Home & Design

Ask the Pros: Landscape Architecture What regulations should homeowners keep in mind when designing a landscape project in a critical area?

One limiting factor in Maryland is that there is a buffer that prohibits the construction of any kind of structure within 100 feet of the water. Homeowners must also consider the rules governing impervious cover, which refers to any kind of surface that water can’t penetrate, including driveways, pathways, terraces and pools. In Maryland, only 15 percent of a property can be impervious on lots of a half-acre or larger. While this is a challenge, there are solutions. For example, decks don’t count as long as there’s a quarter-inch gap between the boards.

—Mike Prokopchak, ASLA, Walnut Hill Landscape Company, Annapolis, Maryland


Ask the Pros: Construction When building near the bay, what factors should homeowners consider to prevent delays or setbacks due to permitting rules?

Waterfront projects are among the most challenging but rewarding that ILEX has done over the years. Many states’ critical area laws have become stricter recently. When working within the critical area buffer, ILEX recommends that clients work with a civil engineer to meet with officials and review their project before investments in construction drawings are made. These preliminary meetings of the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) include the planning/zoning staff, health department and others who will ultimately be reviewing building permit documents. If everyone discusses the existing site as well as what is being proposed, issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently and the team can move forward to make the client’s dream a reality.

—Dirck K. Bartlett, ILEX Construction Inc., Easton, Maryland, and other locations


Architecture: Dale Overmyer, AIA, Dale Overmyer Architects, Washington, DC. Photo © Maxwell MacKenzie, courtesy Dale Overmyer, AIA/Architect

Ask the Pros: Interior Design How do you design a waterfront house to evoke its setting without it becoming overdone or trite?

The best rule of thumb for any design—including those on the waterfront—is to stay classic.  Keep the major pieces you select simple and straightforward; you can always add touches and reminders of the moment through decorative elements. For example, change up accessories and pillows to reflect your current flair or preference.

I have designed many waterfront homes over the years and have found that people make the mistake of being afraid to cover even one inch of their windows. Water views can be framed by window treatments, and in fact, they will actually warm and enhance them. It’s like looking at a beautiful green lawn for years and years until it becomes monotonous. Even a water view can become like that, eventually.

—Arlene Critzos, Interior Concepts, Inc., Annapolis, Maryland


 

Woven Wonders 1. PAPER CAPER  Handwoven from paper using a Korean technique, the Nut Case Baskets stow away belongings in style. Made in France, they are available at the new Calypso St. Barth boutique in Georgetown at 3307-B M Street, NW. $45, $65, $95; calypsostbarth.com

2. LOUNGING MODE  The See! collection by JANUS et Cie features modular products that can be combined in myriad ways. Pieces, including the Open Wide Center Module ($3,030) and Open Wide Ottoman ($1,952), combine powder-coated aluminum frames and hand-woven fiber. janusetcie.com

3. TRAY CHIC AERIN for Lenox—a tabletop collection by Estée Lauder’s granddaughter, Aerin Lauder—incorporates natural elements in its designs. The Rectangular Tray in Beachgrass makes serving al fresco aperitifs a breeze. $90 at Nieman Marcus; niemanmarcus.com

4. ROPE TRICK  These Nested Fisherman Rope Baskets, handmade in Indonesia out of rope and metal, bring a rustic, out-to-sea vibe to indoor and outdoor spaces. $500 for three baskets, which range from 15 to 27 inches in diameter. arcadianhome.com

5. ALL TIED UP  The round Nina Mirror by Made Goods is swathed in hand-knotted rope, which imparts a nautical feel. Suitable for any room, it’s an ideal addition to a home on the water. $950; madegoods.com

6. REST EASY  The Supra Bed by CB2 combines a whitewashed oak frame with a woven-cane headboard that envelops sleepers with its subtly curved form. Designed by Mermelada Estudio, the bed is available in king ($1,299) and queen ($1,099) sizes. cb2.com

7. NEST EGG  The Serend Hanging Chair provides an airy perch. Woven by hand of resilient all-weather wicker, it has the relaxed, organic feel of an egg-shaped basket. From $820 at Restoration Hardware; restorationhardware.com

One January morning, photographer Geoffery Hodgdon awoke to this magnificent sunrise on Herring Bay Watch, 20 miles south of the Annapolis. "The Chesapeake is often frothy in cold weather, but this morning it was unusually still," he recalls. "I couldn't get the camera set up fast enough." Evidently, Hodgdon's timing was perfect, as he points out: "The image is completely un-retouched—this is exactly how it came out of the camera."

Ask the Pros: Architecture Describe the challenges and rewards of designing waterfront architecture, specific to the bay.

I have found that the rewards far outweigh the challenges when I’m designing a home on waterfront property. These sites have an inherent sense of place, and capturing and enhancing their unique features is what directs a great design. Framing views, integrating outdoor spaces, organizing rooms around natural daylight, preserving privacy and ensuring multiple fronts that open to the water—these factors add up to a composition where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. To protect their uniqueness, waterfront properties also come with layers of complex environmental and zoning regulations. Thoroughly understanding these rules and regulations allows architects to take opportunities not initially obvious to those with less experience.

—Marta Hansen, AIA, LEED AP, Hansen Architects, Annapolis, Maryland


 

Coastal Charm Jamie Merida—soon-to-be featured designer on HGTV’s “House Hunters Renovation” and longtime owner of the Easton design studio and furniture boutique Bountiful—is always up for a remodeling challenge. It came in the form of a 19th-century Tidewater Colonial on ten acres, overlooking a scenic stretch of the Tred Avon River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “It really needed some love,” recalls Merida. “It hadn’t been lived in for over a year.”

The potential for coastal charm was great in the 4,764-square-foot house, whose main entrance faces the waterfront, but there was plenty of work to be done. In addition to Merida’s interior design team, which included Denise Perkins and Amanda Friend, architectural designer Jon Braithwaite of Atelier 11 Architecture was also on board.

“I’d previously known the homeowner,” says Merida of the DC-based husband, who shares the house with his wife, three young boys and mother as a weekend retreat from their primary home in Washington. “It started with the husband thinking he could simply paint it and buy some furniture—until the mom came down and the project’s scope got a lot bigger. It became apparent that the property and the house deserved a major overhaul.”

Like many Tidewater Colonials with age on them, this home had evolved laterally, receiving a hodgepodge of additions over different eras; the latest one, a multi-columned family room, had been added in the 1980s. “We had to figure out how to tie this rambling house together,” says Merida.

“The side entry, kitchen and family room consisted of a warren of rooms at different heights and levels, with minimal connection to either the river views or to each other,” Braithwaite agrees. “It wasn’t functional.”

The architect created a plan in which all the choppy, non-weight- bearing walls and superfluous dated columns would come down, irregular floors would be leveled out and door and window openings refreshed and expanded. The cramped kitchen was opened up to the family room, creating a great room with vistas onto the water from every angle.

“We now have these areas with great water views that also relate to each other visually and socially,” says Braithwaite. “So even though there are concentrated nodes of family activity throughout the home, the spaces and people are still connected.”

The kitchen overhaul, by Easton-based Barclay Designs, incorporated smooth marble countertops, crisp, white cabinetry and a pair of furniture-like islands. The Viking stove is now a focal point, flanked by blue-hued, open hutches and boasting a backsplash of white and red brick. A rolling butcher-block island makes food prep easy, and an AGA stove offers more space for cooking.

“We worked a lot on consistency with architectural materials,” says Merida. Throughout the home, original heart-of-pine floors were restored and replaced where needed; all the brickwork and plaster was repaired; and the antique windows were salvaged or replaced with new ones in the same style.

When it came to decorating the interiors, Merida first conceived a color palette of soft grays, warm taupes and creamy beiges for walls and furnishings, adding punches of color in the accents. “As a unifying agent, color really made the whole house come together,” he says.

In the kitchen/great room, navy and other shades of blue interplay like ripples on water—a motif borrowed from the nearby river. Bright blue fabric covers the dining room chairs and there’s a powdery blue finish on the kitchen cabinets around the stove. Weathered wood furniture complements the home’s more casual spaces perfectly, while rich, lustrous mahogany takes over in the formal double parlors.

“We tried a fresh take on traditional East Coast style,” Merida explains. “We definitely have a nautical thing going. Why fight it? We live on the coast. Everybody sails. Folks fish, and shoot geese and ducks. It’s part of the culture.”

The designer subtly incorporates these waterside motifs, including the recessed wall of Audubon prints in one of the parlors and the triple pendant lights hanging above the great room’s dining table, which are reminiscent of those on an industrial freighter. The sign above the kitchen stove, which reads “To the Dock,” whimsically points the wrong way.

But there’s no getting lost in this coastal home now, where flow and consistency light the way. “I think when creating a house for an extended family, you need to be kid- and adult-friendly,” Merida says. “The home needs to be easy to live in, where no one feels like they can break something. But at the same time, it has to have a certain sophisticated and elegant feel for the grownups. I believe we achieved our goal.”

Writer Charlotte Safavi is based in Alexandria, Virginia. J. Brough Schamp is a Baltimore photographer.


Renovation Architecture: Jon E. Braithwaite, Atelier 11 Architecture, Ltd., Easton, Maryland. Interior Design: Jamie Merida, Bountiful Interiors, Easton, Maryland. Kitchen Design: Barclay Designs, Easton, Maryland. Contractor: West & Callahan, Easton, Maryland.

Aquatic Art The beauty of deep-water life inspires the sparkling-glass worlds created by Alison Sigethy. In her signature series, Sea Core Bubble Tubes, artful variations on shells, corals, jellyfish and other exotic forms are stacked in clear glass containers like jewel-toned creatures piled on the ocean floor.

Sigethy calls these lively sculptures “environmentally sensitive aquariums.” Filled with distilled water, transmitting bubbling sounds, they convey the tranquility of a marine environment. Small, organic shapes suspended in water appear to swim—while real specimens remain safely in their natural habitat. The softly lit columns add a soothing note to a nightstand. Rising 30 inches in glass or higher in acrylic tubes, they introduce a commanding focus in any space.

At one time an avid scuba diver and now a kayaker, Sigethy works at the water’s edge in her studio at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia. There, she hand-forms each piece from salvaged, bottle or art glass. Her choices often depend on color.

But several years back, the artist used structural glass recycled from solar-collector panels for her Water Trail series, which she created for outdoor installation. Designed to look like ancient horseshoe crabs washed up on shore, the durable works were intended to draw attention to the fragile ecology of the Anacostia River. Their delicate, weathered appearance and translucent, pierced-shell forms perfectly embody the artist’s environmental message.

Sigethy finds glass an ideal medium. “Its vivid colors, transparency and fluidity really allow me to capture the essence and look of what I’m trying to do,” says the artist, who recognizes the pull of aquatic themes in her work. “Even when I intend to do something else, it ends up related to water!” alisonsigethy.com

Shell Game The Fun 11 Pendant by the late Danish designer Verner Panton creates an iconic focal point in any space. The light consists of hand-cut mother-of-pearl discs that cascade over a steel frame and create lilting sounds when ruffled in the breeze. Light shining through the layers produces an ethereal effect. Made in Denmark, the pendant is available at Design Within Reach showrooms in Bethesda or Cady’s Alley in Georgetown; $1,950. dwr.com

River Vista We always thought a waterfront home was out of reach,” says Kassie Genovere, co-owner of an Annapolis hair salon for kids. But when her close friends announced they had found an affordable riverside home in Annapolis, Genovere convinced her husband Larry to start looking for their dream house on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Their search led to the purchase of a muddy lot at the confluence of the Rhode River and Cadle Creek in Edgewater, Maryland. “Standing here, I knew I was home,” says Kassie, pointing toward the shoreline. “The creek is so close and it’s such a beautiful, peaceful place.” They decided to buy the land and build a new house that would take in the views.

After interviewing several local architects, the couple chose the firm Hammond Wilson to design a house big enough for themselves, their teenage kids, Jake and Carly, and guests. “It was truly a wonderful experience,” reflects Larry Genovere. “They listened to us and created what we were looking for.”

Architect Leo Wilson organized the house as an L-shaped structure wrapped around a patio with swimming pool and spa. “We designed the interior spaces to flow into this large, outdoor living space,” says Wilson. “As far as the image of the house, the owners wanted something that looked like it belonged on the Chesapeake Bay.”

So the architects took their design cues from historic Shingle-style houses. They distinguished the exterior with varied rooflines, projecting bays and balconies and wide, overhanging eaves that visually reduce the size of the 5,500-square-foot house. “The gables and dormers in this home aesthetically add interest in addition to providing the opportunity for more water views,” says project architect Sandie Martino.

Inside, the rooms are arranged around a double-height foyer centered on a spacious stairway with a built-in bench. “We use the staircase as the focal point of a house,” says Wilson. “It’s an opportunity to create a first impression, a sense of craft and quality as soon as you open the front door.”

Among the homeowners’ unique requests were two family rooms, one on the main floor and another on the second floor. “We needed an out-of-the-way place for the kids since they were getting older,” says Larry of the upper-level space. Both rooms offer river vistas through banks of windows; the second-floor family room opens to its own balcony.

The main floor includes a small, formal living room, now used by Kassie as her private retreat. Across the hallway, the dining room, with its tall wainscoting and chandelier, is reserved for dinner parties and holiday meals. “It’s not just for show,” insists Kassie, “but we usually entertain in the kitchen.”

It’s easy to see why—the airy cooking and dining space captures wide water views through an entire wall of windows and doors. Annapolis kitchen designer Sandy Payne centered the room on two 12-foot-long islands used for food preparation, casual meals and buffets. French doors open directly to the limestone-covered pool deck, one of several stone structures on the property built by Larry Genovere’s masonry restoration company.

At one end of the kitchen, doors flanking a fieldstone fireplace lead to a screened porch that serves as another gathering spot. “It’s my favorite room,” says Larry. “It’s tranquil and quiet, but you still hear the boats and wildlife outside.”

On the upper floor, the master suite offers some of the best water vistas from a built-in window seat and a balcony. The kids’ bedrooms are located at the ends of the hallway, a short distance away from the second-floor family room.

As the home’s construction drew to a close, Kassie tapped Dream House Studios of Annapolis to decorate the main rooms in neutral colors that don’t compete with the views. “She wanted to keep the furnishings comfortable, nothing too formal,” says designer Erin Olexia. “We went with a country, Ralph Lauren feel and made sure there was furniture that the kids could sit on.”

Evident throughout the house are well-crafted architectural details, from ceiling beams in the family room to air grilles hidden within doorways. They establish a feeling of traditional authenticity within family-friendly interiors supportive of the Genoveres’ daily activities.

“Of all the new houses we’ve designed,” asserts Wilson, “this is the most livable.”

Writer Deborah K. Dietsch is based in Washington, DC. Kevin Weber is a Baltimore-based photographer.


Architecture: Leo A. Wilson, AIA, LEED AP, principal; Sandie P. Martino, project architect, Hammond Wilson, Annapolis, Maryland. Interior Design: Kim Mohr, Erin Olexia, Dream House Studios, Annapolis, Maryland. Builder: Bret Anderson, president; David Attenberger, project manager, Pyramid Builders, Annapolis, Maryland. Landscape Architecture: Kevin Campion, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland.

 

Treasure Trove It’s hardly a surprise that Nambé—known for its sculptural tableware and accessories—would someday introduce pieces that evoke the beauty of undulating sea life. The company has done just that with the Oceana Collection, designed by Wei Young.

Young’s bold, modern forms are organic and pure. They include the Coral Salad Bowl crafted from acacia wood and the Clam Chip & Dip duo—a perfectly shaped wooden half shell with a metal dip bowl resting within. The stainless-steel Venus Seafood Platter (above; $150) is the perfect vessel to cosset shucked oysters; handily, the collection also includes the Oceana Oyster Knife (above; $20). A playful Lobster Cracker shaped like a free-form fish and long, finely contoured Seafood Forks marry form and function.

Items in the collection are priced from $20 to $200 and will be available in stores on August 1. For online orders or retail locations, visit nambe.com.

Outdoor Oasis Owners of a weekend home perched on the banks of the Miles River near Easton enlisted McHale Landscape Design to improve the views of the water from their backyard. Landscape architect Steve McHale shifted the angle of the outdoor seating areas so the homeowners can now enjoy vistas framed with daylily, limelight hydrangea and native grasses extending all the way down to their dock.

Landscape Architecture: Steve McHale, McHale Landscape Design, Inc., Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Bold Panorama The renovation of a Georgian home in St. Michaels, Maryland, included a new, half-circular conservatory with panoramic Miles River vistas. To accommodate the room’s shape, designer Gerald Smith created a circular furniture arrangement. He painted the walls pale yellow so the views—as seen from Holly Hunt swivel chairs—could take center stage.

Renovation Architecture: Bruce Hutchinson, AIA, Hutchinson + Associates, LLC, Rockville, Maryland. Interior Design: Gerald L. Smith, G. L. Smith Associates, Inc., Washington, DC. Builder: Ted Visnic, Visnic Homes, Rockville, Maryland. Photography: Anne Gummerson.

Scenic Lookout The renovation of a circa-1900 house on the Severn River in Centreville, Maryland, encompassed an update of the screened porch by Joe Ireland. The designer created seating arrangements that emphasize the views; in keeping with the era of the home, he chose vintage furniture—including rattan chairs with cushions in Perennials fabric, to complement the existing brick floor.

Renovation Architecture: Chip Bohl, Bohl Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Interior Design: Joe Ireland, J.D. Ireland Interior Architecture + Design, Washington, DC.

Watershack Reborn Clients hired architect Todd Ray to overhaul what he calls “a ramshackle, moldy ’50s rambler” in Leonardtown, Maryland, overlooking the Potomac River at its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay. Too far gone to salvage, the structure was demolished so a new weekend retreat could take shape. With its two-story wall of windows, the finished great room acts as a portal to views of the watery scene outside.

Architecture: Todd Ray, FAIA, LEED AP, Studio TwentySeven Architecture, Washington, DC. Contractor: Tobin Construction, Bowie, Maryland.

Beach Chic Paola Navone is most at home when she’s by the sea. So when the celebrated Italian designer and architect set out to create her Spring/Summer collection for Crate & Barrel, she took inspiration from many holidays spent on the Mediterranean, as well as her travels abroad.

Spanning more than 100 items from outdoor furniture to tableware and linens, the collection embraces three themes that Navone associates with summer: Party, Pic-Nic and Fish. The eclectic mix includes wavy glass Fish Vases, a Fish Chandelier comprised of vessels to hold flowers and ceramics imbued with the turquoise and white of the sea lapping against a pebbly shore. Sure to bring a touch of the Mediterranean to any home, Navone’s collection is available in stores or at crateandbarrel.com.

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.

The company also publishes an annual H&D Sourcebook of ideas and resources for homeowners and professionals alike. H&D Chesapeake Views is published bi-annually and showcases fine home design and luxury living in and around the Chesapeake Bay.

The H&D Portfolio of 100 Top Designers spotlights the superior work of selected architects, interior designers and landscape architects in major regions of the US.

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