A gut remodel and addition produced an expansive kitchen and dining space with bifold glass doors that open to an urban garden with horizontal, slatted privacy walls, permeable pavers and a steel, roll-up garage door to the alley.
The time-honored importance of location rang true for Will Teass and Liz Dixon when the two architects were in search of a new home for their family. Four years later, ensconced in a three-story, 3,019-square-foot idyll of their own design, the duo happily recalls its origins on a late-summer day. Sunlight cascades from a skylight through the treads of a floating, white oak staircase that serves as the sculptural spine of their Capitol Hill home.
Back in 2020, such design delights were not front of mind. The urgent goal was to move within the boundary of the elementary school where their three kids would go. Particulars of the available property—a small, 1920s row house—were unimportant.
“We didn’t set foot in the place until after the closing,” says Teass, a founding partner of DC-based Teass\Warren Architects. “We knew we wanted to take it down to the bare bones, so location was really the only factor.”
He and Dixon, a senior associate at Perkins Eastman, had renovated a home before, hands-on, while living on site. “We’re lucky we’re still married,” Teass jokes. This time, they stepped back.
The family camped nearby while crews excavated the basement, popped the top and opened up the rear. The project was not for the faint-hearted. “At one point, you opened the front door and looked down into a pit and up into the rafters,” Dixon recalls. “It felt like swimming through mud.”
The original property encompassed 1,400 square feet on two floors. The renovation, completed in 2022, doubled the size of the house, including a new third floor and a full-basement apartment. The main level now offers a sitting room, bar and powder room in the original footprint, then explodes outward with a roomy, eat-in kitchen overlooking a revamped rear garden. The second floor boasts two bedrooms and two baths for the youngsters, plus a small lounge and laundry. The top story is devoted to an owners’ suite and workspace opening onto a front terrace for two. “Our favorite moment in the house,” says Teass, “is sitting on that porch in the morning.”
Though rooms are petite, skylights, strategically placed windows and ceilings that reach nine and a half feet create a spacious feeling. “We wanted to maximize every square inch,” says Dixon.
She is the one who first advocated for a net-zero home. “It all started with Liz asking, ‘Why don’t we add solar panels?’” recalls Teass. “That led to a deep dive into net-zero design principles.”
Aiming for parity between energy use and production involves a complex hierarchy of decisions, starting with minimizing the square footage to be heated and cooled. From there, photovoltaics combined with all-electric climate systems and appliances move toward the goal. City Renewables installed solar panels on the south-sloping roof. The couple opted for mini-split heat pumps on each floor, plus a heat pump water heater and an induction cooktop. Mechanicals are tucked into trusses and dropped ceilings where lower height isn’t an issue.
Few visible signs indicate this is a net-zero home, other than outrageously low electric bills. “From a cost perspective, we generated about $3,500 in income, while our electricity bill was about $700 in the first year,” Teass explains. “We try to produce as much as possible.”
To respect the neighborhood, the architects barely changed the front façade. The proportions of the original parlor, left intact, perfectly suit movie nights in front of a big screen. The former dining room, now the site of a bar and powder room, serves as entry to the main event one step down: a 15-by-22-foot kitchen extension, which beckons with a dramatic, eight-foot-long island and access to the garden through bifold glass doors.
The rear of the house is clad in charred cypress with oversized windows that maximize light. “We splurged on materials and scale here,” notes Dixon. “We wanted a presentable rear façade, not just the cheapest thing.”
Interiors are grounded in warm woods and a soothing palette of smoky hues. “Neither of us is enamored of a sleek, harsh, modern aesthetic in a home,” says Dixon. “Our goal was to make it feel like a lived-in house.”
Furnishings mix old and new, creating a relaxed environment that seems a world away from bustling DC. “We made a conscious decision to raise the kids in an urban environment,” Teass observes. “So we wanted our house to provide tranquility.”
No spot is more welcoming than the expansive kitchen, where the meticulously crafted staircase anchors one end and an inviting garden room the other. “This is the space we really live in,” Dixon confirms.
Adds Teass, “Having a wall of glass that captures the outdoor space is precious.”
Renovation Architecture: Will Teass, AIA, Teass\Warren Architects, Washington, DC; and Elizabeth
Dixon, AIA, LEED AP, Perkins Eastman, Washington, DC.
Drawing Board
Q&A with architects Will Teas and Liz Dixon
What’s your advice for clients aspiring to achieve net zero?
Teass: Solar panels are a starting point, but you can take an incremental approach. Replace a gas range with an induction cooktop and switch out a gas water heater for an electric one.
How do you make a narrow space feel more expansive?
Dixon: Height is critical; the idea is to take your perception away from the narrowness. In our row house, a step down into the kitchen, different cabinets on top and bottom and tall windows did the trick.
How do you select the right contractor for an innovative redo?
Teass: Make sure you’re working with someone who shares your vision. It’s important not to just present drawings and say, “Build this.” Get your contracting team on board during the design process and get them excited.