Home & Design

Garden of the Spirits


Anthony and Elizabeth Wilder.

There’s a special presence in the garden of architect Anthony Wilder that gives it an almost magical quality. He and his wife acquired the property about five years ago from the estate of an elderly woman who had devoted her life to the garden for 50 years. The work she put into it is evident everywhere. The three-tiered back yard is filled with old roses and azaleas, boxwood and quinces and magnificent, stately old trees: a huge willow oak, an enormous deodar cedar and a perfectly shaped Japanese katsura tree.

From the front, the house looks like a traditional Washington-area center-hall colonial. But Wilder’s subtle design details are very noticeable upon closer inspection.

The inviting flagstone front walk curves gently up to the portico, where small seats on each side of the porch—designed and constructed by Wilder—offer visitors a place to rest and enjoy the view. Japanese river stones edge the front beds. An aerial hedge of European hornbeams lines one side of the front drive, and a stepped-up stone edge leads the eye to the gate and the back yard.

When you open the front door the center-hall tradition comes to an end. “We basically broke out the whole back,” said Wilder. He removed walls and doors, repositioned part of the front staircase and built an addition on the back of the house with large glass panels stretching from one side to the other. When you walk into the house, you can see straight back into the garden.

According to Wilder, the azaleas lend a Japanese air to the garden, and his intention is to reinforce the Asian feel. As you step out the back door, there are insets of polished black Japanese river stones on either side of the brick stoop, up near the house. Columns supporting the narrow overhang match similar ones inside. The flagstones on the patio are set on the diagonal, giving the impression of a much larger space. A hot tub has been installed at the edge of the patio, surrounded by evergreens for screening. Large, irregular stepping stones with more black river stones in between them lead to the gate at the side of the house.

The serene lawn stretches to an old stone stairway, with a rose-covered arbor at the top that takes you up to the second level. Wilder has put in a row of leyland cypress along one side to enclose this garden. On the other side, he built a low stone wall to define the area. There’s a slight upward incline to the lawn at this level, ascending on up to another rose-covered arbor, which is the entry to the third garden “room.”

 

“This is just the most incredible piece of property,” says Wilder. “There’s just something magical about it, and you feel the essence of why she [the former owner] chose it.” Wilder has new plans for the garden, but he doesn’t want to change the spirit of what is already there.

He’s planning to transform the third level of the back yard into a Japanese-inspired “meditation room” enclosed by tall bamboo. He envisions a Japanese-style structure with a glass front, a lily pond with koi and a flagstone patio. The Japanese katsura tree that’s in the corner, an almost perfect specimen, will be left undisturbed.

Wilder is also going to take advantage of the water that runs through the property 30 inches or so underground. Water from the natural underground source will be tapped and pumped from bottom to top, creating a creek that will spill water over a series of stone steps cascading down one side of the garden to the patio below. The existing arbors will be widened and seats will be built into each to take advantage of the views from every level. On one side of the house, he’s going to allow the bamboo from the neighbor’s yard to come across onto his property, enclosing the narrow side yard where he’s planted tree peonies along with hostas, ferns and other shade-loving perennials.

Finally, Wilder is determined to observe, as far as he can, the wishes of the former owner. “Her spirit still roams the property,” he said, “and I’ve heard so much about her as a person, I’ve just got a certain resonance with her.” He’s sure she’d be happy if he “doesn’t disturb things” too much. He said it’s almost as if she said to him, “This is for you, and I know you’ll take care of it.”

Jane Berger is a Washington, DC, landscape designer and publisher of www.gardendesignonline.com. Photographer Lydia Cutter is based in Arlington, Virginia.


Wilder designed an addition to their Bethesda colonial with walls of
windows to maximize the views.

The couple spends as much time as possible in their lush, three-
tiered garden.

Clean lines and an Asian aesthetic set the tone in the Wilder's new
combined kitchen and living space.

The serene lawn stretches to an old stone stairway, with a rose-
covered arbor at the top that takes you up to the next level.

 

 
A Worldly Collection


The home was built in a European country style from natural
materials such as stucco, mahogany and limestone.

Inveterate world travelers—they’ve been on every continent during their long marriage—this couple first began collecting art to commemorate their travels 35 years ago. “In the beginning, we were traveling mostly for pleasure, buying small things,” recalls the wife. “We started seeking out one special piece of art we liked on each trip, and sometimes there was something to buy, sometimes there wasn’t.”

Today their extensive collection, a thoughtful melding of East and West that features pieces in every medium ranging from a Rembrandt etching to Steuben and Lalique glass to a towering New Guinea war spirit mask, enjoys a museum-quality showcase in their new Potomac home designed by Jim Rill of Rill & Decker Architects and built by Adam Prill of the Prill Construction Group.

“We wanted this house to be less formal and square than our former Tudor-style home, and we wanted single-floor living instead of a two-story home,” explains the husband, a retired executive. “Our goal was to highlight the art we love in spaces we would really use, and to enjoy a connection to the outdoors.”

Responding to his clients’ desire for a more relaxed lifestyle, Rill developed plans for a low-lying house with a European country style expressed in the natural materials of stucco, mahogany and limestone and in colors that would further tie the house to the landscape and showcase the art. “The challenge,” says Rill, “was to avoid the rest of the program—areas for exercise, guest rooms, a playroom for the grandchildren—encroaching on these main rooms, so we would be able to effectively highlight the art.”

The scale and massing of the house is broken into three volumes; variations in the roof elements avoid symmetry. An expansive foyer runs through the house, connecting the interior with its gardens and wooded setting. Rill carried materials used on the exterior inside to further reinforce this link. The limestone found on the entrance portico floor and around the infinity-edge pool are echoed in the polished limestone floor of the foyer and the custom limestone mantel in the great room. And the mahogany of the supporting beams, shutters and front door  carry through in the mahogany floors throughout the house.

“Rill was wonderful to work with,” says the wife. “We knew what we wanted and he accommodated those needs. This was the third house we had built. Our familiarity with the building process made us challenging clients.”

The project was a collaborative effort among architect, builder and their experienced clients. During the design phase, the couple cataloged every piece of furniture and art in their collection with photographs and dimensions and pored over drawings with Rill and Prill to make sure every item would have a place in their new residence. “It’s unusual for us to receive so much detailed information about where things were going to go. The clients really did understand the process, how to visualize, how to look at drawings, how to think about inches,” recalls Rill. “They would red-line sets of drawings with specific information. They knew which lights they wanted, where the art would go and the colors they would use to pull everything together.”

Adam Prill brought extensive experience and engineering skills to the table; he was the project manager for the construction of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Under Prill’s direction, the clients spent a great deal of time looking at new and innovative building materials. He also brought in a lighting consultant whose system of strategically placed spotlights creates focal points for art throughout the house.

This level of planning and attention to detail required hard work and a tremendous amount of coordination that all paid off in the end, says the husband. “It took extensive coordination by the contractor to frame the house so that it would accommodate the lighting system. Normally when you build a house, you don’t worry about that. But there was no question about where we were going to hang things when we moved in. The house is a result of good design and hard work by the builder to get it done correctly and with a high level of quality,” he says.

The foyer sets the tone for the couple’s eclectic global art collection and its artful display. To left of the entrance hangs a painted antique Chinese door inlaid with ivory and mother of pearl and a watercolor by Chinese artist Z. L. Feng; to the right a pair of porcelains discovered in Hong Kong depict spring and summer. Opposite an 18th-century Chinese antique elmwood altar table are two antique ladies’ chairs, which at first glance appear to be a pair, displayed with a Chinese water bucket that rests on its carved stand. White Bearded Storyteller, a diptych by Ji Cheng, a former professor of art at Beijing University, hangs behind this grouping.

Rooms open to either side of the foyer: The wife’s study and the master suite are to the left; the dining room and great room begin the living area on the right. The master bedroom suite is on center with the great room. Double pocket doors provide seclusion as needed. A dramatic carved and gilded headboard from a Chinese opium bed holds a floor-to-ceiling mirror, commanding and calling out the uniquely positioned master bedroom. Elsewhere a 19th-century dresser, an 18th-century French tapestry and English needlepoint pieces further accentuate the room’s unique character. The master bath in Emperador marble features an open shower with a sloped floor; the tub fills from a concealed faucet in the ceiling.

The wife was deeply involved in the design of the kitchen and the bathrooms. She determined the layout with pieces and unique features that she put together, while Rill developed drawings for her to critique. In the kitchen, an oversized lapidus granite island accommodates casual dining for family and guests. Custom-designed mantel pieces accent the cooktop. A drainboard was grooved directly into the granite countertop.

The great room extends into the outdoors. With banks of windows to the left and back of the room opening respectively onto the pergola-covered terrace and the woods and infinity-edge pool, as well as clerestory windows, there is plenty of natural light throughout the day and the seasons. In this expansive living area, an Asian-inspired chest holds a collection of liqueur glasses—small finds like an antique Baccarat piece discovered for ten dollars keeps company with a Chinese porcelain statue whose large striding stance makes it rare. A large-scale still life by Johen Labriola, Two Red Anthuriums, defines the mantel area. Nearby, above the 19th-century French country sideboard, hangs a beautiful contemporary painting by Douglas Hoffman. A soaring seven-faced New Guinea war spirit mask dominates the opposite side of the fireplace.

The crown molding in the great room was stained to capture the tonalities of mahogany. The trim accentuates the beamed and vaulted 14-foot ceiling, providing visual continuity while making the ceiling appear more domed to accentuate the couple’s art. “It was an extremely difficult challenge to have all of that crown molding aligned—it’s a real tribute to Adam Prill’s abilities as a builder,” says Jim Rill.

Custom cabinets in the wife’s office and the glass built-ins at the entrance to the dining room house collections of small art pieces, antique porcelains and glass. In the dining room the vignette includes a Shirley Thompson Smith sculpture, Tewa Hopi Potter with Frog Woman Bowl, an expressive bronze statue discovered in Santa Fe, which sits in front of a painting by Italian painter Elvio Minardi. The marble dining table, which seats 14, is accented by pieces of Venetian glass in a persimmon glaze found in London.

“We never thought about what something was worth, or listened to someone else’s projection of the future value of a piece,” says the husband. “We bought things that resonated with us, things with which we’d like to share our lives. That’s what makes for good collecting.”

Judith Bell is an art historian, features and fiction writer based in Washington, DC. Photographer Timothy Bell has studios in New York and Washington, DC.


The home welcomes guests into an entrance foyer that displays a
large painting and a pair of Chinese chairs.

 


The marble table in the dining room is accented by pieces of
Venetian glass in a persimmon glaze found in London.


Abundant natural light streams into the great room.

An array of masks discovered in Papua New Guinea.

An 18th-century Chinese antique elmwood alter table.

A painting by Douglas Hoffman entitled Port de Bras.

A Balinese goddess of fertility carved from a single piece of
hibiscus root.

The foyer opens onto a pergola-covered terrace.

Abundant seating areas overlook the infinity-edge pool.

 
Serene Sanctuary

The original home was overhauled and clad in new colors and materials that blend into the surrounding woods.

The four-story house with walls of glass perches on a slope leading down to lush woods and a stream. At first glance, the setting suggests you’re somewhere in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains or the Shenandoah. But if you check your bearings, you’d discover that Arlington’s Spout Run snakes around the opposite side of the woods, and the stream is a tributary to the nearby Potomac River. The property is virtually across a bridge from Washington, DC.

When Andrew and Margaret Davis decided to relocate to DC from their lakefront home in Evanston, Illinois, they were taken by the property’s enviable position and natural setting. But the house itself—a post-and-beam contemporary built in the 1970s—suffered from decades of wear and tear: The previous owners had raised seven children in the original property.

The Davises, who have two daughters, recognized a diamond in the rough and bought the house with the intention of remodeling and furnishing it in a mere seven months, just in time for their planned move. On a recommendation from their real estate agent, the couple met with architect Thomas Flach of Kohler Homes and asked him to take on the challenge. While reviewing Flach’s portfolio, they also discovered the work of interior designer Michael Roberson, who at the time was collaborating with Flach on a project. They hired her to furnish the home in the same time frame.

“We needed a sanctuary in our lives to decompress,” explains Margaret Davis. “We enjoy being close to an urban environment. The view was number one on our list. We realized what it could do to keep us relaxed in an information-overloaded world. So we asked Tom and Michael to find the ‘language’ in this house and make it work.”

Flach set to work on a plan that would upgrade the home’s exterior and interior surfaces, overhaul its kitchen and baths, create a spacious master-bedroom suite and improve flow on the main entry level of the house. Meanwhile, Roberson flew to Evanston to survey and photograph her clients’ existing collection of art, furniture and Oriental rugs.

“The goal was to transform this worn-out house with lower-end finishes and fixtures into a state-of-the-art piece of modern design with full security, whole-house audio and cat5 networking,” says Flach.

Upon entering the original house, views of the woods were blocked and the foyer was cramped by a large bulky staircase. Flach relocated a new custom-designed maple and mahogany stair to the end wall of the great room, opening up the view and creating a more spacious foyer. “The stair became a design opportunity,” explains Flach. “It serves as a sculptural element on what was a blank wall at the end of the great room.” He also added a new floor-to-ceiling window at the bottom of the stair that reveals views of the creek below.

Flach and Roberson proposed a material palette that would reflect and amplify the home’s natural surroundings. They chose African slate floors in the foyer and kitchen. In the great room and dining room, wall-to-wall carpet was replaced with environmentally friendly bamboo. The designers retained the original wood-and-beam ceiling in these rooms—but applied a darker stain.

“The house is about the woods. That’s why you have the beams in here,” says Roberson. “But the beams had been painted a really unfortunate redwood picnic table color. We managed to stain them the way they should look.”

All interior doors and trim were removed and replaced with natural maple doors and minimalist mahogany base boards and casing. Flach also redesigned a new railing on the upper-level balcony, employing the same contrast of light maple with mahogany. This top floor is home to a guest bedroom suite and Margaret Davis’s office.

The design team worked at breakneck speed to meet their clients’ move-in date. “The entire project had to be designed, permitted and built in six months. Some long lead items had to be ordered before the architectural drawings were even completed,” recalls Flach. “At a certain point in the project, the painters lived in the house and took breaks only to eat and sleep in sleeping bags on the floor.”

Roberson and the Davises decided to adhere to a subdued, natural color scheme that wouldn’t compete with the panoply of scenery outdoors. In the great room, the brick fireplace was parged and painted a putty color so it became a simple architectural element. Complementary fabrics on the modern sofas and chairs echo the shade. Grass cloth wall covering softens the two-story room’s acoustics and adds subtle texture and color.

Roberson settled on a clean, pared-down look that would emphasize her clients’ collection of art and rugs. Oriental rugs in the great room once graced Margaret Davis’s childhood home; they were part of her mother’s collection. A lithograph that the couple purchased in Holland makes a bold color statement above the fireplace. It is the work of Belgian artist Corneille, one of the founders of the CoBrA art movement in Paris in 1948. Completely by coincidence, Margaret Davis recently discovered that the artist who painted one of her mother’s paintings, Karel Appel, was also a founder of the CoBrA movement and a close associate of Corneille’s. Appel’s painting hung in her mother’s living room and presided over the very same Oriental rugs. “My mother is not alive any longer,” she says, “but she’s with us here.”

“The goal was to transform this worn-out house with lower-end finishes and fixtures into a state-of-the-art piece of modern design,” says architect Thomas Flach.

The Davises travel frequently and seek out indigenous art wherever they go. “We have a deep interest in native art and crafts. When we travel, we want to buy pieces that are high-quality native art, including rugs, paintings and sculpture like wood and soapstone carvings,” says Margaret Davis.

The Davises, who host frequent dinner parties, report that guests love to linger in their newly appointed home. Andrew Davis is the president and executive director of the American Press Institute and is also a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Margaret Davis works with non-profits in the fields of art, religion and education. When they entertain, whether it’s a social gathering, a work-related event or a bit of both, “People walk in and they start relaxing,” says Margaret Davis. “They don’t want to leave. I always think that’s a test if people are comfortable or not.”

Roberson created a sense of intimacy in the two-story dining room by hanging lights with white lamp shades just a few feet over the dining table—a solution she has applied to a number of dining rooms. “I love lights like this,” she says. “They create this beautiful, romantic kind of ambiance. And they put a glow on the table—better to get it on the table and not on the people.”

During the renovation, the existing kitchen with its outdated cabinets and appliances and fluorescent lighting was entirely gutted. Judy Bracht from Stuart Kitchens worked with Flach and Roberson to create a modern new space with stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops and generous cabinetry. A sitting room and dining table in the kitchen survey the natural scenery behind the home and provide the perfect spot to linger over morning coffee.

The master bedroom is located one level below the main entry and public spaces. During the design stage, Flach and his clients decided to incorporate an existing library and small bedroom into a significantly larger master suite. The epitome of serenity with an Asian flare, the master bedroom is swathed in muted colors. A wall of windows lets in the views; a sliding shoji screen can shutter the windows for privacy. The adjoining master bath, also designed by Judy Bracht from Stuart Kitchens, ties into the nature theme with its use of river rock tile, dark wood and a limestone surround on the oversize tub. A spacious dressing room and sitting area round out the bedroom suite.

One of the Davis daughters has a bedroom on the same level, though she is now in a public-service program in DC and lives on her own. Her sister, who’s still in high school, enjoys a bedroom on the bottom floor, which is also home to Drew Davis’s study, a mini-kitchen, a big-screen TV, a pool table and foosball. In short, it’s the perfect hangout for guests of all ages. The main room opens up to the back deck and its terraces and pathways leading into the woods and down to the creek.

Originally painted battleship gray with white trim and a brown asphalt roof, the exterior of the home also underwent a transformation. Flach and Roberson had all of the siding stained a uniform shade of green and added copper gutters and a cedar-shake roof. “Now it just nestles in the woods, whereas before, it really stood out,” Flach says.

Roberson enjoyed working with the Davises because their personal treasure trove of art and craft brought meaning to the process; the pieces project who her clients are. Says Roberson, “It’s nice to work with people’s collections and know that when you walk out of the house, it’s their house and it looks like their house.”

The homeowners, meanwhile, are delighted with the way their new home complements and showcases their art. “Because they are native pieces and very much influenced by nature, it’s perfect for them to be in this home where nature is part of the architecture,” says Margaret Davis. “It’s a wonderful symbiotic relationship.”

Photographer Gwin Hunt is based in Annapolis.

Architecture: Thomas Flach, AIA, Vice President, Kohler Homes, Burke, Virginia Renovation Contractor: Thomas Flach, AIA, Vice President, and David Pierce, Project Manager, Kohler Homes, Burke, Virginia Interior Design: Michael Roberson, ASID, Michael Roberson Interior Design, Arlington, Virginia. Technology: Stewart Rankin, Silver Screen & Sound, Towson, MD.

Architect Tom Flach's design replaced the original stairway that crowded the entrance and blocked the views with a sculptural new stairway.

On display in the great room are a totem pole carve by Francis Horne, Jr, and two nature-inspired prints given to Andrew Davis while he was on command in Korea.

 

The original brick fireplace was parged and painted a putty color. Grass cloth wall covering, bamboo floors and natural maple and mahogany-stained trim let the natural surroundings and art take center stage.

RESOURCES

ENTRY

Chinese Chest: East & Beyond, McLean, VA. Lamp: Holtkötter. Photograph: Michael Johnson, Mt. Carroll, IL.

LIVING ROOM

Antique Chinese Chest: Marco Polo, Kensington, MD. Sofas: Tokay Blue through Hines, Washington, DC. Sofa Fabric: Pollack through Donghia, Washington, DC. Chair: Dunbar Furniture. Armless Sofa: Donghia, Washington, DC. Coffee Table: Florence Knoll Collection, Knoll, Washington, DC. Lighting: Tech Lighting Monorail System. Rug: Clients’ Collection. Wall Covering: Maya Romanoff Woven Straw, through Donghia, Washington, DC.

DINING ROOM

Custom Lighting: Michael Roberson. Chair Fabric: Pollack through Donghia, Washington, DC.

POWDER ROOM

Vanity: Antique Indonesian Table, Marco Polo, Kensington, MD. Vessel Sink: “Iron Bell” by Kohler. Mirror: Antique. Sconces: Nessen. Wall Covering: Maya Romanoff Woven Straw, through Donghia, Washington, DC.

MASTER BEDROOM

Lamp: Holtkötter. Bedside Chest: East & Beyond, McLean, VA.

MASTER BATH

Bath Design: Judy Bracht, Stuart Kitchens, McLean, VA. Stone & Tile: Renaissance Tile, Alexandria, VA.

 

Michael Roberson designed hanging lights in the dining room that cast a romantic glow on the table.

In the powder room, Roberson converted an antique Indonesian table into a vanity.

A sliding shoji screen creates an Asian feel in the tranquil master bedroom suite.

The master bathroom also incorporates elements of nature from its limestone tile and dark wood to the silver gelatin print by Michael Johnson.

 

Applause

Finnegan Henderson law firm by Davis Carter Scott architects. Photo by Jim Tetro.

Washington, DC-based architecture and interior architecture firm Davis Carter Scott recently completed a 250,000-square-foot office for law firm Finnegan Henderson—a highlight of which is this grand, seven-story glass-encased spiral staircase. Designers were challenged to create a functional, interconnecting stair that would aesthetically blend with each floor and pass DC building codes. The end result, as shown in this photograph, is sheer magic. Last May, Davis Carter Scott received a 2006 Award of Excellence from the Maryland/DC chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties for its stunning, whole-office design.—Sharon Jaffe Dan

 

Evan Farmer

It's not far from Baltimore to Silver Spring, Maryland, home of Discovery Communications. For Towson native Evan Farmer, however, it was a rather more complicated route to hosting TLC's "While You Were Out." After nearly two years on the show, this young builder, musician and entertainer has found himself at home—even if he doesn't seem to stay put for long.

As affable and open as he seems on television, Farmer lounges in the living room of his childhood home in work boots and blue jeans. It is an intense passion for creativity and love for his work that drives the conversation, as he talks about the path that lead him to his current role in the home improvement industry.

Growing up just north of Baltimore, Farmer was an outdoors person who wasn't particularly interested in school, which to him meant sitting through lectures and learning by rote. At Towson High School, an architecture and engineering instructor changed that, and Farmer "fell in love with architecture, with creating stuff with my hands. For that to be considered an academic pursuit was something I could relate to." Further inspired by a summer course offered by the University of Maryland, he went on to Tulane University in New Orleans, where he studied architecture.

In addition to architecture, Farmer pursued other creative outlets at Tulane. He had played the guitar and written songs since childhood; in college he began playing with a band. He also began doing commercials to make money, and experimented a bit with theatre. During an internship at a Baltimore architecture firm, he was turned off by what he perceived as business limitations to creativity in the profession, and began to gravitate toward work in television and film.

"If I knew at the time that 10 years later there would be this huge home improvement boom where you could be creative as an entertainer and be true to yourself as a designer or hands-on person, I would have gone straight in that direction, but it wasn't in existence back then. So I made the choice and went the entertainment route," he says.

He discovered, however, that Hollywood didn't hold enough meaning for him. After several experiences in film and television, he was still looking for a place where he could work with people "who shared the same common passions and goals that I did." And for Farmer, these were tradespeople. Dropping out of the entertainment scene, he and architect Tom Granthem began work in New Orleans, buying homes in disrepair and renovating them to rent out and eventually sell.

Targeting low-income areas, their goal is to spark urban renewal and create quality, affordable housing in un-subsidized areas. Eventually they plan to expand into other communities outside of New Orleans. Started as a hobby, the company was officially incorporated as Renovolution last year, and so far has a portfolio of eight single-family homes.

In 2003, Farmer was focusing on Renovolution and about to start touring with his band when "While You Were Out" came along. With his other obligations, Farmer was hesitant to audition, but once he met the cast and producers, "I didn't blink before saying yes."

On the show he has found the passionate, creative people for which he had been searching. "I get inspired by them," says Farmer, who also loves the opportunity to be hands-on. With his background in both architecture and entertainment, he was a perfect choice for the show, and for him, it is "probably the best match that I've found so far."

It's been rewarding to Farmer to put his entertainment—and more recently, design—skills to use. On a recent episode of the show, he switched roles with one of the designers and tackled a room for a father of two young sons. Calling on the boys' love of cars and memories of time spent working in the basement with his own dad, the finished "Pit Stop" design includes a pitching pit, a Velcro dartboard and a functional go-cart, designed by Farmer and carpenter Jason Cameron.

Despite the busy schedule of the show, this entertainer isn't sitting still between takes. Renovolution is going strong, and Farmer also keeps his musical career active. Between filming episodes for the third season, he's been in the studio finishing an album, and is looking into getting a tour bus for his band. "I get to do it all at the same time, and I'm having a ball," he says. "I have everything right now at my fingertips that I've worked a long time sowing the seeds for. Even though I had no idea that something like 'While You Were Out' would come along, my life was sort of leading up to that anyway."

One of the other irons in the fire is the renovation of his New York apartment. Given the size of the space—a mere 286 square feet—every inch is at a premium. Farmer's goal is to not only make it look and feel bigger, but to make it more utilitarian. Stairs that lead up to a loft are open on the side for drawers, storage shelves and a nook for shoes. "I actually had to stop and think, 'How do I function every day?' I designed around those little habits that you become accustomed to, that are very natural," he says.

While function comes first, creativity is still very much in residence. Farmer hopes to create the feeling of being on vacation in his apartment in the middle of the city. He has included details such as tongue-and-groove joinery and five-foot wainscoting often found in seaside homes. Atop

 

A Balancing Act


Two 19th-century Biedermeier chairs, 1940s French
plaster sconces and a bronze chandelier found
in Argentina set an elegant tone in the entry gallery.

A year and a half after Ann Roddy and Jill Johnson moved into their new foursquare house in DC’s Palisades neighborhood, they hit the design equivalent of a brick wall. The paint colors they’d chosen were at war. The dining room chairs they’d ordered from a high-end catalog were too large. And the furnishings they’d salvaged from their previous home were too modern for the couple’s traditional new environment.

“This is something we’ve done by ourselves for a long time, but with the scale of this house, we didn’t know what to do,” recalls Roddy, a former teacher who now stays home with the couple’s three young children. “We had a fair amount of modern stuff in the old house and we didn’t know how to integrate it with our more traditional pieces.”

Their frustration level peaked in October 2006 as they anticipated Thanksgiving in a dining room that remained, in their eyes, undone. “It was starting to feel depressing being here because it didn’t look like we lived here,” recalls Roddy. “It didn’t have any of our personality.”

As luck would have it, the couple met interior designer Nestor Santa-Cruz, who was decorating their former home in Mount Pleasant for the new owners. Roddy and Johnson liked what they saw, and hired him on the spot. Known for his modern commercial work and residential interiors at DC-based SKB Architecture and Design, where he is a partner, Santa-Cruz collaborated on this project with Lisa Lambert, a mutual friend of his and the homeowners.

He and Lambert started by taking stock of the home’s interiors. The couple had purchased custom draperies and new furniture that they hoped to mix with modern pieces from their previous home. “We had already bought things that we loved beyond their material value,” says Johnson, the executive director of a Washington, DC, nonprofit organization. “Nestor came in and he listened really well about how hard it would be to hand it over to somebody else.”

When deciding what would stay and what would go, Santa-Cruz realized that most of the home’s rough spots could be ironed out by changes in placement, proportion and color selection. A master at combining different styles, he set out to acquire the necessary furnishings and objects that would tie many seemingly disparate elements into a stylish and cohesive whole. “We wove in another layer of detailing,” he says. With a few fixes here and there, he and Lambert would be able to utilize nearly all of the couple’s furniture and artwork.

Johnson and Roddy are avid collectors of figurative and abstract art. Their collection would become an important element in the overall design. “An art collection is one of those areas where the personalities of the owners come across. Jill and Ann have a sense of tradition and a sense of abstraction and liberal minds and it all comes across in an understated way,” Santa-Cruz says. “I gathered all the pieces in one room and I started moving the art, mentally grouping it. I look at scale. It’s almost like a game, figuring out, ‘Where does this image go?’”

He knew instantly that the self-portrait by Cape Cod artist Leslie Packard belonged in the living room above the couple’s new sofa (which he planned to nip, tuck and reupholster). A pair of Florentine gilded screens cast an elegant sheen in the space. An Italian chandelier that Santa-Cruz purchased in Buenos Aires completed the room’s traditional feel.

Once the living room was finished, it set the tone for the rest of the house. “I have a love for doing living rooms and establishing a sense of what a house should be,” explains Santa-Cruz. “Jill is from Texas, Ann is from Atlanta…and I’m from the deeper South [born in Cuba and raised in Central and South America]. In this house, they wanted a combination of a Southern classical touch and a modern sensibility.”

Santa-Cruz deftly achieved this aesthetic by maintaining a minimal, uncluttered canvas and a precise sense of scale. The dining room is a perfect example. Santa-Cruz preserved the couple’s blue walls and silk drapery, the Murano-glass chandelier and the Regency-style sideboard and dining table, but the massive chairs they had purchased from a catalog had to go. In their place, Santa-Cruz selected smaller Directoire-style chairs in a white ivory wash, upholstered in brown cotton velvet, that better fit the proportions of the room. But the pièce de résistance was the rug that he found at Timothy Paul: a modern interpretation in blue of Indian and Asian motifs. A pair of transparent Philippe Starck Ghost chairs plays off the chandelier and brings a playful, modern element to the space. “When he brought in that rug,” recalls Johnson, “I knew Nestor was our guy. He got it right away.” Much to the homeowners’ delight, the dining room was ready in time for Thanksgiving.


A gilded Florentine screen in the living room provides the perfect foil for an oil painting by Cape Cod artist Leslie Packard.

A proponent of mixing “high and low,” Santa-Cruz showcased the practice in the study, where a shaggy Flokati rug from IKEA provides a child-friendly play spot in front of a vintage Chinese-style ebonized desk. Elsewhere in the house, a mirror from Crate & Barrel and candlesticks from the sale bin at Anthropologie mingle with priceless antiques. “Nestor has convinced me to buy a pair of lamps that cost $6,000, but I know we are going to make that up somewhere else,” says Roddy.

A sense of fun prevails in the family room. Dubbed “country modern” by Johnson and Roddy, the space incorporates classic modern pieces, from an Arne Jacobsen egg chair to a Noguchi side table.

In the breakfast room, the couple utilized other mid-century-modern pieces that had been relegated to storage after they moved into the new house: a Heywood Wakefield table and chairs. “Nestor didn’t come in and say, ‘Buy this, this and this,’” Roddy recalls. “Instead, he said, ‘Why not use it as a kitchen table?’ He brought us back to our personality. The house now reflects our taste in furniture and in art.”

The latest project Santa-Cruz and Lambert are tackling is the porch, located off the family room. A Mexican jute rug, gauzy white drapes and a ceiling painted Hermès orange will boast a comfortable indoor/outdoor vibe.

Santa-Cruz and Lambert were able to create a successful dialog with their clients that ultimately helped them achieve a look that makes Roddy, Johnson and their kids feel at home. “There was a real care to the placement of art, the styling. It looks like we’ve been collecting this stuff for 40 years, but that’s not the case,” says Roddy.

By mixing different styles, periods and provenances, Santa-Cruz and Lambert seamlessly achieved a look that reflects their clients’ design sensibilities. “How do you have that right scale, placement, balance of color and texture?” Santa-Cruz asks. “I’m a true believer that anything goes with anything. It’s a question of how you make it sophisticated. If you can find that common language, it works.”

 

Photographer Erik Johnson is based in Washington, DC.

Interior Design: Nestor Santa-Cruz, IIDA, SKB Architecture and Design, Washington, DC, and Lisa Lambert, Washington, DC

RESOURCES

ENTRY HALL 19th Century Biedermeier Chairs: Tone on Tone, Bethesda, MD. Upholstery Fabric: Gretchen Bellinger through J. Lambeth, Washington, DC. Rug: Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles, Washington, DC. 1940s French Plaster Sconces: Gore Dean


The living room laid the groundwork for the rest of the house, blending Southern classicism with a modern sensibility. Nestor Santa-Cruz discovered the Venetian chandelier in a Buenos Aires antique shop.

Antiques, Washington, DC. 1940s Bronze German Chandelier: Flavio Serrati Antiques, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

LIVING ROOM Sofa: Custom Design by Nestor Santa-Cruz. Sofa Fabric: Manuel Canovas, Paris. Accent Pillows on Sofa: Larsen. Sofa Upholstery & Pillow Fabrication: Pilchard Designs. Coffee Table, Bagues Floor Lamps: Tommy Parzinger. Candlesticks,18th-Century French Directoire Chair & Antique Boxes on Coffee Tables: Gore Dean Antiques. Florentine Gilded Screens: Good Wood, Washington, DC. Crystal Chandelier: Through Flavio Serrati Antiques. Lounge Chair Fabric: Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles. Upholstery: Pilchard Designs. Gilded Italian 1950s Vase on Mantel: Millennium, Washington, DC. Pillows on Side Chairs & Lavender Glass Vase on Coffee Table: Baker, Washington, DC. Bronze Side Table: Jacques Garcia for Baker. Vintage Saint Louis Crystal Vase & Vintage Orrefors Purple Glass Bowl on Side Table: Good Wood.

DINING ROOM Table, Side Board, Chandelier & Gilded Mirror: Owners’ Collection. Rug: Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles. Mirrored Obelisk: Baker. Blue Austrian Glass Vases: Good Wood. Blue Opaline Glass Candlesticks: Sixteen Fifty-Nine Mid-Century Antiques, Washington, DC. China, Silverware, Glass Goblets & Linens by Hermès, Bernardaud, Christofle: Nieman Marcus. 1940s Venetian Glass Floor Lamp: Good Wood. 1940s Louis XVI-Style Chairs: Gore Dean Antiques. Upholstery Fabric: Gretchen Bellinger. Upholstery: Pilchard Designs. Acrylic “Ghost” Chairs by Philippe Starck: Design Within Reach, Washington, DC.

STUDY Ebonized Chairs with Original Upholstery: Tommy Parzinger, Cherry Antiques, Washington, DC. Chinese-Style 1960s Ebonized Desk: Sixteen Fifty-Nine Mid-Century Antiques. Art Deco Table: Owners’ Collection. Industrialist Copper Desk Lamps: Moss & Company, Washington, DC. Vintage Painting on Desk & 1970s Yellow Ceramic Table Lamp: Good Wood. Flokati Rug: IKEA.

FAMILY ROOM/DEN Sofa, Coffee Table & Side Chair: Owners’ Collection. Table Lamp: Anthropologie, Washington, DC. Side Table: By Noguchi for Knoll. Pillows, Floor Lamps & Rug: Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles. Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen: Furniture from Scandinavia.

BREAKFAST ROOM Vintage Table and Chairs: Owners’ Collection. Paper Chandelier: Isamo Noguchi through www.noguchi.org. Fabric on Bench: Calvin Fabrics through Donghia, Washington, DC. Pillows & Runner Rug: Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles.

MASTER BEDROOM Sofa Bed & Side Tables: Owners’ Collection. Rug, Forged Iron Floor Lamp & Accent Pillows: Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles. Faux Fur Throws on Bed: La Maison de la Fausse Fourrure, Paris, through Bergdorf Goodman, New York, NY. Bedside Table Lamps: Good Wood. Gilded & Marble Tables: Gore Dean Antiques. Silk Pillows on Sofa: Baker. Vintage Wood Side Tables: Sixteen Fifty-Nine Mid-Century Antiques.

 


Santa-Cruz likens the dining room to a blue Tiffany box, "and the jewel is what's inside." A modern take on Asian and Indian motifs, the rug from Timothy Paul was a serendipitous find. A pair of translucent Philippe Starck Ghost chairs complements the Murano blown-glass chandelier.

A Flokati rug from IKEA and a 1970s mod ceramic lamp add an element of playfulness to the library. The room blends vintage finds, from the 1960s Chinese-style ebonized desk to the industrial copper desk lamps from France.

Modern classics like an Arne Jacobsen egg chair, a Noguchi side table and a pair of Modernica chairs create a casual vibe in the den, which features an anonymous abstract painting purchased at Galerie L'Enfant in Georgetown.

In the breakfast room, a paper Noguchi chandelier and bold new pillows complement the owners' vintage Heywood Wakefield dining table and chairs.

A new rug helps define the sitting area in the master bedroom.

Creamware lamps found at Good Wood grace the bedside tables.

 

HOME&DESIGN, published bi-monthly by Homestyles Media Inc., is the premier magazine of architecture and fine interiors for the Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia region.

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