After raising four kids in a sleepy Chevy Chase, Maryland, enclave, Jodi Macklin was ready for city living on a smaller scale. When her youngest went off to college, the designer approached a real estate agent: “Find me a dump in Georgetown,” she requested.
A year later, the agent delivered with an 1890 row house that had just been gutted in the heart of the venerable DC neighborhood. “I opened the door and there was literally no drywall and barely any floor. I texted my husband, ‘We’re done,’” Macklin laughs. “We hadn’t looked or really even talked about moving yet!”
With buy-in from a surprised Rodd Macklin, a financial analyst, the designer was ready to go; she’d always envisioned doing her next house from the ground up, and this was her chance. “I didn’t want to pay for someone else’s kitchen that I didn’t like but they’d just done,” she explains. “I wanted to do it all myself.”
A dream team was quickly assembled for the job. Architect Anne Decker had worked with Macklin on numerous projects, while builder Richard Zantzinger had constructed her previous house. Campion Hruby Landscape Architects would tackle the dilapidated yard. As Macklin tells it, she’d been planning this project for years. “I knew what I wanted before I ever saw the house,” she avers.
“Jodi’s view was modern, and we love that juxtaposition of old and new,” Decker relates. “We distilled the body of the house to simplify its lines and bring the outside in. And we tried to create a grander scale. We wanted the house to live larger than it is.”
Now complete, the 2,800-square-foot dwelling features an open-plan, main-floor living/dining area elevated by 11-foot ceilings. A wide, cased opening to the kitchen with pocket doors delineates the spaces while fostering easy flow and sightlines to the backyard. Interior doors extend to the ceiling. A reveal replaced traditional baseboards; doors and windows are unadorned by trim.
Natural light pours in via a skylight above the sculptural, glass-and-white oak stair. Floor-to-ceiling, glass-and-steel doors in the kitchen spill out to the backyard. A four-and-a-half-by-nine-foot panel of glass in the dining area overlooks the side garden. “We took a big bite out of the wall to bring light into the heart of the house,” the architect explains. The glass expanse frames an up-lit magnolia nestled in pea gravel for a picturesque tableau.
Macklin envisioned a kitchen outfitted with black cabinetry and dramatic swaths of Nero Marquina marble—black with strong swirls of white—for the countertops and backsplash. “Black was the perfect choice,” enthuses Decker, who designed the space with marble-framed niches for the sink and range. “The walls recede and your eye immediately goes out to the back.” The palette continues in the moody powder room, clad in textured, black wallpaper.
A staircase with a landing was removed in favor of a stairway that runs straight up, making room on the second floor for a spare guest room. The serene primary bedroom flows into a luxe bath, which Macklin calls “a little slice of heaven.” It boasts a frosted glass-enclosed shower and a custom vanity. Nero Marquina marble adorns the floor and vanity. An ensuite bedroom across the hall awaits their son’s visits from college.
The existing basement was small and dark, with low ceilings. An extensive excavation created a welcoming lower level that utilizes the whole footprint. Media, laundry and guest rooms, plus a bathroom and exercise zone, are part of the mix.
When it came to furniture and finishes, Macklin channeled her minimalist design philosophy. “I gravitate towards ‘less is more,’” she says. “It makes me feel like I can breathe.” She and Decker repeated the same color and material elements throughout—white oak floors and Nero Marquina marble, which crops up again as a sleek surround on twin fireplaces in the living and dining areas. A palette of black, white and gray on the main level is warmed by earthy accents on upholstery and rugs. The designer bought everything new for this fresh chapter, from the white sofa and swivel chairs in the living area to the velvet-upholstered dining chairs.
On the main level, four mirrored cabinets designed by Decker and fabricated by Atrium Interiors ingeniously solve home-organization issues. “Thanks to Anne, I have a lot of storage in a house that has no closets,” Macklin declares. Each freestanding unit plays a unique role: a coat closet, a TV cabinet, a walnut-paneled bar.
Landscape architect Amber Phaire, who has since left Campion Hruby to launch her own firm, mirrored the home’s clean lines in her backyard design. “The lot jogs out sideways to meet the footprint of the garage,” she recalls. “This configuration created an upper dining terrace beside the garage and a lower rear terrace by the back door.” In the side yard, ornamental trees nestle in pea gravel. Hardscape and plantings balance airiness and warmth.
These days, Macklin is enjoying her downsized abode, perfectly tailored to her vision. “I’m so happy here,” she says. “Our previous house had gotten too big. In this one, we use every inch.”
Renovation Architecture: Anne Y. Decker, AIA, principal; Amanda Mosher, AIA, project manager, Anne Decker Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. Interior Design: Jodi Macklin, Jodi Macklin Interior Design, Washington, DC. Renovation Builder: Richard Zantzinger, Zantzinger, Inc., Washington, DC. Landscape Architecture: Amber Phaire, ASLA, PLA, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Landscape Contractor: Somerset Stoneworks, Bethesda, Maryland.
RESOURCES
THROUGHOUT
Stonework: imaginesurfaces.com through rbratti.com.
DINING ROOM
Light: siemonandsalazar.com. Chairs: cuffstudio.com. Chair Fabric: hollyhunt.com. Dining Table & Fireplace Surround: Custom through oldtownwoodworking.com. Art on Walls: robinroseart.com; cushnerama.com. Mirrored Cabinets: Custom through atrium-interiors.com.
LIVING ROOM
Sofa: custom through gretcheneverett.com. Rug: interiors.hollandandsherry.com. Club Chairs: aneesupholstery.com. Coffee Table: atrium-interiors.com. Side Table: andriannashamarisinc.com. Fireplace Surround: oldtownwoodworking.com. Art on Walls: colbycaldwell.com; andyfriedman.net. Mirrored Cabinets: Custom through atrium-interiors.com.
STAIRWELL
Art: ellsworthkelly.org.
KITCHEN
Cabinets, Millwork & Island Stone: atrium-interiors.com. Counter Stools: bakerfurniture.com. Light over Island: apparatusstudio.com.
POWDER ROOM
Sink: atlasplan.com/en-us. Faucet: brizo.com through build.com. Sconces: articolostudios.com. Wallcovering: gregoriuspineo.com.
GUEST BEDROOM
Bed: roomandboard.com. Bed Linens: matouk.com. Pillow Fabrics: romo.com; fabricut.com. Bedside Table: crumpandkwash.com. Hanging Reading Light: alisonbergerglassworks.com.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
White Boucle Chair: suiteny.com. White Boucle Chair Fabric: romo.com. Window Treatments Fabrication: gretcheneverett.com. Window Treatment Fabric: otistextiles.com. Wall Reading Sconces: apparatusstudio.com.
PRIMARY BATHROOM
Soaking Tub: signaturehardware.com through fergusonhome.com. Sconces: articolostudios.com. Vanity: gilmerkitchens.com.
BACKYARD
Sitting Area: tribu.com. Dining Table & Chairs: dedon.de/en-us; janusetcie.com. Exterior Paint: Iron Ore by sherwin-williams.com.
