Portfolio: Modern Makeover MAY/JUNE 2012

After purchasing a condo in New York City’s Flatiron District, telecommunications executive Brian Gelfand decided to create a “modern, relaxing and enjoyable” home where he could kick back with friends. “My first idea was to decorate it myself but I quickly came to the realization that I wasn’t good at it,” he admits.

Next, he contacted family friends, DC-based designers Robert Cole and Sophie Prévost, whose contemporary interiors he admired. “I had seen their work in magazines and liked their style,” he says. “It’s modern but warm at the same time.”

Gelfand frequently travels for business to Bethesda, where he grew up, and was able to consult Cole and Prévost at their Dupont Circle offices. “He showed us pictures of what he liked—pieces with clean lines and neutral colors, but not ultra-modern,” recalls Prévost, who led the design effort. “He wanted a grown-up apartment, so we turned the condo into a sophisticated bachelor pad.”

Drawn to the Fifth Avenue property for its high ceilings, open plan and contemporary kitchen, Gelfand says the 1,613-square-foot unit is “a big improvement from where I had been living.” An office off the foyer allows him to work from home and the living/dining area provides enough room for entertaining. “My previous apartment was too small to allow for that,” he notes.

Part of Prévost’s charge was to find affordable furnishings within the 30-year-old homeowner’s budget of about $50,000, which is considered modest for most Washington designers. Prévost selected many pieces from Jesse Furniture, an Italian manufacturer that used to have a showroom at Tysons Corner Galleria. “They have a nice, clean look and aren’t that expensive,” says Gelfand of the company’s designs.

In the living room, simple, boxy sofas from Jesse are arranged to face a flat-screen TV mounted on a walnut wall system, also from the Italian manufacturer. The chevron-patterned rug was chosen for its graphic play on a men’s suiting pattern.

“It is important to have a good neutral core,” says Prévost of budget-conscious designs such as this one. “But make sure to invest in a few special ‘jewels.’ It is like wearing Gap with an Hèrmes scarf.” In the living room, the jewels are reproductions of classic modern designs—Isamu Noguchi’s Mid-Century coffee table, Hans Wegner’s three-legged shell chair and an Ingo Maurer lamp, which all stand out as sculptures within the pared-down décor.

Over the sofa, a brightly striped print by Washington Color School artist Gene Davis reminds Gelfand of his DC-area roots. “Artwork is available on all budgets, personalizes your space and gives it character,” says Prévost. “It takes work to find the right pieces, but is well worth it.”

To maintain the visual flow, the designer extended the living room’s pale colors and wood finishes into the dining area next to the open kitchen. White-upholstered Jesse chairs are pulled up to a glass-topped table with a wooden base, and arranged under a spidery chandelier left by the condo’s previous owner. A Peter Lik photograph of the Flatiron Building on one wall captures the namesake of the neighborhood where Gelfand now lives.

At the opposite end of the dining space, a large, round mirror and a Jesse console are mounted on a wall painted vibrant gold. “Paint is such a wonderful way to transform a space on a tight budget,” says Prévost. “In this apartment, it adds depth, glow and an unexpected splash of color to an otherwise neutral scheme.”

The designer emphasizes that an important part of this makeover was changing the lighting. A combination of recessed down-lights in the ceilings, table and floor lamps, and daylight from tall windows ensures the appropriate levels of brightness at all hours. “The fixtures do not have to be pricey—Home Depot has great selections—but they do need to be appropriately selected and judiciously placed,” advises Prévost.

In the master suite, two lamps and a rug from Room & Board accompany the Jesse bed. An Eames lounge chair and ottoman in the corner of the room offer a comfortable spot to relax. “Those were some of the few pieces I kept from my last place,” the owner says. “Otherwise, this apartment was a fresh start for me.”

Writer Deborah K. Dietsch is a frequent contributor to Home & Design. Photographer Timothy Bell has studios in New York City and Washington, DC.

INTERIOR DESIGN: SOPHIE PREVOST, ASID, principal in charge, ColePrévost, Inc., Washington, DC.

**Out of the array of interior design magazines, Home and Design magazine stands out as a primary idea source for luxury home designs.  Wonderful visuals of inspired décor and lush landscapes are combined with expert advice to provide a fundamental reference point for bringing amazing home interior design ideas to life.

Private Tour: Sophisticated Retreat MARCH/APRIL 2012

If Kate Bolduan had her way, her five-bedroom house would be decorated entirely in neutrals. “I would have done every room in gray, putty and raw wood,” she admits. Fortunately, the CNN congressional correspondent had the practical sense to hire Georgetown architect Jerry Harpole to remodel the home in the District’s Foxhall neighborhood and expand the palette. “He brought me out of my comfort zone,” says Bolduan, pointing to the red Murano glass lamps and illuminated bar sign in her living room. 

Harpole renovated the 1952 dwelling less than a year after it was purchased in 2010 by Bolduan and her husband Michael Gershenson, a real estate investor at The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. “We had enough time between when we bought the house and renovated to know what worked and what didn’t,” says Bolduan. The couple decided to completely overhaul the outdated kitchen and rejuvenate the living and dining rooms with new furnishings, lighting and paint to reflect their contemporary tastes. 

Embracing Bolduan’s favorite putty color as a starting point, Harpole created a low-key backdrop of neutral furniture and finishes, and spiced them up with vibrant artwork and unusual accessories. “The house is traditional but the homeowners aren’t. They wanted something simple, elegant and fresh,” says Harpole. “Our goal was to create a sophisticated retreat for them, a place they could go after busy days at their high-profile jobs.” 

No stranger to design, Bolduan worked at House & Garden magazine as an editorial intern during her student days at George Washington University. “That experience opened me up to the world of decorating styles,” says the Indiana native. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, Bolduan joined NBC to work as a production assistant in the network’s Washington, DC, bureau. Her first on-air job was at a local television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I was a local reporter covering anything and everything,” she says. “One of the major stories I was involved with was the Duke University lacrosse scandal.”

Bolduan joined CNN in 2007 as a national correspondent for CNN Newsource. She covered the 2008 Presidential election and a wide range of news stories, from the Minneapolis bridge collapse to landings of the retiring NASA space shuttle fleet.  As CNN’s congressional correspondent, Bolduan now reports on Capitol Hill’s hot-button issues and biggest names on a regular basis. She snagged exclusive interviews with President Barack Obama’s first stimulus plan watchdog, Earl Devaney, and Speaker of the House John Boehner following the final vote on the U.S. debt ceiling agreement.

In her own house, the CNN correspondent says she wanted “a nod to the modern and a nod to the classic” and made comfort a top priority. “We wanted a home where you aren’t afraid to sit on the sofa,” she says.

In the living room, the Room & Board sectional is upholstered in suede-like microfiber and strewn with brightly patterned pillows. Far more unexpected are the coffee table, which is fashioned from a teak tree trunk, and side tables made from polished aluminum, clear acrylic and faux animal horn. Pale armchairs are pulled up to a cowhide rug and a colorful photo of a diver by Debby Hymowitz hangs over the sofa. “The idea was to create an interesting collection of pieces that look like they might have been gathered over time,” says Harpole.

Since the house has no family room, the living area serves as a casual place to relax, entertain and watch the TV mounted over the fireplace. One end of the space opens to a screened porch that provides a tranquil getaway for dining and hanging out in spring weather. “Our work lives are so intense; we wanted our home to be calm and peaceful,” says Bolduan.

The couple often unwinds after work in the kitchen, where stained cherry cabinets and CaesarStone countertops evidence Bolduan’s beloved neutral shades. Stainless-steel appliances and glass-tile backsplash lighten the earth tones with shiny and light-reflective surfaces. 

At the room’s center, a nearly eight-foot-long island is encircled by a continuous strip of electrical outlets for easy plug-ins of coffeemaker, mixer and other gadgets. Custom cabinets extend to the adjacent breakfast room where a window was covered over to create a beverage center with pull-out refrigerator drawers and a wine cooler. 

Another simple but transformative move was to enlarge the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. “It really connected the two spaces so now we eat in the dining room all the time,” says Bolduan. The large wooden dining table can be fitted with several leaves for holiday dinners and velvet-upholstered chairs brought in from the living room to accommodate extra guests. 

A small room off the entrance foyer now serves as a cozy office for the couple. A large wooden desk provides enough work space for two and an acrylic wingback chair set on a zebra-patterned rug extends the playful mood from the nearby living room.

Given her unpredictable work schedule, Bolduan reviewed and selected many of the furnishings from photos on her Blackberry in between live shots on CNN. “I like decorating as you go,” she says. 

Throughout the house, high-end designs are mixed with affordable pieces purchased online from familiar retailers, including Home Decorators, Restoration Hardware and West Elm. Harpole added custom touches, such as a leather border around the living room’s woven sea grass rug, to make some of the furnishings more unique.

Next on the homeowners’ agenda is the renovation of the second floor. Bolduan says she will extend the look of the main level up to the master suite and guest bedrooms. As she explains, “Neutrals and pops of color will be used to achieve a balance of calm and comfort with a little bit of drama.” 

Deborah K. Dietsch is a frequent contributor to Home & Design. Bob Narod is a photographer in Herndon, Virginia.

RENOVATION DESIGN & INTERIORS: JERRY HARPOLE, Harpole Architects, Washington, DC. RENOVATION CONSTRUCTION: STAN SLUGA, Recon Construction, Fairfield, Pennsylvania.

**Out of the array of interior design magazines, Home and Design magazine stands out as a primary idea source for luxury home designs.  Wonderful visuals of inspired décor and lush landscapes are combined with expert advice to provide a fundamental reference point for bringing amazing home interior design ideas to life.

,span style="display:none;">Full Potential JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

Once ridiculed as “antipasto on the Potomac,” the Watergate complex designed by Italian architect Luigi Moretti has become one of Washington’s most respectable addresses. But its curvaceous 1960s architecture still poses design challenges for residents seeking to transform their outdated apartments for contemporary living.

Homeowners Rick Lincicome and Cheryl Flota found it took two renovations to realize the full potential of their Watergate residence. After buying the one-bedroom unit in 2000, the couple removed unwanted wallpaper and built-in bookcases, and updated the kitchen.

A more extensive remodeling followed a decade later under the direction of architects Jane Treacy and Phillip Eagleburger, and interior designer Ernesto Santalla. “Their collaboration brought fresh design ideas to the space,” says Lincicome, an architect who leads AECOM’s global practice. “They completely understand how to do residential architecture in terms of details and finishes.”

Treacy and Eagleburger began the project by embracing the rounded geometries of the Watergate. From outside the apartment, they extended the curving shape of the hallway into the foyer so the small space now bends into the heart of the interior. “The curve culminates in a large open room that we created by taking down walls to combine living, dining, sitting and kitchen,” says Treacy. “This space, in turn, directs the view to the Watergate courtyard and terrace outside.”

One of the attractions of this particular unit is its vast terrace just beyond the living space. Landscaped with a variety of potted plants, the aerie is nearly twice the size of the entire apartment and provides a generous platform for relaxing and entertaining.

Inside, the living area now extends from the terrace door to the kitchen and an adjoining nook for watching TV. The rear wall of the kitchen isn’t tiled or painted, but covered in boards made of recycled wood fiber, fly ash and cement. A row of fir cabinets stands out against the gray panels and white-lacquered drawers under the Corian countertops add more contrast. “I now enjoy cooking so much more,” says Flota. “The previous kitchen had very little counter space and storage, and very little connection to the rest of the apartment.”

To partially screen the kitchen from the living area, Treacy designed a higher-than-usual island that she nicknamed the “prairie dog unit.” Like the ground squirrels emerging from their burrows, the homeowners’ heads can be seen popping up from behind the four-and-a-half-foot-high unit as they prepare meals. “The tall island was a master stroke,” says Lincicome. “It creates privacy in the kitchen and a strong backdrop to the living room. It makes the space feel bigger and more inclusive.”

For his part, Santalla strengthened the architectural concepts in adding the final layer of furnishings and finishes. He took inspiration from the classic, architect-designed furniture already in the homeowners’ possession and combined select pieces from their collection with new designs. Both modern and contemporary furnishings share the same color palette to harmonize with the kitchen finishes previously chosen by the architects.

“A neutral color scheme allows sculptural objects, in this case iconic furniture, and artwork to stand out,” says the designer. “An element of contrast, such as a tone or a texture, adds richness to the palette.”

In the master bedroom, Santalla designed the bed frame with attached nightstands and upholstered the adjacent wall to create an oversized headboard. He created a television stand on the adjacent wall that allows the screen to swivel so it can be viewed from the bed or terrace.

A talented lighting designer, Flota has worked on projects ranging from illuminating Metrorail station canopies to the Hope diamond at the Smithsonian. She found that lighting her Watergate apartment was harder in some respects than her museum projects. “It was difficult to do because of the concrete ceilings,” she says. “You can’t recess the fixtures unless you drop another ceiling.”

Flota solved the problem by varying the lighting to fit the needs of each space. In the foyer, a row of fiber-optic fixtures reinforces the curve. Track lighting in the kitchen can be focused on countertops or walls, and a cable system in a hallway spotlights a niche for art. Paper lamps by Isamu Noguchi provide a soft glow in the bedroom.

Of all the renovation challenges facing the couple, one of the most problematic was deciding what to do with the original parquet floors in the living space. Santalla came up with the idea of staining the existing wood and extending the same dark tone to the terrace floor.

“Now the indoor and outdoor parts of the apartment are integrated to create an almost seamless space,” says Lincicome. “The design succeeds in realizing the promise of what the Watergate can be.”

Frequent contributor Deborah K. Dietsch is based in Washington, DC. Alan Karchmer is a photographer in Washington, DC. 

ARCHITECTURE: JANE TREACY and PHILLIP EAGLEBURGER, AIA, principals; DAVID FENCHEL, project manager, Treacy & Eagleburger Architects, Washington, DC. INTERIOR DESIGN: ERNESTO M. SANTALLA, AIA, LEED AP, principal; SPENCER G. McNEIL, designer, Studio Santalla Inc., Washington, DC. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: LILA FENDRICK, Lila Fendrick Landscape Architecture, Chevy Chase, Maryland.

**Out of the array of interior design magazines, Home and Design magazine stands out as a primary idea source for luxury home design and building/remodeling features.  Wonderful visuals of custom homes and eco-friendly resources are combined with expert advice to provide a fundamental reference point for bringing amazing home interior design and remodeling projects to life.

TRANQUIL OASIS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

Architect Jim Rill’s vision for renovating a modest rancher in Potomac, Maryland, came to fruition only after the house was sold. Rill had reconfigured the back of the home for a couple before they moved away; the new owners hired him back to undertake the remaining work.

The husband and wife who purchased the home are entrepreneurs who collect art and vintage cars, and frequently entertain out-of-town guests. The two initially viewed Rill’s redesign of the Potomac house as an opportunity to create a retreat where they could host their visitors.

“They asked us to create a sophisticated setting with lots of light and a connection to the outdoors,” says Rill. The Bethesda architect fulfilled the expectation by adding bays and dormers to the front of the house and opening the rooms at the rear to stone-paved terraces and a swimming pool surrounded by mature-growth woods. On approach, the house presents what he calls “European country style” with dark trim, overhanging shake roofs and a graceful portico.

Inside the house, Rill worked with Chevy Chase interior designer Jodi Macklin to create a calm setting through tailored furnishings and subdued colors. The quiet, mostly neutral décor serves as a backdrop for the owners’ collection of colorful paintings and sculptures. “The owners were coming out of a much darker, more traditional house,” says Macklin. “They wanted a change to a more contemporary design, but one that was livable—not cold.”

Throughout the renovated home, the architect’s attention to detail is evident in graceful moldings, wainscoting and trim, and rhythmic changes in ceiling heights. “Having such great bones,” says Macklin of the architectural detail, “helped me design the rooms.”

At the front of the house, Rill expanded the original living room to create a sunny, double-height space. Macklin did her part to maintain the airy feeling by choosing tête-à-tête seating instead of conventional sofas, and a glass-topped coffee table. A balcony off the upstairs hallway overlooks the room, providing a visual connection between the two stories. Pendant lights made from glass orbs hang from the ceiling to allow the view from the balcony to carry through the living space.

Rill enlarged the archway between the living and dining rooms so the two seamlessly flow together for entertaining. During social gatherings, drinks and hors d’oeuvres are served from a low, lacquered table set near the dining space. Within the heart of the dining room, armchairs covered in geometric-patterned upholstery are some of the more exuberant pieces in the house. They are pulled up to a round walnut table to create a compact setting that can be easily moved to accommodate larger social events.

Behind the dining space, the expanded kitchen adjoins a new breakfast room set into its own copper-roofed pavilion at the rear of the house. Steps lead down a half level from the kitchen to the spacious family room where velvet sofas offer a relaxing perch to view the television—hidden in an armoire—or soak up the heat from the massive stone fireplace. Rill designed the breakfast and family rooms for the previous owners, who had the ceilings faux-painted to resemble wood grain. “Having a well-used space on this level helps to sequence into the pool area and allows the living room to have more formality,” he explains.

Down the hall, the architect turned the former family room into a cozy library. He also added a new bathroom onto the master suite. “Jodi made the spaces more appealing for the new owners with a design that is tranquil and elegant,” says Rill.

On the second level, Macklin varied the guest rooms with different styles of furnishings, including a contemporary canopy bed. One of the bedrooms serves as the wife’s office, where the recess of a front dormer provides a place to curl up with a book. The husband’s office is housed over the garage, now used to store his collection of European sports cars.

Downstairs, the once-dingy walkout basement has been transformed into a sanctuary. A sitting area accessible from the lower pool terrace leads to a fir-paneled spa with a sauna, a steam shower, double sinks and plenty of towel storage. The centerpiece of the room is a sculptural soaking tub filled with water from a fixture in the ceiling.

While the reserved homeowners were initially hesitant to express a strong design direction, Rill and Macklin say their attitude began to change as the renovation progressed. “They grew to value our opinions and express their own,” says Macklin. “We found after a while that we were able to push the design a little bit. The owners weren’t afraid to be edgy.” She points to the unusual lattice-style wallpaper, handmade from pressed mulberry and bark fibers, that hangs in a hallway. “Only a handful of people would have gone with this design,” she notes.

By the time Rill and Macklin had completed the project, the homeowners decided to hire the duo to renovate a second home in Washington. Another fruitful collaboration is now underway.

Frequent contributor Deborah K. Dietsch is based in Washington, DC. Photographer Lydia Cutter splits her time between Washington and Las Vegas.

ARCHITECTURE: JIM RILL, AIA, principal; KAY KIM, project architect, Rill Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. INTERIOR DESIGN: JODI MACKLIN, principal; LAUREN SPARBER, designer, Jodi Macklin Interior Design, Chevy Chase, Maryland. CONTRACTOR: CONRAD ZINK, Zink Construction, Bethesda, Maryland. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: JAY GRAHAM, Graham Landscape Architecture, Annapolis, Maryland; CYNTHIA FERRANTO, Cynthia Ferranto Landscape Architecture, Washington, DC.

Modern Reinvention SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

The government official and his wife prefer their homes to be as progressive as their politics. Their weekend house on 100 acres near Fredericksburg, Virginia, is an unusual Art Moderne structure with glass-block bays and porthole windows. But while the streamlined residence met their immediate family needs, it didn’t offer places to view the nearby Rappahannock River or host their frequent overnight visitors. So they turned to Bethesda architect Mark McInturff, who had renovated their home outside of DC, to expand the country retreat.

McInturff added a new wing off the side of the 1930s house to provide guest suites and outdoor rooms, as well as more casual living spaces for the owners and their three daughters. His clean-lined design complements the older modern residence while punctuating its compact two stories with an exclamation mark formed by a guest suite atop a tall porch. “I was respectful of the existing house but treated the addition in a more abstract way,” says the architect. 

On the ground floor of the new wing, McInturff framed a kitchen and adjacent family room with unadorned walls of white-painted brick and steel windows to repeat elements of the original home. Metal and linoleum-covered cabinets, marble countertops and stainless-steel appliances update the streamlined Art Moderne look. A long, wooden dining table set with simple benches designed by McInturff is as spare as the architecture.

At the far end of the kitchen, the family room is raised on a wooden platform to create a cozy sitting area before the fireplace. The adjacent two-story screened porch is enclosed by louvers at the top and furnished with wicker chairs and a concrete-topped table to supply another living room in warm weather. A stone-paved patio set between the porch and existing house is well situated near the kitchen and dining spaces, and oriented to the river.

Upper-level guest rooms flank a sunny stair hall at the front of the new wing that incorporates glass bricks in the spirit of the original house. From a pair of suites on the second level, a narrower set of stairs leads to a third-floor bedroom under a barrel-vaulted, copper roof. The self-contained aerie opens to a small bathroom and a balcony facing the river. 

Several years after completing the addition, the couple decided to create “a getaway from their getaway,” as McInturff describes his latest design of a pool house and guest quarters situated between the house and the river. “It’s completely self-sufficient so visitors can stay here without the owners having to be around,” he explains of the building, completed in 2009 with help from project architect Colleen Gove Healey.

The largely open-air structure is sited next to an existing swimming pool that extends toward a bend in the Rappahannock below the property. Aligned with the edges of the pool, it is angled away from the house so its place within the landscape is accentuated. “We treated it in the spirit of 18th-century farm dependencies and summer kitchens where meals can be prepared outdoors,” says McInturff. However, far from being traditional, the pavilion is reduced to a skeletal structure of steel. Its white-painted brick piers harmonize with the main house. A cladding of îpe, a Brazilian hardwood, prevents the contemporary structure from appearing too cold.  

Next to the pool, a low fieldstone wall was preserved and used to divide the public and private parts of the new structure. A gap between the two portions, framed by the brick piers, marks the entranceway to the complex. 

The open part of the building extends from a wood-framed galley kitchen to face the pool. All the indoor conveniences are here, including a gas grill, a sink, a dishwasher and a refrigerator tucked under the concrete countertop. Along with the kitchen, a living-dining area stretching toward the water is raised on a wooden platform in much the same way as the family room is positioned in the addition. Furnishings include the lean modern chaise designed by Richard Schultz in the 1960s for Knoll. A row of the recliners along the bluestone-paved pool deck invites swimmers to stretch out just beyond a sunken hot tub at the edge of the living area.

Though unencumbered, the outdoor space is shaded from the sun by a slanted roof clad in îpe and stucco and supported by steel. This upturned canopy reaches across the two sides of the complex to direct the view toward the river. In the open-air living/dining area, timber louvers, resembling those of the home’s screened porch, extend under the roof to offer additional solar control. Hanging ceiling fans provide a breeze during hot summer days.

On the other side of the stone entrance wall, the enclosed portion of the structure is also covered in îpe and divided into two small pavilions. The section closest to the house offers a spacious outdoor shower screened by a stucco-clad, curved enclosure. An adjoining changing room is fitted with laundry facilities.

A small passageway separates this structure from the guesthouse, which offers access to a private garden and roof deck. Just inside the door to the suite is a powder room for pool-goers that can be closed off from the adjacent bedroom and bathroom. Rising up the side of the pavilion, a staircase leads to a deck overlooking the river.

Throughout the pavilions, the architecture is detailed with the utmost precision so its different elements are well connected and crisply expressed. “Fastidious” is how McInturff describes his design, pointing to recesses within the exposed steel beams that were fine-tuned to house stereo speakers. “More and more architects are interested in the skin of buildings,” he says, “but I’m more interested in the bones.” 

Frequent Home & Design contributor Deborah K. Dietsch is based in Washington, DC. Julia Heine is a photographer with McInturff Architects in Bethesda, Maryland.

ARCHITECTURE: MARK McINTURFF, FAIA; COLLEEN GOVE HEALEY, McInturff Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. CONTRACTOR: MURRAY BONITT, Bonitt Builders, Alexandria, Virginia. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: ROBERT NEUBAUER, Neubauer Consulting Engineers, Potomac, Maryland. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: GAY CROWTHER, GP Crowther & Associates, Annapolis, Maryland.

**Out of the array of interior design magazines, Home and Design magazine stands out as a primary idea source for luxury home design and building/remodeling features.  Wonderful visuals of custom homes and eco-friendly resources are combined with expert advice to provide a fundamental reference point for bringing amazing home interior design and remodeling projects to life.

A WOODED RETREAT JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT CREAMER

Baltimore real estate mogul Pat Turner of Turner Development Group has built a reputation over the past decade for turning neglected urban properties into stylish spaces designed to draw residents back into the city. He has converted structures as unusual as an old hospital and a 1920s grain elevator into contemporary lofts, both with the help of architect Christopher Pfaeffle of the Baltimore firm Parameter Inc.

“Chris is an extremely creative designer and he also has the ability to make his designs affordable,” says Turner. “He knows my taste.” So after the developer and his wife Jeanine purchased a home at auction on a heavily wooded site in Pikesville just outside the city, they tapped Pfaeffle to transform the shabby cottage into a modern dwelling that would be both sophisticated and practical.

The architect approached the assignment in much the same way he tackled his previous designs for Turner: “I look for existing elements that are important and give meaning to the project.” In this case, Pfaeffle preserved the stone chimneys and basement of the home, while demolishing most of the older structure to make way for a more spacious layout.

In cladding the building, he matched the fieldstone of the original house with stone from the same Baltimore quarry “so the line between old and new is indistinguishable.” The rough masonry walls are combined with smooth stucco planes and overhanging roofs to embrace outdoor spaces on every level and fuse the house to its natural surroundings. “We chose a dark color for the exterior because we wanted the architecture to disappear into the trees,” says Jeanine Turner, who is an artist and interior designer.

The intersecting planes of stucco and stone bring Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous house Fallingwater to mind, but in this case, they extend toward a swimming pool at the rear of the house. The couple keeps the pool open year-round to enjoy the watery vistas; their home’s geothermal heating system prevents the water from freezing. Further into the woods, a stream crosses the property and a pond attracts the local wildlife. “We get deer, foxes, possums, every animal imaginable,” says Pat Turner.

From inside the house, views of nature are unobstructed by large windows with intersecting glass panes at the corners and glazed doors opening to large decks. The living room, where the original stone fireplace remains intact, is flanked by a screened porch and a terrace with a raised fire pit.

“I set up the outdoor spaces like the rooms in the house,” says Pfaeffle. “They flow together and connect visually in a similar way to the interiors.”

The largest outdoor area extends off the lower-level media room to provide dining and living areas plus a kitchen with a grill tucked behind a slate-topped bar. Set into one side is the swimming pool with its shallow “beach” and shady “grotto” screened by a curtain of water. “My family calls this the Turner resort,” says Jeanine with a laugh. In designing the backyard retreat, Pfaeffle respected the landscape created by the home’s former owner, a horticulturist, by pulling back the pool’s edge to preserve several rare magnolia trees.

Inside the house, orchids and greenery found throughout the rooms testify to Jeanine’s green thumb. These plants and the couple’s extensive art collection provide most of the color on the home’s three levels. Concrete floors and furniture in neutral shades create a calm setting punctuated by walls finished in different textures.

Venetian plaster in the foyer forms a soft backdrop to the staircase crisply outlined in steel railings, one of several details in the house forged by Baltimore custom metalworker Matt Ludwig. Ceramic tile and metal panels reflect the light from the dining room fireplace, which is set into a chimney preserved from the former house.

Pfaeffle configured the main level so the kitchen extends along the front and the large living room faces the wooded views at the back. The two spaces only partially open to one another while the dining area is sequestered in its own cozy room to one side of the kitchen.

A stainless-steel-clad island, granite countertops and breakfast bar in the kitchen provide plenty of room for the couple to prepare for the frequent parties they throw. Jeanine Turner selected the appliances with the help of John Walsh, executive chef of Chef’s Expressions, a local catering company.

Overnight guests have their choice of three bedroom suites on the lower level next to the media room or an upper level apartment with its own entrance. Recent visitors include Tennessee artist John Henry who is creating a 236-foot-high metal sculpture for Turner’s proposed Westport Waterfront, a community on the Middle Branch, Baltimore’s southern gateway. A small model of the artwork sits on the kitchen counter while other rooms feature Jeanine’s paintings and photos of the grain silos transformed into the luxury Silo Point condominiums by her husband. These tokens serve as reminders of Turner’s efforts to revive the industrial parts of Charm City that, compared to his home’s sylvan setting, seem a world away.

Frequent contributor Deborah K. Dietsch is based in Washington, DC. Robert Creamer is a Baltimore-based photographer.

ARCHITECTURE: CHRISTOPHER PFAEFFLE, AIA, Parameter Inc., Baltimore, Maryland. CONTRACTOR: TOM GAINES, Hencken & Gaines, Cockeysville, Maryland.

Tradition with a Twist

Sounds of banging hammers and buzzing saws greet this visitor to Phillips Park, a 46-lot development taking shape off Foxhall Road in DC. Most of the luxury homes planned for this former estate of philanthropists Marjorie and Duncan Phillips are under construction or have yet to break ground. So discovering the house completed by interior designer Skip Sroka and his partner of 21 years John Kammeier, a fashion executive, comes as a pleasant surprise.

Their two-story home is only the fourth to be occupied in Phillips Park and its simple design could well serve as a model for the community. Sitting comfortably on the lot, the H-shaped dwelling is arranged with a forecourt and a patio set between side wings. “We didn’t want a pretentious house, but one that blended into the background,” says Sroka. “We call it our ‘new old house.’”

The traditional design was created by architect Anne Decker, who previously collaborated with Sroka on several projects. “I admired the restrained dignity of her exteriors and felt comfortable in the quiet proportions of her rooms,” he says.

Decker responded to the site by combining elements inspired by older homes in the surrounding area. “Skip wanted a house that spoke to the neighborhood so we used the simple roof lines and predominant materials—brick, stone and slate—of those houses,” she explains.

The architecture also embraces the green building trend through environmentally friendly materials and systems. Synthetic slate made of recycled rubber and plastic covers its hipped roofs; sprayed-on foam insulates the walls; and geothermal energy from deep within the ground heats and cools the rooms.

Sroka, in turn, worked with Decker and project architect David Benton to ensure a seamless integration between exteriors and interiors. He detailed the front door and its neoclassical setting before moving indoors to complete the décor. “There was a good team effort on the project,” says Decker. “Skip is amazing at making decisions very quickly.”

For Sroka and Kammeier, the design process was made easier by their experience in renovating a 1940s residence in the nearby Kent neighborhood. That effort was undertaken only a few years before they purchased the Phillips Park parcel in 2006. “We thought that was our ‘forever’ house,” recalls Sroka of the remodeled Colonial once owned by newsman Edward R. Murrow (and featured in the September/October 2009 issue of Home & Design). “But buying this flat, deep lot allowed us to build a house with fewer levels and a pool.”

Inside the new house, Sroka integrated favorite features from his last home into a more efficient arrangement of rooms. Evident throughout are European influences filtered through his traditional-with-a-twist sensibility, as well as some experiments with geometric patterns. “My home is my design laboratory,” notes Sroka, whose meticulous detailing is particularly apparent in gracefully proportioned doorways and wall paneling.

Just off the foyer, the library is lined in alder wood and faux leather to conceal pull-out desks and cabinets cleverly hidden behind the paneling. Most of the furnishings, including a durable chenille sofa, are recycled from the couple’s previous house.

The cozy space opens to the most dramatic room in the house, a high-ceilinged living room centered on a baronial fireplace. Flanking the cast concrete mantelpiece are French doors opening to the patio and swimming pool. “When we had friends over in our old house, there was always a conundrum as to whether to use the living room or family room, so we eliminated one of them and simply have one big room,” explains Sroka.

Instead of buying new furniture, he removed the slipcovers from sofas and chairs to expose the light-colored upholstery and create an airy look. Greek key motifs on the mirror over the fireplace and a coffee table complement the geometric border in the rug. In one corner of the room, Baroque-inspired wall paneling opens to reveal a full bar with a sink, refrigerator and shelving. “We like to entertain in this room and it’s handy to have it built into the space,” says Kammeier.

The couple carved out a formal dining space between the living room and kitchen. Wallpapered in a Chinoiserie design, it centers on a blue-glass-accented chandelier purchased in Paris. Everyday meals are enjoyed in the spacious kitchen where built-in shelving displays Sroka’s collection of vintage McCoy pottery. Like the rest of the house, the practical space conveys a casual elegance through its oak floor, marble countertops and Art Deco chandelier.

A trellised, screened porch behind the kitchen provides another dining spot and a place to enjoy views of the backyard. District landscape designer Marion Oxford Dearth planted the garden with white-blossoming irises, azaleas and other species chosen for their light-reflective flowers. Grass growing between travertine pavers creates a graphic pattern of diagonal lines around the pool.

“This is my retreat on the weekends, a place to recharge my batteries,” says Kammeier, who works in New York and often travels to Milan for business. He and Sroka made sure their light-filled house offered plenty of places to unwind, including a soaking tub flanked by bookshelves in the master bathroom—an arrangement they also enjoyed in their previous house. An adjacent lounge provides a spot to watch TV, away from visiting friends and family who have their pick of three guest rooms, each with its own bathroom.

Since moving into the house last year, the couple has found its interconnected spaces better suited to their habits than any of their previous homes. “We love old houses, but don’t want the problems associated with them,” says Sroka. “We feel this house is a wonderful synthesis of beautiful things from the past for our lives now.” 

Deborah K. Dietsch is a frequent contributor to Home & Design. Photographer Stacy Zarin Goldberg is based in Olney, Maryland.

ARCHITECTURE: ANNE Y. DECKER, AIA, design principal; DAVID BENTON, project architect; Anne Decker Architects, Bethesda, Maryland. 

INTERIOR DESIGN: SKIP SROKA, ASID, Sroka Design Inc., Bethesda, Maryland. Landscape Design: MARION OXFORD DEARTH, Washington, DC. BUILDER: JIM GIBSON, Gibson Builders, Washington, DC.

A FAMILY AFFAIR
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009

Norah O'Donnell and Geoff Tracy relax at their limestone topped kitchen island.

It's no surprise that the kitchen is the heart of the Wesley Heights home shared by chef Geoff Tracy and his wife, Norah O'Donnell, chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC. "We spend 98 percent of our time in here—watching TV, feeding the kids, drinking wine," says Tracy, leaning against the limestone-topped island.

As the cook in the family, Tracy had carte blanche to create the space of his dreams. He runs two eponymous eateries, one near American University and the other in downtown Washington, plus Lia's in Chevy Chase. Tracy also has plans to open another Chef Geoff's in Tysons Corner by mid-2009.

In the remodeled 1932 house the couple bought in 2005, the tranquil décor is a complete contrast to their hectic lives as working parents of three young children. In 2007, they became proud parents of twins Henry and Grace, and in July they welcomed daughter Riley to the family. Despite her busy schedule covering the presidential campaigns for MSNBC and serving as a contributing correspondent for NBC's top-rated "Today" program, O'Donnell didn't skip a beat. "I took seven weeks off after Riley was born and then went right to the [Democratic and Republican] conventions," she says.

The couple remodeled their center-hall Colonial thinking it would be a home for just the two of them, but it has proven to be spacious enough for family life. Tall doorways and five-inch-wide oak plank floors connect the living and dining rooms with the kitchen to create an easy flow around the staircase. Furnishings blend into the light bluish-gray walls and gray taffeta draperies so nothing jars the eye. "It's a soothing place to be," says Tracy.

The pale-on-paler look is the signature of Washington designer Frank Babb Randolph, who met O'Donnell several years ago while she was house-hunting in Georgetown. "We have the same aesthetic—no tschotkes or clutter. I like traditional décor as well as clean, unfussy lines but I didn't know how to translate that combination into a design," O'Donnell says.

The news correspondent had not worked with a designer before and admits she was "a bit intimidated" by the idea of consulting Randolph, who decorated the vice presidential mansion for Dick and Lynne Cheney. But the two immediately hit it off and began shopping for smaller-scale furnishings suited to the four-bedroom home. "It doesn't have the larger proportions of a house in Potomac or McLean," notes O'Donnell. "So we had to be really discerning in our choices. A good designer brings discipline to the project."

Randolph made the interiors appear larger by removing built-in bookcases and china cabinets, and raising the height of the doorways. "We practically gutted the house," he recalls. But streamlining the architecture wasn't the only trick he used to establish the feeling of expansiveness. "We kept the materials and colors consistent throughout and made sure the furniture was in proportion to the scale of the rooms."

In the living room, Randolph replaced the fireplace mantel with a lower, simpler design to make way for a starburst mirror found on a trip to Boston. He created a seating area in front of the hearth by grouping brocade-upholstered armchairs and vintage ceramic garden stools around an ottoman of his own design.

On the back wall, a tufted sofa covered in a durable, indoor-outdoor fabric is paired with a refurbished coffee table from the couple's previous row house.
"We recycled some of the furniture they already had to different rooms," says Randolph, pointing to the sofa in the study, now revived in hand-painted linen.
Artwork in the rooms was chosen to complement the light colors of the fabrics and wall paint. In the living room, two abstract paintings flanking the doorway to the study were commissioned from Georgetown artist David Bell. A pair of late 18th-century pastoral reliefs above the sofa adds a patina of age to the newly furnished room. "It took a leap of faith on my part to buy them," notes O'Donnell of the peeling plaster pieces.

Across the foyer, the dining room extends the symmetry and subtle color scheme. Randolph-designed Klismos chairs encircle a round mahogany table in front of the French doors leading out to the garden. Mirrors on both sides of the doors reflect the light and views.

To make the space feel larger, Randolph intentionally left out a rug and a ceiling light fixture. "Even the most beautiful chandelier would not enhance such a small room," he says.

Next to the dining space, the kitchen was doubled in size by designer Karen Hourigan of Kitchen and Bath Studios. She collaborated with Tracy to organize preparation, cooking and clean-up areas and unify them with white-painted cabinets and limestone counters. Across from the seven-foot-long island, a leftover, six-inch-deep space on mirrored backsplashes reflect light from windows and skylights flanking the cooktop. Electrical outlets are hidden in the cabinets to maintain a clutter-free look.

Chef Geoff, of course, picked out all the appliances and, inspired by a Food Network show, inserted a slot in the countertop for his knives. O'Donnell leaves most of the cooking to her husband, but has recently expanded her culinary skills from making banana bread and BLTs to roasting chicken with vegetables. The couple is now collaborating on a cookbook of recipes for infants, based on homemade purées they make for their baby.

A prep sink is set into the island with a view to the window across the room.

one wall was turned into a pantry with floor-to-ceiling shelves.

So how do their pale, elegant rooms survive the messes of three young children? "The house isn't always picture perfect," admits O'Donnell. "Accessories get moved high up on the mantel when the kids are around. But it is surviving pretty well."

Reflecting on the six-month effort it took to remodel their house, the couple maintains their decision to hire Randolph and Hourigan saved them money in the long run. "Karen found us space we thought we didn't have. Frank prevented us from buying furniture that was too big or too small," says Tracy. "A good designer is totally worth it."

Washington, DC-based Deborah K. Dietsch
is author of  Live/Work: Working at Home, Living at Work.
Interior Design: Frank Babb Randolph,
Frank Babb Randolph Interior Design, Washington DC. Kitchen Design: Karen Hourigan, Kitchen and Bath Studios, Chevy Chase, Maryland. 

Tracy cooks on a viking range set between two skylights. More light is reflected by the mirrored backsplashes. Outlets are tucked under the painted cabinets to reduce clutter. The leather Allegro stools are from Design Within Reach.

In the living room, Frank Babb Randolph redesigned the fireplace mantel to accommodate a starburst mirror. Armchairs from John Rosselli are upholstered in Summerhill brocade and paired around an ottoman designed by Randolph for David Iatesta.

The late 18th-century plaster reliefs purchased from Georgetown antiques dealer Marston Luce are mounted above a Baker sofa covered in a DeLany & Long outdoor fabric.

In the dining room, the "Minoan" chairs designed by Randolph for David Iatesta are clustered around a mahogany table. Mirrors from Niermann Weeks flank French doors leading to the garden. The painting of Key Bridge is by Washington artist Robert Rea.