As a savvy business executive, Adam Cohen knew to jump on the listing for a prime, quarter-acre property in Bethesda, though the house was far from perfect. It had begun life in 1927 as a Colonial and was later reinvented as a bold, modern dwelling. “I loved the location, I liked the square footage of the great room and bedroom—and I hated everything else,” Cohen recalls. “So, I bought it the same day, and said, ‘I’ll figure it out.’”

The prior, 2006 renovation to the two-story abode had doubled its living space to 6,350 square feet and raised the ceilings to 12 feet. The center hall layout at the front was unaltered behind a plaster-and-glass façade. A rear addition created a glass-walled great room topped with a primary suite—but the proportions of the old front parlor, stair hall and dining room remained the same.

Before moving into the five-bedroom, six-bath residence with his young son, the dad tapped architect Colleen Healey, whose eponymous Washington studio is known for contemporary architecture, to devise an intervention. Builder Added Dimensions was enlisted before drawings were complete. “I wanted the house to be contemporary but not cookie-cutter,” Cohen explains. “I wanted it to feel unique.”

Healey’s mandate began at the front door and continued to the back. “The previous owners had done a massive addition on the rear, but it was very different from the front part of the house, which was super dark,” she explains. The architect proposed casting off Colonial confines, opening front rooms to daylight and making the main floor flow. The center hall had to go. As she recounts, “I told Adam I wanted to slice down the middle of the center hall, pull out the stair and weave the whole space back together in a lighter, articulated structure.”

Today, the interior is a smoothly functional venue for living and entertaining, imbued with natural light and dressed in blackened steel, leathered stone, shimmering glass and glowing expanses of ipe. The combination of spare architecture, jewel-toned Italian furnishings and artful lighting creates an effect that is warm and cool at the same time.

On a recent morning, the architect stood in the transformed front hall under an armature of white-painted steel that supports a floating, white oak staircase. Reversing the stair’s direction added height to the foyer; at the top, a glass-railed bridge leads to the primary suite. All but one of the original hall walls have been eliminated, along with steps to the lower level that were made redundant by a new staircase in the great room. Space gained around the stairs added to the size of the entry hall. To the right of the front door, the remaining wall, shared with the dining room, is wrapped in ipe.

To guide daylight through the house, Healey redesigned the front entry as a two-story grid of glass and wood. Punching an opening in the existing rear chimney wall established a sightline through the entry to the great room. The remnant of chimney wall below the opening frames a new fireplace painted to mimic blackened steel; it became a statement feature.

Working with Boffi | DePadova Georgetown, Healey revamped the open kitchen, which anchors one end of the great room. A graphic palette of light and dark prevails, with dark-gray cabinets and a tiled backsplash installed up to the 12-foot ceiling. Island cabinets have a metallic-gray sheen. The countertops are inky, leathered quartzite. Appliances disappear into the architecture.

By contrast, the wall of the great room opposite showcases a multi-hued work by Sam Gilliam, the late Washington Color School master. Relaxed seating from B&B Italia is ready for entertaining. The homeowner points to a prized overhead projector. “Colleen didn’t want it because it isn’t pretty,” recalls Cohen, who enjoyed the back-and-forth of the design process. “But we hid it pretty well.”

Borrowing space from the entry hall, Healey turned the former parlor into a lounge with a dropped ceiling to accommodate lighting and sound equipment. An existing fireplace is set in a marble surround. An adjacent office became a powder room with a pillar of marble for a sink.
Upstairs, Healey and staff designer Casey Meyer converted a primary dressing room into a sitting area, reducing its shared wall with the bedroom to a low partition that holds a two-sided fireplace and a pop-up swivel television. The primary bath was upgraded with a heated-stone floor, a freestanding tub set against a basalt-tiled wall and a steam shower clad in Haisa Blue marble. Relocating a spare bathroom improved the arrangement of secondary bedrooms that house Cohen’s son, guests and a gym. A lower-level suite used by the housekeeper was unchanged.

Fine Earth Landscape designer Ann Canning Schruben faced her share of challenges with the owner’s request for a patio, spa, pool and plantings—and only 54 square feet to put it all in. “It was like a puzzle,” she admits.

In key ways, smaller interventions contributed the biggest impact. A poolside breakfast room was added facing the reinvented backyard; its glass pocket doors, skylights and heated porcelain floors make it a year-round hangout. And a simple alteration “totally changed the front of the house,” says the architect. A grove of gingko trees partially conceals the existing façade, while Healey’s central spine of wood slats warms up the welcome.

Renovation Architecture & Interior Design: Colleen Healey, AlA, principal; Casey Meyer, staff designer, Colleen Healey Architecture, Washington, DC. Kitchen Design: Boffi | DePadova Georgetown, Washington, DC. Renovation Contracting: Added Dimensions, Inc., Takoma Park, Maryland. Landscape Design: Ann Canning Schruben, Fine Earth Landscape, Poolesville, Maryland.

RESOURCES

THROUGHOUT
Windows: thesanderscompany.com. Terrace Lounges: cb2.com. Lounge Fabric: sunbrella.com.

PORCH/BREAKFAST ROOM
Table: roveconcepts.com. Chairs: stua.com through vitra.com/en-us. Flooring: stonesource.com.

LIVING AREA
Light Fixtures: camerondesignhouse.com through illuminc.com. Sofas: roche-bobois.com. Chairs: bebitalia.com/en-us. Ottoman: camerichusa.com. Drink Table: m2l.com. Rug: coecarpetandrug.com. Art: Sam Gilliam. Paint: Super White by benjaminmoore.com. Fireplace Surround: twindiamonds.com.

KITCHEN
Cabinetry: boffi.com. Countertops: marblesystems.com. Stools: modloft.com. Island Pendants: davidegroppi.com/en-us through illuminc.com. Appliances: mieleusa.com through abwappliances.com. Sink Faucets: phylrich.com through unionhardware.com. Backsplash: salvatoriofficial.com.

HALLWAY
Stair: Metal Specialties; 301-421-1832. Stair Installation: addeddimensionsinc.com.

DINING ROOM
Light Fixture: davidegroppi.com/en-us through illuminc.com. Table: rh.com. Chairs: cassina.com. Paint: Knoxville Gray by benjaminmoore.com.

FAMILY ROOM
Green Sofa & Side Chairs: cassina.com. Fireplace Surround: marblesystems.com. Cocktail Table: glasitalia.com. Rug: coecarpetandrug.com.

PRIMARY BATH
Cabinetry Design: healeyarchitecture.com. Cabinetry Fabrication: mersoa.com. Tub Wall Tile: architessa.com. Lighting: bocci.com through illuminc.com. Shower Wall, Sink Wall & Countertop: marblesystems.com.

PRIMARY BEDROOM
Fireplace: sparkfires.com. TV AV: dcpowerhouse.com. Chair: dwr.com.