairs: chesapeakestair.com. Figurative Sculptures & Chandelier: Owners’ collection.

OFFICE
Desk: roche-bobois.com. Desk Chair: hermanmiller.com. Blue Chair: vladimirkagan.com through hollyhunt.com. Art: Owners’ collection. Occasional Table: hollyhunt.com. Rug: carpetimpressions.com.

KITCHEN
Island Lighting: gabriel-scott.com. Cabinetry: Custom through Metro Carpentry. Counters & Backsplash: msisurfaces.com. Countertop & Backsplash Fabricator: petrastonegallery.com. Stools & Chairs: roche-bobois.com. Breakfast Table: hollyhunt.com. Chandelier: visualcomfort.com through dominionlighting.com.

BEDROOM
Wallpaper: carlisleco.com through hollyhunt.com. Bed & Chair: aneesupholstery.com through hinescompany.com. Bed, Chair & Pillow Fabric: designersguild.com through osborneandlittle.com. Bedding: sferra.com. Rug: carpetimpressions.com.

PRIMARY BATH
Vanity: Custom through Metro Carpentry. Wall Tile & Flooring: architessa.com. Vanity Top: msisurfaces.com. Vanity Top Fabrication: petrastonegallery.com. Art: detroitwallpaper.com.

The couple with two young kids was also smitten with the property, located on a wooded, two-and-a-half-acre site overlooking a lake in suburban Maryland. After Williams made a quick study to see if renovating the dated gem was feasible for their budget, they cinched the deal. Originally designed by New York architects Robert Hutchins and William Huntington, the residence embraced the Bauhaus style of its day with a flat roof, strong horizontal lines and minimal exterior detail. Updates in the 1980s and ’90s created a second-level primary suite and, on the western side of the home, added on new living space, a pool cabana and a garage.

Stuck with compartmentalized rooms, lackluster finishes and a convoluted layout, the six-bedroom residence was ripe for improvement. “It was an amazing place that had been abused and misunderstood,” relates Williams, who was hired for the redo. “We needed to get it back to its roots and bring a 21st-century sensibility to this very cool house.” The architect and his team envisioned a makeover that would streamline the floor plan, modernize the interiors and forge stronger connections to the picture-perfect site.

The existing foyer contained a walled-in stairway and two doors, one leading back to the dining room and the other to the main living room on the right. The ’90s-era kitchen and family room awaited on the left, while on the far right, additions contained another family room/library and office.

“It was a bit weird,” observes Williams. “The kitchen was located on the east side and, in our opinion, imbalanced the entire life of the house because on the west side there was a swimming pool, garage and terraces. There were also two living spaces back-to-back,” he adds, “so you couldn’t justify how one was different from the other. It seemed redundant and wasteful.”

Order was restored by shifting the kitchen to the opposite side of the house. Replacing the extra family room and office in the west wing, Williams designed a large new kitchen and family room overlooking the terrace and a side yard where the kids play. His plan also orchestrated a new mudroom, forging a clear path from the kitchen to the garage and pool. “This rebalancing created a whole new center of life,” the architect reports. “In the absence of the former kitchen, we created a new study-hall zone with a media room, library and meeting area.”

Though the home’s 7,600-square-foot footprint remained unchanged, a comprehensive renovation completed with builder Bruce Ottati replaced everything from HVAC systems, roofing and insulation to flooring, bathrooms and fenestration. A minimal material palette, including rift-and-quartered white oak floors, white walls and enlarged windows, simplified the aesthetic and let the views take center stage. Says Williams, “We introduced a new attitude, but one that I think is really in keeping with the original 1936 project.”

Today, guests arrive in a reimagined foyer that opens to the dining room with views of the lake beyond. In lieu of confining walls and doors, a slatted scrim of Douglas fir delineates living and dining areas. Though the original stairway remains intact, Williams traded the drywall side rail for a panel of weathered steel that elevates the entry, along with a ceiling painted in deep, metallic gold. “I thought that the weathered steel, also repeated on the kitchen island, would shake up the restrained nature of the interiors,” explains the architect.

Scaled as a generous hub for family and social life, the kitchen maximizes prime views of the landscape. Custom cabinets in walnut and deep blue echo hues of woods and sky. Threads of blue are woven throughout the interiors, outfitted by interior designer Dieter Thelen with clean-lined furniture and bold, modern art.

The overhaul also revamped the lower level as well as five second-floor bedrooms and all of the baths. The rehabbed primary bathroom, clad in marble tile, now offers some of the best views in the house through one of several porthole windows likely added in the 1980s redo.

In its latest iteration, the residence has come full circle. “By opening the house up, you get a sense of limitless movement, and that’s a pretty great feeling,” Williams reflects. “I suspect the original house was that way too. In general, we tried to make it live up to its potential.”

A New York City power couple, the owners had traveled the world—but fell in love with Chestertown, Maryland, more than five years ago. After finding the perfect site, they asked Purple Cherry to design a vacation home there that would reflect their shared aesthetic and values. It had to be sized for the two of them, with a modest presence and interiors that would support a vibrant collection of art, furnishings and books, as well as Asian Pacific artifacts acquired during wanderings abroad.

“Simplicity, smallness of scale, lack of pretense,” Purple Cherry says, ticking off the clients’ program for both architecture and interiors. “And, overarchingly, a very tight budget.”

Today, Nepalese wind chimes sound at the approach to the light-filled, 3,875-square-foot dwelling, which is set on a clearing parallel to and 100 feet back from the water. “One of my favorite aspects of the house is how the design thoughtfully blends in with its surroundings, truly bringing nature into every room and from every angle,” says the husband, a financial executive.

Purple Cherry arrived at the clean, modern spirit her clients had in mind via a restrained form consisting of three volumes. A bird’s-eye view reveals the house plan as a rectangle flanked by two identical squares topped with peaked roofs. “When you’re aiming for something simple and pure,” the architect observes, “symmetry makes for a more peaceful structure within the landscape.”

A visit begins at the east-facing front door, which opens into a 40-foot-long gallery with three points of entry into the 40-by-18-foot great room. The space neatly accommodates seating, cooking and dining for six under a beamed, white-painted ceiling rising to 16 feet. A wall of full-length windows looks west to the river through a 40-foot-long screened porch.

The gallery connects the central living space with two 30-foot-square “pods” at each end of the house. One contains the owners’ suite, featuring a fireplace in the bedroom, a pocket office separated by sliding barn doors, a small library and a laundry. The other wing holds two ensuite bedrooms—a home office now occupies one—plus a mudroom, walk-in closet, powder room and kitchen pantry.

Purple Cherry directed her interiors team to focus on quiet comfort rather than grand entertaining, in keeping with the owners’ desire for a private refuge. Says lead designer Annie Kersey, “The clients sought to combine their curated collection with a modern/minimalistic approach that feels natural and cozy while it draws your eye out to the water.”

In the great room, Kersey started with an existing coffee table and Oriental rug, then added soft goods in a palette shading from cream to gray. “We brought together the colors of the rug to make it the focal point,” she says. Furniture, rugs and textiles collected on the owners’ travels fill the primary suite.

In the kitchen, Crown Point Cabinetry under cabinets finished in Sherwin-Williams’ Classic French Gray frame Wolf, Sub-Zero and Asko appliances. A Remains Lighting Co. globe fixture and a backsplash of handcrafted, glazed-brick subway tiles from Waterworks nod to the residents’ New York ties. “The tiles are long, skinny and heavily pitted, so they’re a bit urban and modern-looking,” notes Kersey. Charcoal-gray grout provides contrast and relates to the dark gray, honed-soapstone perimeter countertop.

A precise budget led to cost-effective choices including asphalt shingles, prefabricated fireplaces and a patio of ipe wood rather than stone. Pared roof overhangs and minimal trim emphasize a clean-lined, modern aesthetic while inside, builder Pilli Custom Homes excelled at detailing—case in point, the distinctive square beams and boxed planks on the great room ceiling, which are set vertically to emphasize height.

Landscape architect D. Miles Barnard of South Fork Studio in Chestertown complemented the streamlined architecture with a restrained palette of ornamental grasses bordering the waterline and native shrubs planted around the house. He achieved all-season interest with chokeberry, clethra, summersweet, fothergilla, oakleaf hydrangea, inkberry, winterberry, Virginia sweetspire and Southern bayberry. A pair of Sweetbay magnolia trees graces the front entrance.

The heated, 14-foot-wide screened porch off the great room boasts a fireplace of stucco and rough stone. Jeld-Wen windows finished in Chestnut Bronze influenced both the trim color and furnishings selected by Kersey and team. The porch is a mainstay, making possible the kind of intimate evenings among close friends that the clients envisioned; at the same time, the easy indoor/outdoor connection makes the house expandable for larger events. “Porches are a lot about nighttime use,” notes Purple Cherry. “It’s not about the view, it’s about the camaraderie.”

Architecture: Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP, CAS, Purple Cherry Architects. Interior Design: Annie Kersey, Purple Cherry Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Builder: Guy Pilli, Pilli Custom Homes, Millersville, Maryland. Landscape Architecture: D. Miles Barnard, RLA, ASLA, South Fork Studio Landscape Architecture, Chestertown, Maryland.

“We were all in lockstep from the beginning,” agrees landscape architect Bob Hruby.

“A dream team is what it was,” echoes interior designer Lauren Liess.

When designing a second home for a young family, “practical doesn’t always win the day,” says Ehrman, adding that the final design might be “more fun and experiential.” In this case, the challenge was to conjure a retreat that would be both a comfortable getaway for the parents, who live and work in Washington, DC, and a functional space for a family with young kids. “We spent a lot of time in their DC house listening to them talk about how they live with their children,” the architect recalls.

The solution turned out to be four linked volumes on the one-and-a-half-acre lot. “It’s one house,” notes Ehrman of the design that weaves the landscape in around it, “but each part has its own special character. We were enamored by the idea of moving between sections of the building.”

The idea was sparked, in part, by the former house on the lot, which occupied the same spot on a cliff 30 feet above the water but was hampered by architecture that blocked the views. Ehrman envisioned the opposite for his clients. No matter the arrival—whether by bike, car or sailboat—and no matter if one is indoors or out, unique and ever-changing views of the water, land and home itself should be visible.

The completed, 6,500-square-foot abode is anchored by a central, flat-roofed glass pavilion. “Located between the gabled and shingled volumes, it accommodates all the circulation into and out of the home,” Ehrman explains. In addition to the pavilion which contains the dining room, other structures house a great room with a cathedral ceiling; a kitchen with a primary suite above and basement space below; a family room with three bedrooms above; and a barn-style garage and bunk room. Three staircases also connect the disparate zones.

Ehrman’s clean-lined architecture is reflected in airy interior spaces. Exterior shingles clad the dining room walls and exposed structural steel is present where there are large expanses of glass. “By using exterior materials and details in the interior, we blur the line between the inside and the outside,” the architect notes.

In her plan, Lauren Liess worked off the minimalist architecture to create tension between “simplicity and a happy, bohemian vibe,” the designer says. She selected a color palette that evokes the greens and tans of grasses and the blues of the water to connect with the scenery, then sprinkled in “unexpected patterns in unexpected places,” such as vintage tile in the powder room that adds a playful element. The concrete floor in the dining room became a link to surrounding structures such as the kitchen’s concrete island.

The kitchen also illustrates Liess’ approach in other ways. The cabinets and refrigerator are recessed unobtrusively into one wall, while the range occupies a niche with the vent hood concealed above it. “I wanted the kitchen design to feel really understated so that when you walk in, you’re focused on the views,” she explains. A single open shelf in the island for storage represents “a relaxed, more European way of doing things,” which reflects the owners’ carefree, down-to-earth vibe, she adds.

The large great room is “both a family hangout and an entertaining space when there are guests,” Liess says, referencing salon-style seating that can host multiple conversation groups. “I love doing rooms like that when the floor plan isn’t typical.” She furnished this room and the other social spaces with a mix of playful, colorful fabrics; natural textures like rattan and raw wood; and layered woven and patterned rugs. “Materials like wood, jute and rattan ground the brighter colors and keep colorful spaces from feeling too sweet,” the designer notes.

The project’s vision is reflected in a landscape that “both supports and softens the house, like walking through a sculpture with plantings that reinforce that experience,” observes landscape architect Bob Hruby. He de-emphasized the 30-foot cliff with grasses typically found on a shoreline to convey “a feeling that the landscape goes on forever.” Avoiding the ordered geometry of a typical garden, he created what he calls a “wild, Chesapeake-style garden,” with adaptive native and non-invasive plants that will evolve over time without requiring much maintenance.

A large oak tree became central to the project, even forcing the team to survey the root system and push the front of the house back. In fact, the tree inspired the primary bedroom’s décor. “We pulled that tree into the palette with greens and beiges and tans and browns,” recounts Liess. “When you’re standing in the bedroom, it feels like you’re up in that oak tree.”

Architecture: Gregory Ehrman, AIA, Hutker Architects, Falmouth, Massachusetts. Interior & Kitchen Design: Lauren Liess, Lauren Liess Interiors, Great Falls, Virginia. Builder: Michael Banks, The Banks Development Co., Washington, DC. Landscape Architecture: Bob Hruby, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland.

“We loved the flow, light and tall ceiling height,” recalls one partner, a retired university administrator (his husband is a former corporate executive). “It was well constructed; the building envelope, systems and appliances were in very good shape.” As a bonus, the home is an easy walk from downtown Bethesda and from family who live nearby.

However, the 7,000-square-foot, center hall residence had its drawbacks—first and foremost, a problematic approach to the front door and an oversized driveway that left no room for a garden. Inside, an overwrought aesthetic was characterized by Roman-style columns, excessive crown moldings and strong, saturated colors in each room. The kitchen was dark, the layout of the owners’ bath was strange and there was not enough indoor-outdoor connectivity.

After purchasing the seven-bedroom dwelling, the owners enlisted architect Eric Hurtt and contractor Fajen & Brown to carry out their vision for improvements. In terms of the exterior, “they were concerned with how the house presented to the street,” recounts Hurtt. “They wanted to make it more approachable and pedestrian-friendly.” His plan added a welcoming front porch and narrowed the driveway. Landscape designer Patricia Miller devised a wide stair from the street up to the front entry; a retaining wall; and a garden of boxwood, ferns and textural plants.

The interiors also got an overhaul. “The goal was to increase the connections between interior spaces and the backyard,” Hurtt explains. “The basic structure remains the same, but we changed how rooms interact, tweaking cased openings and building out drywall corners to create a sense of flow or to clarify spaces.”

At the back of the house, an open-plan family room/kitchen accessed the patio via a set of doors on the family room side. Hurtt installed a second door by the kitchen and enhanced the breakfast nook bay by adding transoms and lowering the sills to let in light and views of nature.

To dial back the grandiose sensibility, the architect stripped out excess trim and heavy ceiling coffers; removed the outmoded columns; and modified overscaled fireplace walls in both the living and family rooms with understated soapstone surrounds. At the same time, he added new architectural elements to impart character—case in point, a small front room became a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and cozy window seats. Tall, clean-lined wainscoting now elevates the dining room.

With much of the architectural work complete, the owners tapped interior designer Paul Corrie to spearhead furnishings and finishes, and to collaborate with Hurtt on kitchen and bath renovations. “We worked with the clients to develop a cohesive and thoughtful design,” Corrie relates. “They wanted a gentleman’s abode that would incorporate their art collection and existing furniture.”

To create the look they were after, the designer embraced an earthy, neutral palette, adding visual interest via strong, nubby textures in upholstery and draperies and a grass-cloth wall covering in the dining room. Muted Oriental rugs ground the main areas, where numerous mid-century pieces belonging to the clients have been re-covered in knit and woven fabrics. To make a statement in the large front entry hall—a connector to the library, living and dining rooms—Corrie selected a massive, 17th-century Italian walnut table from 1stDibs. “It was the first piece I found for them and they loved it,” he recalls, “so I knew we were off to a good start.”

The original kitchen had an L-shaped layout, dark-wood cabinetry and a small, insufficient window. Hurtt designed a more open layout around a large island with an oak base and quartz countertop; the window became a French door with sidelites and a transom. Cabriole Studio cabinetry was designed by Hurtt to span the back wall, and Corrie selected the soft beige cabinet color, along with lighting, stools and breakfast nook furniture. A tight butler’s pantry between the kitchen and dining room was overhauled with widened door openings and new cabinetry.

Hurtt and Corrie also revamped the primary bathroom, part of the second-floor owners’ suite. In its original iteration, the space was oddly organized, with two WCs, facing vanities and a shower enclosure stuck in the middle of the room. “It was a convoluted layout,” Hutt explains. “You had to walk around the shower.” The architect eliminated one WC and anchored an oak vanity topped with soapstone on one side with the shower opposite. A soaking tub is centered between the two zones. Large- format marble clads floors and shower walls and lighting chosen by Corrie conveys a vintage-modern look.

With the renovation complete, the owners are thrilled with their reimagined abode. “Despite its size, it feels warm and cozy. It has really been transformed into a home,” observes the former executive. “The design has allowed us to combine our eclectic art, book and furniture collections—the things we’ve collected over time that bring us joy. And there’s nothing better than sitting on the front porch and connecting with passing neighbors.”

Renovation Architecture: Eric B. Hurtt, AIA, NCARB, Hill & Hurtt Architects, Washington, DC. Interior Design: Paul Corrie, Paul Corrie Interiors, Washington, DC. Renovation Construction: Fajen & Brown, Hyattsville, Maryland. Landscape Design: Patricia Miller, PL Miller & Company, Inc., Laytonsville, Maryland.

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT
Window Treatment Fabrication: knightsbridgeinteriors.com. Millwork: cabriolestudio.com.

DINING ROOM
Table & Chairs: Owners’ collection. Chair Upholstery & Wallpaper: pierrefrey.com.  Millwork: fajenbrown.com. Chandelier: lindseyadelman.com. Drapery Fabric: dedar.com. Rug: mattcamron.com.

LIVING ROOM
Sofa: dmitriyco.com. Sofa Fabric: pierrefrey.com. Armchairs: Owners’ collection. Armchair Fabric: dedar.com. Coffee Table: 1stdibs.com. Bench by Fireplace: olystudio.com. Bench by Fireplace Fabric: dedar.com. Painting over Fireplace: Owners’ collection. Drapery Fabric: larsenfabrics.com. Rug: mattcamron.com.

LIBRARY
Leather Armchairs, Ottomans & Rug: Owners’ collection. Ottomans & Drapery Fabric: zakandfox.com. Roman Shade Fabric: larsenfabrics.com.

OFFICE
Desk: 1stdibs.com. Corner Chair & White Framed Canvas: Owners’ collection. Light Fixture: urbanelectric.com.

KITCHEN
Cabinetry: cabriolestudio.com. Stools: thomashayesstudio.com. Stool Fabric: pierrefrey.com. Light Fixture: urbanelectric.com.

EATING NOOK
Table & Chairs: dwr.com. Pendants: urbanelectric.com.

PRIMARY BEDROOM
Bedding: rh.com. Chairs: Owners’ collection. Chair Fabric: rogersandgoffigon.com. Round Occasional Table: 1stdibs.com. Bench: lawsonfenning.com. Bench Fabric: pierrefrey.com. Rug: mattcamron.com. Drapery Fabric: calvinfabrics.com. Low Table & Candle Holders: 1stdibs.com. Art Above Low Table: Owners’ collection.

PRIMARY BATH
Vanity: cabriolestudio.com. Sconces: urbanelectric.com. Flooring: annsacks.com. Occasional Table: olystudio.com. Tub Filler: kohler.com. Café Curtain Behind Tub: dedar.com.

The aged abode needed an update, though. Purchasing it in 2020, the new owners—he’s an entrepreneur and she’s a journalist—wanted to tackle a host of improvements before moving in. They enlisted interior designer Zöe Feldman, who led them to architect Neal Thomson. The thoughtful, two-year renovation and redesign that followed would touch every inch of the now-four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath home.

Protected under The L’Enfant Trust’s conservation program, the front elevation remained happily intact; the back benefited from the addition of new windows. Inside, the primary goals were to increase function for a growing family (the couple’s first child arrived mid-renovation and their second was due at press time) and to infuse a modern-classic style throughout. “The project was an effort to create a ‘new old’ house by today’s standards,” reveals Thomson. “Keeping the spirit of the old house alive was really important. It became a balancing act.”

Collaborating with Pyramid Builders, the team reconfigured the spaces, bringing cohesion and order to a plan that had suffered piecemeal changes over the years. They relocated a powder room that floated between the dining room and kitchen to the stair hall; combined the kitchen and adjoining breakfast room into one airy space; and flipped the positions of the second-floor primary bedroom and bath. A second bathroom was added on the third floor, where the two children’s bedrooms and the husband’s office sit; other bathrooms received sparkling makeovers.

A separate basement apartment (previously a rental unit) was reintegrated into the main residence, bringing its total square footage to about 5,000. Now, a back stair accesses that revamped level, which houses a playroom/TV hangout, guest room, full bath, gym and utility spaces.

The redo also included an overhaul of the HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems. Lead abatement was a key concern, too. “Great care was given to build a new life for this house,” says Bret Anderson, founder and president of Pyramid Builders. “All the things you don’t see really do add up to the home’s overall health and longevity.”

Although preservation was a priority for the owners, many timeworn original materials couldn’t be salvaged. In some cases, historically accurate replacements—such as the narrow-plank, stained-oak floors installed throughout and the dining room’s plaster crown moldings—achieve comparable charm. Other dated elements gave way to simplified versions, as the living room’s bolection-style marble fireplace surround illustrates.

Encapsulating the project’s old-meets-new approach, steel-framed French doors now separate the front vestibule from the foyer. “We bifurcated that area,” explains Thomson. “It’s a moment you see in a lot of old houses, where there’s the initial front door and then an interior door. We brought back some of those elements that had been lost along the way, but played with updated materials.”

Feldman’s choices of a mosaic-flower tile for the vestibule floor and deep-purple paint for its walls and trim hint at what’s to come. “When you walk into this house, you know it’s been here forever, yet it feels relevant for today,” she offers.

The kitchen design, she explains, intentionally leans modern “to create a nice tension” within the historic setting; a fluted island plays the starring role and provides hidden storage. The breakfast area’s built-in banquette features drawers underneath for stashing linens and such.

As the renovation dust settled, Feldman worked closely with the wife to establish a balanced aesthetic. “She wanted a modern sensibility, but also for things to feel a little more formal,” the designer relays. “We wanted to honor the classic bones of this elegant townhouse,” referencing its 10-foot ceilings, among other grace notes. The dining room’s hand-painted wallpaper from de Gournay was an early selection that set the tone.

Room schemes combine colorful upholstery, vintage finds and statement lighting. A designer-client buying trip to New York yielded many selections that became stylish springboards. Case in point: An amethyst, cashmere-velvet fabric that caught the wife’s eye now adorns the family room sofa. This jewel-toned sectional serves as the pièce de résistance in an otherwise fairly quiet plan, with wool-clad walls and a bouclé-covered chaise. As Feldman explains, her client “wanted the spaces to be comfortable for family, but not at the expense of the design.”

The couple is thrilled with the harmony struck by their collaborative team. The wife notes, “Our home nods to history, yet it’s been modernized.”

Renovation Architecture: Neal Thomson, AIA, principal, Thomson & Cooke Architects, Washington, DC. Interior Design: Zöe Feldman, principal; Tenley Masson, senior designer; Charis Fortunato, senior project manager, Zoe Feldman Design, Washington, DC. Renovation Contractor: Bret Anderson, Pyramid Builders, Annapolis, Maryland.

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT
Cabinetry: oldtownwoodworking.com; themasterswoodshop.com; trailstrim.com.

KITCHEN
Roller Shades: rockvilleinteriors.com. Dining Pendant: contardi-usa.com. Kitchen Pendant: rollandhill.com. Chairs: 1stdibs.com. Chair Fabric: arc-com.com. Banquette Fabrication: oldtownwoodworking.com. Banquette Fabric: perennialsandsutherland.com. Fluted Island Paint: Chantilly Lace by benjaminmoore.com. Island & Perimeter Countertops: petrastonegallery.com. Paint: Wevet by farrow-ball.com. Pillow Fabric: kravet.com. Footed Bowl: panoplie.com.

LIVING ROOM
Sofa: Finch Studio through nydc.com. Semi-Flush Mount Light: vaughandesigns.com. Window Treatments: rockvilleinteriors.com. Coffee Table: blendinteriors.com. Stools: guyregalnyc.com. Chair: lepereinc.com. Chair Fabric: rogersandgoffigon.com. Marble Side Table: etsy.com. Shelf & Cabinet: chairish.com. Rug: starkcarpet.com. Side Table: 1stdibs.com. Steel Doors: Custom through Metro Steel. Paint: Blackened by farrow-ball.com.

NURSERY
Wallpaper: pierrefrey.com through hinescompany.com. Carpet: starkcarpet.com. Poufs: lepereinc.com. Glider & Ottoman: montedesign.com. Dresser: crateandbarrel.com. Crib: maisonette.com. Shelves: stillfried.com. Roman Shades: europatex.com Roman Shade Fabrication: rockvilleinteriors.com.

PRIMARY BEDROOM
Paint: Great White by farrow-ball.com. Drapery: cowtan.com. Roman Shade: rockvilleinteriors.com. Bed Upholstery: gretcheneverett.com. Bed Fabric: pierrefrey.com through hinescompany.com. Chair: dennismiller.com. Chair Fabric: zimmer-rohde.com through ruefour.com. Black Lamp: vintage through allybanksinteriors.com. Pleated Lamp: vaughandesigns.com. Sconces: Latesda Studio through hollyhunt.com. Lumber: 1stdibs.com. Bedding: matouk.com. Light Fixture: gong.co.uk. Dresser: 1stdibs.com. Bedside Table: aerostudios.com. Marble Side Table: etsy.com. Rug: starkcarpet.com. Art: Tenley Masson.

ENTRY HALL
Art: benhunter.gallery. Art Framing: Frameworks; 202-333-3335. Paint: Wevet by farrow-ball.com. Console Table: 1stdibs.com. Lamp: David Bell Antiques; 202-965-2355. Bench: Sofie Osterby through kolkhoze.fr. Rug: mattcamron.com.

FAMILY ROOM
Wallpaper: phillipjeffries.com. Pillow: dedar.com through hollyhunt.com. Chaise: verellen.biz. Lamp: vaughandesigns.com. Drapes: cowtan.com. Sectional Sofa: americanleather.com. Sectional Sofa Fabric: usa.delecuona.com. Side Table: thibautdesign.com through hinescompany.com. Wood Side Table: lawsonfenning.com. Coffee Table: dirkvanderkooij.com. Carpet: starkcarpet.com.

STUDY
Paint: De Nimes by farrow-ball.com. Sconces: vaughandesigns.com. Rug: Vintage through elikorugs.com. Window Treatments Fabric: larsenfabrics.com through cowtan.com. Window Treatment Fabrication: rockvilleinteriors.com. Pillow Fabrics: clarencehouse.com through hollyhunt.com; pierrefrey.com through hinescompany.com. Daybed Fabric: jamesmalonefabrics.com through ruefour.com. Daybed Fabrication: rockvilleinteriors.com. Knobs: rejuvenation.com.

ENTRY/DINING
Paint: Wevet by farrow-ball.com. Wallpaper: degournay.com. Hanging Shade: visualcomfort.com. Chair: blendinteriors.com. Dining Chairs: 1stdibs.com. Dining Chair Fabric: zimmer-rohde.com through ruefour.com. Dining Chair Fabrication: rockvilleinteriors.com. Rug: chairish.com. Chandelier: vaughandesigns.com. Sconces: visualcomfort.com. Floating Console: vancollier.com. Dining Table: americaneyewdc.net.

PRIMARY BATH
Limewash: portolapaints.com. Side Table: lawsonfenning.com. Sconces: remains.com. Pendant: sheherazadehome.com through chairish.com. Runner: mattcamron.com. Plumbing: waterworks.com. Footed Bowl: panoplie.com. Vanity: themasterswoodshop.com. Marble Vanity Top & Tub Surround: petrastonegallery.com.

STUDY
Paint: De Nimes by farrow-ball.com. Desk & Desk Chair: julianchichester.com through americaneyewdc.net. Eames Chair & Ottoman Fabric: scalamandre.com. Eames Chair & Ottoman Fabric Upholstery: gretcheneverett.com. Sconces: visualcomfort.com. Rug: Vintage through elikorugs.com. Desk Lamp: Zach Stamatis for zoefeldmandesign.com. Desk Lamp Shade: hinescompany.com. Window Treatment Fabric: larsenfabrics.com through cowtan.com. Window Treatment Fabrication: rockvilleinteriors.com. Vase: Taiki Fujimori.

For the pair—he’s a biotech investor and she’s a retired investment banker—staying put in their Blue Springs Farm neighborhood was key, as they loved their home’s breathtaking setting. The lot, a 26-acre parcel cocooned by the forest on one side and wide-open vistas of the Ragged Mountains on the other, offers beauty in every direction. “At night, the lights on the mountain houses twinkle and you can see weather patterns as they’re approaching,” enthuses the wife. “Plus, our kids grew up here and played in those woods, so we have a lot of memories.”

As their three boys grew into teenagers, however, the couple started to feel the limitations of their 1990s-era residence. “We noticed that we were lacking separate spaces for everybody,” the wife says. “When the kids had friends over, we would lose our main living area.”

She and her husband embarked on a renovation helmed by Dalgliesh Gilpin Paxton Architects with an assist by contractor John Diven of Shelter Associates Ltd. But the project’s scope quickly shifted. “After we started the preliminary demo, we found there were major structural issues that couldn’t be resolved,” recalls project architect Mark Bittle. There was only one logical solution: Raze the house and start from the ground up. The new structure could be better oriented to its site, and could draw on a style that would resonate more deeply with the owners, whose tastes skew less traditional.

Loosely inspired by the region’s historical Georgian vernacular, the design is an exercise in symmetry and proportion, channeled through a contemporary lens. Says architect Roger Birle, “It’s a nice marriage between classic composition and modern materials and aesthetics.”

The completed, 14,000-square-foot abode effortlessly harmonizes with its site. By transposing the orientation of the previous home’s front façade, the architects created a more intimate arrival on the forest-facing side of the property while the rear takes in the majestic mountain range. Organized around a central mass and flanked by wings, the plan’s H-shaped layout accommodates the main living spaces and primary suite on the first level while four bedrooms, each with an adjacent bath, take up the second floor. The lower level boasts a home theater, gym, golf simulator and, for future grandchildren, a playroom accessed via its own secret door under the basement stairs.

Because the family loves to entertain and spend time outside, bringing nature in via seamless indoor-outdoor connections was paramount. The front entry yields a clear sightline to the rear yard and the views beyond. Nearly every room at the back of the house offers easy access to the pool, patios and a courtyard where a glass orb by artist Allison Armour serves as a focal point. These exterior spaces were shaped by landscape architecture firm Waterstreet Studio, which implemented a contemporary scheme using native plants.

Inside the home, European oak floors and a neutral material palette promote an aura of calm. The fact that the interiors possess the soothing vibe of a modern boutique hotel is by design: “My husband and I worked in Manhattan in the 1990s when W Hotels were new to the scene,” reveals the wife, who took on the role of designer. “That clean, uncluttered look is something we’ve always gravitated to since our early days.”

To execute their vision, she stuck to classic silhouettes and subdued shades of gray and cream. Just as a great capsule wardrobe affords the flexibility to interchange items, this approach gave her the freedom to move furnishings around on the fly. It also provided a quiet backdrop for more fanciful flourishes, such as the Poggenpohl kitchen’s diamond-like backsplash and an array of shimmery wall coverings and statement lights that add sparkle and pop throughout the house.

The glam aesthetic extends to the party barn, an outbuilding designed for hosting a crowd when the couple’s sons—all students at UVA—come home. “The clients didn’t want rustic, but at some point we started calling it the party barn and the name stuck,” Bittle explains. Riffing on the idea, the architects incorporated soaring steel trusses that mimic timber framework. To keep noise to a minimum, the barn is accessed via a courtyard that also leads to the main house, garage and pool.

“Part of the challenge was to create a new destination that would still feel connected to the house in a way that’s convenient and beautiful,” observes Birle.

These days, the party barn is packed almost every weekend, making the owners’ mission to entice the kids back home a success. “Every time I talk to them, they’re hosting parties or their sons are home having get-togethers,” Bittle affirms. “From all indications, the plan worked like a charm.”

Architecture: Roger L. Birle, AIA, principal architect; Mark T. Bittle, AIA, project architect, Dalgliesh Gilpin Paxton Architects, Charlottesville, Virginia. Kitchen Design: Poggenpohl, Washington, DC. Builder: John Diven, Shelter Associates Ltd., Charlottesville, Virginia. Landscape Architecture: Waterstreet Studio, Charlottesville, Virginia. Landscape Installation: Grelen Nursery, Somerset, Virginia.

RESOURCES

LIVING ROOM
Fireplace Tile: sarissandtile.com through emilamerica.com. Chandelier: rh.com. Sofas & Sofa Fabric: margecarson.com. Rugs: stantoncarpet.com. Coffee Table: vanguardfurniture.com. Armchairs: lexington.com. Curved-Back Chairs: adrianahoyos.com. Wall Covering: hollandandsherry.com.

ENTRY HALL
Chandelier: ilanel.com. Wall Paint: Galena by benjaminmoore.com.

KITCHEN
Cabinetry: poggenpohl.com. Backsplash Tile: akdo.com. Lights near Windows: sonnemanlight.com. Pendants: bradleylighting.com. Countertops: us.vicostone.com through cogswellstone.com. Wall Oven & Cooktop: subzero-wolf.com through Kraft Appliance; 434-923-8988. Faucet: newportbrass.com through fergusonshowrooms.com.

COVERED PATIO
Fireplace: europeanhome.com. Sofa, Chairs & Coffee Table: bernhardt.com. Rug: treasuregarden.com. Dining Table: seasonalliving.com. Dining Chairs: klaussner.com. Outdoor Sconces: hubbardtonforge.com. Console: urbiaimports.com. Ceiling Fan: bigassfans.com. Fireplace Tile: sarisandtile.com.

POOL-SIDE
Chaises: castellefurniture.com. Armchairs: klaussner.com. Firepit: rh.com. Porcelain Pavers: kronos-usa.com through sarisandtile.com.

PARTY BARN
Pool Table: olhausenbillards.com. Sofa: thayercoggin.com. Sofa Fabric: hollyhunt.com. Chandelier: tomdixon.net/en_us. Wall Covering: phillipjeffries.com. Bar Stools: mrbrownhome.com. Custom Cabinetry: worthingtonmillwork.com. Countertop: cogswellstone.com. Wallpaper: bradleyusa.com.

The finished space is an exuberant, art-filled modern home, rooted in the Watergate’s mid-century heritage but focused on today’s relaxed lifestyle. Its 100 linear feet of windows have been warmed up by the room’s gleaming expanses of teak, walnut and bird’s-eye maple. Soft, slight-scaled furnishings and nubby textiles selected by New York designer Didi Granger float in an airy living room overlooking the Potomac. Punches of color come from contemporary works by Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell and Al Held. Amid such glamour, the residents’ Springer Spaniel can race across new, superhard white oak flooring or luxuriate on a creamy-white circular rug.

“The apartment lives wonderfully,” says owner Henry McKinnon, a retired psychotherapist and second-generation art collector from a family with philanthropic ties to Norfolk’s Chrysler Museum of Art. “This place is the best.”

McKinnon and his partner Ron Gage, a retired executive, were moving on from an antiques-filled 1830s Georgetown manse when they inspected the Watergate East apartment in late 2020. As McKinnon recalls, the unit exuded “1980s Versailles style with crazy moldings everywhere—but we loved the space and the view.”

Zapatka, who stood with them that day near the wall of windows, assured: “We can do something more.”

On a recent afternoon in the transformed abode, the architect pointed out the glories and challenges of the redo. The three-bedroom, three-bath corner unit is exceptional for its windows extending more than 50 feet in two directions. The central living space fans out from the midpoint. Originally, the public area was bracketed by two bedrooms and baths on the left, and the kitchen and a third bedroom and bath on the right.

However, the initial layout had to be reclaimed before Zapatka’s update. Interim owners had interrupted the flow, enclosing a third of the open area with flimsy, louvered partitions and blocking dining room windows with a built-in vitrine. Still, Moretti’s elegant entrance sequence—leading from an elliptical vestibule to an elliptical hall—survived, as did marble flooring that may well have been extracted from the Vatican’s quarry. (The Vatican was an original investor in the Watergate, once under Italian ownership.)

Zapatka began with what he calls “the big gesture.” In his plan, windows would rule and interior elements would be “pulled back” from them—inspiration taken from mid-century master Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Farnsworth House. Like Mies, Zapatka would make magic with wood, stone, brass and bronze.

In the elliptical hall, now paneled in zebrawood, Zapatka closed off an opening to the dining room, narrowing attention on views of the river. “My mentor Michael Graves told me many years ago, ‘You don’t want to give it all away at once,’” notes the architect. In another salvo, he points out the existing Calacatta marble floor and says, “We always love to preserve what’s original and good.”

The Watergate’s forest of freestanding structural columns has bedeviled residents for decades. In the central living space, Zapatka celebrated two by wrapping them in teak and bronze. Meanwhile, heating and cooling units below the windows have been dressed up in white cabinetry. Awkward angles resulting from Moretti’s unusual geometry are now disguised—inside a “Mad Men” bar here or a stone-clad niche there.

The apartment’s eight-foot ceilings presented another hurdle: Near the windows, they drop six inches to accommodate the balcony on the upper floor. Zapatka turned this visual disruption into an element of delight with a coat of high-gloss white ceiling paint, which reflects the windows and makes them seem taller.

Work ensued despite pandemic woes. The dated kitchen was refitted by Snaidero, the owners’ bath enlarged and the powder room restored. A washer and dryer were installed in a primary bedroom cabinet.

The second bedroom was co-opted as a den, separated from the living area by a floating paneled partition. This furniture-quality unit with bird’s-eye maple drawers hides another structural column inside smooth teak veneer, which curves around to face the living room.

For McKinnon, the den was key. “Ron and I are very casual, so we wanted a nice den,” he says, swiveling in a Danish lounge chair.

In her furniture selections, Granger embraced the clients’ desire for neutrals. “The largest determining factor was the Watergate’s round shape,” notes the designer, who set a curved sofa on a circular rug accented with small round tables. These face a seating area against the teak wall where, she adds, “you can really take in the view.”

Bare windows heighten the experience. “At night, the windows become like black mirrors,” marvels Gage. “You see the paintings everywhere.”

Drawing Board

Q+A with architect Christian Zapatka

How do you decide what elements to keep in a redo?
In general, almost all of my work involves existing structures. I’m a firm believer in preserving, restoring and renovating whatever is good. I take a very hard look at what’s there to find components that are representative of a property’s history.

Where do you seek inspiration?
I love looking back to find inspiration. I try to channel what the original architect was thinking, and I imagine the great materials and design gestures belonging to a home’s period—whether it’s a Rockefeller apartment in New York or a Mies van der Rohe in Chicago. There’s a good bit of fantasy, but the point is to evoke the spirit of an era.

What are the ingredients of a successful project?
There are three ingredients. From my side, I have to bring the ideas and the design. Then there’s the execution—the constant, intense work. Third, and most importantly, a good client. You need their trust, enthusiasm and patience. If the client is game, you’re going to have a good project.

Renovation Architecture: Christian Zapatka, AIA, FAAR, Christian Zapatka Architect, PLLC, Washington, DC. Interior Design: Didi Granger, Didi Granger Interiors, New York, New York. Renovation Contractor: Reynaldo Vasquez, VR Construction, LLC, Arlington, Virginia.

Suddenly a modern refuge unfolds revealing a confluence of earth, water and sky.

If the entry is a bit out of the ordinary, that’s because this is no ordinary house. Pushing the concepts of threshold and boundary, openness and protection, it accentuates the magnitude of a setting where the Potomac River converges with the Chesapeake Bay.

It all started when a DC-based executive acquired the 144-acre Leonardtown, Maryland, property in 2019, then enlisted architect Todd Ray of Page to design a weekend escape on site. The initial request gave Ray pause. “He asked for a Hobbit house,” relates the architect. “I told him, ‘Well, you came to the wrong guy.’”

But as the dialogue deepened, sparks began to fly. “I liked the idea of a home that fits into the land,” the owner explains. “There is something exciting, a bit foreboding and very cool about going through a tunnel into the earth and entering a home you cannot see.”

As Ray and colleague Ana Zannoni collaborated on the plan, they envisioned the main entry as well as other thresholds that would offer revelations of their own. Walking the site, they took cues from black stone jetties protecting the beach. “The cadence of these manmade elements at play with nature,” says Ray, inspired them to carry the lines of the jetties onto the property. They created two massive parti walls that would form the home’s framework, perpendicular to the entry tunnel. “The two big walls created boundaries and have a very strong presence,” says Zannoni.

Social spaces—an open kitchen, living area and reading room—are laid out between the four-and-a-half-foot-thick walls while a dining room, two bedrooms with ensuite baths and a den/guest room are situated on opposite sides of the parallel partitions. A central interior courtyard brings light and greenery into the heart of the kitchen. When the folding doors are open, lines are blurred between the living area, pool terrace and the watery vista beyond.

The architects riffed on contrasts between dark and light and indoor and outdoor conditions. Enclosed passageways signal transitions from public to private realms. For example, a tunnel-like stair leads to a second-floor office with 360-degree views of nature. “Our client wanted the experience of entering a compressed spatial threshold that leads to an unexpected expanse—a place of safety, refuge and wonder,” says Ray.

“The contrast—between feeling contained and protected and instances where we blow out the walls so they almost disappear—is a reminder that we want a connection to the outside but are also conscious that at times, we shelter,” elaborates Zannoni.

A year after its 2022 completion, the owner and his long-time partner were married under the stars on the property. He and his now-husband, a consultant, selected most of the furnishings and building materials. The simple, organic palette pays homage to the architects’ exterior program. Concrete-look tile clads the floor and walls; custom concrete countertops and sinks grace the kitchen and baths. In the primary suite, a living wall illuminated by a skylight brings the outdoors in.

The 4,731-square-foot residence is an ode to the beauty—and fragility—of the site. Equipped with solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling, it has nearly achieved net-zero status. The entry berm was made from soil excavated during construction.

As the project neared completion, landscape architects Ryan Moody and Nick Wittkofski of Moody Graham joined the team. “We pulled the amazingly strong concepts that Todd and Ana developed into the landscape and pulled some of the forest back into the site,” says Moody. Focusing on native species, they planted the berm with silvery mountain mint and fringed the pool terrace with Virginia sweetspire, oakleaf hydrangea and Russian sage.

Continuing the axis established by the jetties and parti walls, concrete pavers extend from the home toward the forest, culminating at two Corten steel panels. “These planes that you can pass through create another portal, a transition point where you enter a different landscape,” says Wittkofski. Ana Zannoni, who launched her own architecture firm in 2022, has designed a new guesthouse and freestanding gym to be built in the woods.

The owners often get away to Leonardtown with friends and family. “They go there to rejuvenate and read, swim and be with nature,” observes Todd Ray.

“Coming here,” muses one resident, standing on the dock near a fleet of paddleboards, “you feel your blood pressure going down. The relaxation of it all is just amazing.”

The homeowner, a longtime client who works in finance, first considered the four-story, 2,332-square-foot house as an investment opportunity. However, she changed her mind on seeing it. “I grew up in New York,” she says, “so it was always sort of a fantasy to own a brownstone. I figure this is the closest I’m going to get to that in DC!” But as a fan of modern architecture, her fantasy brownstone veered contemporary on the inside. “I called Bob as I was walking out the door after touring the house,” she recalls, “and said ‘I have a project for you.’”

When the time came, Gurney enlisted a team that included colleague Kara McHone, designer Therese Baron Gurney (his wife and frequent collaborator) and builder Peterson+Collins. They had their work cut out for them, as the building was dilapidated—to say the least. “It had been a sort of rooming house, with a kitchen on each floor,” recounts the architect.

Working with McHone, he devised a plan that would gut the dingy interior spaces and create a 300-square-foot, glassed-in addition at the back of the basement and ground floor (zoning prohibited extending the upper floors). The main level became a single, open-plan room with the front living area flowing back to the kitchen and the dining area in the addition at the rear. The second floor encompasses the primary suite, which boasts a back patio, and the third holds two spare bedrooms. The basement includes a playroom and a home office.

In the revamped layout, the main level feels more spacious than its 20-foot width would indicate. “It’s a nice homage to the original space,” comments principal Ted Peterson, who spearheaded construction. “The rear addition was critical to the project’s success, as it elongates the room and makes it feel wider.”

The front door opens to an airy, floating stair that was relocated to its current spot along the wall. “The whole concept is organized around the stairwell, which cuts through the ceiling to a skylight at the top,” Gurney explains. “We came up with this system of a welded-wire fabric wall instead of a glass railing; reclaimed-white oak slats are layered over it on the main floor to add more texture.”

Beyond the stair, a functional core opposite the sleek kitchen holds a powder room and pantry; it extends to the second and third floors, where it houses the laundry room and a bathroom respectively. Also part of this core: an elevator that runs from the basement to the third floor, enabling the owner to age in place.

With visiting grandchildren in mind, robust, durable materials were specified—a mandate that inspired the architects’ palette of reclaimed-white oak surfaces, hot-rolled-steel accents, Italian stone-look porcelain flooring and dark-stained white oak on cabinets and upstairs walls. “I wanted a sophisticated look with some different materials,” notes the client, “and nothing too delicate.”

Those materials create continuity among spaces and delineate rooms in lieu of drywall—particularly the reclaimed white oak, which appears on floors, stair treads, walls and built-ins throughout the house. “With the home’s width, I thought all the wood might be overwhelming, but it makes the walls that much more special,” observes Peterson. “The door hinges are concealed and all the wood is matched. That kind of detail defines Bob’s projects.” To address the wood’s natural expansion and contraction, Peterson’s team fabricated the walls with quarter-inch reveals between panels that allow for movement; these echo the reveals typically found in modern architectural spaces—including this home—where moldings are eschewed.

Gurney and McHone also orchestrated finishes in the kitchen and bathrooms. The former combines custom, dark-stained oak cabinetry by Affinity Woodworking with terrazzo countertops; the nearby powder room sports the same surface. Frosted-glass walls define the minimalist primary bath on the second floor.

The cellar floor was lowered 16 inches to provide additional ceiling height and covered in polished concrete. A home office, tucked into the rear addition, is brightened by a spacious light-well-cum-patio visible through a wall of windows and accessible via a glass door. A quartet of young grandchildren enjoys time in the adjacent playroom.

Therese Baron Gurney’s interiors “support and blend the furnishings with the finishes,” she explains, adding that her involvement with the client carried over from a prior project. “We reconfigured many items from her previous house, adding new pieces to make them work specifically within the new environment.”

The owner is thrilled with her vintage row house and its elegant yet livable modern interiors. “I love it here, I love how it feels,” she enthuses. “It really works perfectly for me.”

Eventually, the couple were ready to put down some roots. They decided to build a getaway on the property; the wife would be able to have a year-round studio 60 miles from Washington and the duo could relax with their two grown children, their spouses and six grandkids.

“What we wanted was the look of an old Virginia farmhouse that had been added onto,” the wife recalls. A colleague of her husband recommended architect Andrew Lewis, a principal at Neumann Lewis Buchanan, to realize their vision. Lewis, who lives in a Virginia village founded in 1763, is fluent in the region’s historic vernacular and creates traditional custom homes despite being, as he terms it, “somewhat of a closet modernist.”

The architect located the new abode on the spot where a ramshackle farmhouse once stood. “It’s a lovely site capturing the view,” he explains. “But it was at the bottom of a sloping driveway with an awkward downhill approach.” To solve the issue, he says, “we terraced the front, raising the house to make its main floor and courtyard level.” In back, stepped terraces and extensive grading elevated the structure to maximize the sweeping vistas. Nicole Siess of LanDesigns landscaped the acres around the home and adjacent barn, which lie close to, yet concealed from, the two-lane road that winds for miles past farms, stables, vineyards and estates.

Lewis worked with the builder BOWA on the amenity-rich farmhouse, crafted in a style he describes as “Middleburg quirky—a mishmash of centuries-old rural architectural influences from Pennsylvania and Virginia’s Piedmont and Tidewater areas.” The façade is fieldstone with white board siding. Standing-seam copper roofing covers telescoping wings, upper rooms and dormers. Twenty-four appropriately scaled, “quasi-vernacular” Marvin windows line the front façade, while 40 expansive, less traditional windows face the back where, Lewis notes, “the whole point is to capture the mountains.”

At 8,897 square feet, the three-story farmhouse has five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, three porches and a finished basement with a sauna. Visitors enter a soaring front hall. Straight ahead and to the left lie public spaces including the family room, informal dining area, eat-in kitchen and pantry. Continuing left are the laundry, a mudroom adorned with grandchildren’s artwork and an attached two-car garage. An expansive rear porch overlooks a curved terrace.

To the right of the front door are the library and luxurious main-floor owners’ suite, which features a sitting room with a fireplace, his-and-her dressing rooms and a primary bath with dual sinks, a tub and shower. To make the bedroom feel larger, Lewis added a tall tray ceiling, mountain-facing windows and a private screened porch.

The elegant, formal library is elevated by sophisticated rift- and quarter-sawn white oak bookshelves, ceiling beams, a bay window and a fireplace surround over which hangs a pastel of trees by the wife. Pocket doors open to the family room, where the 12-foot-tall ceiling meets an impressive wall of windows. This space segues into a casual open room for family meals and then the bright-white country kitchen. Lewis designed the cabinetry and walnut-topped island. The adjoining pantry offers more storage, a second fridge and dishwasher and the wife’s cookbooks, which she reads like novels.

Just inside the soaring foyer, an elegant staircase of Lewis’ design leads to three second-floor guest suites. The largest bedroom boasts the home’s best view, encompassing Marshall Mountain, Carson Mountain and Compton Peak.

Comfy traditional furnishings throughout the home were sourced during construction by the wife’s now-retired Alabama designer. Joanne Swift, owner of The Shaggy Ram in Middleburg, was a go-to for draperies, upholstery work and accessories.

Colorful Oriental rugs were acquired in Wyoming, where the couple also has a home. But these are far outnumbered by custom floor coverings designed by Massachusetts-based Merida—a business founded by their daughter—and woven of all-natural, chemical-free fibers in an old textile mill. French doors on the family room’s left side lead outdoors and down steps to a flat stretch of stone-bordered lawn that tops the retaining wall.

Though the wife’s studio was originally part of the main house, she has since taken over the two-story barn, which was moved to the property by an earlier owner and restored by Lewis after the main house was completed. Her former studio, with its 12 windows and fabulous views, is now the husband’s office.

After moving to Hume full time during the pandemic, the owners recently made the retreat their permanent legal residence, keeping their DC digs for city visits.

“The view!” enthuses the husband.

“My studio!” raves the wife.

As for the sprawling, “old Virginia farmhouse” look with its multiple additions, Lewis says wryly, “Middleburg quirky. You know it when you see it.”

“I was brought on board by the Becks. We’re friends and they were familiar with my work,” explains interior designer Sandra Meyer of Ella Scott Design. From its 2019 inception to its completion in 2021, she collaborated on the project with Mark Kaufman of GTM Architects and Jim Leeds of Leeds Builders.

“Our clients wanted a traditional-looking beach house from the street side, with a contemporary rear maximizing the use of glass and taking advantage of its striking views,” says Kaufman of what would be a seven-bedroom, 8,000-square-foot home spanning three floors, with indoor/outdoor living spaces on each level.

From the street, the dwelling reads like a Dutch Colonial, with cedar shakes and a gambrel roof atop a stone-veneer foundation (FEMA requires a two-foot-above-base flood elevation). But the rear elevation is another story, seamlessly marrying those traditional features with expansive, hurricane-rated glass windows and sliders that spill out to ipe decks rimmed with marine-grade, stainless-steel railings. “All exterior materials are designed to withstand the salt air and hurricane environment,” Kaufman notes. For instance, “retractable Kevlar storm screens roll down in front of the sliding-glass doors and windows to protect them off-season or during a storm.”

In addition to waterfront balconies—one off the top-floor primary suite and the other extending the width of the second level—a covered terrace, deck and patio beckon beside a swimming pool and spa. “The patio is comprised of a floating paver system that sits atop pedestals over the sloped substrate,” explains Kaufman. “This system maximizes the height of the patio, which in turn maximizes the view over the dunes to the ocean.”

Visitors enter through a ground-floor foyer that leads past the staircase to a spacious rec room equipped with a fireplace flanked by built-in banquettes, a sectional and an eight-foot-long wet bar with a beverage fridge. A covered terrace and pool are accessed through glass doors.

The second story houses a great room that spans the back of the house and encompasses the custom kitchen and chic living and dining areas. A wall of sliding glass doors opens to a covered deck furnished for optimal entertaining.

Three bedrooms and a sitting room also occupy the second level; a third story houses three more bedrooms and the primary suite, which opens to a private roof deck. Each level has its own stone-clad fireplace to ensure the home lives cozily and comfortably in every season; an elevator connects all three floors.

Like the architecture, the interiors focus on indoor-outdoor connectivity, with understated furnishings that emphasize the views. “It’s not stereotypical in a beach-house way,” says Meyer of her design approach. “We used restraint. Our clients wanted a well-crafted and distinctive home with a clean, chic and timeless feel.”

Rooms suited for large-scale entertaining spill out to comfortable outdoor living spaces. Furniture profiles are low and unobtrusive—minimalist and unfussy with pre-treated upholstery to withstand coastal living. “We definitely didn’t want that typical overstuffed or slipcovered beach look,” Meyer notes.

She and her clients nodded subtly to the nautical setting with wide-plank white oak floors and white-painted, nickel-gap-paneled walls throughout that serve to unify the interiors. “I used neutrals that mimic the sand in different lights, and blues that play off the sky and the sea; the colors are so perfect for the setting,” Meyer enthuses. “I love that the indoor design elements don’t detract from the view but complement it.”

In the sleek kitchen, the designer clad the base of the island and the hood in nickel-gap panels painted an inky-blue shade that contrasts with white cabinetry and marble countertops and backsplash. Another moody blue makes a statement in the third-floor office, where the hue envelops built-in cabinetry, walls and ceiling. Meyer added a textured Romo wallpaper to the desk wall for interest.

Having office options in their home was important to the couple, who sold Bluemercury in 2015. Barry is the founder and CEO of Evenly Technologies, a tech and telemedicine company, and Marla invests, advises and sits on the boards of several public companies. So the design team added offices on the second level and on the third floor off the primary suite.

The Becks’ bedroom is notable for its ocean-facing picture window that follows the lines of the gambrel roof; a linear corner fireplace and private balcony complete the haven.

The finished project is all the owners wanted—and the process of getting there was seamless. “Everything ran like a dream,” Meyer recalls. “Having the right team and amazing clients made all the difference.”

Architecture: Mark Kaufman, AIA, LEED AP, GTM Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. Interior & Kitchen Design: Sandra Meyer, Ella Scott Design, Bethesda, Maryland. Builder: Jim Leeds, Leeds Builders Inc., Margate City, New Jersey.

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT
Windows: marvin.com. Sliding Doors: westernwindowsystems.com.

DECK
Lounge Seating & Fabric, Dining Table, Wooden Table & Dining Chairs: shopharbour.com. White Pedestal Tables: rh.com. Pillow Fabrics: ryanstudio.com.

FOYER
Chandelier: urbanelectric.com. Table: thebrightgroup.com.

LIVING AREA
White Sofas & Side Chairs: artisticframe.com. Sofa & Pillow Fabric: romo.com. Coffee Table: brickerandbeam.com. Rug: stantoncarpet.com. Side Chair Fabric: markalexander.com. Large Window Shade: lutron.com. Small Window Shade: conradshades.com. Art: bradleyduncan.com. Paint: Simply White by benjaminmoore.com.

KITCHEN
Cabinetry: cabico.com through colmarkitchenstudio.com. Large Pendants: urbanelectric.com. Dining Fixture: rollandhill.com. Dining Table: brickerandbeam.com. Dining Chairs: bassamfellows.com. Bar Stools: rh.com. Countertops & Backsplash: marblesystems.com. Cooktop: subzero-wolf.com through handlersappliance.com.

POOLSIDE
Umbrella & Outdoor Seating: gloster.com.

CABANA
Sectional: verellen.biz. Sectional Fabric: romo.com. Rug: stantoncarpet.com. Sofa Table & Cocktail Table: brickerandbeam.com. Stools: crumpandkwash.com. Floor Lamps: arteriorshome.com. Countertop: marblesystems.com. Paint: Simply White by benjaminmoore.com.

NOOK
Pillow & Cushion Fabric: romo.com. Light: alliedmaker.com. Table: Custom through brickerandbeam.com. Chairs: janusetcie.com. Paint: Simply White by benjaminmoore.com.

STUDY
Cabinetry Design: colmarkitchenstudio.com. Cabinetry Fabrication: cabico.com. Cabinetry Paint: Kensington Blue by benjaminmoore.com. Backsplash Wallpaper: romo.com. Chair: thebrightgroup.com. Lamp: visualcomfort.com. Sofa: kravet.com. Sofa Fabric: romo.com. Window Shade: conradshades.com.

BEDROOM
Bed: dmitriyco.com. Rug: stantoncarpet.com. Chair & Ottoman: hollyhunt.com. Chair & Ottoman Fabric: cowtan.com. Floor Lamp: visualcomfort.com. Pillow Fabric: romo.com. Throw on Bed: matouk.com. Pedestal: palecek.com. Chandelier: gabriel-scott.com.

PRIMARY BATH
Countertop: innovativecuttingconcepts.com. Cabinetry: taylormadecabinets.com. Hardware: emtek.com. Faucets: kallista.com through artistichardware.net. Paint: Simply White by benjaminmoore.com.

LOCKER ROOM
Cabinetry Design: colmarkitchenstudio.com. Cabinetry Fabrication: cabico.com. Cabinetry Paint: Denim Wash by benjaminmoore.com. Flooring: cottodeste.us.

PRIMARY CLOSET
Closet Design & Fabrication: colmarkitchenstudio.com. Window Shade: conradshades.com.

The garden is set between the couple’s contemporary, three-bedroom residence and a slope down to the creek and a dock. Abe paid homage to the estuary environment, devising a scheme that roughly mimics the shape of the Chesapeake Bay. A bed of white gravel—a common expression of water in Japanese design—unfurls on the property’s lower elevation. Massive stones form a bridge across the expanse, leading to steps accessing an upper garden. Japanese black pine, weeping cherry, azalea and dwarf mondo grass embellish the landscape, also dotted by boulders, a water feature and hidden benches built for quiet contemplation.

Five years later, Abe returned to create a pocket garden visible only from the owners’ bedroom and adjacent home office. Called a tsubo-niwa—a garden that in Japanese tradition measures precisely two tatami mats wide—this walled refuge features a sculpture that he fashioned by slicing and reassembling a single boulder.

Abe, who trained in Kyoto under a master landscape designer, marvels at how the project has evolved over the years. “It is probably the best garden I have ever built,” he muses.

But the work didn’t stop there. In 2017, the owners enlisted ZEN Associates to design the first of several upgrades to their 5,000-square-foot, 1970s-era home. They tapped Rina Okawa, a lead interior designer at the Massachusetts firm, to revamp their dark and dated lower level. There were two mandates: Create a stylish viewing room where they could screen their vast video art collection with guests; and foster a stronger indoor-outdoor connection to the garden.

In step with Abe’s landscape, Okawa articulated Japanese design principles in her approach. “Our clients wanted to push the concept of ma, which means the appreciation of negative space,” she explains. “The room needed balance to make it peaceful and calm. Nothing could be too loud.”

Choppy windows and builder-grade finishes gave way to a sophisticated, finely crafted realm. Think mahogany millwork, honed-granite floors that extend seamlessly outdoors and a 16-foot-wide, floor-to-ceiling window framing a dramatic view of the lower garden. An up-lit cove ceiling gives the illusion of height while a drop-down screen is ready to roll.

“We selected comfortable furniture with nice forms—mostly by Christian Liaigre,” Okawa says. “And we kept it pretty monochromatic since we didn’t want to conflict with the colors of nature.” She points out that the room is wallpapered for warmth and texture. “We make spaces that are very simple,” she reasons, “but we are also keen to make them warm and soft.” Winchester, a Maryland builder that had previously completed several upgrades to the home, executed ZEN’s design.

The two firms recently collaborated on a main-level makeover. During covid, the owners tired of their cramped kitchen and its adjacent sitting area, where outdated windows didn’t do justice to the garden views. “We wanted to bring the outside in and modernize the kitchen with a Japanese aesthetic,” says the wife. “I wanted it to be functional, flexible and forward-looking.”

Okawa transformed the space with fresh, modern millwork in rift-sawn white oak. She expanded storage and cooking space and introduced a light, natural material palette. Larger windows near the sink and floor-to-ceiling glass in the family room shifted the focus outdoors. A curved, up-lit cove ceiling unifies the areas. “I know how hard it was to make that curve perfectly,” notes the designer. “But Winchester made it work.”

A built-in breakfast banquette and sculptural furnishings in autumnal hues promote lounging without blocking the scenery. “When I view the garden from the new space,” reflects the husband, a retired business executive, “it elevates my spirit and transports me. It’s so peaceful.”

Inspired by the work of Japanese artist Toko Shinoda, Okawa designed the family room’s free-form abstract carpet, which was fabricated by Stark. “I played with a curved shape and straight lines to mimic natural forms,” she reveals.

Wooden slats, echoing ones in the viewing room, detail a family room wall. “Repetition, a common element of Japanese design, creates texture and richness. But it must be precise,” says Okawa. “If the slats aren’t precisely repeated, it will be off-balance.”

Another Japanese principle came into play during a dialogue about flooring—namely, how to transition from the darker, existing oak of the foyer to the paler white oak installed in the redo. The wife brought up kintsugi—a Japanese practice that repairs broken pottery with lacquer or powdered gold. Okawa ran with the idea. She designed a motif, implemented by Winchester using epoxy and gold leaf, that celebrates the confluence of old and new.

Winchester’s Andrew Smith credits the project’s success to the team’s years of collaboration. “One of the things that’s been so enjoyable is the creative license our clients integrated into the process,” he contends. “It allowed for a lot of input and interaction.”

The owners are thrilled by how their property has evolved, indoors and out. “We’ve traveled a whole lot in our lives,” says the husband. “Now, we’re ensconced in what’s around us and the serenity of being here. We really don't want to leave.”

Renovation & Interior Design: Rina Okawa, LEED AP; Landscape Design: Shin Abe, ZEN Associates, Inc., Woburn, Massachusetts. Renovation Contractor: Andrew G. Smith, Winchester, Millersville, Maryland.

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT
Home Automation: pha.systems. Windows & Doors: tradewoodindustries.com. Drapery Upholstery & Fabrication: danieldonnelly.com.

VIEWING ROOM
Sofas & Sofa Fabric, Wooden Chairs & Wooden Chair Fabric, Wide Chair & Wide Chair Fabric, Coffee Table & Floor Lamp: studioliaigre.com. Wide Chair Seat Cushion Fabric: Great Plains for hollyhunt.com. Rug: fortstreetstudio.com. Wall Covering: Donghia for kravet.com. Millwork: miles-ent.com.

BREAKFAST AREA
Table: ethnicraft.com. Orange Chair: knoll.com. Banquette Upholstery Fabrication: danieldonnelly.com. Banquette Seat Cushion Fabric: glant.com. Banquette Back Cushion & Pillow Fabric: Great Plains for hollyhunt.com. Wallpaper: aestheticswall.com.

FAMILY ROOM
Custom Rug: starkcarpets.com. Custom Rug Design: zenassociates.com. Curved Settee & Settee Fabric: minotti.com. Pillow Fabric: Great Plains for hollyhunt.com. Swivel Chairs & Ottoman: hollyhunt.com. Swivel Chair Fabric: Great Plains for hollyhunt.com. Small Table: ethnicraft.com. Millwork around Fireplace: Miles Enterprise; 410-789-1212. Stone around Fireplace: instoneco.com. Wallpaper: aestheticswall.com.

KITCHEN
Cabinet Design: zenassociates.com. Cabinet Fabrication: Miles Enterprise; 410-789-1212. Countertop: Dekton for Cosentino.com. Stove: mieleusa.com. Ceiling Hood: faberonline.com. Sink Faucet: dornbracht.com. Refrigerator & Freezer: subzero-wolf.com. Wallpaper: aestheticswall.com. Backsplash on Window & Refrigerator Wall: inaxtile.com.

LIVING ROOM
Leather Chair: dakotajackson.com. Glass Table: eileengray.co.uk.

“It was always a fight,” explains Meryl, an attorney, who shares the house with her husband Joe, a geographer and small-business owner, their two youngsters and a chocolate Labrador.

Fortuitously, Meryl was sitting face-to-face with the solution: That fellow mom was architect Colleen Gove Healey, then a principal at McInturff Architects, who launched her own firm in 2019. The meet-up triggered a transformation of the dated, cedar-clad hideaway into a white-walled aerie with crisp, black-metal accents. Centered on an open kitchen, each room enjoys clear views of the landscape in the latest iteration, which is topped off with an owners’ suite on a new upper floor where oversized windows are level with the treetops.

“I wanted windows and as much light as possible, to become one with nature,” says Joe, leading a top-to-bottom tour. “Colleen created that for us.”

The overhaul married the architect’s industrial-modern instincts with the clients’ nature-driven values. Dubbed Corten Tree House, the dwelling is notable for its exterior of rust-red, weathered-steel panels and cedar shakes recycled from the original structure. Completed in 2021, the redesign added 1,000 square feet to what is now a six-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath dwelling. Angled, sky-lit ceilings peak at 15 feet and glazed openings bring the outdoors into the heart of the home.

“The original house had high ceilings with an interesting grid of cross beams, but the overall impression was heavy and dark,” Healey recalls. “We wanted it to be lighter and brighter.”

The “before” dwelling was hidden behind a freestanding garage on a steep, one-third-acre lot. The main floor was constructed at grade level, but the front door opened to a landing half a flight below. (Steps led down to secondary bedrooms on two lower levels built into the slope.) On the main floor, east-facing windows received morning light while clerestory openings on the west consigned rooms to shadows for most of the day. The galley-like kitchen was claustrophobic, a space by the stone fireplace was tight for a sofa and the sitting room was too small to host game-day gatherings.

Healey gave the house new presence. The garage was demolished and replaced by an attached one with finished space above. The front door was raised to the main level by floating a wood-plank walkway over the topography. The roofline was staggered and the front façade brightened by glass.

To free up the interior, non-structural walls were removed and doorways widened. The newly configured, L-shaped living/kitchen/dining area is anchored by a dramatic fireplace expanded and rebuilt with gray-toned fieldstone. The former living room is now a bar where sliding doors open to a deck, fire pit and play lawn in front. Light cascades from myriad openings, including a 15-foot expanse of pocket doors in the living room and a clear glazed kitchen backsplash overlooking the woods.

Working with Stuart Kitchens, Healey reoriented the kitchen from a U-shaped layout to a corner-L configuration, with pale gray, wood-veneer cabinetry. To avoid clutter, she designed a 14-by-six-foot walk-in pantry behind the range wall as a go-to spot for coffee, snacks and everyday china.

“The house is informal and welcoming,” says Healey. “It’s large, but has a modesty that’s airy and generous.”

Meryl and Joe engaged deeply in the process, and their involvement sparked other significant changes. The room above the garage had been conceived as an office until Meryl awoke to the realization that the stunning space deserved better use. They opted to devote it to the owners’ suite, making their original bedroom Joe’s office.

“It’s really important to have an open relationship with the architect,” Meryl reflects. “Any time a new idea came up, Colleen was excited. As she says, ‘Magic happens when you are fluid.’”

Standing in the dining space beneath a prized blown-glass light fixture, Joe expresses his delight: “The process was hard, but the result is awesome. We have a house we love.”

Renovation Architecture: Colleen Gove Healey, AIA, CARB, Colleen Healey Architecture, Washington, DC. Kitchen Design: Stuart Kitchens, Bethesda, Maryland. Renovation Contractor: Cabin John Builders Cabin John Maryland.

Drawing Board

Q&A with architect Colleen Healey

How crucial is lighting to a project?

Lighting has become part of our practice. We believe that light fixtures tell a story and lighting designers have realized that they can make an impact on a space. It can be challenging to figure out because each fixture is wired differently, and that information needs to be communicated to the electrician early in the process.

What is the right way to employ mirrors?

I like to take mirrors down to the floor or up to the ceiling. It costs a bit more but makes all the difference. Another area to use mirrors is outdoors, where a mirrored wall can visually enlarge a space or add dimension by reflecting a planting scheme.

Should you live at home during a renovation?

I encourage clients to move someplace comfortable because the process is long and tough on a family, marriage and kids.

This breathtaking vista greeted architect Mark McInturff when he first visited, hired by owners who’d fallen in love with the view from their three-bedroom dwelling but were unhappy with its builder-grade finishes. “You’re already halfway there; this is what it’s all about,” the architect told them. 

The retired couple—he was a franchisee and she owned an art gallery—share a strong modernist aesthetic. “Our vision was for a minimalist, elegant and personal space,” says the wife, who retained an extensive contemporary art collection. “I wanted to feel we were floating, with lots of light and airiness. My thought was to bring in color with the art but let the architecture shine on its own terms.”

McInturff and project architect David Mogensen enlisted a team that included designer Sophie Prévost and contractor Justin Barrows of Added Dimensions for the job. There were two mandates: Bring in a higher level of materials and detailing; and create display space for art. The wife “knew exactly where each piece was going,” McInturff notes. “Most people start with millwork and construction, but we worked everything around the art. It was a fun place to start.”

Since the bones of the building were good, major structural changes were deemed unnecessary. The architects homed in on a drywall partition separating the glass-walled, open-plan dining/living areas from the kitchen. They replaced the plain white expanse with a wall of finely detailed millwork and built-in shelves and cabinets that extends the length of the room. Composed of white oak and blackened steel, the structure serves dual purposes: Shelves on the living/dining side create display and storage space while appliances and cupboards are integrated on the kitchen side. A pocket door connecting the dining area and kitchen was replaced with a white oak and blackened-steel version.

McInturff and Mogensen ultimately extended the built-ins even farther, wrapping them around the corner and into the foyer, where a pocket door of blackened steel keeps the kitchen separate—though round perforations in the door allow a whimsical glimpse inside. More millwork and a low-slung white oak shelf line a gallery wall in the living room showcasing large canvases against a blackened-steel backdrop. And white oak and blackened steel also crop up in the guest room and home office as built-in desks and shelving. “We actually were furniture designers on this project as well,” McInturff observes.

Hiding a boring soffit on the living/dining area’s concrete ceiling led to what he and Mogensen call “clouds”—dropped ceiling sections that gently follow the room’s curved lines and delineate furniture groupings. “The clouds allowed us to install recessed and cove lighting and add other fixtures where we wanted them,” Mogensen explains, noting the wife’s request for adjustable art lighting. 

Before beginning the interior design phase, Prévost visited the owners at their previous stand-alone home in DC. “They wanted the new space to be elegant and serene but a little playful with color,” she recounts. “I spent time looking at their artwork for ideas. I chose classic, modern furniture—not too much ego, just simple, clean shapes.” Low-profile pieces in neutral fabrics let both art and views take center stage—with the notable exception of a sculptural Poltrona Frau chair in the living area that pops in bold orange.

Working closely with the architects, Prévost also suggested enhancements such as the pivot door leading into the primary suite. In an inspired stroke, she sourced a woven-metal screen by French artisan Sophie Mallebranche in Paris. Framed in blackened steel, it slides over the television and doubles as mixed-media art with its undulating, dimensional surface. 

Later in the process, designer Susan Vallon, who’d previously worked with the owners, contributed by pulling together carpets, draperies, paint and some furniture to realize the project’s final outcome. “They are a warm and loving couple,” she says. “I wanted their surroundings to reflect some of the coziness of their relationship.” 

Just when the home was move-in-ready, a leak from the unoccupied unit above flooded the dwelling, destroying the floors and existing kitchen. Nine months later, the patient couple finally moved into their revamped home—now equipped with a new kitchen where Poggenpohl custom cabinetry is seamlessly integrated with McInturff’s white oak and blackened-steel cabinets. “The flood turned out to be fortuitous,” the wife confirms. “We were able to reimagine the kitchen as a much sleeker and more efficient space that continues the same feel as the other spaces—minimalist but welcoming.” 

Now happily ensconced, she and her husband are thrilled with their new digs. She enthuses, “I pinch myself every day as I settle into a favorite spot in the apartment and look out on our corner of the sky in Bethesda."