Home & Design

Casual Chic Ryland Witt still remembers visiting the rambler in Richmond as a seven-year-old. It was her older cousins’ house and, unlike Witt’s own home, it didn’t have a formal dining room. “They liked casual dining in one room overlooking the backyard,” says Witt, who found her cousins’ lifestyle fun and freeing. “They spent most of their time in that big room connected to the kitchen.”

Now an interior designer, Witt had recently completed work on a center-hall colonial for clients Dan and Amy Ludwin when the couple spotted the 1950s rancher for sale and told her they were intrigued enough to consider a move. They liked the house’s nonconformist spirit, the idea of living on one floor and especially the backyard swimming pool, visible from that big room. Could Witt take a look? They wondered if she could undo some of the additions that were choking its circulation and reconnect the house to its mid-century modern origins.

Dan, a Richmond financial advisor, and Amy, a stay-at-home mom, bet on Witt’s enthusiasm and discovered a meeting of minds: They all loved the idea of living without a formal dining room. The couple bought the house with the idea of renovating right away. Witt contacted local architect John Voight to take a look. Trained in the impeccable proportions and cohesive style of Virginia’s traditional housing stock, Voight recognized the need to integrate the abode’s flesh-colored brick into a neighborhood dominated by stately homes of red and lime-washed brick. “Off-white exteriors with taupe trim knit its disparate sections together and better assimilate the house into the neighborhood,” he says.

Successive additions over half a century had made the interiors choppy. “A single room had as many as four doorways, allowing little wall space for furniture,” Voight recalls. “The resulting circulation through the main rooms was confusing.” Collaborating with builder Tony Pitts, he got rid of remnants of past renovations by re-engineering roof trusses and reconfiguring portions of bearing walls. “As a team, we rescued the floor plan for better circulation and furnishing plans that could reuse furniture from their former home,” the architect says.

The cleaned-up floor plan dramatically impacted the back of the house. A circular layout finally linked all the rooms, but a connection to the backyard was needed. “How could we stop dead at that one back door?” Witt remembers thinking. “Dan and Amy wanted access to the pool, the terrace and the beautiful double lot. They knew this house would be great for parties, so we developed that outside dimension.” Three sets of French doors replaced picture windows to open up the rear elevation.

This new orientation toward the pool and backyard cleared the way for Witt to create interiors in sync with the mid-century modern home. A wet bar between the family room and former breakfast room off the kitchen was a retro touch. The breakfast room—the same space Witt remembered from childhood—became a hybrid space she describes as “not a dining, living or sunroom, but all of the above. The mix of chairs and a sofa around a trestle table can be used for dining but also rearranged for other occasions. It’s now known as the lounge.”

Witt worked to ensure that each room would be fun as well as functional. “The mid-century modern aesthetic supports this creative mix,” she says. “It advocates rethinking materials, design approaches and room orientations for fresh solutions.” When Witt spotted a dynamic but expensive fabric she and Amy liked for the living room chairs, the designer limited its use to cushions that enliven neutral linen upholstery. “The dual treatment is fun and the green pattern brings the eye out to the backyard,” she says.

The Ludwins’ wish to decorate with furniture from their former house instigated unexpected, dramatic color shifts from room to room. The family room and wet bar’s dark walls, taken from a favorite flame-stitch club chair, provide a stark contrast to the light neutrals in sunny rooms elsewhere. But the integration is deft, different and, above all, casual.

The Ludwins measure the success of Witt’s work by how they feel. “It’s easy to live here, and so welcoming to our friends,” says Amy. “My 21-year-old daughter saw it for the first time and said, ‘This is so cool!’ That’s when I knew it was perfect.”

Writer Susan Stiles Dowell is based in Monkton, Maryland. Gordon Gregory is a Richmond-based photographer.

RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE: JOHN K. VOIGHT, John K. Voight Architects, Charlottesville, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: RYLAND WITT, Ryland Witt Interior Design, Richmond, Virginia. LANDSCAPE DESIGN: RUSSELL COMBS, Russell Combs Design, LLC, Richmond, Virginia. BUILDER: TONY PITTS, Pitts & Associates, Inc., Manakin-Sabot, Virginia.

 

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT  Millwork: pittsassociatesinc.com.

POOL & PATIO  Chaises, Patio Furniture, Dining Table & Umbrella: rh.com. Dining Chairs: target.com.

ENTRY HALL  Console Table: Custom through rylandwitt.com. Mirror: thecuriousorangestore.com. Lamp on Console: kennyballantiques.com.

LOUNGE  Banquette Sofa & Host Chairs: Custom through rylandwitt.com. Dining Table: rh.com. Lucite Chairs: Owners’ collection. Rug: fibreworks.com.

WET BAR  Wall Covering: phillipjeffries.com. Cabinetry: pittsassociatesinc.com. Countertop: Carrara marble through pittsassociatesinc.com.

FAMILY ROOM  Sectional, Fabric & Throw Pillows: Custom through rylandwitt.com. Coffee Table: worlds-away.com. Club Chair: Owners’ collection. Chair Fabric: fschumacher.com. Floor Lamp in Corner: arteriorshome.com. Mirror over Sectional: madegoods.com. Rug: Custom through rylandwitt.com

LIVING ROOM  Club Chairs: Custom through rylandwitt.com. Club Chair Fabric: beaconhilldesign.com. Coffee Table: worlds-away.com. Rug: fibreworks.com. Brass Lights above Shelves: visualcomfortlightinglights.com. Art over Mantel: carolyncarr.com. Ceramic Ware on Shelves: Owners’ collection.

A Classic Reborn Just one year after Marisa Ruiz of Madrid-based Lalzada put the finishing touches on a long-time client’s DC residence, a two-alarm fire ravaged the house. Thankfully, no one was hurt; the owners and their five children were on holiday in their native Spain when they learned that their Spring Valley home and its contents were in ruins.

“It looked like old Civil War pictures of Richmond after the flames. Only the outside walls were left standing,” recalls architect Dwight McNeill, who was hired to recreate the grandeur of the original European-style country house,  built in 1996.

But the owners decided to make some dramatic improvements along the way. They wanted to create more bedrooms, as well as better circulation for entertaining. Ruiz’s goal was to combine the open, welcoming style of today’s American homes with an Old World respect for detail and craftsmanship.  “In Europe, it’s typical to put doors everywhere,” she explains. “But in America, homes are wide open. When we revised the house, we tried to keep this kind of open, American style.”

She and her team—who designed the clients’ four other homes, all located in Spain—collaborated closely with McNeill and architect Dean Cretsinger throughout the design phase. The new plan added a third floor to the home, as well as an elevator, a secondary staircase and a butler’s pantry near the kitchen. Unlike the former, traditional kitchen, the new one would be open, sleek and modern—designed with the homeowners’ close friend, chef José Andrés. The lower level would see a new wine cellar and movie room, while an ambitious landscaping scheme would create more space for al fresco entertaining.

The owners hired M & M Builders and  Contractors to build the project. “We took it down to the original foundation,” says M & M’s Ralph Mollet. “And by some miracle, we brought everything up and out of the ashes, so to speak, in eight and a half months.”

From Italian travertine tile in the foyer to Spanish oak floors and bespoke millwork, Ruiz and her team selected top-quality materials to achieve a refined, elegant look. Most of the furniture was designed by Lalzada and fabricated in Spain by artisans—including metal workers, upholsterers and woodworkers—who frequently collaborate with the firm.

“Custom-made furniture was adapted 100 percent to our likes and needs like a tailor-made suit,” says the homeowner, a businessman who works in the U.S. and Spain. Ruiz, who recently opened an office in Washington, sees the custom route as a true expression of her creativity. “I prefer to think about what I want to create and then do it,” she observes. “You have more control and each piece is unique to each client.”

Today, the 11,000-square-foot residence suits the lifestyle of a busy family with kids ranging from seven to 16. “The house is always full,” says Ruiz. The layout is ideal for large parties, with the expansive foyer leading into the living, dining and family rooms.

The kitchen is designed to perform on all cylinders. And from a cooking standpoint, it would be the envy of any home chef—even one with José Andrés on speed dial. White Poggenpohl cabinetry is organized around a large central island and a massive custom hood. With input from the chef, the owners selected cooking appliances that run the gamut from gas, teppanyaki, wok and induction burners to traditional and steam/microwave ovens.

The second floor houses the master suite and two guest suites, along with a casual family room for the kids. But the third floor is the younger set’s domain, where new bedrooms were designed with custom furniture and novel accents—from tufted panels that give the teenage daughters’ room a hip vibe to a “wall” of stretched bungee cords in the younger girls’ room. The middle son’s room is covered in wallpaper depicting vintage maps of the U.S.

The completed home “takes its place in the neighborhood just as it did before the fire,” says architect Dwight McNeill, who has since launched his own firm. “We wanted to be honest to what had been there without downgrading the finishes or making it less of a grand house than it was.”

The homeowner agrees, “The fire was awful, but now we’re so pleased in our new home. It’s even better than the previous one.”

Photographer Stacy Zarin Goldberg is based in Olney, Maryland. 

ARCHITECTURE: DWIGHT McNEILL, AIA, McNeill Baker Design Associates, McLean, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: MARISA RUIZ and CARLOS ALVAREZ LOPEZ, Lalzada, Madrid, Spain, and Washington, DC. BUILDER: RALPH MOLLET and RYAN MOLLET, M & M Builders and Contractors, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

 

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT  Wood Flooring: lignumelite.com

FAMILY ROOM  Sofas, Leather Chair & Ottoman, Bench: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Sofa & Bench Fabric: linwoodfabric.com. Framed Maps, Coffee Tables & Lamp: rh.com. Foyer Tile: architecturalceramics.com. Millwork Fabrication: twperry.com.

OUTDOOR  Sofas & Side Chairs, Outdoor Fabric, Square Tables & Umbrella: rh.com. Round Dining Table: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Dining Chairs: alexander-rose.co.uk.

KITCHEN  Design Consultant: José Andrés; thinkfoodgroup.com. Cabinetry: poggenpohl.com. Countertop: silestoneusa.com. Stools: capdell.com. Refrigerator: subzero-wolf.com. Pendant Lights: usa.flos.com. Oven beside Fridge: mieleusa.com. Hood Fabrication: akmetalfab.com. Plumbing Fixtures: porcelanosa-usa.com.

BREAKFAST AREA  Table: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Chairs: capdell.com. Light Fixture: eichholtz.com.

DINING ROOM  Dining Chairs & Chandelier: guadarte.com. Dining Table & Sideboard: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Chair Fabric: g-lamadrid.com. Antique Mirror & Persian Rug: Clients’ collection. Table Lamps: rh.com. Wall Covering: omexco.com. Drapery Fabric: llonchysala.com.

LIVING ROOM  Sofa & Coffee Table: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Sofa Fabric: warwick.co.uk. Drapery Fabric: Lizzo through kravet.com. Antique Persian Rug: Clients’ collection.

MASTER BEDROOM  Bed, Bedside Tables & Bench: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Wallpaper: thibautdesign.com. Bench Fabric: en.kobe.eu. Rug: cripe.gr/en/. Bedside Lamps: rh.com.

MASTER BATH  Wall Covering: lamaisonbarcelona.com. Mirrors & Vanities: Custom through lalzada.com/en. Flooring, Wall & Shower Tile: architecturalceramics.com. Countertop: silestone.com. Plumbing Fixtures: porcelanosa-usa.com.

PINK BEDROOM  Custom Furniture: lalzada.com/en. Wall Fabric: romo.com. Pendant Lights: vibia.com. Desk Chair: dileoffice.com. Rug: cripe.gr/en/.

PINK & BLUE BEDROOM  Custom Furniture: lalzada.com/en. Desk Chair: dileoffice.com.

Private Haven When the prospective owners of a property in Bethesda first saw the small rambler sitting awkwardly on its site, they didn’t even bother to go in before buying it. They didn’t need to. “I wasn’t worried,” the wife remembers. “It was a nice location.”

Two years later, the rambler had come down and the couple, relocating from Chicago to be closer to their children and grandchildren, had moved into their idyllic new home, nestled in a serene setting. Having lived in a handful of other homes—including one on Lake Michigan—the wife says, “This is absolutely my favorite house of all. No contest.”

Before building, she and her husband had clear ideas for this next stage of their lives. “I wanted a feeling of spaciousness and a sense of the outside when you’re inside,” says the wife, an artist. She requested the convenience of one-floor living with lots of natural light, but also wanted privacy. After playing an active part in planning the house, she acknowledges that at the start, “I had no idea at all what was going to be here.”

Architect Stephen Muse took up the challenge. While he has won many awards for adapting designs to their surroundings, he found little worth adapting here. “Wherever possible, we try to work with the house,” he explains. “But this one was in a bad spot, with a big circular drive and a pool in a shape not known to man,” he explains. “It had everything we didn’t need.” The architect’s central question became, “How do you put a house that is open and contemporary on a standard suburban lot and still give owners the privacy they’re looking for?”

His answer is a U-shaped plan that places main-floor living spaces around a central courtyard framed on two sides by pavilions. The courtyard is now the peaceful focus for gardens that have transformed the property into a private haven screened from neighbors. The pavilions enclose the kitchen/family room and the wife’s painting studio on one side and the master bedroom and bath on the other, followed by an outdoor pool. Along the front, second-floor bedrooms for visiting family and an office for the husband, an economist, overlook the courtyard and pavilions, all aligned in an orderly sequence. “It’s a simple, rational floor plan,” says the architect. “I like rational and disciplined.”

Landscape architects Lila Fendrick and Doug Stookey collaborated early on to help position the house on its hilltop site. They created a level parking court and integrated distinct plantings all around, from massive hollies at the back to a rain garden near the street. Layers of evergreens buffer views to neighbors, realizing Fendrick’s vision of a park-like setting that she describes as “a little woodland with big trees all around.”

As in the house, simple, straightforward lines define the gardens. “Deceptively simple,” Fendrick comments, noting that “a lot of thought went into paving patterns and planting materials to make it organized and perfect.” The parking court, for example, is elegantly paved in bluestone with dark-gray granite edging; it also doubles as a basketball court. Along the home’s glass façade, Fendrick planted a row of sweetbay magnolias because, she says, “they’re not particularly dense, so light comes through and there’s still privacy.”

Strong vistas link the house and gardens. On the main axis from the living room, the restful back lawn leads to a seating terrace and ends at a solid stone wall, softened by sheets of water spilling over it. Muse designed the honey-hued wall and a matching outbuilding behind the pool for function as well as beauty. Wisteria climbs along a trellis rising from the structure, which neatly hides a generator and pool equipment.

The architect considered the house from every angle. “I was very concerned with views from the house out to the garden, and through the house,” he says. Instead of an entirely open two-story entrance, he added architectural interest by exposing structural beams from the second-floor hall to the front wall. The beams form a linear shelter along the edge of the living/dining area. Looking down from above, they appear to project beyond the exterior wall, taking the form of wood outriggers supporting an outdoor trellis. Stainless-steel rods cast changing patterns of light and shadow onto the oak floor.

The trellis provides sun protection on the front, in much the same way that large roof overhangs shield windows on the back. The overhangs and narrow bands of windows that lift up the roofs and the pavilions themselves were inspired by Prairie-style architecture originating in the Midwest. “We wanted to give the house a personal form for people from Chicago,” says Muse. “The spirit of the project comes from the owners.”

Interior designer Jodi Macklin organized furnishings around a neutral palette of mid-browns and grays—“very light, clean and airy,” she says, “so it wouldn’t detract from the architecture.” Transitional pieces in the living and dining areas and a relaxed sectional in the family room are understated and minimal, following the owner’s preference for less rather than more. Everything, says Macklin, “had to look good, but also had to function. We were trying to be very mindful of the grandchildren.” She points out that all upholstery fabric was treated for durability, and reachable accessories are made of unbreakable metal or plastic.

White walls set off bursts of color in the owner’s paintings. Her favorite colors—blue and purple—appear in the paintings and are picked up in floral prints on living-room cushions. The hues reappear in the perennial garden’s blooms outside her painting studio.

“We love living here,” says the wife, who views her new home also as an art project. “There’s an element of sculpture to it. It’s beautiful in a quiet way,” she observes—especially at dusk when automatic astronomical timers turn on, and all dimensions of the unified house, garden and interiors are bathed in light.

Tina Coplan is a Chevy Chase, Maryland, writer. Photographer Maxwell MacKenzie is based in Washington, DC. 

ARCHITECTURE: STEPHEN MUSE, FAIA, principal, and ERIC HURTT, AIA, project architect, Muse Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. INTERIOR DESIGN: JODI MACKLIN and MELISSA HAENDLER, Jodi Macklin Interior Design, Chevy Chase, Maryland. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: LILA FENDRICK, principal;  DOUG STOOKEY, project landscape architect, Lila Fendrick Landscape Architects, Chevy Chase, Maryland. LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR: Chapel Valley Landscape Company, Woodbine, Maryland. BUILDER: GEORGE COLLINS, Peterson + Collins Inc., Washington, DC.

 

RESOURCES

LIVING/DINING ROOM  Sofas & Small Armchairs: thebrightgroup.com. Sofa & Dining Chair Fabric: hollyhunt.com. Long Pillow & Chair Fabric: donghia.com. Coffee Table: johnbooneinc.com. Rug: floorcoveringresources.com. Dining Table: oldtownwoodworking.com. Dining Chairs: artisticframe.com. Art by Dining Table: Custom by the client. Pendants: illumininc.com.

KITCHEN/FAMILY ROOM  Sectional Sofa: montauksofa.com. Fabric: cowtan.com. Armchair & Fabric: roomandboard.com. Rug: floorcoveringresources.com. Coffee Table: walkerzabriskie.com. Chandelier over Dining Table: verellenhc.com. Dining Chairs: mcguirefurniture.com. Bar Stools: suiteny.com.

OUTDOORS  Patio Table & Chairs: dwr.com.

BEDROOM  Bedstead & Pillows: everettdesigns.com. Coverlet: legacylinens.com. Bench: davidedward.com. Bench Fabric & Armchair: donghia.com. Carpet: starkcarpet.com. Floor Lamp: Owners’ collection.

MASTER BATH  Cabinetry: Custom by petersoncollins.com. Countertop: Thassos through marblesystems.com. Fabricator: unitedstatesmarbleandgranite.com. Floor & Shower Walls: Calacatta tile through usmarbleandgranite.com. Shower Floor: architecturalceramics.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.

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