Backyard Aerie McHale Landscape Design revamps a McLean property for year-round living See More...

Al Fresco Oasis Pristine Acres blends form and function in a stylish backyard retreat See More...

Fire + Water Ed Ball Designs crafts a backyard oasis that beckons in the colder months See More...

Ed Ball Designs devised a multi-use backyard in Great Falls, with spaces intended for year-round enjoyment. A covered deck and heated spa and pool beckon, while a gas-fueled fire table and separate wood-burning fire pit provide alternatives for gathering well into the off-season.

“A pool at the heart of the design offers a ‘vacation-at-home’ feel,” says principal Ed Ball. Multiple living areas, including lower and upper decks, are an extension of the home’s indoor spaces.

DESIGN FEATURES

• Retaining walls are made of veneer Western Maryland fieldstone, complemented by Techo-Bloc pavers and wall caps
• Seasonal interest comes from mass plantings of crape myrtle, flowering shrubs and perennials
• A built-in kitchen features a grill, integrated fridge and granite countertop
• The raised, heated spa, situated near the fire table, offers another option for enjoying the outdoors into the colder moths

Ed Ball Designs
At Ed Ball Designs, we create transformative landscapes that seamlessly blend disparate natural elements while creating bespoke designs that fulfill clients’ needs. Our design goals revolve around nurturing well-being, tranquility and joy in every project.
edballdesigns.com
703-433-1863

Masterminded by Pristine Acres, a three-acre property in Leesburg, Virginia, became a destination for homeowners who love the outdoors and wanted to be able to enjoy their yard year-round. The plan centered on a freeform swimming pool and custom waterfall with a natural boulder surround. Elements that address cool-weather needs include a pavilion equipped with a fireplace and kitchen; a natural-boulder fire pit; and a covered golf simulator. Beneath the deck, a sauna beckons, with a cold plunge for heat and cooling therapy.

DESIGN FEATURES

• Silver travertine, flagstone and natural building stone comprise the hardscape
• Built structures include a raised deck, a pavilion with an outdoor kitchen and fireplace and a covered, outdoor golf simulator
• A variety of deciduous and evergreen plant materials creates structure, with grasses and perennials to soften the palette
• A kitchen features traditional and EVO grills, fridges, a wine chiller, a trash drawer and storage

Pristine Acres
At Pristine Acres, we are passionate about what we do. Something unique happens when a special design is paired with construction executed at the highest level; that feeling is what we strive for in our work.
pristineacres.com

Homeowners in McLean tasked McHale with an overhaul that would create outdoor living spaces suitable for at least three seasons. The existing deck was upgraded and enlarged, with a portion of it screened; staircases at each end connect to a kitchen and living area installed beneath. An adjacent gas fireplace is a cozy gathering spot for the cooler months.

New patios, walkways, retaining walls, a putting green, drainage systems, lawn areas, plantings, and irrigation and lighting systems all enhance the outdoor experience year-round.

DESIGN FEATURES

• Porcelain pavers, Pearl River building stone and premium flagstone wall caps and hearth
• Hydrangea, crape myrtle, boxwood and Green Giant arborvitae
• Custom kitchen cabinetry made of synthetic lumber and topped with quartzite
• A gas fireplace with stone exterior hand-chiseled in a horizontal ashlar pattern. Cap and hearth are two-inch, gauged, thermal Pennsylvania flagstone

McHale Landscape Design
McHale Landscape Design is a residential landscape design-build firm. Our educated, experienced, passionate staff of designers, masons, carpenters and landscape technicians implements the highest standard of craftsmanship, from concept to impeccable creation and aftercare.
mchalelandscape.com
301-599-8300

Industrial Light Two riverfront baths celebrate nature See More...

Getaway at Home A modern bath rocks a hotel vibe See More...

Peaceful Vibe Japandi style rules in a serene spa See More...

A hint of nature breezes through Sophia Belkin’s urban studio in a graffiti-bedecked warehouse in Baltimore’s Station North neighborhood. As overhead fans turn one end-of-summer day, Belkin’s fabric collages seem to drift across the all-white walls. Within these artworks, pools of pastel colors emerge as if seen through a fog. Appliquéd forms resemble water droplets or leaves buoyed in the air. Patterns flow along cascading or more precise paths. Bound together by embroidery, all parts coalesce in complex arrangements of lyrical balance and beauty.

“My inspiration has always come from nature,” says Belkin. Dressed in a white top and verdigris-turquoise jeans that echo the smoky palette of her compositions, she explains the specialized nature of her art: “I like that contrast between the fluidity of the water elements of painting that are unpredictable, and the tight, controlled embroidery parts.”

A recent exhibit of Belkin’s large-scale paintings at Washington’s Hemphill gallery presented several pieces produced during a six-week artist residency in New Orleans. Belkin reflects on that time in the city where she also lived for six years: “I think of things being so lush down there, and color feels more saturated. The humidity in the air actually changes the way things look; it creates an interesting lens that fundamentally alters the way light is absorbed and refracted.”

While there, the artist took digital photos of swamps and wetlands. Back in her Baltimore studio, those and a wealth of other source materials are transformed into photographic elements in her collages. After manipulating the images on a laptop, she sends them out to be printed on fabric. Later, without any plan or sketch heading in, the artist pulls intuitively from different piles of fabric, selecting pieces that might coordinate with others.

Among the piles are swaths of linen and denim that Belkin previously hand-painted. Treating the dyes as watercolors during that stage, she may have allowed them to spread and blend, perhaps throwing salt on the surface in one of several resist processes. Or, she might have applied a wide brush to the fabric in broad gestures, producing striated, wavy lines and bumps that resemble woodcuts or sedimentary layers.

Her cumulative techniques don’t end there. “It’s not really clear-cut,” the artist notes. “If I start with bigger pieces, I may decide to cut them up, or I might make the collage even bigger by adding smaller chunks.” Once the basic layout is decided—typically on the floor—Belkin moves to her computerized embroidery machine to attach the assembled parts.

In addition, she often takes photos of completed, hand-dyed paintings. Once those images are photoshopped and digitally transferred to fabric, Belkin cuts up and uses the snippets in new works, as the cycle begins again. If results prove unsatisfactory, she may decide to cut up the fabric and recycle it later, observing, “I’ll eventually find a place for every piece—whether in the first iteration or somewhere down the line.”

The studio, in fact, has become its own force in her work. “More and more I find that an ecosystem happens within the studio,” the artist explains. “I think of fabric pieces as having a life of their own—their own patterns and movements and relationships. So even though my inspiration comes from nature, right now I’m working with the nature of the world of fabrics within my studio.”

Over the years, Belkin’s art has evolved toward greater size and increased abstraction. The largest piece—70 inches high and 10 feet wide—suggests her fascination with different ways of viewing. “I like working at a bigger scale because there’s that impossibility of both seeing the big picture and picking out details. You can’t hold those visually at the same time,” she says. Comparing the experience to being in a landscape, Belkin recalls that while growing up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, she spent hours hiking and searching for mushrooms in the woods. “When you’re foraging for mushrooms, your vision is honed in a very different way from regular walking. That’s relevant to the work too—channeling your vision to be narrow or wide.”

The artist first encountered the textile world by chance. A few years after earning a degree in printmaking and drawing from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2012, she worked at a small yarn-dying shop. The owner offered her use of the premises as a studio after hours. Working more and more with the material, she took a digital-embroidery class in 2017 that soon hooked her on the technique.

Still, Belkin credits the main inspiration for her visual direction to her mother and father, both microbiologists. As she relates, “My parents always talked about science almost through the eyes of artists—the creative process within science, having a hypothesis and researching and testing it. It’s like the creative process in my studio, how I experiment with all the different fragments of fabric. I think if I hadn’t become an artist, I would definitely be involved in the sciences.”

For more information on the artist, visit sophiabelkin.com.

Every year, Home & Design polls hundreds of industry professionals and consumers to discover their favorite local home-furnishings resources in the DC Metro area, from furniture and lighting to cabinetry, appliances, carpets and flooring, fabric and wallpaper and more. The results are in and here are the winners and runners-up of our 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards.

FABRIC + WALL COVERING Osborne & Little Washington, DC; osborneandlittle.com Honorable Mention: F. Schumacher & Co.; Thibaut

CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE Ligne Roset Washington, DC; ligneroset-dc.com Honorable Mention: Poliform; Roche Bobois

WINDOW TREATMENTS Everett Design Silver Spring, MD; gretcheneverett.com Honorable Mention: Rockville Interiors Interior Design: Erica Burns Interiors. Photo: Jennifer Hughes

KITCHEN + BATH FIXTURES KONST Union Bethesda, MD; konstunion.com Honorable Mention: GROF USA

CUSTOM CABINETS Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath Area locations; gilmerkitchens.com Honorable Mention: Jack Rosen Custom Kitchens, Lobkovich

TRADITIONAL FURNITURE Belfort Furniture Sterling, VA; belfortfurniture.com Honorable Mention: Green Front Furniture; Room & Board

TILE + STONE MMG Tile & Stone Elkridge, MD; mmgmarble.com Honorable Mention: Architessa; Renaissance Tile & Bath; Best Tile

ART SOURCE Merritt Gallery Chevy Chase and Baltimore, MD; merrittgallery.com Honorable Mention: Torpedo Factory Art Center

LIGHTING Visual Comfort & Co. Timonium, MD, and Washington, DC; visualcomfort.com Honorable Mention: Dominion Lighting; Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting

OUTDOOR FURNITURE Yardbird Area locations; yardbird.com Honorable Mention: JANUS et Cie

APPLIANCE SOURCE AjMadison Tysons, VA; ajmadison.com Honorable Mention: ABW—Appliances a Better Way; ADU—Your Appliance Source

CUSTOM CLOSETS Capitol Closet Design Alexandria and Vienna, VA; capitolclosetdesign.net Honorable Mention: California Closets; Closets by Design

PAINT Farrow & Ball Bethesda, MD; farrow-ball.com Honorable Mention: Benjamin Moore; Sherwin-Williams

CARPET + FLOORING Floor & Decor Area locations; flooranddecor.com Honorable Mention: Classic Floor Designs; Stark

BEST NEW SHOWROOM Boss Design Center Bethesda, MD; bossdesigncenter.com Honorable Mention: LXRY; Poliform

SMART HOME INI Inc. Sterling, VA; iniav.com Honorable Mention: A.B.E. Networks; Integrated Media Systems

The Maryland Building Industry Association’s Maryland Awards of Excellence (MAX+) recognize remodeling and custom-building projects in the greater DC area. The 2024 ceremony took place on April 11th at Martin’s West in Baltimore; a list of winners follows, along with photos from a number of winning projects.

REMODELING AWARDS

Accessibility Feature
Accessibility Elevator, Lutherville, Maryland
Owings Brothers Contracting

Addition
Ultra-Modern Office Addition, Sykesville, Maryland
Owings Brothers Contracting

Bathroom Remodel over $100,000
Howard County Bathroom Extravagance, Sykesville, Maryland
Owings Brothers Contracting

Bathroom Remodel under $100,000
Old Oak Master Bath, Ellicott City, Maryland
Cornerstone Remodeling

Historic Restoration
The Hamlet Sisters, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Francis Development

Kitchen Remodel
Frederick, Frederick, Maryland
House to Home Solutions

Kitchen Remodel and Addition
Morningside Two-Story Addition, Ellicott City, Maryland
Cornerstone Remodeling

Kitchen Remodel and Interior Alteration
Charley Forest Kitchen, Olney, Maryland
Cornerstone Remodeling

Whole-House Remodel
Cedar Point, Severna Park, Maryland
Procopio Homes

Basement Apartment Remodel
Basement In-Law Apartment, Sykesville, Maryland
Owings Brothers Contracting

Whole-House Remodel, DC Market
The Hamilton Residence, Rockville, Maryland
Mitchell & Best Remodeling

Whole-House Remodel, Eastern Shore
Bayside Drive, Stevensville, Maryland
Procopio Homes

CUSTOM BUILD AWARDS

Small Volume Builder
Custom Home $600,000 to $699,999
Shore-Line Construction, Horney Custom Home
Essex, Maryland

Custom Home $700,000 to $799,999
Shore-Line Construction, Smith Custom Home
Essex, Maryland

Custom Home up to $1.5 Million
Triangle Homes LLC, Model: Sorrento Residence at Carriage Estates
Davidsonville, Maryland

Custom Home over $2 Million
Procopio Homes
Annapolis, Maryland

Large Volume Builder
Custom Home $900,000 to $999,999
Crosen Homes LLC, Model: Durigg at Offsite
Woodbine, Maryland

Product, Small Volume Builder
Custom Home over 1.5 Million
Shore-Line Construction, The Palski Home
Dundalk, Maryland

Home & Design announced the winners of its 2024 Excellence Awards on October 7th during a lively celebration at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre. The annual, juried competition recognizes outstanding work in residential architecture, interior design, custom-building, kitchen-and-bath design, landscape design and remodeling. Award-winning projects appear in Home & Design’s Idea Book and online at homeanddesign.com.

Home & Design unveiled its September/October 2024 issue with a festive party at ADU—Your Appliance Source in Gaithersburg on September 5th. Guests mingled and perused the showroom’s sleek installations.

Guests donned summer whites for a jovial gathering on August 8th, hosted by KONST Union in Bethesda. Designers and industry experts mingled over drinks and nibbles. Home & Design was the media sponsor.

After revamping a 1920s, Spanish Revival home in Kalorama, BarnesVanze Architects designed a pool and pool house on the picturesque property. “The clients wanted to be able to entertain,” recalls architect Stephen Vanze, who teamed with colleague Melanie Giordano on the upgrade.

A 20-foot retaining wall separates the house from its side neighbors. In the backyard, the gently sloping lawn was terraced to accommodate the pool and pool house. “The pool is on axis with a family room addition we’d done previously,” Vanze says.

The home’s strong architectural identity dictated the building’s aesthetic. “It was an opportunity for the outside spaces to reflect the existing architecture,” Giordano notes, pointing to the pool house’s distinctive style. “The structures talk to each other.”

EXPERT INSIGHTS
Advice from architects Stephen Vanze & Melanie Giordano

• Vanze: A pool house can mimic the style of the home so it blends in, or it can be a foil, something different to look at.
• Giordano: There are advantages to new materials, like maintenance. But we want to see examples of them working long-term.
• Vanze: When building a structure on a historic property in DC, expect maneuvering around tight city regulations.

Architecture: Stephen J. Vanze, FAIA, LEED AP; Melanie Giordano, AIA, BarnesVanze Architects, Washington, DC.. Interior Design: Lisa Vandenburgh Ltd., Washington, DC. Builder: Abe Sari, Alliance Builders, Annapolis, Maryland. Landscape Architecture: Amy Mills, ASLA, DCA Landscape Architects, Inc., Washington, DC.

RIGHT ANGLE  Face à Face, a new tub by French architect Jean Nouvel for Agape, is distinguished by a natural marble surface and straight sides that appear to just meet, but are held together by invisible joints. A backrest on one side is angled for comfort. agapedesign.it

CLASSIC COOL   The Sawyer freestanding tub by Americh embraces a classic aesthetic, with deep sides and a polymer-composite or acrylic interior. The exterior shell comes in white acrylic, smooth or hammered nickel and smooth, unlacquered brass (shown). americh.com

SHINY SURFACE  A reflective, distressed surface characterizes the Bacifiore 24-inch Butler Sink, designed by Mick De Giulio for Kallista. Made of 16-gauge brushed stainless steel, the vessel is hand-polished to achieve its shimmery finish. Also offered with an apron front. kallista.com

INDUSTRY FAVORITE  Watermark’s Elan Vital 38 monoblock faucet and side spray conjure industrial style via components that resemble commercial ball valves and plumbing fittings. The fixture is available in a range of configurations and finishes; Pewter is pictured. watermark-designs.com

TIMELESS STYLE Part of the Kohler X Studio McGee collection, the Edalyn two-hole bridge faucet with side sprayer combines classic and modern influences. Seen here in Vibrant Brushed Moderne Brass with the Ironridge Farmhouse sink, made of enameled cast iron. kohler.com

FINE LINES  Masterminded for Duravit by Danish designer Cecilie Manz, the Luv Bathtub is a graceful white oval with a slender rim. The freestanding vessel is made out of the company’s patented resin material, which feels like stone and is naturally slip-resistant. duravit.us

LET IT FLOW The Catris Flexo Filter faucet from Blanco delivers filtered and unfiltered water at the touch of a dial on the base of the insulated, pull-down faucet. The fixture, which connects to most common filtration systems, comes in matte black (pictured), chrome and PDV steel finishes. blanco.com

GOING GREEN  Stone Forest’s popular Papillon Bathtub is a functional work of art, formed from solid blocks of stone, then refined and sculpted with a hammer and chisel. The company recently unveiled a new version in Verde Indio— a lush and distinctive green marble. stoneforest.com