HOME & DESIGN - Home & Design Magazine

After many years and two renovations, a Chevy Chase couple was still not satisfied with their home. With its low ceilings, the space felt claustrophobic, while poorly planned additions resulted in convoluted traffic flow. The couple contacted Robert Wilkoff of Archaeon Architects with the idea of renovating yet again—but eventually came to the conclusion that what they really wanted was a whole new house. “It would have been a struggle to get it to work,” Wilkoff says. By building anew, they were able to avoid the constraints imposed by the original structure.

Wilkoff and his team arrived at a modern design, dictated by the couple’s desire for open spaces, high ceilings and energy efficiency. Yet the home still feels like it belongs in the circa-1930s neighborhood. Inside, a center-hall layout places the formal living and dining rooms on one side of the entry and a home office on the other. Straight back past a cable-railed, open stairwell, a sleek, open-plan kitchen/family room beckons. The entry’s ceiling soars to the top floor, while a tower of windows at the back sounds a contemporary note.

Throughout the house, Wilkoff incorporated sustainable methods and materials: Cultured, synthetic stone walls collect sunlight; geothermal and radiant floor systems provide heat; and extra-thick walls cover high-density insulation. In the basement—complete with a wine cellar, workout room and media room—a 30-foot greenhouse acts as a passive solar collector that warms the space.

ARCHITECTURE: ROBERT WILKOFF, B.Arch, NCARB, principal, and DAVID LyJORDAN, RA, associate architect, Archaeon Architects, Cabin John, Maryland. CONTRACTOR: Brown Construction, Rockville, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: KENNETH M. WYNER.

ROBERT WILKOFF'S TRADE SECRETS:

When building a new home, consider the views. All homes should have vistas when you walk in, to draw you into the space.
Incorporate as much natural light at possible. People respond to interior and exterior light.
When it comes to investing in sustainable building methods, do the easy things first. Spend more upfront on insulation, which will pay in dividends right away and will not break the bank.
Figure out early how you want spaces to relate to each other. How open do you want them? How defined? An educated consumer is the best client. Put together a scrapbook, explain what you want. Our Chevy Chase clients did research during the process and communicated beautifully. They got the house they wanted.

Audio/Video + Lighting: Case Study When Ian Williams of Encore Custom Audio Video was asked to install a Crestron home automation system in a new house in Leesburg, part of the job was to design a state-of-the-art media room on the lower level. His clients, who wished to entertain there, specified a luxurious space that would accommodate as many as 20 people.

Because the room was irregularly shaped “getting that many people into it was not possible,” Williams recalls. He devised a way to fit 16 by using 10 theater seats and six bar stools along a granite countertop at the back.

With help from interior designer Diana Johnson, Encore gutted the existing space. A bulkhead in the ceiling was concealed by peripheral soffits, and three-dimensional, interlocking ceramic tiles by ModularArts were installed on the ceiling; they also clad the decorative columns around the room.

Williams used computer analysis to determine speaker location, screen size, seating height and distance from the screen. Four subwoofers with dedicated 1000-watt amplifiers produce the sound, while fabric-covered, acoustical wall treatments reflect, diffuse or absorb it depending on their size and location.

Each seat has an unobstructed view of the 110-inch screen, which has dual masking capability to allow for different aspect ratios. An automated Lutron curtain system can conceal the screen, while eight lighting zones—more than 40 light sources—include gimbals that swivel to illuminate the screen.

HOME THEATER INSTALLATION & DESIGN: IAN WILLIAMS, ROI-certified, CEDIA Member, Encore Custom Audio Video, Chantilly, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: DIANA JOHNSON, Ashburn Interiors LLC, Chantilly, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER EVANS.

IAN WILLIAMS'S TRADE SECRETS:

Homeowners always want the biggest screen they can possibly have. But bigger is not always better. The size of the screen should be relative to the distance between the nearest seat and the screen.
Treat all home theater walls with absorbent panels for sound. If you don’t, the room will echo from sound waves. Drywall does not absorb sound.
The second row of a home theater is the optimal distance for viewing. In this project, the second row was 17 feet from the screen and the first row was 11.
Install multiple levels of lighting with dimmers. Also, use multiple subwoofers and make sure they are placed strategically around the room. They will equalize and balance the sound waves, making for better acoustics.

Closets + Organized Spaces: Case Study When homeowners hired Kristin Peake to redo their children’s bedrooms, the edict was that “over the top” was not too much. Peake interviewed each child and found that the couple’s 12-year-old son had a particularly clear vision for what he wanted.

Because the small room had a very high ceiling, Peake and her young client decided early on that a loft design would best utilize the space. The designer created a loft area that can be accessed via a custom ladder through a concealed door that, when shut, looks like a wall panel near the ceiling. The loft space can accommodate three or four kids and includes a window that keeps the space light.

In the bedroom, Peake kept the furniture to a minimum. A built-in, paneled wall houses the bed and offers hidden drawers and compartments; a built-in desk is the only other piece of furniture.

When it came to décor, the boy had his own design concept. “He was drawn to the geometry of circles,” Peake explains. “We worked around designs with bubbles and circles.” For example, panels outside the loft have circular cutouts filled with colored, synthetic glass that lets the light through. An acrylic bubble chair hangs from the ceiling; Peake adhered a protective gymnastic mat to the wall beside it, then upholstered it in fabric with circles. The rug has a circle motif. The primary color scheme was hand-picked by the boy.

Though family rules dictate no computers in the bedrooms, the high-tech room has a Lutron system that operates lights, a fan and such gadgets as are allowed—all from the comfort of bed.

INTERIOR DESIGN: KRISTIN PEAKE, Kristin Peake Interiors, Rockville, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG.

KRISTIN PEAKE'S TRADE SECRETS:

Look for items that are visually appealing as well as functional. Pinterest offers great storage ideas—and by doing research online, you can pick and choose aspects of each storage system and customize your own.
Storage containers help create the look of a space. I use baskets at home and in my office. Our library at KPI utilizes labeled baskets to hold all our wood, paint and finish samples.
Define your preferences. Do you like to see storage items in baskets, bins, etc., or to store it all away? This is key to the direction for your storage design.
The most challenging part of storage design is finding the right items in the right finishes, styles and dimensions. But it’s worth the trouble once you get it right!

The owners of a 1960s split-level house were ready to renovate. They hired Jonas Carnemark to upgrade the home’s dated exterior, then turned to the interiors. A main priority: to create a space that would showcase the couple’s extensive modern art collection.

Carnemark and his team began with structural changes that included removing the wall separating the kitchen from the open-plan sitting area to give the cook a view of the outdoors as well as of the artwork displayed across the room. They also replaced one wall with a floating, trapezoid-shaped art wall edged in stainless steel and anchored top and bottom by stainless-steel legs. This wall “allows light to transfer between the rooms while creating a dramatic, two-sided frame for art,” Carnemark says.He and his team provided a clean backdrop for the art on the main floor with white-painted walls and large-format porcelain floor tiles that look like poured concrete in a light gray color. Downstairs, they retained the original wood floors, but added crisp, modern details on both levels such as the stainless-steel staircase and cable rails.

Before positioning the paintings and sculpture, Carnemark and his team completed an art inventory with the clients. “We created a plan for placement and color,” he explains. “We did groupings of paintings and the clients decided which major pieces they wanted to showcase in the public spaces in the house.”

Recessed halogen lights were placed strategically on gimbals that can be ad-justed to illuminate each piece of art.

RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN: JONAS CARNEMARK, CR, CKD, CARNEMARK, Bethesda, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: ANICE HOACHLANDER.

JONAS CARNEMARK'S TRADE SECRETS:

When choosing which art should go where, ask yourself what is most important to you—what should be in a private versus a public area of the house.
Light each room as if it will have art in it and it will be well lit. Light that bounces off walls gets rid of shadows in corners and reflected light is softer and nicer than direct light. It flatters the room’s occupants.
Don’t be afraid of grouping art and creating art walls. You don’t have to center every piece of art. Grouping it can show it off to better advantage.
Make a plan that takes into account the colors and shapes of each piece of art with respect to your home. Doing an art inventory was very helpful in this project, so every piece was accounted for.

Floors + Windows + Doors: Case Study In his design of a Glen Echo, Maryland, home, architect Robert M. Gurney employed walls of glass, windows and doors to shape the way people experience the property. From the rear of the house, visitors enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding woods and the Potomac River below. “Where we have windows and why we used them were really driven by the site,” he says. “We tried to take advantage of the views.”

In many cases, windows were installed on opposite ends of a room to engage viewers with the landscape and the outdoors. Though he likes the clean look of large expanses of glass, in this project Gurney framed out windows and doors using products from Hope’s Steel Windows & Doors so they would be functional. “We needed to provide ventilation and egress,” he explains. “This led to the design of a Mondrian-like pattern using rectangles—horizontal, vertical and square—as a way to fit operable windows into the design.”

Just as the architect used windows to frame certain views, he also used them strategically to mask others. On the second floor, panels of translucent Kalwall let in light while obscuring a neighboring house. Within the panels, a horizontal strip of clear glass precisely frames a cross-section of foliage rimming the house.

A two-story bridge constructed with glass floors, walls and roof connects the home’s two main volumes. In this glass cube, which “expands over a water feature we created,” says Gurney, “you feel like you’re literally walking over water.”

ARCHITECTURE: ROBERT M. GURNEY, FAIA, principal, and BRIAN TUSKEY, project architect, Robert M Gurney, FAIA, Architect, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: Bloom Builders, Bethesda, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: MAXWELL MacKENZIE.

ROBERT M. GURNEY'S TRADE SECRETS:

Window placement should be determined from the inside out, as opposed to trying to make a composition from the outside. It’s far more important to control what you see from the inside. Select insulated, low-E glass to optimize energy efficiency.
A lot of people sacrifice functionality for visual effect. Even within window walls, it’s best to install operable windows on opposite sides of a room for ventilation.
People can be afraid to use too much glass. But when you install glass from the floor to the ceiling of a space, it can manipulate scale and totally transform what that space feels like.
When selecting a material for window frames, consider how the material pairs up with the other materials used on the house.

Kitchen + Bath: Case Study In a newly purchased house, the owners wished to infuse mundane traditional interiors with a fresh, modern vibe. They hired Lauren Bland of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath to create a kitchen space that would reflect their vision, which Bland describes as “a re-imagined space that would be brighter, bigger and more family-oriented.”

The original kitchen was cramped, separated from the den by a wall. Bland and her team combined the rooms to create an open kitchen/den so that the owners’ young children could play within view.

Cabinetry from the Canadian company Décor includes white-painted upper and gray-painted lower cabinets. Dark cherry accent cabinetry adds interest and a matching dark-wood shelf frames the tops of the upper cabinets to make them stand out.

Bland employed a graphic element on the island with a dark wenge insert that contrasts with the quartz countertops. “We wanted to add warmth to the part of the island where people eat,” she says. “It’s nicer to lean your elbows on wood than stone.” The island houses a Bosch induction cooktop.

The kitchen’s focal point is an eye-catching, sculpted limestone backsplash from Architectural Ceramics that combines honed and polished stones; the polished parts appear darker than the others, creating a three-dimensional, wave-like effect. “The stones are sequenced so it had to be mapped out,” Bland recalls. “We wanted a high-end design for a low-end cost, and the backsplash was a way to do something special.”

Translucent glass pendants add color and fun to the mix.

KITCHEN DESIGN: LAUREN BLAND, Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath, Ltd., Chevy Chase, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: BOB NAROD.

LAUREN BLAND'S TRADE SECRETS:

In any space, the emphasis should be on proper proportions and balance—there should be a rhythm and flow that make sense. Too many kitchens are out of balance—too big, too small, not enough or too much.
Look for an honest rapport between client and designer. I give advice but leave the final decisions to the client.
Consider mixing materials. Blend natural woods with painted finishes, rough stone with glossy glass. Metal is becoming more versatile and designers are now using nickel, steel and iron.
To avoid clutter, plan features like hidden alcoves with sliding, bi-folding or lift-up doors that conceal messiness. Drawers and recycle bins help with papers; technology clutter can be stowed and charged in a hidden compartment with an inner power strip.

Cohen and his team began by changing the configuration of the existing deck to better blend with the landscape, which now offers a beautiful vista that’s visible from the house. Because of the property’s slight slope, the pool was positioned down a step from deck level and over to the side. “The pool is cut into the hillside a bit,” Cohen says. “The grade changes made it work together.” A waterfall spills into the pool over rocks built into concrete to prevent leakage.

At the far end of the pool, a covered structure of pressure-treated cedar provides an attractive focal point; it’s open on three sides and houses a comfortable poolside sitting area beneath a cathedral ceiling of cedar. The fourth side is a stone wall that conceals a storage area for pool equipment.

Feathery grasses, liriope, nandina and hypericum separate the pool area from the patio, which boasts large-scale hand-sawn Tennessee flagstones that have been installed on gravel rather than mortar for a cleaner look. Grass steps with cobble risers lead from the patio into the grass; they’re flanked by an herb garden of purple sage and rosemary. The built-in grill area and fire pit provide places to congregate.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN: HOWARD COHEN, Surrounds, Inc., Sterling, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: Bob Narod.

HOWARD COHEN'S TRADE SECRETS:

Give yourself plenty of time to plan out what you want—six months would be perfect, so if possible, start in the fall for a spring job. It’s also a good idea to plan ahead because it can take a while to get permits. Some counties are very particular.
Look for opportunities to do something different. For instance, this job was unique because of the scale. The yard was big and could support large-scale patio stones that are bold and unusual. They create a fresh look in the yard.
Before you start planting, ensure that you have good drainage and good soil. You don’t want to spend money on plants without giving them the best possible chance of thriving. Bring in good soil if necessary to build up the beds.

Remodeling: Case Study A couple who had lived in a traditional DC neighborhood for 30 years decided it was time to update their home. A new master suite would allow them to dedicate the existing bedrooms to guests, while creating an oasis for themselves. They hired Ossolinski Architects for the job, which entailed creating a structure above the front entry.

“The original house was bland,” recalls principal Matthew Ossolinski of the 1930s house. “But over the years [the clients] had given it modern aspects.” Clearly, the addition would need to convey a contemporary sensibility, so Ossolinski and his team created a modern plan that emphasized glass and light. This would also keep the structure from overpowering the front doorway.

The completed addition encompasses a bedroom, dressing room and master bath. It’s clad in horizontal panels of glass—some opaque for privacy and some transparent—that admit light throughout the structure. Inside, a raised ceiling in the bedroom incorporates clerestory windows for added light.

A glass-tile bath connects to the bedroom through a convenient dressing room; both are furnished with custom built-in vanities in ebonized oak. Floors in the bedroom and dressing room are also ebonized oak, while in the bath, striated porcelain tile from Architectural Ceramics adds to the streamlined look. In the bedroom, the oak-paneled walls and doors have been stained to emphasize their grain.

RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE: MATTHEW OSSOLINSKI, AIA, LEED AP-BD&C, Ossolinski Architects, PLLC, Washington, DC. INTERIOR DESIGN: WHITNEY STEWART, Whitney Stewart Interior Design, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: SIMON LEY, The Ley Group, Washington, DC. PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL BURK.

MATTHEW OSSOLINSKI'S TRADE SECRETS:

Collaborate with your architect. Let him or her in on the details of your life: how you use spaces, your motivations. Let your architect get to know you. When we know our clients well, we do an excellent job.
Make decisions up front if possible, starting with larger-scale items such as the relationship between rooms and how the house will fit into the neighborhood. The larger decisions will inform the smaller ones—and you’ll save time, money and aggravation during construction.
Be willing to change your ideas. It may be that something you’ve chosen doesn’t work with other selections.
Use AIA construction contracts when working with an architect. These contracts offer the most protection to the homeowner if things go wrong.

The owners of a renovated Capitol Hill row house tapped designer Barry Dixon to put a fresh, 21st-century face on their 19th-century home. “The clients didn’t want to be slaves to the particular period of the home,” Dixon explains, “but they didn’t want to be disconnected from it either.”In the living room, the designer astutely layered elements from past and present while creating an illusion that the space was larger than its compact 10 by 11 feet. “I had to divert the eye geometrically with lots of curves and circles,” he says.

In the entryway, a Hepplewhite bench that belonged to the client’s grandmother is lacquered in white and its seat is covered in a bold Zoffany print. The original Ionic columns on the fireplace were preserved in a nod to neighborhood history. In lieu of bookshelves, Dixon created benches on either side of the fireplace and upholstered the seat cushions and wall behind them in a modern-day Dominique Kieffer linen damask. In the bay window, sheers in a Calvin fabric through Donghia provide a veil of privacy and a “deconstructed columnar effect.”

Dixon focused the room on a pair of Niermann Weeks chairs upholstered in his own fabric for Vervain that revolve around a Tomlinson ottoman. Called a “cupcake” by the owner’s small children, the ottoman is upholstered in a coral pink Celerie Kemble vinyl resembling shagreen.

“It’s playful and interactive,” says Dixon of his updated, kid-friendly take on the formal seating arrangement. “It’s not a fussy, stuffy, formal living room. It’s a living room for living.”

INTERIOR DESIGN: BARRY DIXON, Barry Dixon, Inc., Warrenton, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIK KVALSVIK

When a repeat client purchased a house in the Palisades neighborhood of DC, she called on Nestor Santa-Cruz to design the interiors while it was still under construction. She was looking for a more open layout than the original floor plan offered, but wished the furniture to reflect the home’s classical aesthetic. “My goal was to create a modern layout with a traditional vocabulary,” Santa-Cruz says. The new design opened up the home’s public rooms. To one side of the entry, small living and dining rooms became one large living room, while to the other side a wall separating the library and entry vestibule was removed. This open space became an airy dining room big enough to host large groups in comfort. “The room has a modern flow and is now part of the arrival to the house—you see it when you walk in,” Santa-Cruz explains.In the dining room, built-in shelves are back-painted in Farrow & Ball’s Wainscot to make the owner’s collection of creamware pop. The rosewood dining table by Keith Fritz can seat eight people; four chairs by John Saladino are skirted in linen from Rogers & Goffigon and are on castors for easy maneuverability. Four black-framed chairs by Baker are adorned with a Chinese-inspired fabric by Calvin Textiles. A white-lacquered chest by Mid-Century designer James Montt serves as a buffet. A Swedish-style rug from Timothy Paul Carpets + Textiles delineates the dining area.

INTERIOR DESIGN: NESTOR SANTA-CRUZ, IIDA, LEED AP, Nestor Santa-Cruz Decoration, Washington, DC. PHOTOGRAPHY: RON SOLOMON.

Rooms We Love: Kitchen

Clients who had recently purchased a dilapidated old house on the Eastern Shore turned to Barnes Vanze Architects to design a new home on the site within the original footprint. They wanted a cottage-style dwelling that would take advantage of picturesque lakeside views, and they wished it to be designed around the kitchen, which—as is often the case—is the focal point of their family life.

The owners preferred a traditional aesthetic, so architects Anthony Barnes and Melanie Giordano at Barnes Vanze were tasked with recreating a vintage style throughout the house. In the kitchen, Giordano collaborated with Richard Freitag of Stuart Kitchens to design a space that would be traditional yet informal and inviting. They used farmhouse details to convey a cottage aesthetic, including bi-colored limestone checkerboard flooring, custom painted cabinetry with traditional inset doors, glazed porcelain pendants and a farmhouse sink with a Rohl faucet.A low wall supported by pilasters separates the kitchen from the adjoining stairwell—another common cottage feature. A sage green-painted island topped with Calacatta marble delineates the work triangle from the rest of the kitchen. On the peripheral cabinetry, Lagos Azul Caesarstone countertops combine the functionality of a quartz surface with the old-style appearance of soapstone.

ARCHITECTURE & KITCHEN DESIGN: ANTHONY BARNES, AIA, LEED AP, principal, and MELANIE GIORDANO, associate architect, Barnes Vanze Architects, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: Corcoran Builders, Olney, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: ANICE HOACHLANDER.

When designer Moyanne Harding was given the master bedroom of the 2013 Richmond Design House to transform, she envisioned a retreat that would be both lavish and inviting, with a blend of antiques and modern pieces that would impart a sophisticated vibe. However, her vision was challenged by a lack of wall space: The room included five windows, closet and entry doors and a fireplace. To accommodate all the necessary furniture, Harding placed the tufted bedstead in front of a window, then installed a custom window cornice that created a canopy effect and matched the bedding to integrate the window and bedstead visually. Lightly patterned window sheers let in soft light and damask draperies add warmth.Opposite the bed, Harding arranged a modern, small-scale tuxedo sofa from Drexel with a tufted ottoman upholstered in linen, and round, retro glass tables from Gabby. An antique French console works as a bedside table with a light, airy silhouette, while on the other side of the bed, a chest with tortoise shell inlay balances the look. The lamps have carved-wood bases paired with antique linen napkins as shades.

A Schumacher bed skirt picks up the Greek key pattern in the Stanton rug, while a blanket is by Yves Delorme and the quilted linen bed cover comes from Bella Notte Linens.

Harding employed several reproductions of vintage items as focal points in the room, including an antiqued mirror on the mantel from Bliss and an ornate, lantern-like ceiling fixture. A palette of soft neutrals gives the room a sense of tranquility.

INTERIOR DESIGN: Moyanne Harding, IDS, Interiors by Moyanne, Lynchburg, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: John Magor.

A sense of serenity prevails in the elegant master bath of a custom home in Great Falls, Virginia. The design team that created the space lavished it with one-of-a-kind features and amenities. A careful layout ensures that the bath also functions well for the owners’ lifestyle.“The idea was to make the bath feel very light and airy,” says interior designer Lucas Trunnell. “We also wanted to celebrate its symmetry with his-and-her vanities on either wall.” Trunnell and Alice Busch collaborated with builder Patrick Latessa and designers at Architectural Ceramics to create a central mosaic “rug” that would accentuate the color palette of soft blue-gray and cream.

J. Paul Lobkovich designed the vanities and a tall armoire for linens; all were custom-made by Signature Custom Cabinetry and finished in a brushed glaze. The armoire doors are mirrored to make the room appear larger. A decorative striae treatment by Warnock Studios embellishes the walls. Floors, countertops and the steam shower are clad in Calacatta marble.

While soaking in the floating tub by Kohler, the homeowner can overlook the landscaped backyard or watch TV on a flatscreen installed above the armoire. With the push of a button, he can lower privacy shades that are concealed behind the drapery.

Says Lobkovich, “We were trying to create a glamorous, sophisticated feel in a limited amount of space. It’s very relaxing and elegant in a soft kind of way.”

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: PATRICK LATESSA, The Galileo Group, McLean, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: ALICE BUSCH, Allied Member ASID, and LUCAS TRUNNELL, Allied Member ASID, LEED AP, BD+C, Great Falls Distinctive Interiors, Ashburn, Virginia. BATH DESIGN: J. PAUL LOBKOVICH, Lobkovich Kitchen Designs, Tysons Corner, Virginia. LANDSCAPING: CHARLES OWEN, Fine Landscapes, Ltd., Great Falls, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAIN JARAMILLO.

Rooms We Love: Outdoor Room

SOURCEBOOK 2014A small, urban Alexandria, Virginia, property had become run-down and overgrown, with featureless topography and crumbling stonework. While renovating their house, the owners contacted Brian Hahn of Botanical Decorators to overhaul the outdoor space and give them a backyard they could truly enjoy.Hahn and his team created a landscape plan that would connect the interiors with the outside, offering views of the backyard from nearly all the main floor rooms and easy access outside from the kitchen, family room and formal dining room. In keeping with the home’s Colonial-style architecture, they created a series of traditional outdoor rooms delineated by a bluestone patio and cobblestone borders. A broad Carderock stone fireplace with a 12-foot chimney is the focal point. “We wanted to create a reason to go out there,” Hahn says. “The fireplace gave us that.”

The existing backyard was sloped, with old retaining walls and a patio in disrepair. Hahn excavated the slope to create a larger patio that would accommodate the owners’ wish list, which included separate sitting and dining areas and space for a built-in grill. Above the Carderock stone retaining wall, astilbe, hydrangeas, boxwoods and azaleas lend a lush look to the landscape, which frames a specimen Japanese maple and a styrax Japonica.

A mini-granite cobblestone border defines the comfortable sitting area in front of the fireplace. It beckons visitors with furniture from Kingsley Bate, while in the adjoining dining area a table from Kingsley Bate is paired with woven chairs by Gloster. Flanking the table, the professional 36-inch Lynx grill and surrounding bluestone counter surface make dining al fresco a breeze.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN: BRIAN HAHN, Botanical Decorators, Olney, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG.

Home & Design celebrated the launch of its September/October Architecture issue with a reception at Mosaic Tile in Fairfax, Virginia. Guests browsed striking tile and stone vignettes and mingled with architects and designers whose work was covered in the issue.

Photos by Bob Narod and Melody Rush.

2014 Designers' Choice  Awards Each year, Home & Design polls hundreds of industry professionals to discover their picks for the leaders in this innovative, ever-evolving community—as well as their votes of confidence in those just making their mark. We also ask area architects and designers to vote on their favorite industry resources, in categories ranging from audio/video and appliance showrooms to antiques dealers and art galleries. Following is  a list of the complete survey results for 2014.

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ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN AWARDS

Hall of Fame Architect

Stephen Muse, FAIA, Muse Architects, Bethesda, Maryland

musearchitects.com

Modern Architect

Travis Price, FAIA, Travis Price Architects,Washington, DC

travispricearchitects.com

Traditional Architect

Mark R. Sullenburger, Custom Design Concepts Architecture + Interiors, McLean, Virginia
cdcarch.com

Up & Coming Architect

Brie Husted, AIA, Brie Husted Architects, Washington, DC

briehustedarchitecture.com