Beyond the arch, the dining area looks onto the backyard through custom doors painted Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke.
When a young family bought a Queen Anne row house on Capitol Hill, they found a literal cornucopia of period details: Plasterwork featuring pea pods, flowers and corn cobs were among the interior’s perfectly preserved treasures. The kitchen, however, offered a different kind of time capsule. Situated at the rear of the house, “it had plastic laminate cabinets and a blue 1980s glazed tile backsplash; it felt very DIY,” relays project architect Nicholas Potts. Flipping the location of the dining room and kitchen made the cook space feel more like the heart of the home. A deep, paneled archway connects the two spaces and artfully conceals a new powder room.
The owners, an advertising executive and a writer, initially thought they’d paint the space green, the wife’s favorite color. But, according to Potts, “it was feeling cave-like, so we started leaning toward warmer tones,” landing on Farrow & Ball’s Tailor Tack. An oversized Carrara and Bardiglio marble floor makes the space read larger, while vintage Czech flush mounts and a mid-century orbital pendant telegraph an elevated eclecticism. A sunny yellow larder and green custom doors on the back of the house, crafted by a Vermont artisan and family friend, only add to the kitchen’s one-of-a-kind character.
PROJECT TEAM
Architecture & Kitchen Design: Nicholas Potts, AIA, Nicholas Potts Studio. Contractor: Impact Construction. Styling: Kristi Hunter.
KITCHEN DETAILS
Cabinets: bremtown.com. Larder & Rear Windows: arcadiarestorations.com. Floor: artistictile.com. Range: agarangeusa.com through abwappliances.com. Refrigerator: liebherr.com through adu.com. Plumbing: houseofrohl.com.