Home & Design

Stuart Nordin has always relished what she calls “the hunt for wonderful, unique things.” So when she decided in 2012 to launch her firm, Stuart Nordin Home & Design, in Old Town Alexandria, she simultaneously opened a retail shop that would double as a design studio. “I wanted to find special things that showcase my aesthetic while also meeting clients and doing design work,” she recounts. “It was the best thing I ever did.”

In 2016, Nordin moved to Richmond with her husband, who is in the military, and their three children. Undaunted by the change, she established a second studio there and began splitting her time between Richmond and Old Town—though she did shutter her storefront. Now, clients in both cities embrace her practical yet elegant sensibility. “I think because I have kids I want to be comfortable,” Nordin reflects. “I want everything to look nice and elegant and tied together, but I don’t want to be afraid to live in it.”

Interior Design: Stuart Nordin, Stuart Nordin Home & Design, Alexandria and Richmond, Virginia. 

“I have been an art and design addict since I was a little kid,” declares Caryn Cramer with enthusiasm. “I was always into color, texture, form, and fabric—I am obsessed with fabric.”

After briefly practicing law, Cramer returned to her first love, earning a master’s degree in design from the Corcoran and becoming a visiting scholar at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish School of Design, where she printed fabrics for a textile designer while completing her thesis. Back in DC, she launched her firm, Caryn Cramer, in 2011. Since then, she has transformed many clients’ homes and also developed a collection of sustainable fabrics that she designs and paints by hand, then prints digitally on Belgian linen. Along with a new line of wall coverings printed on wood veneer, her textiles are available locally at A Mano in Georgetown.

“I love a creative challenge,” Cramer says. “Getting color and texture right, scale and balance, positive and negative space. And I love seeing through my clients’ eyes.” Positive thinking and space leads to success.

Interior Design: Caryn Cramer, Caryn Cramer, Washington, DC. 

Raised by a single mother with “exquisite taste,” Los Angeles native Jeanne Griffin grew up loving architecture and design. But a career in design never dawned on her. She studied urban planning at U.C. San Diego, then landed a job as personal assistant to billionaire industrialist and art collector Norton Simon. Working in the Beverly Hills mansion he shared with his wife, actress Jennifer Jones, elevated Griffin’s artistic appreciation to new heights. It was only after she was hired to manage the renovation of a historic San Francisco Victorian for a well-known Hollywood celebrity that she decided to study design.

After she “fell in love with a gentleman from Virginia,” Griffin got married, moved East with her husband and enrolled in the fine arts program at the Corcoran. She launched her firm in 2013.

In her practice, a focus on function is key. “I ask clients, ‘In your ideal world, what would happen when you walk into this room?’” she says. “Pretty is easy. But pretty doesn’t mean anything if space doesn’t work for you.”

Interior Design: Jeanne Griffin, Jeanne Griffin Interior Design, Alexandria, Virginia. 

French-born Romain Baty arrived in the U.S. in 2016, leaving behind a burgeoning interior-design career inspired by years of art direction in elite Paris fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent and Dior. “I always wanted to live abroad,” he says. “When my husband was offered a job in Washington with the IMF, I said, ‘Yes!’”

The move turned out to be an opportunity for Baty, who now works on both sides of the Atlantic—currently completing a project on Capitol Hill while embarking on another in Paris. The designer espouses an eclectic sensibility. “I bring together different styles, shapes, and forms for contrast,” he explains. “This is what is interesting to me. I want to draw out my clients’ tastes but also expose them to something new.

“People have different values and cultures,” he continues. “Home is about intimacy and that means different things to different people. How you furnish your house is what you say to others about yourself.”

Interior Design: Romain Baty; Romain Baty, Washington, DC. 

Now in its 11th year, Home & Design’s “Hot Talent” feature spotlights local pros who have launched firms of their own. Our mission is not only to cover the region’s top established designers, but also to spotlight the next generation. During our first 10 years, we did a pretty good job predicting future success stories. Among our illustrious “Hot Talent” alumni, we can count designers who have debuted their own fabric collection (Marika Meyer), created home furnishings for national brands (Darlene Molnar) and even landed an HGTV pilot (Lauren Liess).

Now, we are thrilled to reveal our 2018 designers: Romain Baty, Laura Hodges, Jeanne Griffin, Caryn Cramer and Stuart Nordin. Links to their work appear below.

 



Romain Baty

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Laura Hodges

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Jeanne Griffin

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Caryn Cramer

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Stuart Nordin

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The Danish Embassy nestles within a rolling woodland by Rock Creek Park—a bucolic locale that inspired Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S. from 1939 to 1958, to build a new embassy with an attached residence there during his tenure. He tapped modernist Danish architect Vilhelm Lauritzen to create a design that would reflect a modest, sensible aesthetic combining clean lines, beautiful materials and fine craftsmanship. Lauritzen conceived what visitors see today: two Functionalist structures full of windows and light, connected by a simple glass corridor.

The embassy residence is currently home to Ambassador Lars Gert Lose, his wife, Ulla Rønberg, and their three children, ages 18, 15 and 7. When they arrived in 2015, the streamlined, circa-1960 building envelope was juxtaposed with traditional interiors full of oil paintings and Persian rugs. Lose and Rønberg began making changes immediately. “Our idea was to create something different, a more contemporary look that would be a new point of departure for events and guests,” says the ambassador.

Rønberg, formerly a project leader at the Danish Agency for Culture, collaborated with the Danish Arts Foundation and the Danish Ministry of Culture on an initiative called Art in Embassy to bring thought-provoking, contemporary artworks to the embassy residence. “The foundation is the biggest source of federal funding for the arts in Denmark,” she explains. “They buy art and lend it to public institutions for 10-year periods.” As part of the initiative, Danish visual and performing artists will also share their culture in cities throughout the U.S., including Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit and Chicago, via talks, workshops and performances.

Today, the residence’s public rooms showcase a diverse gallery of modern Danish art on loan, including large mixed-media pieces, photography, colorful ceramics, sleek sculptures and avante-garde installations. Danish Modern design furnishings by Finn Juhl—who decorated the ambassador’s residence when it was first completed—and Arne Jacobsen complement the surroundings. “Because the architecture is so iconic in its expression of the ’60s, we felt it was important to show contemporary Denmark through the art,” Rønberg says. “But we also wanted to show how the furniture designed in the ’60s still works today.”

The art forwards the embassy’s mission to create dialog and connection between Denmark and the U.S. “It definitely is an ice-breaker,” says Lose, smiling as he gestures to an abstract installation made of cable wire by Tina Maria Nielsen that adorns the wall behind him. “When they ask us to explain the wire, then things get interesting.”

Lose hosts four to six events weekly at the residence, from meetings and evening receptions to breakfasts, lunches and panel discussions that take place on a lower-level stage. “The informal setting allows for a deeper dialog and makes it easier to discuss some of the more difficult issues. We wouldn’t be able to do this without the residence,” he observes.

Favorite events for Lose and Rønberg include Constitution Day, held June 5 each year, during which 700 to 800 guests congregate in tents on the lawn to celebrate the 1849 signing of the Danish constitution. Also popular is May’s EU Open House, when all European Union embassies open their doors to the public. The festivities spill out to the embassy parking lot, with Danish delicacies and Lego activities for kids. “It’s an opportunity to talk about the embassy and Denmark, to share our culture,” says Lose of the event, which lured 6,000 visitors this year.

Danish delicacies—and all other meals—are prepared by chef Jens Fisker, a Dane who has lived and worked in the U.S. for 20 years; his cuisine “is Nordic in mindset, with fresh, local vegetables and a lot of fish,” says Rønberg. “We don’t ship a lot from Denmark; that is not the Danish way. We do a lot for sustainability, healthy lifestyles and fighting food waste.” During a recent dinner party, guests donned aprons and prepared their own meals while Fisker supervised, using food that was about to be thrown away so it wouldn’t be wasted. “This is an example of how we think,” Rønberg notes.

Adds Lose, “The Danish are not formal people. Part of the goal for the embassy’s architecture was to reflect Danish values. It’s small scale because we are a small nation, and it’s full of windows not only for light but also for transparency. It represents openness.”

 

Spectacular views of the Potomac River convinced photographer and human rights activist Betsy Karel to downsize from a multi-story house in Cleveland Park to a one-level condominium in Georgetown. The river’s broad, flowing curves beckon through tall panes of glass and within sight are the towers of Rosslyn, the arches of Key Bridge and the expanding Kennedy Center.

“Walking in, looking out the windows and seeing the Potomac and all that sky was the primary reason for buying,” says Karel. “And the apartment is on a corner and has a lot of privacy.”

The original layout of the three-bedroom unit, however, did not showcase the vistas right away. “When you first came in, it felt like a warren of rooms,” she recalls. “There were a lot of hallways that seemed like wasted space.
I wanted to open them up and simplify.”

To renovate the 3,000-square-foot condo, the owner tapped Muse Architects based on the Bethesda firm’s successful remodeling of her previous home. Principal-in-charge Stephen Muse and project architect Warren Short started by stripping the existing walls, ceilings and floors down to concrete slabs before creating a more streamlined design.

The resulting interior architecture is contemporary but understated, in order to focus on river views and to showcase Karel’s remarkable collection of photographs and library of art books.

“We combined the previous living room, dining room, halls and library into one large, flexible space,” Muse explains. “Now when you enter, the view is immediately apparent and draws you right in.”

From the foyer, a short hallway leads directly into the south-facing main room, where living and dining areas are defined by groupings of furniture. Windows wrap around two sides to open the interior to light and views.

“I wanted a big space so I could have both intimate dinner parties and large gatherings of 70 to 80 people when I entertain,” says Karel. Rather than being part of this room, the kitchen is contained behind the dining area and fitted with German-designed cabinetry and quartz countertops.

Formerly encompassing the library, one corner of the large living space serves as a lounge area with armchairs and a sofa arranged in front of a flat-screen TV and shelves of books. Behind this space, the master suite occupies the southeastern corner with more views of the river. Two guest suites are sequestered at the end of the condo farthest away from the master bedroom and living spaces.

Muse and Short employed new architectural details to reinforce the clean lines of the interior. “We de-trimmed the apartment by removing crown moldings, baseboards, door casings and bulkheads,” says Muse. Fumed-oak flooring in the
main spaces and carpeting in the bedrooms keep the rooms from feeling too austere.

In the living/dining area, ceilings of different heights allowed for the installation of a quiet, efficient heating and cooling system as well as window pockets for drapery and shades. The new ceilings accommodate recessed and cove lighting that respond to the location and size of the photographs displayed on the walls.

Lenses fitted over adjustable halogen lamps reduce ultraviolet light from the fixtures to protect the artwork. The lighting, shades and mechanical system are controlled through a digital keypad, reducing the number of light switches and thermostats for a more minimalist look.

New doors from the kitchen, hall and master bedroom allow for privacy and appear as partitions when closed. These full-height slabs fold back into shallow niches concealed within the thresholds, thus blending into the architecture when open.

The furniture comprises mostly mid-century-style designs finished in wood and neutral-colored upholstery. “I wanted to keep the attention on the art and with this type of furniture, that’s easy to do,” says Karel. Most of the pieces are low-slung and have been arranged so as not to detract from the river views.

Built-in shelving throughout the apartment was designed by Muse and built by woodworker Ivan C. Dutterer of Hanover, Pennsylvania, to hold the owner’s extensive library of books. In the living space, the shelving is white to complement the wall color, while the storage cabinetry in the bedrooms is finished in walnut veneer to look more like furniture.

The owner has been collecting photography since the 1980s; images by notable talents such as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank and Irving Penn are strategically displayed throughout the rooms to take advantage of limited wall space. “It’s an eclectic collection,” Karel observes.

Two large scenes of oil derricks by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky are prominently displayed in the dining area, while smaller black-and-white images are mounted on the columns in the living area. A seascape by California photographer Richard Misrach dominates the wall of the master bedroom, where more shelving is devoted to the homeowner’s library.

“This sort of renovation refrains from drawing attention to the architecture and instead draws attention to the collections, much like a gallery,” says Muse.

“My photos and books,” adds Karel, “are the soul of my home.”

Architecture: Stephen Muse, FAIA, principal-in-charge; Warren Short, AIA, project architect, Muse Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. Contractor: Accent General Contracting, Rockville, Maryland. 

 

DRAWING BOARD

How do you create modern architecture inside an apartment without a major remodel?
Stephen Muse: Eliminate architectural trim such as door casings and crown moldings, use a neutral color palette and simplify the design of necessary elements like light switches, electrical outlets and door hardware.

What type of lighting highlights artwork on the walls?
SM: Adjustable downlights can be aimed at artwork and fitted with lenses to reduce ultraviolet light and protect the art.

What do you recommend for built-in shelving and furnishings?
SM: Built-ins finished in the color of the walls allow the books or artworks to be visually prominent. Veneered in wood, they create the appearance of furniture.

Why hire an architect rather than an interior designer for a renovation?
SM: An architect brings a view of the project as a whole and works to coordinate all the design elements. The best interior design should never be an afterthought to the architectural design.

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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