Whether it’s the granite cobblestone streets where trolleys once roamed or the Federal-style row houses that line many a block, Georgetown exudes historic charm in almost every direction. But for a West Coast-based couple, a penthouse in the Ritz-Carlton fell short on delivering the kind of character that’s synonymous with the neighborhood. While the 6,145-square-foot, high-rise abode offered covetable views of the Potomac, the interior offered little architectural detail to match the scene outside.

“What was there felt very dated and early 2000s,” shares designer Zoë Feldman, whom the couple brought on for the renovation. “There were a lot of odd elements that needed to be smoothed out, such as columns that weren’t load-bearing and lots of undulation in the ceilings. There were large spaces, but they didn’t flow together well architecturally.”

Working with architects Thomson & Cooke and Pyramid Builders, Feldman went about crafting an artful pied-à-terre for the clients to use as an entertaining base when they’re in town. The husband and wife, who have two grown children, desired a DC residence to gather with friends and watch nearby Georgetown athletic events. The husband is an alum and one of the children currently attends the school.

But first the team had to right the penthouse’s shortcomings. Dropped ceilings were raised and cased openings were realigned to create a sense of separation between the mostly open-plan spaces. “A big part of the project was very subtly creating beautiful rooms that unfold into each other,” notes architect Patrick Cooke. “When it was one long run-on space, there was nowhere to stop and change color and materials. These spaces were tricky to make sense of until we created some separation.”

Careful consideration was paid to the how the apartment should flow with an eye on cohesion and a high level of customization top of mind. To start, the entry was reconceived valuing the principles of compression and expansion. A cozy vestibule, sporting new wood paneling painted in Farrow & Ball’s Carriage Green, was built out with a walnut alcove to welcome guests. “We thought it would be fun to create a dramatic jewel-box moment in the entry,” relays Feldman.

That vestibule leads to a hall, which ushers you into a bright, central gallery open to the living room and study on one side and the den, kitchen and dining space on the other. The primary suite resides just beyond the public living spaces for optimum privacy; three additional guest rooms, all with ensuite baths, are tucked away off the entry at the opposite end of the apartment.

To give the home a unifying visual language, the Brazilian cherry floors were refinished to downplay natural red undertones, and walnut door jambs were incorporated at the thresholds. Special attention was paid to the sequencing of rooms through the use of color. “They wanted it to feel more in line with a typical Georgetown home which might have moodier hues,” says Feldman. “A lot of the spaces have earthy jewel tones, so if you line them all up, they would complement each other.”

The cooler side of the color wheel—think grays, blues and greens—dominates the palette; the charcoal study has blueish undertones, and the powder room’s DeGournay wall covering boasts a forest motif in emerald and teal. One exception is the den, bathed in a rich, atmospheric terracotta hue. Other spaces feature crisp white walls to let the clients’ top-shelf art collection, which includes pieces by Sam Gilliam, Sabine Moritz and Mark Bradford, sing.

In the kitchen, Feldman freshened up existing cabinets with a coat of Farrow & Ball’s De Nimes blue and new honed marble countertops. “We weren’t able to fully renovate the kitchen because of the tight time constraint, so we had to put a band-aid on some of it and the easiest thing to do when you need a band-aid is paint,” she explains. The entire project went down in the course of five months from start to finish.

“Zoë had a clear vision for transforming this residence into a home that reflects both the building’s refined setting and the clients’ modern lifestyle,” reflects Jerry Jubb, vice president of Pyramid Builders. “It was a comprehensive renovation that touched nearly every space in the residence. The combination of finish-sensitive work, a vertical urban setting and strict schedule demands made this project challenging, but also one of the most rewarding.”

The owners of this Cleveland Park center hall Colonial, architect Megan Downey and her journalist husband, found that its best asset—an expansive backyard that looks onto a ravine—was unfortunately blocked by a rear attached garage. “It’s an amazing forested wonderland with a creek, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way the house was laid out,” she explains. Desiring a family-friendly kitchen that felt connected to nature and to the rest of the house so they could keep an eye on their two young daughters, Downey devised a plan to eliminate the wall between the abode and the garage and relocate the kitchen to the former garage on the home’s posterior.

Wanting the cook space to feel modern and uncluttered, she conjured a porcelain-clad monolithic island that would look like a floating marble sculpture and full-height cabinets that would blend into the wall and keep appliances, pantry items and dishes out of sight. Aurora Ferrari of Innately Italy helmed fabrication of the cabinetry and countertops. With an eye on safety and sustainability, Downey opted for minimal-VOC paint and sheep’s wool insulation. Reclaimed historic red oak boards were matched to the existing floors and topped with an all-natural coating partially made from cheese whey, making the space as eco-friendly as it is sleek.

PROJECT TEAM
Architecture & Kitchen Design: Megan Downey, Megan Downey Studio. Interior Contractor: Smith & Daughter. 

KITCHEN DETAILS
Cabinetry: innatelyitaly.com. Appliances: miele.com through ajmadison.com. Windows: loewen.com through thesanderscompany.com. Pendant Lighting: flos.com. Stools: dwr.com.

When a young family bought a Queen Anne row house on Capitol Hill, they found a literal cornucopia of period details: Plasterwork featuring pea pods, flowers and corn cobs were among the interior’s perfectly preserved treasures. The kitchen, however, offered a different kind of time capsule. Situated at the rear of the house, “it had plastic laminate cabinets and a blue 1980s glazed tile backsplash; it felt very DIY,” relays project architect Nicholas Potts. Flipping the location of the dining room and kitchen made the cook space feel more like the heart of the home. A deep, paneled archway connects the two spaces and artfully conceals a new powder room.

The owners, an advertising executive and a writer, initially thought they’d paint the space green, the wife’s favorite color. But, according to Potts, “it was feeling cave-like, so we started leaning toward warmer tones,” landing on Farrow & Ball’s Tailor Tack. An oversized Carrara and Bardiglio marble floor makes the space read larger, while vintage Czech flush mounts and a mid-century orbital pendant telegraph an elevated eclecticism. A sunny yellow larder and green custom doors on the back of the house, crafted by a Vermont artisan and family friend, only add to the kitchen’s one-of-a-kind character.

PROJECT TEAM
Architecture & Kitchen Design: Nicholas Potts, AIA, Nicholas Potts Studio. Contractor: Impact Construction. Styling: Kristi Hunter.

KITCHEN DETAILS
Cabinets: bremtown.com. Larder & Rear Windows: arcadiarestorations.com. Floor: artistictile.com. Range: agarangeusa.com through abwappliances.com. Refrigerator: liebherr.com through adu.com. Plumbing: houseofrohl.com.

1/ Sunny Wardrobe
For a newlywed couple in Annapolis, ample closets solved a myriad of storage issues, especially for the wife. “She loves to color-coordinate her glasses with her outfits, so having a place where she could easily see her eyewear collection was a must,” relays interior designer Katalin Farnady of Farnady Interiors, who worked on the project with architect Peter Miles of The Drawing Board. A large, central island contains space for spectacles and jewelry, while pull-down bars for hanging clothes make the most of the 10-foot ceilings. The dressing room’s cheery hue coordinates with the adjacent primary bath and Winfield Thybony wallpaper on the ceiling provides the perfect complement to his closet, which is gray.

2/ Pet-perfect Mudroom
Empty nesters with a blended family in Easton, Maryland, needed a mudroom that would stand up to the wear and tear of dogs and company. “The clients travel through this room each time they enter or leave their home, so we aimed to make it a calming, but durable space,” says designer Laura Butler of Butler Interior Design, who worked on the new build with Focus Construction. Arto brick veneer flooring, laid in a herringbone pattern, provides a base for cabinetry with dark granite counters and breathable lattice on the cubby doors. Built-in niches house dog beds and brass mesh gates contain pups to the utility area. All in all, it’s a high-functioning spot for foot traffic from people and little paws alike.

3/ Moody Mod Pantry
Rill Architects had renovated this midcentury modern home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, prior to tackling the kitchen and pantry, so the clients had time to think about their non-negotiables. Desiring an entertaining-ready kitchen meant needing a place to keep everything out of sight. Behind the walk-in pantry’s pocket door, custom maple cabinetry, painted Farrow & Ball’s Salon Drab, hides everything from dry goods to blenders and crockpots. Honed Reliance Bellini Quartz countertops lit by under-cabinet lights offer extra prep space. “There are almost as many functional needs for the pantry as there are for the kitchen,” says architect Jim Rill. “Then of course, you want to make it pretty, too.”

4/ Power Study
A young family of six in Arlington needed to pack a ton of function into this flex space, which is used for homework, casual dining and arts-and-crafts. Designer Suzanne Carlough of Carlough & Co. “incorporated hidden storage as well as a desk for working from home.” A wall of built-ins conceals lower drawers for files and stationery, while upper cabinets with brass wire-mesh doors hold art supplies and board games. Up top, open display shelves show off pottery and decorative objets. The cabinetry and trim are painted a soft sage green, and the walls sport a windowpane grasscloth from Schumacher that lends the space a timeless, tailored look.

5/ A Serving of Whimsy
Interior designer Lauren Hurlbrink had a blast designing this small but mighty butler’s pantry for a couple with four pre-teen kids in Owings Mills, Maryland. Open shelving holds labeled baskets that corral snacks and other staples, while the microwave and coffee machine are discretely tucked away. “As a designer, I love having stuff like small appliances out of sight,” she shares. A colorful bird-print Caitlin Wilson wallpaper and cabinetry painted Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue convey a joyful vibe. Says Hurlbrink, “It used to be that the powder room was the place we had fun designing, but these days the pantry has become the new powder room.”

Enduring Gardens: The Tame and the Wild (Images Publishing, September 2025) showcases breathtaking gardens designed by Annapolis-based Campion Hruby Landscape Architects. The monograph reveals the thoughtfulness, skill and intention that goes into creating meaningful outdoor spaces that connect with architecture and use nature to engage all of the senses.

The latest tome from Schumacher explores the design world’s unwavering affair with a timeless motif. In Everybody Loves Stripes: Decorating Between the Lines (Monacelli, October 2025), writers Alexandra Flint and Emma Bazilian dig into the pattern’s history and offer inspiration and ideas for incorporating the bold bands into your own home—no matter your style.

1/ Paper Perfection  Crafted by a 90-year-old chochin lantern atelier in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture, the Maru light features abstract brushstrokes on a hand-dyed, washi-paper shade shielding an opal glass globe with brass-and-wood components. cedarandmoss.com

2/ Fine Fluting  The Nolan nine-inch flush mount has a reeded alabaster collar with brass accents and a globe diffuser. Ideal for illuminating hallways, landings or even a dressing room, the design feels both classical and modern at once. visualcomfort.com

3/ Big-top Fun  Sporting hand-painted bands in blue or pink on its canopy, the West Elm X PBK Striped Ceramic Flush Mount light brings flair to a kid’s bedroom or play area, but also adds whimsy to more grown-up spaces, such as a mudroom or powder room. westelm.com

4/ Major Impact  Blending Art Deco and mid-century style, the Vernazza stars a ring of ribbed glass globes set in an oversized brass frame. Perfect for a low-ceiling living room, it’s the rare flush mount that has the visual weight of a chandelier. hvlgroup.com

5/ Minty Fresh  A gridded hexagonal crown combines with a softly curved shade to define the Hooper, shown here in a custom painted finish with a hewn-brass lacquered interior. urbanelectric.com

6/ Soft Shading  Designed by Jake Arnold, the Allegra fixture lends a warm glow to medium-sized spaces such as entryways or butler’s pantries, thanks to its linen blend shade which is stretched over a flared dome frame. crateandbarrel.com 

7/ Antique Appeal  Vintage Austrian lighting inspired the design of Lamina, which resembles a treasure you might find wandering around a Parisian flea market. An unlacquered brass base holds delicate textured glass florets casting the loveliest of shadows. cb2.com

Reflecting timeless sophistication, CH Carolina Herrera’s winter collection delights in the rich hues of gemstones. A topaz midi-length dress in a tone-on-tone floral brocade features a dramatic silhouette with a ruffled neckline (left). Here, it’s paired with the black leather Initials Insignia bag. Or grab a Scala Insignia small clutch in tourmaline pink or emerald green (above) for an extra pop of color. Dress, $1,435; leather clutch, $1,225; Scala clutches, $735. Find at the CityCenterDC boutique. chcarolinaherrera.com

Set on 240 acres bordered by the protected lands of Montana’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, One&Only Moonlight Basin is a new, year-round luxury destination for skiing, snowboarding, horseback riding and golf. Designed by Olson Kundig to complement panoramic views of Big Sky’s pristine wilderness (left), the resort offers lodging in rooms, suites, luxury cabins (top and above) or private vacation homes. Dining options include The Landing at the Sky Lodge; Akira Back, a Japanese-style grill serving steak and game; all-day fare at Wildwood café and elevated cocktails at Dear Josephine lounge. A wellness spa with indoor pool prioritizes recovery and relaxation. Rooms from $1,100. oneandonlyresorts.com

Given that Acqua Bistecca translates to water and steak, it’s not surprising this new restaurant in the CityRidge development from James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina stars selections from sea and land. The West Coast-based culinary maestro behind Georgetown’s Bourbon Steak has crafted a menu featuring grilled seafood, steak brushed with Lambrusco butter, house-made pastas, specialty cocktails and fresh takes on classic Italian desserts such as a perfect affogato. With red velvet channel-backed booths, a decadent mirrored bar and leafy botanical print chairs, the interiors by Nunzio Marc Desantis Architects are a sexy maximalist dream. Ciao, bella! 14 Ridge Square, NW; 202-571-5907. acquabistecca.com

Founded by Scotsman John Barbour in 1894, this British heritage brand began as utilitarian wear for country life, but it became fashionable when a young Lady Diana Spencer popularized the iconic wax jacket, and the garment became a staple for Sloane Rangers and preppies alike. DC- based Tuckernuck has teamed up with the label for an 11-piece capsule collection of outerwear and accessories, including this quilted jacket, lined with one of T-nuck’s signature floral prints. $370. tuckernuck.com

Capturing the ambiance and flavors of southern France, Barbouzard, which means “secret agent” en français, is the latest offering from acclaimed chef Cedric Maupillier of Convivial fame. Drawing on his upbringing in Toulon, the menu pays homage to the coastal fare of his youth—think bouillabaisse and escargots —while also catering to the luxe set with caviar service. The restaurant’s design, conceived by Olvia Demetriou of HapstakDemetriou+, features bleached oak, lively patterned tile, jewel-toned seating and bubble chandeliers. To keep the party going, dinner is served till midnight most nights and to 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays. 1700 K Street, NW; 202-998-2009. barbouzard.com

Originally built as a palace in 1727 before becoming an equestrian academy under Emperor Franz Joseph I, the Imperial Riding School Hotel in Vienna blends heritage and charm for a one-of-a-kind stay. With 342 guest rooms, a wellness area with a pool and access to the city’s largest private garden, the hotel, which is part of the Autograph Collection, was redesigned with English interior design firm Goddard Littlefair and Vienna-based BWM Designers & Architects. Culinary offerings include Elstar, a restaurant named for an apple variety grown on site, serving fresh takes on traditional Austrian dishes, and the Farrier Bar. Rooms from $278. imperialridingschool.com

When a couple of empty nesters moved from the DC area to the Eastern Shore, they reached out to designer Laura Butler to complete the interiors of their Colonial-style new build in the Arcadia Shores neighborhood of Easton. “Because she trended more glamorous and he leaned more traditional, we tried to blend their styles to create calm, neutral spaces that respect the traditional architecture of the home,” shares Butler. Take the family room, shown here: With expansive views of the Miles River, the designer didn’t want to upstage the scenery, so she brought in a soothing, nature-inspired palette of gray-blues and taupes.

Custom millwork and paneling nods to architectural details found in the light and bright adjacent spaces, but to create a cozy contrast, she painted the walls Benjamin Moore’s Marina Gray.

With six different points of entry to the room, the furniture layout had to be methodically plotted. A perfectly scaled custom sectional by McKinley Leather, upholstered in dog-friendly fabric, anchors the room while ensuring plenty of space to circulate; nearby French doors fold open to provide seamless flow to the dining and grilling terrace. Featuring a fireplace surrounded by an Old World-inspired mantel from Francois & Co., the room offers a snug haven year-round with views that are hard to beat.

Interior Design: Laura K. Butler, Butler Interior Design, Kent Island, Maryland. Builder: Focus+ Construction, Easton, Maryland. 

Hoping to transform a neglected farmhand’s abode into a welcoming guest retreat for their Bozman, Maryland, property overlooking Broad Creek, a pair of avid gardeners and hosts contacted architect Michael Rouse. Maintaining its exact footprint, his plan organized the ailing 887-square-foot structure into two zones—an open, vaulted space for farm-to-table cooking and entertaining at one end, and a tranquil suite with a spa-inspired bath at the other. Reorienting the front door to the creek side made better sense of the layout and the placement of new windows prioritized waterfront views. Opening up the attic crawl space in the great room allowed for lofty cathedral ceilings with black metal ties, while replacing a screened porch with a sunroom created a light-filled sanctuary for reading and relaxing.

Style-wise, Rouse found inspiration in the building’s history. “We wanted to bring it back to its agrarian roots, which is why we did the seamed metal roof and the board-and-batten siding on the exterior, then we carried that theme to the interiors as well,” he explains. Farmhouse design elements include beadboard, nickel gap paneling and terracotta tiles that reference the region’s prevalent brick herringbone floors.

Summing up the project, Rouse says, “It was about taking something that was existing and not tearing it down but—in a very green way—giving it some TLC and creating something new.”

Houses christened with formal names never fail to capture the imagination. Think of Daphne du Maurier’s Manderley in Rebecca or Jane Austen’s Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice. Set on the banks of the Tred Avon River in Easton, Avondale is that type of home—a grand pile where 250 years’ worth of history speaks with every creak of a floorboard.

When a preservation-minded couple with three school-age children purchased the 40-acre property as a weekend retreat—their primary home is in Rehoboth—the 10,000-square-foot manse and its outbuildings had been derelict for many years. With a vision of restoring the house to its once stately form, the new owners called upon architect Charles Goebel with the added goal of updating it to serve their active lifestyle. “Our approach has been to preserve what’s worth preserving and to undo past mistakes that are not compatible with the history of the house,” he notes. So masterful was his restoration that it earned him a John Russell Pope award this year from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art.

Dating to 1770, the original Georgian three-bay portion of the house was built by Freeborn Banning, who came from a Chesapeake seafaring family, and it remained with his descendants for several generations. Significant additions were made during the 1920s, later followed by an insensitive full-scale remodel in the early 2000s which stalled, leaving the home vacant and neglected until 2018. “Additions had been put on additions over the decades and there was no real coherence or flow to it,” Goebel relays.

One only needed to look at the rambling exterior to see a roadmap of the many changes the house had undergone. For instance, each add-on incorporated different types of brick, most of which needed to be repointed or repaired. “It was kind of a museum of brick, if you will,” cracks the architect, who limewashed the blocks to lend cohesiveness and dressed up the façade with a Chippendale-style balustrade.

Inside, the home was a warren of dark, low-ceilinged spaces, starting with the entry hall which functioned as a reception room with a fireplace but no stairs. To create a more ceremonial welcome, Goebel conceived a striking circular staircase. At that time Jess Weeth, who had worked with the family on their primary residence, came on board to steer the interiors. “When I first saw the stair framing, it took my breath away to watch this sculptural component come to life with that amazing view behind it,” recalls the designer. “And what better way to capture that moment than with a more rustic finish like plaster.”

Layout-wise, the abode flows from that center hall, with living room and family room to the left side of the entry, and the dining room, kitchen, sunroom and other entertaining spaces to the right. The second floor plays host to the original library, the primary suite and the son’s and one of the daughter’s rooms, while the previously unfinished third-floor attic contains a lofty bedroom and bunk space for the eldest daughter.

For the interiors, Weeth’s goal was to create a generational family home that exuded comfort while honoring the period architecture and idyllic location. “Easton itself has so much history, right down to the millwork details in the old buildings in town,” she explains. “It was important to balance the design feeling fresh enough to fit a young family while simultaneously having that heritage component. It’s a very quiet place, and there’s something to how powerful and strong the setting is, so it was about complementing the scenery and matching the patina of the home without having the decoration steal the show.”

Main-level spaces toe the line between formal and fun. The living room, which looks out onto the reflecting pool, pairs polished furnishings with a Susan Harter mural that, notes Weeth, “blurs the lines between inside and out,” while the sunroom holds a long custom table for gloriously messy crab feasts. A tucked-in bar room reflects its waterfront scenery with baby-blue lacquer cabinetry and an antique mirror backsplash; there, reclaimed French marble floors from Francois & Co. harken to the past, conveying Old World style.

A sense of age is present upstairs, too, in the vaulted, timber-framed library, notable for its overhead beams which were rescued from a local church that burned down in the 1920s. “You can actually smell the character of the wood when you’re in that room,” says Weeth. Because the space was uninsulated, Goebel applied insulation to the roof’s exterior to maintain the soaring ceiling.

That dedication to preservation can also be seen in the restoration of the property’s gazebo, an architectural folly at the termination of the reflecting pool. After many decades of neglect, it was in sad shape with missing shingles and balustrades, but today it is the estate’s crown jewel.

“Whoever we’ve shown photos of this project to has been touched and charmed by what we’ve created,” reflects Goebel. “It strikes an emotion and really resonates. You get the feeling that this is just a romantic, wonderful place to be.”

1/ Natty Leash  Crafted from soft, weatherproof rope, this five-foot-long leash comes in standard and petite sizes, fitting pooches from eight to 100 pounds. Each sale helps feed a shelter dog. $62; thefoggydog.com

2/ Fancy Feast  Because pets should have pretty plates, too, Caskata created a series of porcelain bowls featuring marine motifs, including beach-towel stripes, a school of fish and an octopus named Lucy. $50 each; caskata.com

3/ Sleep Preserver This blue-and-white canvas bed takes the shape of an inflatable life ring with a cozy center for curling up. Sized for smaller pets, it measures 27.5 inches in diameter. $135; nauticalluxuries.com

4/ Cat’s Meow  Made from cotton and stuffed with pure catnip, these brightly colored, fish-shaped toys are designed to stimulate your feline’s natural hunting instincts. $14.99 for three; chewy.com

5/ Chew on this, Matey  This hand-tied rope toy, resembling a captain’s wheel, is made using non-toxic vegetable dyes. As your dog gnaws at it, the rope frays and acts like doggie dental floss. $16; jaxandbones.com

6/ Style Hound  In top-grain leather and navy rope with brass hardware, this collar is festooned with a charming anchor applique. In three sizes to fit neck measurements from 11 to 25 inches. $68; kieljamespatrick.com

7/ Tartan for Terriers  Your dog doesn’t have to be a Scottie to love this bone-shaped stocking in Stewart plaid. Stash it with treats and be the favorite pet parent. $24.50; potterybarn.com