class="s1">When Gary Inman, director of hotel and residential design for Richmond architecture firm Glavé & Holmes, was approached to develop a line of furniture for Moore Councill—a manufacturer based in High Point, North Carolina—he jumped at the chance. It was the company’s first collection with an outside designer, and Inman was more than ready. “I had a vision,” he says. “I’d been keeping sketch journals for years and had always had an interest in product design.”
Inman, who began his career with a stint at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, has a high-fashion take on home design. His Home Couture collection of case goods is a fusion of fashion and interior design, with an emphasis on textiles and classic silhouettes inspired by style icons including Coco Chanel and Cary Grant.
The experience of his own practice helped Inman decide what furniture pieces to design. “I see gaps in what’s available,” he explains. “So I wanted to supply what I’ve found to be missing when I’m looking for things—furniture with particular scale or function.”
The collection, which debuted in October 2013 at High Point, encompasses six pieces; another 16, including upholstered pieces, will be introduced at High Point in April 2014. The collection is available through moorecouncill.com.
On pastureland in Delaplane, Virginia, RdV Vineyards winery melds with its bucolic surroundings. A winner of a 2013 Palladio Award and a Virginia Society AIA award, the 21,400-square-foot, board-and-batten structure was designed by Andrew Lewis of Neumann Lewis Buchanan Architects to connect with its farm origins while conveying “an edgy, agricultural look.” Says Lewis, “It settles into the landscape but catches the eye.”
The sloped site was chosen for its unusually arid and rocky soil, which approximates the California terrain where grapes thrive. Nestled amidst the vineyards—planted by owner Rutger de Vink before the design was ever conceived—the winery encompasses three wings: one for fermentation, one for entertaining and one for bottling, labeling and shipping. All are connected by a light-filled central silo with a Kalwall roof. A 5,500-square-foot cave is connected to the main structure and built into the slope. It stores wine barrels in reliably cool, humid conditions.
ARCHITECTURE: ANDREW R. LEWIS, AIA, Neumann Lewis Buchanan Architects, Washington, DC, and Middleburg, Virginia. CONTRACTOR: Crenshaw Construction, Culpeper, Virginia. CAVE CONSTRUCTION: B-U Corp., Charleston, South Carolina. PHOTOGRAPHY: GORDON BEALL.
Nothing changes faster than technology. No sooner do we master one platform or application than something new comes along to keep up us on our toes. To stay abreast of this ever-evolving industry, Home & Design asked Bethesda Systems’ Mike Wilson and Eddie Shapiro of SmartTouch in Columbia, Maryland, to discuss what’s on the horizon and what’s already here.
H&D: What is the biggest trend on the home technology front right now?
Mike Wilson: People are listening to music again in their homes. For a while, people seemed to be listening on their portable devices with headphones or using Pandora. Now there’s a trend towards streaming music and manufacturers are creating wireless bridges so music can go from the portable device throughout the house. Sonos’s MyDevice and Bose’s Soundlink Mini Bluetooth speaker both are new products for this purpose.
H&D: How does touch technology factor into your clients’ preferences?
Mike Wilson: It’s certainly popular and a big part of our industry now is about using your own device for many purposes. But when it comes to watching TV or movies, we’re finding the remote still works best. People like to be able to press those buttons.
H&D: How do you bridge the gap between the remote and the touch screen then?
Mike Wilson: Products like the Savant Select hand-held remote marry both in one device. The top has an iTouch interface while the bottom has hard buttons.
H&D: What other trends are you seeing?
Mike Wilson: People are really going into green technology now. The Nest Learning Thermostat is self-programming for energy efficiency and can be controlled via smart technology. The company now has a smoke and CO2 detector too. Other trends are towards LED lighting now that the bulbs look like incandescent. Also, big manufacturers such as Lutron and Hunter Douglas are making really high-quality, battery-powered motorized shades that you can control by touch screen.
H&D: Do you see a big shift towards touch technology?
Eddie Shapiro: Absolutely. People are moving to Apple iPads, iPhones, any kind of smart device, for everything. Lighting, climate, shades, camera alarms, home security, audio and video—all controlled from one touch screen.
H&D: Is there an integration program you like best?
Eddie Shapiro: Savant—it’s super powerful but really easy to use. All users tend to be skittish about technology, but it’s Apple-based so they already have the interface down when they get it.
H&D: What other home-tech trends are you seeing?
Eddie Shapiro: The Ultra HD flat screen TVs should be the next big thing. They have so much computer power, they can scale images on the screen up to four times the resolution of current super-slim TVs. Connect a TV like that with Apple TV for streaming content and the viewing experience is amazing. DVDs and Blu-ray are falling away quickly. Also, the price of electronic shades is dropping quickly. Homeowners can buy through AV integrators like SmartTouch and get high-quality products.
Mike Wilson can be reached via bethesdasystems.com. Eddie Shapiro can be reached via smarttouchusa.com.
Torch Song
Napoleon Fireplaces’ elongated Torch GVFT8 Gas Fireplace offers a slim silhouette with its single-torch flame design—now available in a 6,000-BTU, vent-free model. The fireplace boasts decorative glass embers, a mounting cabinet in brushed stainless steel or metallic black finishes and optional accent lights. napoleonfireplaces.com
All in a Glaze
Fireclay Tile’s hand-made Debris Series Recycled Ceramic Tile collection has just expanded to include Picket and Wave, two new tile designs for walls or floors that come in a palette of 80 natural, lead-free glazes. Pictured here, Wave is a curvilinear design inspired by ocean patterns. fireclaytile.com
A Joint Solution
The Karbon articulating faucet from Kohler has pivoting joints that allow for a range of motion that aims the water exactly where you need it. Once in position, the faucet stays there; it can be folded into a compact shape when not in use. Made with carbon fiber to enhance strength and reduce weight, and available in a variety of finishes. kohler.com
Mid-Century Modern
The Nobu collection of knobs and pulls from Atlas Homewares evokes Mid-Century Modern elegance and a hint of Zen with its clean, simple lines. Available in black, brushed nickel or polished chrome. atlashomewares.com
Let There Be Light
Twelve adjustable arms with exposed bulbs lend the Dallas chandelier from Arteriors a unique flair. This Mid Century-inspired fixture is made of iron with a light brown nickel finish. arteriorshome.com
Old World Vibe
Italian bath cabinetry company Eurolegno’s claw foot tub is part of its new Opera collection, which conjures an Old World sensibility. The freestanding tub is made of fiberglass, with a choice of exterior colors and decorations. The draining legs and column are made of metal clad in chrome, shiny gold or bronze. www.eurolegno.us
Easy Elegance
Armstrong Residential Ceilings’ Easy Elegance Coffer Ceiling Panels are made of rigid PVC that creates a high-end look but is actually lightweight, affordable and easy to clean or paint. Available in two colors, with deep or shallow coffers, the ceiling panels easily fit into a standard suspension system. A drywall perimeter border is recommended. armstrong.com
Smart Oven
Dacor breaks new ground in the kitchen with the Discovery iQ 30” Wall Oven, the first to offer an integrated control panel—the Discovery iQ Controller for Android—with Wi-Fi connectivity and mobile technology that works from any room in the house. Signature features include a 4.8-cubic-foot capacity, a convection system and steam technology. dacor.com
Moroccan Magic
The Marrakesh Metal collection of wall coverings from Phillip Jeffries is made of metallic leaf in squares that have been hand-rubbed with a Moroccan motif pattern and finished with a resin coating to protect them from oxidation. Available in four colorways; pictured here, Metal of Medina. phillipjeffries.com
Casement Charm
In-swing French windows conjure the charms of a bygone world, and Lepage Millwork unites this aesthetic with outstanding performance properties. Windows feature cremone hardware, multiple screen options and low-maintenance extruded aluminum-clad exteriors for durability and energy efficiency. Available through TW Perry. twperry.com
Coffee, Anyone?
TopBrewer by Scanomat replaces the bulky on-counter coffee maker with a single stainless-steel tap. The TopBrewer coffee maker moves to a compartment beneath the counter, where it grinds beans, measures ingredients and foams milk from a small fridge. Cold drinks can also be dispensed from the same tap. Top Brewer is smartphone- and tablet-compatible. scanomat.com
Surface Style
Ann Sacks’ new Scribe mosaic tile collection blends the precision of water-jet technology with the creativity of hand-drawn design work in a modern, textural surface. Different shades of grout add a personal touch. annsacks.com
The bustle of 14th Street immediately subsides as visitors turn onto picturesque Corcoran Street with its Victorian-era row houses under a canopy of shade trees. One of these stately homes caught the eye of Keith Stiles in 2012; on the lookout for a rental property to invest in, he quickly snapped up this historical, circa-1890 home—and soon realized he’d prefer to live in it himself. “I loved the location, the house has good bones,” he says. “But it definitely needed an update.”
The house bore the dated stamp of its last renovation, which took place in the 1980s. Stiles, a mortgage branch manager, hired KUBE Architecture to design a major renovation in the style he preferred. “I’ve always had a contemporary sensibility,” he says. “I wanted to go a little more classic because of the style of the house, but my taste kept leading me in a very contemporary direction.”
Because of the home’s historical status, the front façade would have to remain untouched save for a new layer of cream-colored paint. Architect Richard Loosle-Ortega also retained such original interior elements as the door and window moldings and exposed brick accent walls—though he gutted the whole first floor to create an open plan that flows towards a wall of windows, beyond which is an elevated rear deck with a courtyard below. “In DC, we blend the bones of an older house with open spaces,” he explains. “We couldn’t change the front of the house so we had to bring in light through the back.”
On the ground floor, a cathedral ceiling from the 1980 renovation has been eliminated and load-bearing walls replaced by exposed steel girders. Located under the stairwell, the existing powder room was enlarged and updated with glossy porcelain tile from Porcelanosa and concealed behind layers of panels, one of which is actually a door. Floors are a dark-stained bamboo and LED lights by Illuminations at ceiling level create a warm glow. The wall that originally held a lackluster fireplace is now a focal point in the living area, juxtaposing matte gray porcelain tiles with fumed larch wood to frame a vent-less fire element with a steel surround.
Throughout the house, materials crop up more than once, creating continuity; the fumed larch and steel surfaces reappear in the master bath while gray porcelain tiles also surround the fireplace in the upstairs office. “Every detail has been thought through,” says Loosle-Ortega, who describes the KUBE team as “warm Modernists. We like the naturalness of raw materials and we love color, which we add through materials as well as paint.” Punches of color show up on the ceiling—painted in shades of gray—and deep blue accent walls that enliven the second-floor spaces. The home’s sleek, modern furniture was all purchased at Theodores in Upper Georgetown.
A major design element is the island countertop—striated Carrara marble from Marblex that dominates the kitchen. Stiles says that this stone inspired the “contemporary yet ageless” aesthetic of the home. Loosle-Ortega designed the adjacent kitchen wall as a subtle backdrop to the bold marble, pairing custom cabinets from Davida’s Kitchen & Tiles in a striated wood veneer and glossy white with Caesarstone counters in Concrete. The design emphasizes the marble countertop, which is angled “so as not to look like a bowling alley” in the long kitchen area, Loosle-Ortega explains.
The second-floor master bedroom and office are separated by a 10-foot-high frosted sliding-glass door with three panels. Loosle-Ortega unified the two spaces by repeating the same built-in custom cabinetry in both. A low-slung custom bedstead backs to a wall that’s bisected by a long, narrow mirror and punctuated by a back-lit, frosted-glass panel that illuminates the hallway on the other side of the wall. A panel of ash echoes the wood accents downstairs, while in the adjoining office a glass railing overlooks the stairwell.
Off the bedroom, a spacious master bath incorporates Caesarstone countertops, porcelain-tile floors and fumed larch accents. A steel panel offsets one wall and a glass shower enclosure replaces a glass-block version from the original 1980s bath. Clerestory windows bring in light.
The third floor has been reconfigured to house a guest room and sitting room, with a deck offering rooftop views of DC. Despite its modern interiors, says Stiles, “the house still fits its neighborhood.”
Photographer Greg Powers is based in Arlington, Virginia.
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN: RICHARD LOOSLE-ORTEGA, RA, principal in charge; ANDREW BALDWIN, associate, KUBE Architecture, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: DARREN KORNAS, Think Make Build, Washington, DC. MILLWORK: ANDY GREEN, Potomac Woodwork, LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Each year, DC’s Four Seasons Hotel brims with holiday cheer during the Georgetown Jingle, which raises money for Pediatric Oncology programs at Georgetown University Hospital. The 2013 event will showcase holiday trees and vignettes by 19 area designers, who are paired with young patient ambassadors for inspiration. Their creations will be for sale beginning November 27.
The Jingle is organized in two parts, both featuring silent auctions and raffles. Festivities from 1 to 4 p.m. focus on crafts for children, visits with Santa and kid-friendly cuisine. A party from 7 to 11 p.m. includes cocktails, restaurant tastings and live music by Pamela Stanley.
This year, designers Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey, Wendy Danziger and Gloria Blalock carried the Jingle spirit into a new project, designing seven suites pro bono in the hospital’s new pediatric hematology and oncology wing. These rooms—funded by proceeds from the Georgetown Jingle and christened the Jingle Suites—provide accommodations for patients and their families during treatment. “Kids most want to be home during treatments,” Cavin-Winfrey explains, “so we wanted to convey a home environment.” Cheerful façades adorn each entry, while low lighting, fridges, fold-out sofas and rug-like floor patterns enhance each interior.
Since 2006, the Georgetown Jingle has raised $1.5 million. For tickets, visit georgetownjingle.com.
In a sea of corporate office buildings in downtown DC, 2020 K Street, NW, stands out—a glass-walled office that is so state-of-the-art, curious pedestrians stop to peer in. It’s the renovated DC home of Gensler, the international architecture and design giant, which recently re-opened in its altered state.
After 14 years on the second and fifth floors of 2020 K Street, the office, with 270 employees, was ready for an update. Lured by 14-foot ceilings and potentially 90 feet of window lines, DC principal and managing director Jordan Goldstein and his team persuaded their landlord to lease them the ground floor of the building—formerly home to two restaurants—to create a work place that would be interactive and open “with everything on display,” Goldstein says. “It was a great opportunity to think differently about a work space—could it be a retail space that’s been rethought?”
The new, 60,000-square-foot project encompasses the first, second and fifth floors. The building’s original granite façade has been replaced at ground level with a bank of windows, and a new, modern entry has been added. Inside, “there are very few closed-off areas,” Goldstein observes. Glassed-in rooms and informal gathering areas “make interaction possible,” while a Concept Fabrication Lab—for hands-on, non-digital design—is fully visible.
An open staircase leads to the second floor via a two-story atrium. The second floor houses an expansive resource library and a corridor with museum-quality walls and lighting that doubles as a gallery where architecture and design exhibits are staged by an in-house curator.
Eventually, the fifth floor spaces—home to design studios and meeting rooms—will move to the third and the atrium will extend three stories.
In Gensler’s new, modern offices, a blend of raw and refined materials creates a bold aesthetic. “Our goal is to showcase design innovation,” Goldstein says. “And to do it in a transparent way.”
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE: JORDAN GOLDSTEIN, AIA, LEED AP, and Hansoo Kim, chief designer, Gensler, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: Rand Construction, Washington, DC.
Back in the 1950s when 14th Street was known as “Auto Row,” venerable prewar buildings housed ground-floor car dealerships with warehouses above them. The area has experienced a welcome renaissance since then: Buildings remain intact on the outside, while trendy retail shops and galleries at ground level are paired with condo conversions above.
This is the scenario that Ernesto Santalla encountered when he was hired to renovate a newly purchased fourth-floor, one-bedroom condo. “It was a standard, builder-grade loft space,” Santalla recalls. “The clients wanted to make it special. We explored its full potential and decided to reconnect it with its warehouse origins.”
Santalla and his team gutted the space and started over. They exposed the ceilings, redirecting the mechanical systems wherever possible to convey a sense of openness. “We accepted the drains and ducts and opted to wrap them and be done,” he says. “The goal was to make it look like we’d done nothing.”
In its current iteration, the apartment is basically one large room, encompassing living, home office and kitchen areas. Floor-to-ceiling industrial-style windows flank one long wall, offering expansive views of the urban skyline and admitting generous natural light. The clients—a childless couple—didn’t want a lot of private space, so Santalla removed the wall that had separated the bedroom and replaced it with a floating partition that doesn’t reach the ceiling. He also replaced a wall that had separated the front entry from the kitchen with a floating hall closet. “When we think of a room, we think we have to put up walls,” Santalla observes. “But you can create rooms or areas without walls and maximize space.”
His clients preferred a spare, streamlined look, so Santalla eliminated baseboards throughout and concealed wires and switches wherever possible. Custom, built-in cabinets float on the walls at both ends of the apartment (the office and bedroom); all built-ins—including the bedstead and the cabinet in the living area that holds media equipment—are made of sand-blasted oak and drywall. They are painted white to blend with the walls.
One of Santalla’s goals was to showcase the owners’ extensive abstract art collection. Dominating the main room, a custom platform attached to the glass-topped desk provides the base for a life-sized figurative sculpture by Amsterdam artist Nelson Carrilho. In the kitchen, a steel sculpture by Yubi Kirindongo of Curaçao stands sentry on a corner of the cabinet, while a resin wall sculpture by British artist Keith Milow occupies one wall and a large-scale canvas by Milow creates a focal point behind the desk. A sliding panel on the floating wall facing the living area displays a painting by French-born artist Philippe Zanolino; when open, it reveals the TV and when closed it showcases a complementary piece beside it by the same artist. Magnets lock the wall into place.
The custom kitchen houses stainless-steel Miele appliances on one wall. A nook below the Kirindongo sculpture accommodates a dining table from the clients’ previous home that’s been trimmed to fit the space. It can be pulled out for company.
Santalla describes the bedroom as “an intimate space where you can still feel the amplitude of the apartment.” Keith Milow paintings on aluminum sheets hang above the floating cabinet while an abstract by Zanolino hangs over the bed. An adjacent den has been replaced by a large master bath and walk-in closet with a floor-to-ceiling, semi-custom elfa shelf system. The bath is tiled in porcelain and boasts a long vanity where Kohler sinks and fittings are illuminated by Viabizzuno lighting.
Sleek, modern furnishings include a B & B Italia sofa, a glass-topped Fontana Arte coffee table on industrial wheels and Barcelona stools—all grouped on a pieced cowhide rug made in Argentina and purchased through Contemporaria. Eames management chairs in black leather can be rolled up to the desk or the nearby dining table as needed.
Detailing throughout reflects an edgy, industrial aesthetic. Extra-heavy doors with Soss hinges hang flush with the walls to create a sense of visual seamlessness. Extensive track lighting maximizes the effect of the art, and old-growth hickory floors with eight-inch planks have a satin finish that reveals the wood’s imperfections, adding an element of texture and contrast. “Throughout the space,” Santalla says, “we looked for the simplest expression possible.”
Photographer Geoffrey Hodgdon is based in Deale, Maryland.
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN: ERNESTO SANTALLA, AIA, LEED AP; JAMES C. SOLOMON, AIA, LEED AP; SPENCER MCNEIL, designer, Studio Santalla, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: Madden Corporation, Rockville, Maryland.
With its prominent location in downtown Baltimore, the University of Baltimore's new John and Frances Angelos Law Center embraces the role of academic and social nexus in the city. In conjunction with Baltimore firm Ayers Saint Gross, German architect Stefan Behnisch of Behnisch Architekten designed the 190,000-square-foot, 12-story building, which encompasses six terraces, a law library, student gathering places, a moot courtroom, classrooms and faculty offices.
Three interlocking, L-shaped volumes house the school’s separate functions; a light-filled central atrium (pictured here) connects the volumes, offering a bold aesthetic that energizes visitors and students. Vibrant green, yellow and orange furnishings and accents pop, while maple-plank spiral stairways and floating light fixtures festoon the space. The atrium houses the lobby, two coffee bars and informal work areas. Meeting rooms open into a sunken garden.
A winner of two U.S. Green Building Council awards for sustainable design, the Angelos Law Center is soon expected to achieve LEED Platinum status.
DESIGN ARCHITECTURE: STEFAN BEHNISCH, Hon. FAIA, Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart, Germany. ARCHITECT OF RECORD: GLENN BIRX, FAIA, LEED AP, Ayers Saint Gross, Baltimore, Maryland. CONTRACTOR: THE WHITING-TURNER CONTRACTING COMPANY, Baltimore, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: KEVIN WEBER.
Nestled into a picturesque corner of Georgetown, one of DC’s few gated communities sprawls over 42 hilly acres of grounds dotted with red brick homes. The neighborhood boasts an appealing combination of location and amenities—but with these pluses come certain restrictions. For example, expanding the footprint of any house is forbidden. So when a couple was ready to renovate their home after raising four kids there over the course of 16 years, they were limited as to what they could do to gain the space and convenience they desired.
The owners turned to a design team they already knew well: architect Anthony Barnes and interior designer Jodi Macklin. Both had remodeled the couple’s house in Rehoboth Beach. The wife, who calls them “the dream team,” says, “There was no question about who we’d work with” on the DC project.
Today, the front door opens to a central foyer flanked by the dining and living rooms. Straight back, the family room leads out to an inviting, pergola-covered backyard patio. But the layout wasn’t always so seamless. In its previous iteration, the family room felt cavernous, while the adjacent kitchen was accessible only through a narrow doorway. Between the kitchen and dining room, a cluttered service area was both unappealing and useless; it accessed the basement stairs, swallowing available wall space and interrupting the flow between rooms.
For the wife—an avid cook and entertainer who teaches a cooking class in her home—maximizing the kitchen’s space and functionality was the first priority. Barnes re-oriented the stairwell to open into the family room, freeing up enough space to create an attractive home office and bar between the kitchen and dining room. “It was a logical change,” the architect says. “Now the stairs are under the first-floor stairwell, which is where they belong. People can circulate with ease in a donut-shaped flow of traffic.”
Opening the kitchen and family room to each other was another priority. Barnes enlarged the doorway between the two spaces, installing eight-foot-wide, ribbed-glass pocket doors so that closing the kitchen off is still an option. To bring down the scale of the family room, he added crossover beams. “There’s a relationship between the stove at one end and the fireplace at the other that ties the spaces together,” he points out. The fireplace, surrounded by figured soapstone, now lies between cerused oak built-in cabinets.
While the architect and his team were doing their job—which included raising doorway heights and embellishing the main-floor rooms with crown moldings and trim—Macklin was creating a fresh, transitional look for the interiors. “The vision was an update that would be beautiful yet inviting, comfortable and livable,” says the designer, who stained the original oak floors dark for an updated, uniform look. Though she retained her clients’ existing furniture in the dining and living rooms, she was able to impose a clean-lined, modern style through new upholstery fabrics, draperies, rugs and wall colors.
In the family room, a palette of grays provides the backdrop for new furniture, including a sectional by Verellen that divides the dining and lounging areas. A charcoal-and-white rug from Stark complements the soapstone fireplace; walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Blackened give the room depth.
In the kitchen, custom cabinetry designed by Barnes Vanze, Absolute Black granite countertops and a geometric Thassos marble backsplash create a clean, modern vibe. Over the island, spherical pendants from Bobo Intriguing Objects add drama. “Things like those light fixtures elevate this house above its [spec house] origins,” Barnes observes. “Every time you look at the kitchen it’s fabulous.” For this renovation, he adds, “every surface was considered and every piece of material carefully chosen.”
Upstairs, the team directed their attention to the master suite, which was poorly laid out and lacked privacy. Barnes rearranged the spaces, borrowing from the big bath to enlarge the his-and-her closets and shifting the location of the bedroom door. A vestibule provides privacy by separating the entry to the bedroom from the main hallway; it leads past the closets to the spacious master bath—a study in Thassos marble and custom cabinetry and paneling.
The wife wanted a look that would be “more sophisticated as the family grew older,” so Macklin chose a black-and-white palette with a geometric motif to impart a chic, stylish vibe. In the bedroom, shallow ceiling coffers give the room scale while mimicking the grid made by built-in bookshelves along one wall. A patterned rug and cube-shaped four-poster bed by Bernhardt add to the geometry. The vestibule pops with wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries and light fixtures by Nuevo.
The kids’ baths have been given facelifts, with colorful glass-tile shower accents and vibrant paint colors. A small airshaft now houses an elevator that makes trips to the lower level easy.
Because the house was built on a hill, the owners enter at the basement level from their garage. Barnes reconfigured the formerly inconvenient space to include a mudroom, wine cellar, workout room, laundry and rec room. The family is very happy with their new home—and particularly with the people who made it a reality. “I’ll work with them again in a minute,” says the wife. “Whatever comes next, they will be my team.”
Photographer Gordon Beall is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE: ANTHONY BARNES, AIA, LEED AP, principal, and MELANIE GIORDANO, project architect, Barnes Vanze Architects, Washington, DC. INTERIOR DESIGN: JODI MACKLIN, Jodi Macklin Interior Design, Chevy Chase, Maryland. CONTRACTOR: MICHAEL LERNER, Meridian Homes, Bethesda, Maryland.
The National Design Awards represent every avenue of design from architecture, interiors and landscape to fashion, graphics and media. Each 2013 recipient has submitted a body of work that demonstrates a lasting achievement and in some way shapes the world around them.
Winners are chosen by a jury of design professionals. This year’s honorees in home-design categories include James Wines of the New York architectural studio SITE for lifetime achievement; architect and urbanist Michael Sorkin; San Francisco interior design firm Aidlin Darling Design; Chicago firm Studio Gang Architects; and Philadelphia landscape designer Margie Ruddick.
Conceived by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the National Design Awards season culminates in a White House ceremony presided over by the First Lady and a gala benefit dinner and awards ceremony, held this year at Pier Sixty in Manhattan. In conjunction with the National Design Awards program, Cooper-Hewitt sponsors National Design Week, October 12 through 20, a series of free public programs hosted by the museum’s education department and based on the vision and work of the awards honorees. Proceeds from the gala benefit Cooper-Hewitt. For information on the awards festivities and National Design Week, visit cooperhewitt.org.
In Michael Wilbon’s home office, framed clips from a 30-year career as sports writer and columnist for The Washington Post vie for space with Chicago Cubs Hall-of-Famer Ron Santo’s jersey. Copies of two books edited for good friend Charles Barkley share shelf space with football helmets, baseball caps and a photo of Wilbon with Muhammad Ali. In one corner, a small mountain of press passes to events ranging from the Super Bowl to the Olympics dates back to the beginning of Wilbon’s career.
This hallowed, lower-level office in Wilbon’s Bethesda home is part of what he calls his “man cave.” It’s his own creation, and also includes a full bar, a pool room with a collection of vintage movie posters (he’s a major film buff) and cushy leather easy chairs gathered round a flat-screen TV. “I didn’t want a basement feel to it,” he says. “But I wanted it to be an extended man cave.”
In fact, the lower level is the only part of the house that Wilbon had a hand in decorating; the rest is the brainchild of his wife, Sheryl Wilbon, whose taste and style are evident throughout. With the help of designer Steven Corbeille, she has taken a builder-grade house and transformed it into a welcoming home that melds a modern sensibility with traditional architecture—enhanced by bold abstract art and colorful artisanal glass. “I’m drawn to a more modern look,” Sheryl says, “but this area tends to be more traditional, so we tried to do a mix. It’s not ultra modern and it still fits in the traditional environment.”
The Wilbons purchased their Bethesda lot from developer D.R. Horton in 1999, choosing from a selection of floor plans. Within a year, Sheryl bought her Larry Laslo-designed living room and foyer furniture at Theodores in Upper Georgetown. Soon after, she contacted Corbeille for the challenging task of dressing the living room windows, which soar two stories. “We played off the shape and style of the furniture,” Corbeille recalls. “The treatments have really stood the test of time.” His elegant draperies finished the room and a partnership was born.
The living room adjoins the dining room, where Sheryl settled on a custom table of maple inlaid with walnut and purple heart and a pyramid sideboard, both by DeSantis Designs in Virginia. In the family room, existing furniture was reupholstered through Theodores and paired with a coffee table from Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman. Corbeille designed linen Bergamo drapes that complement the palette of cool grays on the main floor.
Since moving into their house, the Wilbons have had their share of excitement. In early 2008, Michael Wilbon suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. A couple of months later, the birth of a son, Matthew, put a positive spin on the year. And in August, Wilbon threw out the first pitch in his hometown of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, then sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch.
In 2010, he wrapped up his long tenure with The Post and turned full-time to commentating for ESPN. Between ESPN’s "Pardon the Interruption" (famous for the often-loud, good-natured banter between Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser), ABC’s "NBA Countdown," which he also co-hosts, and frequent travel for sporting events, he is out of town at least half the year.
For both Wilbon and his wife, creating a household that works around his schedule and habits was important. A few years ago when they decided to renovate their master suite, they hired Cunningham | Quill Architects to overhaul it to suit their needs. “It was a builder-grade space,” Ralph Cunningham recalls. “Michael spends lots of time in very nice hotels and he wanted that quality of space at home.” The architect and his team looked at hotels for inspiration, lighting on cherry and limestone, a common material palette in fine hotel baths. They carried the cherry wood into the bedroom with an ingenious floor-to-ceiling wall unit that conceals the TV and also has a door built into it that looks like paneling when closed. “It’s finished and flush, like a cabinet,” Cunningham explains. “Then you step through it to the secret suite.”
Behind that door, the reconfigured bath and his-and-her closets now fit the couple’s lifestyle. A giant tub they never used was replaced with a spacious, honed-limestone shower, and there’s a vanity topped with glossy limestone for Sheryl. The door effectively shuts out light and sound so that Wilbon can get dressed at odd hours and pack for trips without waking his wife.
The finished third floor houses a guest room as well as a comfortable workout room that Wilbon uses to stay in shape when he’s at home. It also displays his collection of framed sports jerseys, which line the walls. The jerseys speak to Wilbon’s allegiance to his hometown, and to his love of all sports. “I’m seasonal,” he says. “By the time one sports season ends, I’m ready for the next.”
Photographer Bob Narod is based in Herndon, Virginia.
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE, MASTER SUITE: RALPH CUNNINGHAM, FAIA, principal, and SYLVAN MILES, project assistant, Cunningham | Quill Architects, Washington, DC. INTERIOR DESIGN: STEVEN D. CORBEILLE, Yardstick Interiors, Comus, Maryland. RENOVATION CONTRACTOR: Potomac Valley Builders, Bethesda, Maryland.
BOLD DEBUT
Panache, the new rug collection for Studio by Karastan, made its debut at the 2013 Spring High Point Market. It features chevrons, ikats, geometrics, florals and more. Each pattern is available in 12 hues; rugs are woven nylon and come in a range of sizes. Pictured here, the Willis Tower Rug in Golden Rod. karastan.com
THE LOOK OF WOOD
Architectural Ceramics’ Driftwood collection is a porcelain tile that combines the look of wood and the durability of porcelain. Six-by-24-inch tiles with little or no grout joints mimic wide floorboards. Driftwood is available in a range of shades; the floor here is pictured in Graywood. architecturalceramics.com
WONDERFUL WEAVE
Custom Cool Rugs are hand-woven using pashmina, natural nettle, linen, New Zealand and Himalyan wools and a variety of silks. Vibrant designs range from subtle to bold and traditional to modern. They can be woven as rugs or kilims. Pictured here, the clean-lined Hamptons Stripe Rug, which is handmade in India and Nepal. customcoolrugs.com
PURE GEOMETRY
Large geometric patterns embody the graceful, new Mary McDonald Custom Rug Collection for Patterson, Flynn & Martin. The rugs are inspired by David Hicks designs and Directoire and Art Deco motifs. Each custom piece is available in Tibetan wool and silk. pattersonflynnmartin.com
CUTTING EDGE
The Manhattan Collection from Porcelanosa showcases sleek, ceramic mosaic tiles that can be used both indoors and out. Available in white, gray, brown and black colorways, the tiles are durable yet elegant and come in matte or shiny finishes. Pictured here, a bathroom in large-scale Manhattan Blanco tiles. porcelanosa-usa.com
JET SET
The Talya Collection of water-jet mosaics by Sara Baldwin boasts marble and stone surfaces in a subtle palette of gray, beige and ivory, in geometric and interwoven lace motifs. The collection is at home in highly trafficked and indoor-outdoor areas; available in field and bullnose tiles and trim through Marble Systems in Fairfax, Virginia. marblesystems.com
PERFECT PARQUET
In its New Mosaics Collection, Italian floor company Parquet In embellishes oak, wenge, teak, cherry and doussie parquet floors with reflective materials such as glass and metallic ceramic mosaics. Available in the U.S. through Creative Concepts Design Center, located in Fairfax, Virginia. parquetin.com; creativeconceptsdc.com
SISAL AS ART
Decorative painting company Billet Collins turns ordinary sisal rugs into an artist’s canvas by painting them with borders, field and damask patterns and medallions. Pictured here, the Interlocking Circles Sisal. billetcollins.com
WELL-OILED
Tuscany Olive Wood, a North Carolina-based flooring company that launched in 2012, is now importing a new exotic wood from Italy: olive wood. Each floorboard comes from trees that are at least 120 years old; they’re only harvested when their production of olives and oil wanes, making them both sustainable and durable. tuscanyolivewood.com
SHAGGY RUG STORY
Belgian rug company Ligne Pure has gone hip with the deep-pile Adore Shag Rug. Hand-woven of polyester, it currently comes in white and gray—but starting in September 2013 the color palette will include platinum, silver, black and blue. With a four-month lead time, shape and size can be customized. Available in DC through Theodores. theodores.com; lignepure.com
“My designs are modern yet classic, infused with fashion inspiration,” says Fanny Zigdon (above, right), principal of Fanny Zigdon Interiors. The designer grew up in New York City, the seat of fashion, but focused on interior design early. After moving to Baltimore, she took interior design classes at the Community College of Baltimore. There, she met Lisa Steinhardt, whose interest in design had grown out of a childhood spent in her family’s interior design shop. In 2010, the two founded Design Loft Interiors. “We gravitated to each other,” Zigdon says of the partnership.
Though Zigdon split off to form her own firm in 2012, “we still collaborate when the opportunity arises,” says Steinhardt, who remains the principal of Design Loft. After all, she and Zigdon both espouse the same design viewpoint.
“A room is like a wardrobe,” says Zigdon. “You have your basics—like your little black dress—but you update them with accessories. They are like jewelry for the home.”
FANNY ZIGDON INTERIORS: FANNY ZIGDON, Baltimore, Maryland. DESIGN LOFT INTERIORS: LISA STEINHARDT, Allied ASID, Baltimore, Maryland. Photography: Matthew Dandy.
See more Hot Talent:
Practical Luxury
Jennifer Wagner Schmidt
A Fresh Twist
Darlene Chimaliro & Caty Tillman
Leading Edge
Christopher Patrick
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Patrick Brian Jones
As a child, Jennifer Wagner Schmidt had a passion for rearranging her bedroom. So maybe it wasn’t surprising that after a foray into public relations, she found her way back to her first love. “My husband and I bought a house and I started decorating,” she recalls. That was all it took. She quit her job and, with some design courses and a brief stint at the Washington Design Center’s Ebanista showroom under her belt, she founded JWS Interiors in 2006. Today, what began as a word-of-mouth sideline has become a full-time job that Schmidt literally “can’t keep up with.” She also regularly produces a newsletter for clients and friends and writes a daily blog, “Affordable Luxury,” that attracts about 15,000 visitors a month.
Schmidt, who is based in Ashburn, Virginia, has a client base mainly of young families with kids. Her goal is to combine luxury with affordability. “With young children and pets, my clients don’t want to break the bank,” she explains. “They want things beautiful and luxurious but functional. I design for practicality.”
JWS INTERIORS: JENNIFER WAGNER SCHMIDT, Ashburn, Virginia. Photography: Jennifer Wagner Schmidt.
See more Hot Talent:
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It was while working as design associates at Room & Board in DC that Darlene Chimaliro and Caty Tillman first found each other. With the discovery of their similar design sensibilities, they decided in early 2012 to launch Studio Mod(ish), a Silver Spring-based interior design firm. One year and six completed projects later, they are busy and thriving, sharing both an aesthetic and a similar philosophy. “We want each client’s house to be unique and we would like to help them have what makes them happy in their homes,” Chimaliro says. She and Tillman often start by asking clients about their passions; this gives them a vision for the type of space they’d like to have. “Each room should have a life of its own, and reflect the personality and character of the owner,” Chimaliro explains.
The look Studio Mod(ish) strives for is “uncluttered, fresh, well-thought-out and carefully edited,” says Tillman. Their projects result in youthful spaces that are fun, yet livable. “Our designs take a step towards a more classic look,” Tillman observes. “But with a fresh twist.”
Studio Mod(ish): Darlene Chimaliro, Allied ASID, and Caty Tillman, Silver Spring, Maryland. Photography: Misheck Chimaliro.
See more Hot Talent:
Practical Luxury
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Leading Edge
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Lisa Steinhardt & Fanny Zigdon
