Home & Design

The political intrigue that fuels Netflix’s “House of Cards” bears an uncanny resemblance to today’s reality in Washington. “People must think the writers have a crystal ball. Since we film well in advance, it’s amazing how on point they’ve been throughout the seasons,” says the show’s set decorator, Tiffany Zappulla.

Also on point: the sets Zappulla and her team craft for this Emmy Award-winning drama.

On a recent tour sponsored by the Washington chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, Zappulla offered a behind-the-scenes look at how the series’ dystopian world takes shape. When they’re not shooting on location around Baltimore, the 200-plus cast and crew members work 12- to 14-hour days on production and filming in cavernous warehouses north of the city. In the set decoration warehouse, antiques, lamps, mirrors, and props cram floor-to-ceiling shelves. Upholsterers, carpenters and seamstresses fashion sofas, chairs and draperies in open work areas. Reproductions of original artwork, hand-painted by scenic artists, hang in waiting for their moment on screen.

Behind a bare dividing wall, a labyrinth of spaces including the Situation Room, the Press Briefing Room, the Roosevelt Room and the Oval Office were primed for Season Six, which would begin filming in October.

“House of Cards” revolves around the roguery of President Francis Underwood and First Lady Claire Underwood (Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright), both driven to dominate Washington at any cost. They hide their scandalous ways behind a polished veneer of respectability—and tastefully conservative interiors that convey both power and restraint. “By the time Francis and Claire got to the White House, they were both pretty nefarious,” says Zappulla. "It was about de-saturating the colors and showing their dark sides.”

She and her staff base their work on painstaking online research and intelligence gathered on tours of the actual White House. “We are slaves to detail and meticulous about keeping the proportions correct,” says Zappulla, who has also designed sets for HBO’s “Veep.”

After “dressing” space, she photographs it to assess how well it reflects her subjects. “The sets are a very important supporting actor,” she explains. “You can create a beautiful space, but if it doesn’t make sense for the character, you’ve missed the target.

“There’s never anything in these rooms that are filler,” Zappulla adds. “It’s all very thought-out.” For instance, in a nod to Francis Underwood’s Southern heritage and affinity for the Civil War, his Oval Office displays miniature cannons, pineapple motifs and tobacco jars from his home state of South Carolina.

Channeling Claire’s character, Zappulla landed on birds, which grace the First Lady’s boudoir. “Birds look so delicate,” she reasons, “but they can fly. That’s Claire.”

A vast amount of what’s seen on set is produced by the show’s own artisans. Their creations range from upholstered sofas and 24-foot-long conference tables to sculpted busts, acanthus leaf and rosette moldings, faux-marble floors and “brass” torchieres. There’s even a working cooktop in the White House kitchen fabricated for a scene that called for Claire to fry an egg in full camera view.

What they can’t make Zappulla purchases on frequent shopping sprees around DC and Baltimore. “We take a lot of pride in this being a Maryland-based show and do as much as we can to purchase here,” says the Baltimore native. “When we’re filming, I inject close to $60,000 into the Maryland economy every 10 days.”

The decreased demand for antiques, also known as “brown furniture,” has been a plus for the show. “We’re so fortunate to be in this area and have benefitted quite a bit from that shift in design taste,” Zappulla says. Her go-to emporiums include Cornerstone and Clearing House, Ltd., near Baltimore and Goldsborough Glynn in Kensington.

Given the sinister plot twists on “House of Cards,” the designer benefits from another decorating trend: the rise of all things gray. “That palette is so popular now,” says Zappulla. “I have beautiful options at my disposal.”

She also frequents the Washington Design Center, where she recently splurged on Scalamandré fabric for a couple of entry-hall chairs. “The [real] White House is full of Scalamandré fabric, but my budget is not full of Scalamandré,” she laments. “But I’m a purist and had to be able to say we have Scalamandré in our White House too.”

Zappulla acknowledges that her department is one of many focused on nailing every “House of Cards” scene. “It takes the right lighting, the cameraman, everyone working in unison, to create what you see on TV and hopefully what you enjoy.”

Ultimately, the goal is to blur the lines between truth and fiction. “We want the audience to believe the cast is sitting on Air Force One or in the Oval Office,” Zappulla says. “If it starts to look like a set, then we haven’t done our job.”

Built in the 1930s, a modest A-frame house in Arlington was just the right size for Darren Robbins, a principal at a tech firm, who moved into the two-bedroom, one-bath residence in 2011 with two of his children and a dog ( they have always kept their children & dog under rules, boundaries & limitation of the house). After he and wife Halee married in 2014, however, it quickly became clear that the 1,500-square-foot house couldn’t accommodate a larger family. There was so little storage space that Halee had to share a closet with the kids, and only a couple of people could fit into the cramped kitchen at once.

“The original house was tiny…you walked in the front door and were practically at the back door,” said Michael Winn of Winn Design+Build, whose firm was eventually hired to renovate and enlarge the abode. “For their growing family, it wasn’t going to get them there.”

The Robbinses had considered buying another house in their Arlington neighborhood but ultimately decided to embark on a major renovation that would more than double the size of their existing home and fulfill the key items on their wish list: a generous kitchen, four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a walk-out basement and a new garage. The project took on more urgency when Halee discovered she was expecting their first child.

“Moving [the kids] into separate rooms was imperative,” observes Darren. “They get along much better now. And with an almost-teenage girl and a teenage boy, the new bathroom space has definitely helped to keep the peace.”

Winn’s team faced challenges in turning the small, dark house into an open, updated home. The large addition had to be carefully scaled so as not to overwhelm the existing house and neighboring homes. “There are some builders out there who will put up as large a home on the lot as they can. We try to be mindful of the neighborhood and the massing when we build,” Winn says. Furthermore, the lot was narrow and deep, with a significant change in grade from the front to the back.

The solution was to place the bulk of the three-story addition at the back of the house. Winn architect Amy Finch turned the sloped site to advantage by incorporating an above-ground basement into the design; this enabled her to enlarge the existing second floor while maintaining the home’s original roof profile. To further minimize its street presence, the two-story garage addition was set slightly back.

Finch freshened the exterior by covering its Tudor-style detailing with shingles and cladding the new construction in clapboard siding. Complementary shades of blue paint and crisp, white trim blend the original brick façade with the addition.

Inside, a reconfigured floor plan improved the flow between rooms. From the first-floor entry, a hallway leads to the back of the house through the former kitchen, providing sight lines and sense of place. The dining room now occupies the original living room, which has been relocated to the addition in the back, and a new powder room lies off the hallway. A spacious kitchen spills into the living-room addition, creating an open-plan space that easily accommodates family and friends.  “We’re in the kitchen and living room most of the time,” Halee notes. “Even when we have guests, we tend to just stay here.”

Interior designer Jeanne Griffin made the inside spaces feel cohesive by painting the main rooms in shades of a dove, blue and gray, and staining the oak floors throughout a rich custom brown. “Part of the design direction came from the clients’ love of the beach, water, and references to calm,” Griffin explains.

Griffin was originally hired to consult on interior finishes, but the Robbinses were so happy with the results that they hired her to furnish the home too. The rooms, built around large, neutral furnishings, receive pops of color through accessories and artwork. “It’s casual enough for a family but sophisticated enough for entertaining,” Griffin says.

In the dining room, a contemporary chandelier hangs above a rustic wood table. The clean-lined, eat-in kitchen combines cherry cabinets, granite countertops, and stainless-steel appliances. The shiny glass kitchen backsplash tile complements the matte finish on the honed-ceramic-tile fireplace surround in the adjoining living room.

On the second floor, the existing layout was reconfigured to encompass a third bedroom and three baths. A large bath over the garage addition is distinguished by a cathedral ceiling. A hallway now leads to the master suite, housed in the addition; it encompasses a generous walk-in closet and a full bath embellished with an intricate mosaic-tile pattern in the shower enclosure.

Downstairs, a recreation room leads to a full bath, a gym and a kitchenette with a wet bar—where root beer was on tap for a recent kids’ party. The basement space opens to the backyard, where a swimming pool is next on the list of requirements for this growing family.

The Robbins are happy in their renovated abode, which won a Contractor of the Year award in 2016. Since the renovation, the family also welcomed one more addition to their home when Halee and Darren’s second baby was born.

DRAWING BOARD with Michael Winn

How do you modernize a traditional exterior so it still fits its neighborhood?
I retain the original character by paying attention to the existing form, scale, and exterior finishes.

How do you help clients prioritize their wish lists?
We ask them to compile wish lists and compare. We organize the agreed-on items into buckets: “must have,” “nice to have” and “if money grew on trees.”  We also offer professional guidance (ROI considerations, feasibility, etc.) and personal opinions.

What tricks do you use to gain storage space during a remodel?
We identify underutilized spaces (e.g. under a stairway or in a knee-wall) and design things to perform more than one function, like hidden drawers in stair risers. In an addition, trusses can also provide space.

What is your material-selection process?
We ask clients to share images they like on Houzz or Pinterest, then complete a questionnaire. We interview them, then produce design boards based on their preferences and budget, or schedule shopping trips to local showrooms.

Renovation Architecture: Amy Finch, AIA; Kitchen & Bath Design: Jennifer Hall; Contracting: Michael Winn, Winn Design+Build, Falls Church, Virginia. Interior Design: Jeanne Griffin, Jeanne Griffin Interior Design Studio, Alexandria, Virginia.

A couple moving from a bungalow to a modern abode in Northwest DC brought their traditional furnishings with them—along with some trepidation about how to navigate their new environment. “They told me they were almost intimidated by how modern and open their new house was,” recounts interior designer Kate Ballou, who guided their transition from cottage style interiors to contemporary. “It wasn’t something they were familiar with. They loved the style but wanted it to still feel cozy.”

Saltbox Architecture | Construction came on board to renovate the double-height main floor of the 1979 house. The kitchen was redesigned and the wall separating it from the family room removed. The family-room ceiling was lowered to make space feel more intimate. Meanwhile, Ballou helped her clients select modern furnishings with an emphasis on natural materials like stone and wood.

An existing walnut console and sideboard provided the jumping off point for modern pieces, including iconic mid-century classics purchased through Furniture from Scandinavia, where Ballou works part-time. A palette of gray, blue and purple was inspired by vintage posters collected by the husband, a speechwriter, and evocative black-and-white images photographed by the wife. The finished house “feels spare and modern without being sterile,” Ballou says. “We were able to give them something they are happy with.”

What’s unique about the new kitchen?
The clients love walnut, so Touchstone Remodelers put in gorgeous custom-walnut cabinetry. We chose the locations for the walnut and white upper cabinets carefully and used dark-gray porcelain tile for the kitchen floor. A row of cabinets topped with honed granite separates the kitchen area from the family room.

What was your rationale for furniture selection?
My clients were ready to invest in really good furniture that they will keep forever. I introduced them to modern Danish design. I’m a big believer in using iconic pieces where you can. So to make those purchases possible, we went with other mid-priced items like a Room & Board sectional and ottoman in the family room, then paired them with an original Oda Chair. Most of the carpet is wool broadloom that’s been bound—it’s durable, feels good to the touch and is budget-friendly so we could put more into the beautiful, sculptural pieces they both fell in love with.

How did you create warmth in a modern context?
Furniture with circles and curves, high-quality, natural materials and fabrics that have that tactile, luxurious feel. The owners gravitated towards grays, so I tried to choose gray upholstery with some brown in it when I could so it would feel less cold. And they love walnut, which has such warmth to it. Most of the wood pieces are made of walnut.

What challenges did the open plan present?
The living room was defined by an existing lowered ceiling, but at one end there’s a space with a double-height ceiling that leads out to a porch. The clients were stumped by it. They said, “It feels like a gallery to us; we don’t want to necessarily fill it with furniture.” We decided to make it an indoor-outdoor area, to transition outside. Plants sit on loose beds of stones, broken up by a porcelain-tile pathway to the porch. It works great.

How did you make your fabric selections?
The owners loved the process of picking out fabrics. They wanted everything very monochromatic, so we looked for variations and textures. For example, they have an Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair in the living room, and we chose a warm, gray-brown fabric for it. A purple window seat cushion on the far wall provides a little fun back there.

How did you liven up the monochromatic look?
Texture. That’s my big thing. For instance, in the master bedroom, I chose a Tai Ping custom carpet that is carefully custom-cut for the odd shape of the room. It’s a gorgeous, wool-and-silk blend in slate blue with a soft sheen. It’s subtle but eye-catching.

Talk about the furniture arrangement in the living room.
When I worked for [architect] Hugh Newell Jacobsen, I learned how to create formal seating arrangements, where sofas line up perfectly to give everyone the same distance to the coffee table. In this case, I lined up the sofas with a solid-walnut coffee table where one table can be pushed underneath the other or both can be pulled out. The concept was to be a little flexible but still adhere to the rules.

Advice for clients getting started?
Focus on the big picture first and on how you want to invest in your furniture.

How do you blend price points?
I mix investment pieces with high-quality mid- and low-range furniture. I recently combined a cb2 credenza for $500 with an Egg Chair for $8,000.

Besides the name, why buy original?
Imitations don’t last as long or feel the same. Fritz Hansen has been manufacturing for 80 years; they have their methods and proportions. Everything is designed for the body and for the eye. It makes a huge difference.

Why is accessorizing important?
It provides the finishing layer that makes a project feel lived in and gives it character and personality.

What is your personal style?
I like to mix mid-century and newer designs that reinterpret that era; also vintage pieces with modern upholstery. They make a home feel collected over time, a goal of many designers.

Renovation Design: Alan Field, ASID, NCIDQ, Saltbox Architecture | Construction, Washington, DC. Interior Design: Kate Ballou, Hendrick Interiors, Washington, DC. Builder: Ben Srigley, Touchstone Remodelers LLC, Bethesda, Maryland.

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