Buying real estate was not on Tom Gilday’s agenda when he took a family ski trip to Montana back in 2004. But on a drive to see a friend’s new vacation property, he spotted a split-level home for sale at the edge of a pristine lake with an idyllic view of the Swan Mountains—and was smitten.
“It was breathtaking. You look across the lake and the mountains are right there,” recalls Gilday, vice president of Silver Spring-based Gilday Renovations. “The house is on a peninsula. If you stand in the living room and look right and look left, there’s nothing but water.”
Gilday and his wife Karen considered the possibilities and commitments of owning a vacation getaway 2,700 miles away from their Maryland residence. The idea of skiing and ice skating in a winter wonderland and spending summers hiking in nearby Glacier National Park won them over. They bought the property and have gone West—with four kids and their dog in tow—once or twice a year ever since.
Though lackluster in style, the 1990s-era, five-bedroom house had good bones, was well insulated and made a perfect base for the family’s outdoor pursuits. But over the years, Tom Gilday studied architecture prevalent in the area and gathered ideas for a future renovation. “The original house didn’t take advantage of the views,” he says. “I kind of knew what was possible but it took me a while to figure out how to do the transitions.”
A few years ago, the Gildays decided the time was right to update the house in order to improve the views and also to create an aesthetic that would better reflect its surroundings. While Gilday’s design would add about 108 square feet to the existing structure, it would ultimately create a more spacious feel by reconfiguring rooms and introducing more windows.
First, he eliminated the raised front entry door and split-level staircase and landing. A new front door on the ground level now opens to a streamlined staircase, making room for a large closet in the entry foyer and built-in bookcases in the living room above.
On both gabled ends of the second floor, walls with modest windows were traded for great expanses of glass. In the living room, Gilday added a large fireplace—curiously missing in the original home, given its location—and bumped out new glass windows to offer unencumbered mountain views. A new covered porch on the west-facing dining room side helps eliminate solar gain and offers a perfect outdoor perch.
Gilday also shifted the master bedroom to the mountain side of the house for better views, expanding it by four feet. A new master bath built into the bedroom left space for a home office in the bedroom’s former location. He completely gutted the kitchen, replacing it with new cabinetry, Silestone countertops and updated appliances.
Gone are the builder-grade drywall and painted masonite exteriors, replaced by a rugged material palette that lends the home authentic Western style inside and out. Working with J. L. Halverstadt of Wild Wood Eccentrics in Whitefish, Montana, Gilday selected a wide range of reclaimed materials to be used throughout the property for style and sustainability. “All the lumber, siding, stone, everything used in the house was reclaimed—the beams, the siding on the inside and the outside and the horizontal logs. This is about as green as you can get,” he says.
Montana-based Brian Quay oversaw construction on-site for Gilday, who managed the project remotely. One of the most challenging details was executing Gilday’s window design: The glass was installed into notches in massive reclaimed-wood beams. “It looks like the glass comes out of the beams themselves,” explains Gilday.
Karen Gilday furnished the interiors in comfortable, rustic style and selected all of the kitchen and bath cabinetry and materials to complement the home’s new look. Artwork the couple has acquired in the region also reflects a Western theme.
The family now enjoys vacations in the newly completed home more than ever. In the summer, they gather with neighbors around the fire pit and enjoy meals on the new porch. “The family is always together out there,” says Gilday. “We play chess, read—and there’s not as much emphasis on TV.
“The first time I went out there when it was all done,” he recalls, “I remember sitting on the porch and looking through the house towards the mountains at dusk. They turned purple, then they turned golden when the sun set. It’s a magical place.”
Photographer Heidi Long is based in Kalispell, Montana.
RENOVATION DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: TOM GILDAY, principal and designer; KAREN GILDAY, interiors, Gilday Renovations, Silver Spring, Maryland. CARPENTER: BRIAN QUAY, Kalispell, Montana.
“It gets better,” whispers architect Scarlett Breeding, touring a new home she designed near Annapolis. Surveying this virtually transparent steel, glass, and stone creation with sweeping water views, a visitor wonders what could possibly get any better than this.
The sheer simplicity instills guests with a sense of calm—precisely what its owner, CEO of a high-tech company, had in mind for this weekend getaway. “My company provides technology that is all about accountability and transparency,” he says. “I wanted this house to have those qualities. I did not just want to blur the lines of inside and outside; I wanted there to be none.”
The owner assembled a team of experts he knew could create the modern retreat he imagined. Scarlett Breeding, landscape architect Kevin Campion, builder Bret Anderson and interior designer Helen Sullivan had already collaborated on his DC home and other residences. Together, they delved into the project—possibly one of their most challenging to date.
As a starting point, Breeding found inspiration in the local vernacular. “The form comes from the traditional Chesapeake cottage, with its simple gabled roof,” she explains. “There is one gable form in the middle and matching ones on either side. We reduced them to their simplest elements, then subtracted out the roof and wall planes so they became far more transparent, to maximize light and views.” Even the garage doors are glass.
Dormers and skylights create lofty second-story spaces, yet allow the house to maintain a single-story presence. “It has large room volumes but does not feel inappropriate for the neighborhood, which is primarily cottages,” says Breeding.
The pure geometry makes a powerful statement. In fact, the structure is built on a single plinth without changes in grade on the ground level, from the water threshold at the front door to the curb-less shower entries and glassy backyard pool. “The biggest challenge,” says landscape architect Kevin Campion, “was integrating vulnerability when it comes to water—our friend and enemy at the same time. We also had to respect architecture so pure that it has no gutters on the vertical roofs.” The team devised a subterranean system that filters water away from the house. Catchments of black Mexican pebbles in the driveway and perimeter of the house capture water and serve as a strong design motif.
The home’s three connected volumes form an “L.” One stretches from the street toward the water houses the garage and guest suite and upstairs, a bunkroom with built-in beds and an office commanding views of the river. Perpendicular to this volume is the central, most transparent one containing the great room, dining pavilion and kitchen and another on the same axis housing the master suite and a bedroom for the owner’s son. A lower level includes a nanny suite, rec room, and wine cellar.
Throughout the interiors, a clean-lined, pared-down aesthetic prevails. Conventional building details are either nonexistent or so well hidden that nothing competes with the simple palette of bluestone floors, stone walls, steel, and glass. As the owner explains, “We wanted a seamless transition from inside to out and vice versa. Everything is elemental, honest and true.”
In the great room, exposed trusses counterbalance the loftiness. “The trusswork gives intimacy and warmth to this glass house,” says Breeding. “We’ve succeeded in making a very contemporary house not feel cold.” A massive stone chimney adds context and texture. It houses a fireplace and TV on the seating room side and on the other, anchors kitchen appliances and cabinetry. Made by Premier Custom-Built Cabinetry, casework in the kitchen and throughout the home cleverly eliminates clutter and enriches the material palette with German raked-oak surfaces. The precise fit of each detail, from air diffusers recessed in the stone floors to floating staircases, presented challenges at every turn. In fact, one of the cabinet installers nicknamed the house “Scarlett’s Rubik’s cube.”
“In modern construction,” says builder Bret Anderson, “everything is a zero-tolerance fit and is exposed. How these materials come together sets the quality level of the project. All of the interior trim and millwork in this house is integrated in such a way that it is seamless and holds the design together.”
With its proximity to the Magothy, guests in the dining pavilion almost feel as though they’re on a yacht. Glass panels slide open to expose the room to the elements. Automated screens bordering the kitchen shield the house from insects. The room’s only adornment, a balsa wood light fixture, floats above the table; it is one of three commissioned by the owner, who loves the glow they cast at night. “In the wind,” he says, “they look like a modern, Asian-inspired homage to Calder.”
The glass-walled master bedroom and guest suites flank the dining pavilion. The guestroom appears to hover above the pool, installed so completely flush with the stone deck that it resembles an aquamarine pane of glass. From the master bath, a door leads to an outdoor shower and hot tub sunken in stone.
In furnishing the home, designer Helen Sullivan sought pieces with an organic feel, from their colors and shapes to the fabrics. “Everything is soft and mellow,” she explains. “More than just comfortable, the house is very calming. It has a Zen quality.”
Behind the home, lawns terrace down to the river, rimmed by native grasses and perennials. “The plantings manage stormwater and connect the site to the Chesapeake,” says Campion.
After arriving at his new retreat on weekends, the owner admits, he rarely leaves. “This team executed perfection,” he insists. “Who would want to leave?”
Photographer David Burroughs is based in Annapolis.
ARCHITECTURE: SCARLETT BREEDING, AIA, Alt Breeding Schwarz Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: KEVIN CAMPION, ASLA, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. INTERIOR DESIGN: HELEN SULLIVAN, Helen Sullivan Design, Washington, DC. BUILDER: BRET ANDERSON, president; STEVE MICEK, project manager; BRUCE HART, site supervisor, Pyramid Builders, Annapolis, Maryland.
Visiting the DC Design House is a rite of spring on Washington’s design calendar. On board for the 2015 event, 24 design teams will transform a new farmhouse-style residence in McLean designed by Harrison Design and built by Artisan Builders.
Visitors can enjoy the first glimpse of designers’ creations on April 11th’s Preview Day—along with light bites served by “Top Chef” Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurants. That evening, Voltaggio will host a Preview Night wine dinner at Aggio restaurant in Friendship Heights, where he’ll sign copies of his new cookbook, Home.
Proceeds from all events benefit Children’s National Health System. Admission is $50 on Preview Day and $250 for Preview Night. Regular admission is $30; closed on Mondays. The house is located at 956 Mackall Farm Lane. For more information and a list of designers, visit dcdesignhouse.com.
When self-taught chef Patrick O’Connell opened The Inn at Little Washington in a former auto repair shop in 1978, few would have wagered that the venture would not only succeed but would garner top accolades from restaurant critics for decades to come.
Though it has grown to include 24 guest rooms in the original structure (which also houses the restaurant and public spaces) and several outbuildings, the Inn still recalls another time and place. Inspired by notable European properties, O’Connell’s fanciful creation centered on the main streets of rural Washington, Virginia (population: 150), transports guests into a world where walls are painted in monkey motifs, cheese is served atop an anatomically correct cow sculpture and ceilings are bedecked in kaleidoscopic cutouts of designer wall coverings—and that’s just for starters. No two guest rooms are alike.
“What is lacking today [in hospitality] is a sense of place, an identity, an authenticity, a personality,” says O’Connell. “We want guests to feel like they’re in someone’s home and we want it to look as if it has been here a long, long time.”
To O’Connell, nailing the ambiance and timeworn patina is just as critical as serving an impeccable foie gras. “Your eye can never be bored, just as your palate can never be bored,” he says. “It’s all parallel, to keep guests intrigued and amused and to sustain that fascination.”
O’Connell grew up in “big” Washington, where he studied theatre at Catholic University. One could argue that he hasn’t strayed far from his first calling. In his forthcoming book, The Inn at Little Washington: A Magnificent Obsession (Rizzoli, New York, April 2015; $50), O’Connell reveals that in his mind the Inn is a “healing cocoon” and a “folly and stage set for whatever drama is being played out” in guests’ lives.
If the Inn is theatre, O’Connell’s leading lady is Joyce Conwy Evans, a London-based set designer who has decorated every room on the property—most of them sight unseen. After she receives a blueprint of a new project, he explains, “Joyce goes into a trance and starts painting a rendering in watercolor. She has a vision and then steps into it. It’s been a wonderful collaboration for over 35 years.”
In addition to guest quarters, Evans also collaborates with O’Connell on his private residences on the “campus.” One of these was Claiborne House. After O’Connell purchased the 1899 “eyesore,” he hired Alexandria architect Allan Greenberg to transform it into a stately, two-bedroom cottage that would look like it had always been there. The architect’s plan created a kitchen, library, media room and veranda and gave the house presence with a front porch and two-story foyer.
Named for a frequent guest, food writer, and critic Craig Claiborne, the cottage was O’Connell’s own home until 2006 when he moved into 1885 Victorian he’d purchased nearby. Soon after, Claiborne House became the Inn’s presidential suite. In addition to its namesake, the retreat has hosted Al and Tipper Gore, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, designers Carleton Varney and Charlotte Moss and many a celebrity chef.
In the design of his current home, O’Connell and Evans are following their proven approach. “Each space, each piece of architecture, has a narrative that it needs to have told. It’s a little like raising a kid; it can’t necessarily be exactly what you want it to be. You follow its orders—and try not to go broke doing it,” O’Connell quips. Once they find a “clue,” whether it’s a piece of furniture, a color or wallpaper, everything falls into place. While his master bathroom is done (heated floors, marble-slab walls, Waterworks tub), the residence remains a work in progress.
However, readers will soon be able to survey the rest of O’Connell’s domain in his handsome and eloquent new book. “People who have worked here for 10 years have never seen it all,” he says. “The book is a window into the extent of the nuttiness.”
Chef, proprietor, co-designer and star of the show, O’Connell has clearly found his oeuvre. “My love,” he concludes, “is the art of transformation. Transforming anything. Like a turnip into something incredible, or a tear-down into something magical.”
Photographer Gordon Beall is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Portrait by Michael Ventura
First, rumors swirled. Then there was uncertainty. Then waiting and more waiting. As the former Washington Design Center building in Southwest began its transition into the future home of the Museum of the Bible and showrooms began to shutter, local designers have left to source their projects in a setting that was uninspiring, to say the least.
All that has changed now that the Design Center has officially opened in the gleaming, LEED Gold-certified Franklin Court building at 14th and L Streets, NW. On November 12, champagne flowed as the 23 showrooms now occupying the building’s light-filled second, third and fourth floors marked the Center’s launch with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Throngs of designers turned out for the event, which included presentations, product debuts and book signings by artist Hunt Slonem and designers Barry Dixon and Thomas Pheasant. Even Mayor Vincent Gray made an appearance to cut the ribbon.
There was much to celebrate. “The opening of the new Washington Design Center, in the ‘center’ of downtown Washington heralds a new era for our local design community,” said Barry Dixon. “A long overdue shot in the arm for architects and designers, the bright, sun-lit halls of possibility are a beacon for creative minds for miles around—and a bona fide cosmic shift for our industry.”
While purchases are still mostly to the trade, consumers are welcome to browse the Center’s showrooms for inspiration. Guests should check in at Franklin Court’s management office in the lobby to receive a daily visitor badge. Open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, the Washington Design Center is located at 1099 14th Street, NW. designcenterdc.com
For most families planning to build or renovate, functionality and ease of movement are essential. But in the case of a McLean couple designing a home to accommodate a physically disabled daughter, these ideas took on a whole new meaning. Marta, a nutritionist, and Michael, a scientist/entrepreneur, have three adult daughters including Gina, who relies on a wheelchair for mobility and a service dog to assist with daily activities.
When they relocated to the DC area from Illinois, Gina was off at college and, later, grad school. After she moved back in with her family a few years ago to start a job with the Department of Defense, they discovered that despite adaptations they’d made, getting around their house was too cumbersome for her. So Marta and Michael decided to tear it down and start anew.
Their goals were far-reaching: to make every room—including closets and bathrooms—completely accessible, and to incorporate independent but connected living quarters for Gina, now 31. Throughout the property, doors and passageways would have to be wide enough to accommodate Gina’s wheelchair and English Labrador, Susie. There could be no grade changes on the home’s three floors or in its exterior spaces. All lighting, security, HVAC and A/V systems would be controlled via iPhone or iPad, either hand-held or installed in each room.
“One residence would provide an environment for Gina to learn the skills required for living totally independent from us,” says Michael, “and the other would provide a home for us to age in place with room to accommodate our other daughters and their families when they visit.”
The couple selected a design team based not on experience in universal design but on the willingness to explore outside-the-box solutions. First, they tapped Phil Leibovitz of Sandy Spring Builders after admiring a house his firm completed nearby; he introduced them to McLean architect Glenn Chen Fong, whom they hired to design the home.
“In this case, ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] standards were not relevant as they didn’t accommodate a wheelchair and service dog side-by-side,” explains Fong. “Hours of discussions allowed us to add up all the parameters and take a fresh look at the accessible design. We truly reinvented the wheel.”
The existing awkwardly shaped lot—narrow on the street side but projecting almost 500 feet deep—turned out to be a boon to Fong’s design. Since Gina commutes to work via a Metro Access van, sitting her quarters near the street made sense, so he created a one-story cottage for her with the family home extending behind it.
Along, light-filled hallway bordering the family’s three-car garage links Gina’s cottage to the main home. “If Gina wants to live wholly independently, she can just close off the corridor,” the architect explains. “But if there’s an emergency, her parents can be there in a heartbeat.”
Guests arriving at the main house enter on the side into a gracious foyer, also accessible via Gina’s inner corridor. The main level encompasses living, dining and family rooms; a kitchen; a study; and a master suite. Though a grand staircase leads to the second floor, Gina can reach her two sisters’ bedrooms upstairs, as well as the lower level, via elevator. In the basement, the entire family works out in a gym and indoor SwimEx resistance pool.
As construction commenced, the clients hired designer Skip Sroka to pull together the interiors while addressing the challenges of accessibility—such as floor coverings. “Marta told me, ‘There will not be carpet in this house. The wheelchair will ruin the rug or, worse, the carpet will roll into the wheels,’” recalls Sroka. So he defined spaces with dramatic designs in the hardwood floors, from geometric patterns to an inlaid medallion in the couple’s shared study. “The patterns are strong enough that they create a welcoming sense,” he explains.
Though his clients also wanted to forgo drapery, Sroka convinced them window treatments were necessary to warm up the interiors. “It would’ve been too institutional if there wasn’t anything on the windows,” he comments. Botanical prints in natural colors reflect rich interior millwork.
Special care went into creating new furniture arrangements. The custom dining table, for example, was crafted to be wheelchair-accessible. “We have a place in every room where there’s space for another chair because that’s Gina’s spot,” says Sroka. “It’s just part of the design.”
Planning for a future when Gina will live in the home when they’re gone, Michael and Marta ensured that it would be as maintenance-free and sustainably designed as possible. Solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling and spray-foam insulation make it energy efficient. “Sustainability simply makes sense,” Michael says.
Now complete, the new home’s sophisticated exteriors and welcoming interiors belie the fact that it’s fully accessible. “To me, beauty is the inspiration for living,” Sroka reflects. “A physical limitation shouldn’t preclude you from that.
“Part of accessibility,” he continues, “is talking about what the person you’re designing for can do because it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.”
Gina would have to agree. “The house has greatly improved my lifestyle by being barrier-free,” she concludes. “Rather than the focus being my disability, I can focus on the abilities I have and what I can accomplish.”
Photographer Geoffrey Hodgdon is based in Deale, Maryland.
ARCHITECTURE: GLENN CHEN FONG, AIA, Arlington, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: SKIP SROKA, CID, ASID, principal; ELIZABETH BAUSCH, lead designer, Sroka Design, Washington, DC. BUILDER: PHIL LEIBOVITZ, Sandy Spring Builders, Bethesda, Maryland.
Autumn Getaway Easton’s historic Tidewater Inn makes for an idyllic fall retreat. It’s the perfect base for exploring the town; the inn can also organize golf, boating and fishing trips. The property’s restaurant, Hunter’s Tavern was recently renovated by Philadelphia-based DAS Architects. On November 14, the inn will host the fourth annual Brew & Oyster Brawl featuring live music, freshly shucked oysters and other fare; a portion of the proceeds benefits the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Rates from $149. tidewaterinn.com
Café Culture Visitors to Chestertown have a treat in store at Evergrain Bread Company. Opened in 2010 by Johnson and Wales grad Douglas Rae, the café tempts passersby with fresh-baked artisan breads and pastries, croissants, pain au chocolat and sun buns, which are made of knotted croissant dough double-rolled in cinnamon and sugar. “It’s our crown jewel,” says the Chestertown native, who co-owns the bakery with his mom, Kelly Holton. 201-203 High Street; 410-778-3333. evergrainbreadco.com
Water’s Edge Fresh from a 2015 makeover, The Narrows restaurant sports a crisp new look and improved views of the Kent Narrows waterway. Architect David Miles of The Drawing Board, interior designer Melissa McLay and Timberlake Design/Build collaborated on the project, which updated the dining room with “an old boathouse feel,” says co-owner Kelly Hardesty Phipps. While it offers a varied menu, this Graysonville hot spot specializes in seafood, from cioppino to Oysters Rockefeller. Devoted customers can even order The Narrows’s famous crabcakes online. 3023 Kent Narrows Way South; 410-827-8113. thenarrowsrestaurant.com
Easton Art Easton is famous for its summertime plein air festival, when artists and visitors converge on the Maryland town to paint the scenery and buy art. But this picturesque hamlet actually spotlights art all year long. From November 13 to 15, the Waterfowl Festival shines a light on wildlife art. In addition, upcoming gallery events are listed below.
717 Gallery: “Small Treasures,” November 6 to January 7, 2016. This exhibit showcases small paintings by owner/artist Louis Ecobedo and Eastern Shore artist Chris Wilke. 717 Goldsborough Street; 410-241-7020. 717gallery.com
Troika Gallery: The work of William Storck, a nationally acclaimed maritime painter, through November 10. Gala champagne 18th anniversary group show, November 13 to December 31. 9 South Harrison Street; 410-770-9190. troikagallery.com
A FITTING TRIBUTE
Inspired by the 1937 speed record set by English race car driver Sir Malcolm Campbell on Italy’s Lake Maggiore-—in a Bluebird K3 hydroplane powered by a Rolls-Royce engine—Rolls Royce has released the limited edition Phantom Drophead Coupé. The 12-cylinder bespoke model boasts a hand-brushed steel grille, saddle-leather floor mats and other details that echo the K3’s design. $470,000; rolls-roycemotorcars.com
BRASS TACKS
Jonathan Adler's Brass Tic Tac Toe set makes a bold statement on any coffee table. Brass game pieces play off a grooved marble base. $195. jonathanadler.com
NOSTALGIA TRIP
The Gramovox Bluetooth Gramophone marries vintage style with the latest technology. The speaker delivers old-school sound via Bluetooth, USB or 3.5mm stereo input. It has a range of more than 30 feet and a battery life of 15 hours. $400; gramovox.com
GAME ON
British designer Alexandra Llewellyn fashions handmade backgammon boards in a wide array of themes. Lily (pictured) boasts a dark zebrano interior embellished with calla lilies; its weighted brass playing pieces are inlaid with mother of pearl on one side and leather on the other. Custom designs are available. $7,387; alexandralldesign.com
WINTER WONDERLAND
Dior’s fall/winter 2014 haute couture collection features this embroidered pale pink silk coat with black wool top and black wool pants. Paired with red pumps, the outfit combines soft textures and handiwork with a sleek silhouette. dior.com
STAR STRUCK
This large starburst pendant with diamonds by David Yurman makes a striking gift for the holidays. Strung on an adjustable 22- to 24-inch chain, the sterling-silver piece is studded with .85 carats of diamonds. Available at Bloomingdales; $2,600. bloomingdales.com
SMART SATCHEL
Karl Lagerfeld’s K/School two-tone leather tote is an easy carry-all, with an adjustable shoulder strap and top handles. The expandable sides fit all your belongings for work, play or travel. $750; karl.com
DUTCH TREAT
Celebrated Dutch architect Piet Boon designed the 10 spacious villas with private gardens and Caribbean views at this boutique getaway on Bonaire. At Piet Boon Bonaire, guests choose between garden and seafront accommodations; each villa comes with a fully equipped kitchen—and private chefs are on call. From $642 nightly; designhotels.com
SOUTH BEACH MEETS VEGAS
The luxury, all-suite Delano Las Vegas opened its doors in September, bringing the brand’s South Beach glam to The Strip. The design teams at MGM Resorts International and Morgans Hotel Group evoke the Mojave Desert in the hotel’s public spaces—including the Franklin lounge, with its twinkling lights and gold accents. Rates from $119; delanolasvegas.com
LITTLE WASHINGTON GETAWAY
Chef/proprietor Patrick O’Connell has expanded The Inn at Little Washington with the recent unveiling of The Parsonage—an 1850s Victorian house that he has restored and converted into six new guest rooms. Decorated in collaboration with London designer Joyce Conwy Evans, the rooms boast fireplaces and English linens. Named for its proximity to Trinity Episcopal Church, The Parsonage is across the street from O’Connell’s legendary restaurant. Rates from $575; theinnatlittlewashington.com
SAVOIR FARE
Chef Daniel Boulud—the lauded French chef who started his career in DC 30 years ago—has returned to the District to open DBGB Kitchen and Bar. Designed by Thomas Schlesser, the casual French-American restaurant serves house-made sausages, gourmet burgers (including the Yankee Burger, inset) and Lyonnais-inspired fare. 931 H Street, NW; 202-695-7660. dbgb.com/dc
WEST-END DEBUT
Café Deluxe has opened its fifth location in DC’s West End, at 22nd and M Streets, NW. Designed by GTM Architects, the restaurant boasts dramatic lighting and a 38-seat bar, plus leather booths and mahogany furniture; patio seating is available in milder weather. Look for the same classic menu offered at other outposts. 2201 M Street, NW; 202-524-7815. cafedeluxe.com
HOLIDAY CHEER
The Blue Duck Tavern and Blue Duck Lounge at the Park Hyatt Washington are toasting the season with new fall cocktails. Among the handcrafted libations is Smoke on the River—a blend of Copper Fox Virginia Rye, Lapsang Souchong tea, lemon and yellow chartreuse. 24th and M Streets, NW; 202-419-6755. blueducktavern.com
Wayne Andersen has long been an architecture buff and admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright. So it should come as no surprise that the physician, author and co-founder of Take Shape For Life, a healthy living program, had a few ideas of his own when he set out to build a new home near Annapolis to share with wife Lori and their two teenage daughters. “We love the water and are avid sailors,” says Andersen, who owns a 54-foot yacht. “It was my dream to keep the boat at my house.”
After a long search, the Andersens finally came across a three-and-a-half-acre parcel located next to a working winery on Harness Creek, a Chesapeake Bay tributary. “The lot was perfect; it’s on a protected creek and looks across to a nature preserve,” says architect Cathy Purple Cherry, who showed the property to the couple with a mutual friend in real estate. “What Wayne was most excited about was that he could see the water and the vineyard at the same time.”
The Andersens hired Purple Cherry—an expert in critical area building—to design a residence that could host company events as well as be a magnet where their daughters’ friends “would want to come over and be with us rather than going out,” explains Andersen. To realize the vision, he and Purple Cherry assembled an experienced team that included Bret Anderson of Pyramid Builders, interior designer Arlene Critzos of Interior Concepts and Kevin Campion of Campion Hruby Landscape Architects.
Andersen wanted the residence to embrace Frank Lloyd Wright’s tenet that a structure should be in harmony with its surroundings. “Wayne hoped that when you approached the house, it would seem as though it grew out of the ground, and when you walked into it, that the ‘wow’ views of the water and land would be more powerful than the structure itself,” Purple Cherry explains. This concept drove everything from the architectural plans to the organic material palette to the interior design.
Christened “Aqua Terra” by Andersen, the completed three-level, 10,000-square-foot house salutes the outdoors with a seamless marriage of interior and exterior spaces. Like Mother Nature, it also displays dramatic wonders of its own. Consider the floating, three-story staircase engineered from glass, steel and wood. Or the mahogany wine cellar and indoor resistance pool on the lower level. Or the three-part fireplace topped with mantel stones that weigh as much as a small car. Artwork and fossils collected by the Andersens on their travels were built into walls, niches and custom furniture.
With such a high level of detail and craftsmanship, the project mobilized scores of tradespeople. “The talent organized for this job was incredible,” says Pyramid’s Bret Anderson. “Even though we employ 50 of our own full-time craftsmen, we had to draw on additional resources. There were days when we had 30 carpenters here along with 20 masons.”
With construction underway, the design team planned the interiors. “This house is an example of how interior design should be the background to strong architecture,” designer Arlene Critzos observes. “The wood, the stone and all of the interior finishes told the story, and we filled in with pieces that would salute those selections but not take over. When we brought in color, it was the color of water, wind or earth—all the elements around us.”
Kevin Campion’s landscape program divides the property into four alluring gardens. There are meadows and rain gardens, a pool garden with a pavilion and a waterfront garden that brims with native grasses.
Since moving into the home in August, the Andersens have hosted two successful company summits with 150 attendees (Lori, a registered nurse, also works for Take Shape for Life). They find the house to be an ideal workplace. “It immediately puts people in a fluid, flexible, creative environment with the water and the sunlight coming through,” Andersen marvels.
The Andersens have also enjoyed family time indoors and out—and as they’d hoped, their daughters’ friends love to visit. Though the house boasts every luxury imaginable, it’s the surroundings that Wayne Andersen seems to appreciate most. “We wake up and can see mist coming off the water or bald eagles fishing,” he says. “Then we walk down the hall and see the vineyards. You’re caught in awe of how incredibly gorgeous it is, and I feel so blessed.”
Photographer David Burroughs is based in Annapolis.
ARCHITECTURE: CATHY PURPLE CHERRY, AIA, LEED AP, Purple Cherry Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. INTERIOR DESIGN: Arlene Critzos, principal; CATHERINE BELKOV, Interior Concepts, Annapolis, Maryland. BUILDER: BRET ANDERSON, principal; HERB SEVERN and James Guercio, project managers, Pyramid Builders, Annapolis, Maryland. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: KEVIN CAMPION, ASLA, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. WINDOWS: Jeld Wen Windows through Architectural Window Supply, Annapolis, Maryland.
Built in 1926 as a Federal Reserve bank in Second Renaissance Revival style, this Baltimore grand dame was noted for its dramatic, arched doorways and imposing façade. It remained a bank until 2012, when Baybridge Properties acquired and developed it into a luxury condominium. It was named The Lenore after a character in a poem by Baltimore native Edgar Allen Poe.
A design team from Marks, Thomas Architects preserved its historic splendor while introducing a modern edge. “It was not a retro replication,” says principal Tom Liebel, “but we were trying to harken back to grander days.”
The lobby’s original plaster ceiling and limestone walls (pictured) had to be restored where 1980s partitions had carved up the space. Explains Liebel, “We were undoing rather than inserting things.” Today, a sculpted wall panel by Textures 3-D defines the reception area and geometric chairs by Kellex make a bold statement.
The 102-unit building offers a cyber lounge, a fitness center and a gated dog walk. The project utilized federal historic preservation tax credits; LEED Silver certification is pending.
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS: TOM LIEBEL, FAIA, LEED Fellow, principal in charge; Aaron Zephir, AIA, project manager; Darlene Watson, CID, LEED AP ID+C, interior designer, Marks, Thomas Architects, Baltimore, Maryland. RENOVATION CONTRACTOR: HAMEL BUILDERS, Elkridge, Maryland.
When architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens designed the British Embassy in Washington, he could see the Washington Monument from its site on a then-rural stretch of Massachusetts Avenue. Eighty-five years later, the neighborhood has changed but Lutyens’s residence remains an elegant architectural gem that has witnessed a fair share of history since its completion in 1930.
The home is set on four acres with a narrow street presence expanding into wider gardens. As a symbol of the relationship between the U.S. and Britain, Lutyens married elements of a Queen Anne country house with those of the Williamsburg vernacular. The building originally housed both the residence and embassy, which was located in a U-shaped wing facing the street. However, growing pains forced the embassy to move to its current, less elegant quarters in 1960, built on additional land the U.K. had purchased next door.
Over the years, the residence has welcomed a steady stream of luminaries, from presidents, prime ministers and royalty to movie stars and rock legends. There have been solemn wartime tête-à-têtes, lavish state dinners and garden parties literally fit for a queen. The Beatles stopped in after their first U.S. gig at the Washington Coliseum and, recently, the home was abuzz with heartthrobs of another kind: the cast of “Downton Abbey.”
Every year, 12,000 guests visit the residence, where they may find a great hall with a checkered marble floor, a ballroom displaying Andy Warhol’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth and manicured English gardens inspired by the work of Gertrude Jekyll, a close friend of Lutyens. The residence itself was cause for celebration earlier this year when today’s Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott and his wife, Lady Westmacott, held receptions to mark the publication of The Architecture of Diplomacy: The British Ambassador’s Residence in Washington. Written by historian Anthony Seldon and Daniel Collings with photographs by Eric Sander, the book offers a fascinating history of the home and an in-depth look at how Lutyens’s plan took shape. Lady Westmacott, who noticed a dearth of material written about the residence upon their arrival in 2012, spearheaded the project.
When they are not entertaining, Lady Westmacott spends time in the sunny drawing room while the Ambassador enjoys quiet moments in his paneled library.
“It’s fun when we have family and grandchildren running around here, but you don’t live in a house like this—or you shouldn’t—if you don’t get pleasure from sharing it with other people,” the Ambassador says during an interview on the terrace. “This house earns its keep by doing a lot of things for the United Kingdom’s interests and to promote relations between Britain and the United States.”
He found one particular encounter in the residence most rewarding. “When the new president of France first met the British prime minister, they were in the drawing room in this house,” recalls Westmacott, who was formerly Britain’s ambassador to France. “The beginning of a new relationship—not between the U.S. and Great Britain but between Britain and France—took place here.”
No doubt, Lutyens would approve of the myriad ways in which the house is used today. “To design something 85 years ago for a pre-electronic age, where the beauty and elegance and sense of proportion still enchant us today is, I think, a supreme achievement,” concludes author Anthony Seldon. “To me, this is simply the greatest ambassadorial residence of any country in any capital. It just works to perfection.”
Photographer Eric Sander is based in Paris. All images copyright of The Architecture of Diplomacy: The British Ambassador’s Residence in Washington; Flammarion, Paris; 2014. $65.
LATIN ACCENT ON 14TH STREET
James Beard award-winning chef Michael Schlow recently opened Tico, serving cuisine inspired by his travels to Latin America, Mexico and Spain. The rustic space designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects and StreetSense features art by the chef’s wife, Adrienne Schlow, while the bar stocks more than 125 kinds of tequila. 1926 14th Street, NW; 202-319-1400. ticodc.com
A DC LANDMARK REBORN
The Iron Gate has been recently revived by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. An in-house team collaborated with Catherine Hailey Design on a makeover of the historic stable that now includes a bar and patio area and a dining room serving chef Tony Chittum’s divine creations. 1734 N Street, NW; 202-524-5202. irongaterestaurantdc.com
NEW CHEF AT 1789
Samuel Kim, formerly of Tom Colicchio’s Colicchio & Sons in New York, has taken the helm at Georgetown’s 1789 Restaurant. This brings Kim full circle since the former banker launched his culinary career as chef de partie rotisseur at 1789 more than a decade ago. His new menu includes Icelandic cod with chanterelle mushroom purée. 1226 36th Street, NW; 202- 965-1789. 1789restaurant.com
ONE OF A KIND
Valentino’s new fragrance, Valentina Eau de Parfum, is feminine yet unconventional. It combines notes of Calabrian bergamot with white Alba truffle, jasmine and Amalfi orange blossom. Available at Bloomingdales and other local retailers. $82 to $110. bloomingdales.com
GOLD RUSH
Simplicity and elegance define the 18-karat yellow gold Origin Nine Disc Mesh Necklace by New York-based jewelry designer Sandy Leong. Small, layered discs create a cascading, swaying whole. $4,200. sandyleongjewelry.com
SHIFTING SEASONS
Tibi’s Floral Tapestry Dress adds an unexpected edge to the conventional shift. With color-blocked floral prints, an asymmetric hem and a leather inset, its fresh, textured look is perfect for the change of seasons. $545. bloomingdales.com
Twenty years after interior designer Rosemarie Howe and contractor Tom Gilday collaborated on a Chevy Chase renovation, the same clients called them back for an update. This time, the very large and inefficient master bath needed the most help.
“The huge whirlpool tub was used only for drying running clothes,” recalls Howe, “and tucked into a dark corner beside the counter was a teeny little shower.”
The team first removed the oversized tub, replacing it with a spacious, light-filled shower boasting a rainfall showerhead. This move created space for a double vanity along the opposite wall. And in the center of the room—which Howe deemed “empty dancing space”—a new tub now creates a dramatic focal point. “While the owners once viewed a vague and amorphous bath from their bedroom, they now see a free-form tub sitting on a ‘rug’ of really handsome tile,” she explains. “The tub has a sculptural presence and makes sense of the very large bathroom.”
In addition to the mosaic floor, Howe selected subtle, white marble walls and a Caesarstone countertop for an elegant, crisp aesthetic. “I wanted it to be calm, spare and quietly luxurious,” she says. The marble, tile, tub and sconces are by Waterworks while the sinks are by Kohler. Chrome drawer hardware—discovered by Howe on a trip to Paris—lend an unexpectedly modern touch.
“When it all came together, our clients were delighted,” she says. “It was fun to tweak a house Tom and I had both worked on before.”
INTERIOR DESIGN: ROSEMARIE HOWE, Rosemarie R. Howe Interiors, Inc., Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: TOM GILDAY, Gilday Renovations, Silver Spring, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: MORGAN HOWARTH.
For two more amazing custom baths, see
On a breezy July afternoon, chef Robert Wiedmaier offered his guests morsels of savory-sweet Maryland crab, a taste of what would be on the menu that evening. The meal—also spotlighting fresh rockfish and Chesapeake Gold oysters—was not being served at one of his seven area restaurants, which include Marcel’s, Brasserie Beck and Mussel Bar & Grille. Instead, Wiedmaier was whipping up a dinner for eight at his family’s sprawling weekend home near Solomons Island, Maryland.
“Let’s go fishing,” he called out to his buddies, who were relaxing over mojitos on the screened porch. “The blue fish are kickin’ big time.”
Only 75 minutes from his home in Kensington, Wiedmaier’s four-acre property on the Patuxent River might as well be a world away from the pressure-cooker lifestyle of a successful DC chef/restaurateur. Robert, his wife Polly and their sons Marcel, 15, and Beck, 11, escape as often as possible to this retreat where they fish, waterski, ride dirt bikes, kayak and even go duck- and goose-hunting (minus Mom). With two fishing boats at the ready—an 18-foot Parker for solo trips and a 32-foot Luhrs for larger expeditions—Robert regularly hauls in rockfish and blue fish, along with crabs off the dock and oysters from beds just offshore.
The Wiedmaiers literally stumbled upon the property during one of many drives spent looking for a weekend home on Maryland’s western shore. “We happened to be driving down Rousby Hall Road and there was a Sotheby’s sign,” Robert recalls. They turned down the long, sweeping drive, “saw this house and fell in love with it.” They were sold on its proximity to DC, its prime waterfront location and pier and the inviting, five-bedroom house that had been recently renovated.
“We wanted to be on the water but Polly didn’t want it to be remote,” explains Robert. “To the left of the property, we can see the mouth of the Chesapeake. To the right, there’s Solomons Island.”
The house revealed another surprise: It is built around a two-story, circa-1670 customs house where taxes were once collected for the King of England from ships entering the Patuxent. The original brick walls, fireplace and wood-beam ceiling have been restored in the historic sitting room located to the right of the home’s main entry. A ladder leads to the upstairs bedroom where the customs agent once slept.
Despite this centuries-old gem, the rest of the home is practically new. After a larger home had been built around the customs house in the 1950s, previous owners hired Annapolis architect Charles Anthony in 2003 to design an addition, which encompasses a vaulted great room with an open dining area and kitchen, a ground-floor master suite, a basement with a media room and wine cellar and a free-standing garage with a guest apartment above it.
“The house has just the right amount of charm and age,” says Polly. “In the old sitting room, you feel the history of the place—but I wouldn’t want to own a whole house that old. When you walk into the big, new, bright part [of the house], it’s just easy. It’s a great combination.”
The Wiedmaiers were convinced. They purchased the home and tapped Arlington designer Charles Craig—who recently transformed Marcel’s lounge—to help with some of the décor. They’ve been enjoying it ever since. “Once I get onto Route 4, my stress level goes way down. And when I walk out to the water, it feels like I’m far away from DC,” says Robert.
Polly, chief marketing officer of their RW Restaurant Group, agrees, “I’m outside so much more here. We take the boats out and go to different restaurants on the water, whereas at home, I’m usually inside at my desk.” Meals on the bay are casual affairs, often cooked on a trusty charcoal grill—a far cry from the haute cuisine and white linens of Marcel’s.
From a young age, Robert Wiedmaier loved to cook and gravitated to the kitchen, where his American mother and Belgian grandmother taught him the ropes. “They were both awesome cooks,” he recalls. “When they went to the local markets, I would tag along.” His Belgian-born father, who emigrated to the U.S. during World War II, worked overseas for the U.S. Air Force for decades. Robert grew up mostly in Germany and Belgium and attended culinary school in the Netherlands. Then he moved to Washington, gaining experience in such culinary standouts as the Four Seasons’ Aux Beaux Champs and the Watergate’s Jean-Louis, where he replaced renowned chef Jean-Louis Palladin.
In 1999, Wiedmaier opened his own fine French restaurant, Marcel’s, named for his newborn son. Since then, there have been many debuts. Brasserie Beck now has two locations and Mussel Bar & Grille has three, with a fourth opening in Baltimore’s Harbor East this fall—in addition to BRABO in Alexandria and Wildwood Kitchen in Bethesda.
Wiedmaier sees potential synergy between his bay property and the restaurants. “I am going to build a chicken coop and a greenhouse and do honeybees. I want to grow things that I’ll be proud to serve in the restaurants,” he explains. “I’ve always enjoyed working on farms. It ties in with the full circle of hunting, fishing and cooking.”
Whether he is grilling oysters, sipping bourbon around the bonfire with friends or plotting out his future greenhouse, Wiedmaier is in his element on the shore, where he and Polly will move permanently once Marcel and Beck leave home.
Originally, Robert wished for a 100-acre getaway. “But Polly told me, 'You’ve got thousands and thousands of acres in front of you…in the water,’” he recounts with a booming laugh. “I said, ‘That’s a great way of looking at it.’ It’s nice to be able to go down to the boat and just take off.”
Geoffrey Hodgdon is a photographer in Deale, Maryland.
A Maryland couple who’d grown tired of their outmoded 1980s master bathroom turned to designer Diane Taitt for help. The wife, a physician, wanted a serene retreat where she could unwind after long days at work. “She told me, ‘This is the one space in my house that is mine,’” Taitt recalls. “It was going to be her sanctuary.’’ The husband’s only request: that the décor reflect the soothing colors of his native Caribbean island, Anguilla.
Taitt devised a plan that would transform the ’80s throwback into a one-of-a-kind home spa full of custom finishes and features. After the original was completely gutted, Taitt created privacy without walls by enclosing the W.C. and a large shower behind panels of textured glass that leave the space light and airy. The panels are painted in a motif inspired by an ancient Turkish pattern symbolizing creation and infinity. “My clients fell in love with the concept,” she says.
They also love the shimmering surfaces and tiles that evoke the way sunlight dances on tropical seas. A crystal chandelier in the W.C. and silver-thread sconces above the dual vanities further reflect the light. “The room feels alive as you move,” says the designer.
Above the bathtub, porcelain tiles embellished with a subtle palm-frond motif echo the island theme. Against a tone-on-tone palette of soft grays and white, mosaic elements around the vanity mirrors add hints of Caribbean color.
According to Taitt, both homeowners were “ecstatic” with the results. However, the designer says that as far as being the wife’s private sanctuary is concerned, “she can’t get her husband out of the bathroom.”
INTERIOR DESIGN: DIANE S. TAITT, ASID, Associate AIA, De Space Designs, Washington, DC. PHOTOGRAPHY: Maxine Schnitzer.
For two more amazing custom baths, see
