Michael Stehlik (pictured) and his partner fell in love with the modern, post-and-beam home.
After a two-year quest to find a waterfront escape less than an hour from their DC row house, interior designer Michael Stehlik and his partner struck gold on the way home from a New Year’s weekend on the Eastern Shore. As one drove, the other searched real estate apps for listings along the route. Suddenly, a rare 1970s gem popped up in the quiet hamlet of Hollywood in St. Mary’s County.
The couple detoured to find a vacant, four-story abode in a wooded cove on two acres fronting a Patuxent River tributary near the Chesapeake Bay. Shaped like a tall lantern, the modern home immediately struck a chord. “We fell in love and kept driving back on weekends to see it,” Stehlik recalls. “Eventually, we started bringing picnics and sitting on the deck.”
The duo decided to take the leap and, after their 2016 move-in, learned the 2,700-square-foot find was even more extraordinary than they’d imagined. It was designed as a personal weekend retreat by Lynford Snell, an architect who’d relocated from Seattle to DC for a government job. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Snell’s program embraced organic materials and also carefully orchestrated views of nature. Word has it that Snell and his wife completed much of the construction themselves. Though the architect has passed away, she stayed in the home until the stairs became a burden and then put it on the market. “We are only the second owners,” marvels Stehlik.
Essentially, he and his partner had landed an unadulterated, late-’70s time capsule complete with a sunken living room, two-sided stone hearth, Mexican Saltillo tile floors, bespoke cherry cabinetry and working light fixtures designed by the architect.
Aside from making a few repairs, replacing fixtures and appliances and revamping woefully outdated bathrooms, the new owners decided to preserve their escape’s retro vibe. “We really enjoy the vintage feel. It’s meant to be a casual space that gets us away from DC and everything being perfect,” explains Stehlik. “I have no desire for it to look like me or my work. I feel that my job is to maintain the architect’s vision and respond to it with enhancements and furnishings that befit the bones of the house.”
Ushering a guest into the compact foyer, the designer is quick to invoke Frank Lloyd Wright. “In my mind,” he says, “this feels like Wright’s philosophy, where he brings you into an enclosed entryway and then allows it to widen into the thing you want to enjoy most.”
The hall leads to an open living, kitchen and dining area where windows frame vistas of the river and woods in a carefully organized fashion. According to Stehlik, the symmetry was intentional. “I immediately picked up on how thoughtful Snell was,” he observes. “The house is set on a four-foot grid and it’s oriented exactly south. Deep overhangs on all the floors help in the summer with heat gain while in the winter we benefit from the sun.”
On the main level, friends can gather in the airy sunroom, the sunken living room or in a suspended wooden loft above it where the couple watches TV. “It’s a hang-out space that makes me think of Swiss Family Robinson,” says Stehlik. The second and third floors are devoted to the guest and owners’ suites, respectively; each boasts a renovated bathroom and balcony. A fourth-floor observatory is ringed by windows, affording a scenic, 360-degree panorama.
Stehlik furnished the home with new and vintage pieces that mesh with a mid-century oeuvre. A blue Room & Board sectional delivers a pop of color in the living area. “I wouldn’t ordinarily select a bright color for myself,” the designer explains, “but I felt like the house needed some energy.”
One change the owners recently made was staining the exterior cedar siding and decking black. “We were inspired by other modern homes clad in shou sugi ban wood,” says Stehlik, “and thought without great expense we could preserve the exteriors in a finish that allows the textured wood to show through.”
The couple trades Washington’s bustle for the serenity of the shore almost every weekend, often hosting guests. They kayak around the cove, while a 15-minute trip in their motor boat lands them at Solomons Island for dinner. They also enjoy an up-close connection with local flora and fauna, watching the osprey return to roost every spring and the chestnut oaks turn a brilliant yellow each fall. “It’s fun to recognize the rhythms of nature,” Stehlik reflects.
After a busy week, both partners begin to unwind on the trip to Hollywood. “We always bring a big bag of work that never gets opened,” Stehlik admits. “Once we’re here, we realize there’s value in that balance. It re-energizes us and makes us excited to get back to DC on Sunday night.”
Interior & Bathroom Design: Michael Stehlik, Stehlik Design, Washington, DC. Bathroom Renovation Contractor: DMV Kitchen & Bath, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland.