Holiday shoppers and art aficionados alike will find plenty to ogle at the 26th Annual Washington Craft Show, taking place November 1 to 3 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This year’s show will display the work of 190 contemporary craft artists in a dozen different media including furniture, ceramics, glass, basketry, paper, wood, wearable textiles and jewelry. A professional jury selected the artists, who hail from all over the U.S.
Informative discussions by craft experts round out the weekend. At 1 p.m. on Friday, November 1, Smithsonian American Art Museum director Elizabeth Broun and Renwick Gallery curator Nicholas Bell will share their thoughts on contemporary American craft. And on Sunday, November 3 at 2 p.m., artist Amy Nguyen will discuss how an extended trip to Japan influenced her textile creations.
Fashion shows highlighting the work of many exhibitors will take place on November 1 at 3 p.m. and November 2 at 1 p.m. washingtoncraftshow.com
CALL OF THE WILD
Aqua Expeditions brings five-star luxury to river cruising on the Amazon in Peru. Its 147-foot M/V Aria boasts 16 water-facing, air-conditioned staterooms plus an indoor lounge and outdoor seating areas. Up to 32 passengers enjoy haute cuisine, fine wines and guided nature tours in eight-person launches. Three-night itineraries are $2,685 per person. aquaexpeditions.com
RUSSIA DEBUT
Four Seasons recently unveiled its first Russian property in a restored 19th-century palace just two blocks from the Hermitage Museum. The Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg boasts 157 elegantly appointed rooms and 26 suites, including premium one-bedroom suites featuring marble baths and separate living areas with sofa beds. Rates from $312 through April 1, 2014. fourseasons.com
VIRGINIA RETREAT
Middleburg’s long-awaited Salamander Resort & Spa opened in late August to much fanfare. Sheila Johnson’s 168-room, LEED-certified retreat brings a new level of luxury to Horse Country, with 168 stylish rooms and suites, cuisine by Todd Gray of Equinox fame and a full-service equestrian center. Rates from $275. salamanderhotels.com
SPIT FIRE
Chef Mike Isabella salutes Northern Greek cuisine in his new DC restaurant, Kapnos. The menu features a variety of mezze. Don’t miss the spit-roasted meats that inspired the restaurant’s name: Kapnos is Greek for “smoke.” Bethesda’s Streetsense designed the interiors, which include a butcher-block chef’s table and distressed-wood bar. 2201 14th Street, NW; 202-234-5000. kapnosdc.com
TEST KITCHEN
Chef Richard Sandoval has launched his fifth Test Kitchen at Zengo in Penn Quarter. From now through December 31st, look for dishes and cocktails celebrating a fusion between the cuisines of Peru and Malaysia, including the pisco elevation made with lychee (left). 781 7th Street, NW; 202-393-2929. richardsandoval.com/zengodc
SPANISH STYLE
Jaleo Bethesda is fresh from a re-design. Chef José Andrés tapped Barcelona architect and designer Juli Capella to create an edgy, Spanish vibe in the space. It features a central display of the chef’s most popular tapas and distinctive artwork by prominent artists from Spain. 7271 Woodmont Avenue; 301-913-0003. jaleo.com
designer Kelley Proxmire, saying “I’ve got something exciting for you.” She and her husband had just purchased a pied-à-terre in the Watergate complex and immediately asked Proxmire to decorate the interiors.
The stars were aligned on this project from the get-go. Since Proxmire had designed the couple’s farmhouse near Middleburg, Virginia, they trusted her eye. Even more fortunate was the fact that just a few years earlier, the previous owners of the apartment had completely gutted and renovated it with help from DC architect Outerbridge Horsey of Outerbridge Horsey Associates. His refined, carefully planned design provided Proxmire with the perfect starting point. “It had already been very well done,” the designer says. “The architect oriented all of the public rooms along the river, which really set the flow.”
Guests enter the fan-shaped apartment through a central corridor that leads to the living room, library, dining room, kitchen and family room—all of which offer sweeping views of the Potomac River and Washington Harbour. Meanwhile, the master suite and a guest room overlook the Watergate’s inner courtyard—an equally famous, if less dramatic, vista.
Armed with an intuitive understanding of her clients’ aesthetic and a few gorgeous fabric samples up her sleeve, Proxmire was able to complete the project in record time. She proposed a color scheme of muted blues and greens, taking inspiration from the surrounding water, foliage and sky. The owners loved the palette, which was a departure from the primary colors prevalent in their main house.
A Schumacher paisley that Proxmire had been saving for the right project was an ideal selection for a pair of chairs in the living room. It complements existing blue-painted millwork in the adjacent library that the homeowners chose to keep. The living room walls are painted a soft gray, with a vintage landscape painting and fabrics providing just the right measure of color. “The emphasis is on mixing finishes in the room,” Proxmire explains. “The gray wash, the silvery finish on the furniture, the darker finish on the floors. It’s all a mix, but a thoughtful mix.”
Though most of the furnishings are newly purchased, Proxmire added vintage pieces and antiques, along with art and accessories, to lend the interiors an authentic, collected-over-time look.
Unexpected finds lend a playful touch to the apartment. Proxmire and her client combed galleries and antiques shops in DC and in Atlanta’s Buckhead district, searching for art, lamps, furniture and accessories. “These one-of-a-kind, older pieces are what help make a room,” the designer proclaims. An antique barometer hangs above a chest in the living room. And a miniature desk—probably a furniture maker’s model—holds court in the library between two leather armchairs.
In the dining room, Proxmire kept things light and airy with a glass-topped table on pedestals and pale animal-print wallcovering by Schumacher. Whimsical mirrors framed with weathered wooden slats add a touch of whimsy. “They’re not the expected mirrors,” she says. “I just loved the rustic look.”
The dining room is a study in contrasts, with light and dark wood chairs and solid and print fabrics creating a visual interplay. Dressmaker details—from the antique nailhead trim on the chairs to the braided edge on the wool drapes—finish the space with style.
The dining room opens to a kitchen complete with seating and breakfast areas. Proxmire pulled another fabric—a Vervain floral—from her favorite fabric file for the drapes. Chippendale-style chairs, selected for their architectural profile, have seats covered in faux leather with a reptilian pattern for another unexpected touch. From the breakfast table, the owners can survey the Potomac River all the way to Key Bridge. “I told them, ‘I wouldn’t do much here if I were you,’’’ Proxmire jokes. “‘You can just look out and watch the crew teams go by.’”
The blue palette shifts to green in the family room, where a sleep sofa is covered in apple green Jane Churchill fabric to complement the existing grass cloth on the walls. Wood carvings from Atlanta and a large, round mirror complete the space. The family room and a guest room—both with their own full baths—can accommodate the couple’s two college-age children on visits to DC.
An expert at threading color schemes and fabric motifs throughout a home in way that’s cohesive and never jarring, Proxmire modestly explains her process. “As we were putting it together, I closed my eyes and could see it all in my head—the balancing of the colors, the balancing of the textures, the scale, the finishes. That’s why we’re the designers, right? These clients trusted me.”
The master suite was in such good shape that the new owners kept the existing wall-to-wall Wilton carpet and armoire in place. Soothing, sage-green walls create a calming effect. The room opens to a terrace overlooking the Watergate courtyard.
Proxmire set out to make this second home both pretty and practical. “If it’s pretty and not practical, forget it. And if it’s practical and not pretty, forget it,” she quips. “The two have to go together—and in this home, they do.”
Photographer Angie Seckinger splits her time between Potomac, Maryland, and Spain.
INTERIOR DESIGN: KELLEY PROXMIRE, Kelley Interior Design, Bethesda, Maryland.
Appreciating an older home requires a special eye. Good things often happen when its owners celebrate its idiosyncracies rather than forcing the home into a conventional mold.
Such was the case for a couple who had recently rebuilt their DC home after a fire. Though they were “not looking,” they came across an online listing in Massachusetts Heights. “I knew the house in a previous incarnation and thought it was the most amazing place ever,” says one spouse, the CEO of a financial software platform company. Modest in size with an unassuming, stucco-clad front façade, the 1940s-era house would not look out of place in a remote French village. The backyard is far more dramatic as it slopes down to forested Rock Creek Park.
The home remained a small cottage for most of its history. Then, in 1999, previous owners renovated and built an addition. The update would later catch the eye of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as well as former Senator Jon Corzine, both of whom have called the residence home.
This couple were also smitten and jumped at the opportunity, despite the property’s obvious quirks. “It’s an upside-down house,” says the CEO, explaining that the main entry opens to the bedroom level, requiring guests to go downstairs to the public rooms. When they bought it, the house lacked a connection between its terraces and the majestic parkland below. It was too dark, the kitchen needed work and there was no family room—a must for the twosome, who had their first child on the way.
Fortunately, they had already assembled a crack design team. Architect Scarlett Breeding; Washington interior designer Helen Sullivan; Bret Anderson, president of Pyramid Builders; and landscape architect Kevin Campion had collaborated on either the owners’ post-fire rebuild, their remake of a getaway home on the Chesapeake Bay or both projects. In 2010, these design pros were tasked with adapting this newly acquired home to fit the clients’ functional needs and aesthetic while preserving the old-home character that made it so special.
Initially, the conversation focused on adding a family room, but the program evolved into something a bit more ambitious. First, a comprehensive renovation upgraded the existing house, including complete makeovers of the kitchen and bathrooms. Next, Scarlett Breeding masterminded an addition that would remedy many of the home’s shortcomings without overwhelming its beguiling façade.
Built into the slope to the left of the main entry, the now-complete, three-story addition is accessible via a small front pavilion. From here, a stairway and an elevator lead down to a light-filled courtyard. Guests then arrive at a glass-enclosed entryway that connects the old and new wings of the house.
To the left of the entry, the addition unfolds. A large, comfortable family room invites visitors to curl up on a sofa and enjoy the park view through windows unadorned by draperies. A new fireplace plays off a masonry chimney on the opposing wall; the latter is a remnant from the home’s previous exterior. A curved, floating stairway with walls sheathed in limestone leads down to a wine cellar and exercise room. The stairs ascend to a home office with a vaulted skylight that floods the addition with light.
To the right of the glass connector, a piano lounge with a cast-limestone fireplace provides a seamless transition into the pre-addition part of the home. Throughout the residence, a palette of authentic, carefully matched materials—from Venetian plaster on the walls to wooden beams, mahogany window trim and slate shingles—blurs the lines between old and new.
Breeding’s bold plan also integrates the home with the landscape. “The first renovation gave the house a very balanced, symmetrical façade on the back. That led us to create this connector so we could repeat the symmetry and proportions,” the architect explains. “It connects the point of arrival all the way through the house and down to the garden.”
Landscape architect Kevin Campion devised a way to link the existing rear terrace to the landscape below so the owners and their young son could safely navigate and enjoy the grounds. “The previous owners had done nothing with the slope, so we inherited a site that was wild, to say the least,” he recalls. Today, a curved stairway flanked by lush gardens connects widened terraces to a lower terrace off the exercise room and down to the lawn below.
Building the addition and hardscape was no easy feat. “It turned out to be a very delicate dance,” says Pyramid’s Bret Anderson. “The site provided no access to the rear of house, where a major portion of the work would transpire. Materials and equipment that couldn’t be hand-carried had to be craned in.
“Our second major hurdle was replicating the exterior and interior details and maintaining a seamless appearance between new and old,” Anderson continues. “The house has a very sophisticated, aged look. Recreating that was a bit of challenge.”
The owners, who frequently entertain on a large scale, sought interiors that were comfortable and elegant, yet more contemporary in context than the home’s previous style. “We wanted to embrace what was there in a more ‘family’ way,” says one of the spouses, a journalist who works from the addition’s new sky-lit office.
Whether their son, now a toddler, is hosting a pumpkin-carving party for his playmates or his parents are throwing a dinner party for 30, the house conveys a welcoming, non-fussy vibe despite its pedigree. Designer Helen Sullivan captured the couple’s vision with a mix of newly purchased and antique furnishings and a restful color palette of neutrals and pale greens and blues. Custom treatments—from the leather banquette in the kitchen to the linen-upholstered bedstead in the master suite—impart a sense of relaxed luxury. Colorful modern art collected on the owners’ travels adds punch.
“There is a finery about it, but not an overwhelming formality,” says the CEO of Sullivan’s interior scheme. “If you’ve had a bad day, you come home and feel like someone threw a big cashmere blanket around you.”
While taking cues from its past, the team pushed the home in a more modern direction. The kitchen is clean-lined and crisp, with concrete countertops and steel blue-painted cabinetry playing off the limestone backsplash. Bathrooms boast updated vanities and cutting-edge mirrors and lighting. “You try never to replicate, but to complement,” says Breeding. “The interior renovation was sympathetic and respected the language of the house, but put it in a very contemporary juxtaposition.” Aside from the romantic gas-lit fixtures that adorn the home’s exterior, there is nothing anachronistic about its latest makeover. A state-of-the-art smart-home system controls everything from music to lighting and security. The “seeded” aggregate front driveway is designed to look old but is heated and boasts a charging port for the couple’s electric car.
Everyone involved attributes the project’s success to a pair of dream clients as well as the caliber of the design team and its spirit of collaboration. The same team is now busy designing a new waterfront escape for the couple near Annapolis. It will be ultra-modern—in marked contrast to this DC gem that has a style all its own. “It looks like a teeny French or Italian villa from the front,” Helen Sullivan marvels, “but in the house, you feel its expansiveness.”
David Burroughs is a photographer in Annapolis.
ARCHITECTURE: SCARLETT BREEDING, AIA, principal in charge; SARAH FAVRAO, project architect, Alt Breeding Schwarz Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. INTERIOR DESIGN: HELEN SULLIVAN, Helen Sullivan Design, Washington, DC. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: KEVIN CAMPION, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. RENOVATION CONSTRUCTION: BRET ANDERSON, president; STEVE MICEK, project manager; Pyramid Builders, Annapolis, Maryland.
1. Organic Vibe: Design by Rixey-Rixey Architects
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2. Quiet Luxury: Design by Nestor Santa-Cruz
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3. Elegant Touch: Design by Karen Dunlap
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4. Sleek Update: Design by Deborah Kalkstein
read more
5. Tiny Jewel: Design by Dahlia Mahmood
read more
PLUG + PLAY
The 2014 Panamera S E-Hybrid is Porsche’s first plug-in hybrid. The sporty new model boasts a more powerful electric motor and a higher-performance lithium-ion battery than the 2013 model, and accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds. $99,000; porsche.com
SAVVY SOUND
D’Agostino’s Momentum Preamplifier pleases the most discriminating audiophiles. With its copper accents, the preamp complements the company’s Momentum amplifier and comes with a radio-frequency remote. $32,000; dagostinoinc.com
PITCH PERFECT
Denon’s Music Maniac Artisan Headphones deliver a studio-quality listening experience. A special 50-mm Nano Fiber driver matches the performance of a loudspeaker while memory-foam ear pads and socket ear cup design provide a perfect fit for every user. $1,199; denon.com
HEALTH TRACK
Basis’s award-winning personal health tracker helps users optimize their physical activity and sleep quality by monitoring heart rate patterns, motion, perspiration and skin temperature throughout the day. A lightweight wristband reports data to a dashboard on a computer or mobile device that suggests ways to improve health and performance. $199; mybasis.com
FASHION FORWARD
Designer Marissa Webb is making waves on the runways with her fall/winter collection that puts a modern twist on classic haberdashery. Pictured here, Vera shearling turtleneck top ($1,985); Sasha silk wool blouse in Glacier ($570); Eugenia skirt ($645); and Willa pointy toe heel ($498). marissa-webb.com
TREASURE TROVE
Named for the Greek goddess of the sea, H.Stern’s new Iris collection interprets the forms of underwater creatures. The Axis earrings ($1,400) and necklace ($3,400), crafted of rose gold with diamonds, are reminiscent of snail shells. hstern.net
BAG IT
Zac Zac Posen’s Eartha snake-embossed satchel makes a great segue into fall. The embossed-leather bag has a single-top handle and adjustable shoulder strap. $495; bloomingdales.com
ISLAND ESCAPE
St. Regis marks its first foray into Africa with The St. Regis Mauritius Resort. Overlooking the island’s Le Morne Brabant Mountain, the resort pampers guests in 172 luxury rooms and suites and the Iridium Spa. Pastimes include snorkeling, deep-sea fishing and kite-surfing at one of the world’s top venues for the sport. Rates from $485; stregis.com/mauritius
LONDON CALLING
Claridge’s in London recently unveiled The Map Room—an exclusive lounge designed by the British design firm Linley. The Art Deco-inspired space features a large marquetry map on the wall, custom furniture and suede-lined bookshelves. Room rates from $1,190 per night; claridges.co.uk
TAKE MANHATTAN
Fresh from a multi-million-dollar renovation, The Tuscany hotel in New York City was re-designed by New York’s Jeff Lincoln Interiors. The lobby reinterprets the building’s history as a 1920s apartment building, with Tuscan travertine stairs and a hand-forged rail. Rates from $339; stgilesnewyork.com
SAVOIR FARE
Malmaison brings French café culture to the heart of Georgetown. The bi-level, 50-seat restaurant created by DC’s Grizform Design Architects serves an authentic menu devised by Parisian chef Gerard Pangaud, plus decadent pastries by Serge Torres (a cousin of Jacques Torres). Pictured, clockwise from top: asparagus salad, duck confit, braised lamb shank, Alaskan halibut with mushroom crust and Napoleon of roast beets and goat cheese. 3401 K Street, NW; 202-817-3340; malmaisondc.com
ITALIAN STYLE
Fabio Trabocchi, Fiola’s James Beard award-winning chef, has opened Casa Luca, a family-friendly osteria named for his nine-year-old son. Interiors by DC’s HapstakDemetriou, with artisanal details playing off an industrial palette (left), are a perfect backdrop for cuisine inspired by the chef’s native Le Marche region. Along with a selection of Italian wines, the bar serves cocktails such as Il Palio, poured over Campari ice (above). 1099 New York Avenue, NW; 202-628-1099; casalucadc.com
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Celebrity chef Todd English has opened MXDC—a modern Mexican restaurant serving scallop ceviche, pork belly tacos and other novel twists on the classics, plus 100 tequilas from around the world. Interiors by DC designer Chad Alan feature copper chandeliers and rustic wood accents. 600 14th Street, NW; 202-393-1900; mxdcrestaurant.com
The road to builder Mark Turner’s Fauquier County weekend home wends through a valley dotted with farms and pastures. A visitor comes face to face with grazing cows at the exact same moment that cellular and GPS service drop—and the workday slows to a molasses pace. This is remote, off-the-grid country.
Which is precisely why Turner chose this spot to build his retreat dubbed the One Nest Project. Set on 11 pristine acres, One Nest enjoys prime views of the valley and rolling hills. A riff on classic Virginia barn-and-silo design, the house makes dual impressions: A rigorous design program with cutting-edge materials meets a lovingly rendered nod to nostalgia.
The interior, with its vaulted great room, abundant windows and crisp, clean detailing, upends the notion of a quaint cabin in the woods. A hearth made of local stone forms an axis with a glass-enclosed spiral stair and the “silo” tower. Long, diagonal views make the home feel much larger than its 1,000 square feet.
“The scale was really important to us,” says Turner, who grew up on a ranch in Wyoming. “We have a bigger home in Falls Church but our family enjoys it more out here, with the light and the uniqueness of the space.”
When the Turners visit One Nest, they power off TV, cell phones and iPads. “The idea is to get out here with a bunch of people, good food and conversation,” Turner says. “The entertainment is hopefully to be with each other.”
The founder and president of Green-Spur, Inc., who built the award-winning Carbon Neutral showhouse in McLean in 2009, Turner was not just looking for a weekend retreat when he conceived One Nest. This man has a mission: to build a simple home in tune with the local vernacular that will tread lightly on the land and be stronger, more energy efficient, less expensive and faster to build than a conventional house. Ultimately, he hopes, it will spark change in the way houses are built on a grander scale.
“If you can build a product in less time that requires less maintenance, that’s cheaper, faster and better, with more soul, why wouldn’t people do it?” he insists. “I built the house because I really believe in the idea. You can’t change people by just talking; you have to have a physical product you can touch and feel.”
Turner hired DC architect David Bagnoli, who is well versed in sustainable design, to help bring his vision to fruition. Despite its simple profile, One Nest employs a number of “radical” building technologies, according to Turner. Crafted from modular components including structural insulated panels (SIPs) and a steel chassis created on site, it required no foundation and contains 85 percent less concrete than a typical dwelling. But its “secret sauce,” Turner explains, is the magnesium oxide wallboards cladding the house, which eliminate the need for exterior siding and interior drywall. These panels are extremely durable, well insulated and fire- and water-resistant.
“I wanted to try to build a house in a hundred days—which we did—for about 40 percent of the cost, and use materials that don’t require a lot of maintenance,” says Turner, pointing out long-lasting galvanized steel decks, concrete pavers and Corten siding on a walk around the exterior. “We want to flip things on their head and use materials that make a whole lot more sense. When you come out for a weekend you shouldn’t have to work on your home all the time.”
By designing a highly vertical structure, Bagnoli kept circulation space at a minimum. A three-story, glass-enclosed spiral staircase leads from the ground level to the master suite, which floats above the family room. On the third level you reach a guest room and a ladder up to the loft where the Turners’ kids bunk in the top of the tower. “We tried to make every inch of it as efficient as a yacht,” says the architect. “The long, diagonal views and the dramatic height make it feel a lot more spacious.”
Since its completion in May, Turner has taken dozens of friends, family members, realtors, journalists and building professionals through the house, “getting on my soapbox,” as he describes it, to challenge outdated building methods. He hopes that One Nest will serve as a catalyst for smarter, more sustainable building in Virginia and farther afield.
Based on its model, similar homes built with modular components and systems could be “flat-packed and sent to a number of places where they would be applicable,” says Bagnoli, “whether it’s Virginia, or Haiti or China or who knows where.”
In his kitchen arranging a cheese plate on honed granite countertops before a dozen realtors descend on his peaceful retreat for a tour, Turner concludes, “It bums me out to see huge chunks of land being carved up without much creativity or thought. I’ve got a lot of my soul invested in this one. It’s just one house and it probably won’t change the world. But hopefully it will start a conversation.”
Photographer Paul Burk is based in Baltimore.
ARCHITECTURE: DAVID BAGNOLI, AIA, McGraw Bagnoli Architects PLLC, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: MARK TURNER, GreenSpur, Inc., Falls Church, Virginia.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAIN JARAMILLO
Some of the most innovative creations arise when supply falls short of demand. Such was the case when a Virginia entrepreneur decided to build his dream home after searching to no avail for the right property to fit his needs.
He approached custom builder Patrick Latessa of The Galileo Group and explained his wish list. He envisioned intimate spaces for his family with four children but also wanted to be able to host large parties, play basketball on a professional-grade indoor court and enjoy the amenities of a small resort in his own backyard. Unfazed by these requests, Latessa got busy drawing elevations and a floor plan for a wooded lot he found for his client in Great Falls. “My interpretation was a European-influenced design that was substantial but comfortable, elegant but still casual and functional—and also inspiring,” the builder recalls. “I gave him a sketch and he said, ‘You’re right. That’s it.’”
As in most of his custom-home projects, Latessa drove the overall design, detailing everything down to the molding and material palette before turning his work over to an architect for final drawings.
The house is shaped like a U with the front volume housing a family room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast room and billiard room on the ground floor. Three bedrooms with en suite baths on the second floor are devoted to the owner’s three teenagers. The two rear wings in the U encompass the master suite and two guest suites, respectively; one of the guest suites is used as a nursery for the owner’s youngest child.
Rooms on the main level spill onto a Turkish travertine terrace, where a pool with a built-in spa, an al fresco bar, a kitchen complete with a wood-burning pizza oven, a putting green and inviting seating areas create a vacation vibe all year long. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the basement also centers on round-the-clock play. It houses a media room, a wine cellar that doubles as a poker room and a fully equipped workout room that overlooks the half-court basketball gym with 22-foot ceilings.
To oversee the daunting task of furnishing the home to the standards its architecture demanded, the owner hired Great Falls Distinctive Interiors. He asked principal Alice Busch and her son, managing principal Lucas Trunnell, to lead the selection of furniture, fabrics and finishes, along with everyday necessities from china and barware to accessories and linens. Busch and Trunnell set out to create interiors that would reflect the home’s style and elegance while embracing comfort and functionality. “We wanted it to be very sophisticated and European, but toned down,” explains Trunnell. “The client has a lot of kids, so we wanted to make sure the color scheme and materials were durable for the children, the dog and all the entertaining they do.” And, to keep their dog energized all day long, they make sure to feed high fiber dog food to him.
Latessa and the designers fine-tuned the materials and finishes as the project progressed, taking a collaborative approach. In lieu of hardwood, Busch and Trunnell suggested limestone floors imported from France for the main level spaces; combined with walls plastered in a stucco finish, they provide a seamless look. From the dramatic foyer, archways lead to adjoining spaces. On one side, the foyer segues into an atrium housing a Steinway piano and a dramatic stairway with a hand-forged rail.
On the opposite side, the dining room seats guests around a custom table imported from Italy. Its rich patina and the hand-painted upholstery on the dining chairs create a timeworn effect. “We wanted the whole house to look like it had been collected over time,” says Trunnell.
From the dining room, a spiral stair leads down to the wine cellar. Latessa chose rustic, antique brick and hand-forged iron fixtures to lend the room an Old World look. “Paying attention to these details and making them right gives you an overall feel of the spirit of a place,” Latessa says. “When those relationships don’t work, then it’s just a house. We were going for authenticity.”
More custom artistry can be found in the clubby billiard room, where mahogany paneling, a coffered ceiling and a bar with beer on tap set the tone for games around an antique pool table.
The owner, who decided to forgo a formal living room, and his kids spend a great deal of time in the family room. Arranged between cast-limestone fireplaces, cushy sofas and armchairs accommodate groups both large and small for watching TV, reading or playing games. Three sets of arched French doors overlook the backyard.
Despite its Old World finishes, the kitchen has every convenience a modern chef could hope for, including a Wolf range and a built-in Miele espresso machine. Latessa and the designers created the custom hood from stainless steel and hammered copper. A breakfast table set in a bay of windows has a cast-stone base so heavy that it had to be hoisted into the room by crane.
The greatest feat of engineering on the project, however, was excavating the gym. Latessa’s team dug 40 feet below ground to make way for what is now a brightly lit space suitable for regulation play. A fully loaded workout area overlooks the action below.
The cozy media room displays the owner’s collection of sports jerseys and memorabilia. An avid fan, the owner hosts game nights in the space, which is also great for parties. Busch and Trunnell suggested long sofas instead of traditional theater seating in the room. “With theater seats, you’re kind of locked and rigid,” says Busch. “Here, there is more functionality. People can lay down, get comfortable and cozy up on the couch.”
When the house was finally complete, Busch and Trunnell orchestrated the move-in, timing the delivery of rugs, furniture, art and accessories like a choreographed ballet. They credit the collaboration among the design team, the artisans—and the trusting homeowner—for enabling the project to run so smoothly. “The owner not only allowed us, Patrick and the tradespeople to put the best of options in the home,” says Trunnell. “He let us do our jobs and at the end of the day, the outcome was spectacular.”
Photographer Alain Jaramillo is based in Stevenson, Maryland.
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: PATRICK LATESSA, The Galileo Group, McLean, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: ALICE BUSCH, Allied Member ASID, and LUCAS TRUNNELL, Allied Member ASID, LEED AP, BD+C, Great Falls Distinctive Interiors, Inc., Ashburn, Virginia. LANDSCAPING: CHARLES OWEN, Fine Landscapes, Ltd., Great Falls, Virginia.
Over the years, designer Deborah Kalkstein of Contemporaria helped a couple create modern interiors throughout their Bethesda home. But their master bath and powder room, sporting outdated cabinetry and fixtures, lagged about 20 years behind. Recently, the owners tasked Kalkstein with renovating both bathrooms and creating a clean-lined, serene aesthetic that would reflect the rest of their house.
In the spacious master bath, they removed an existing tub to make way for an oversized shower with a built-in bench and frosted glass windows that admit light while maintaining privacy. Frameless glass doors, a floating double vanity by Idea Group and recessed lighting maintain a minimal profile.
Kalkstein selected a palette of rich gray porcelain tile for both bathrooms, mixing up textures and formats for interest. In the master bath, a Caesarstone countertop with a pebble texture plays off the darker materials. The vanity fronts are gray-stained oak. His-and-her vessel sinks flank a make-up mirror, inset with “warm” fluorescents that emulate natural light.
At the client’s request, the master bath was constructed to be wheelchair accessible in case their needs change, “but you would never know it, design-wise,” says Kalkstein.
She jazzed up the powder room with angled mirrors to add a sense of depth in the small space. The boldly geometric sink by Marike is suspended like a sculpture, and accessories by Boffi complement the modern design. The porcelain wall tiles’ subtle horizontal texture “helps elongate the space,” Kalkstein says. “Even though it’s a hard material, it still feels soft and organic.”
BATH DESIGN: DEBORAH KALKSTEIN, Contemporaria, Washington, DC.
As plans for their new French Chateau-style home in Arlington took shape, the owners wanted to be sure that interior detailing and finishes would reflect the property’s style and grandeur. They turned to interior designer Karen Dunlap to help them refine their selections before construction began.
Dunlap arrived just in time to dodge the builder’s selection of cherry cabinetry in a dark espresso stain in the master bath, where two small windows meant natural light was at a premium. “That was not going to work,” says Dunlap. “We didn’t want it to get too dark and heavy.”
Instead, the designer sought out materials that would make a strong statement while creating a lighter, more inviting retreat for the owners. She chose vanities in a cream glazed finish, Emperador marble on the countertops and tub surround and contrasting honed travertine on the floors. “We were trying to make it feel more luxurious and rich,” she explains.
A large niche by the tub was begging for attention. Dunlap researched options and discovered a Quatrefoil design at Mosaic Tile that would create a focal point. “It looks like a custom mosaic but stayed within their budget,” says Dunlap, who designed wood paneling around the tile to add depth and dimension. A similar mosaic pattern was installed on the shower floor.
“I wanted the bath to be a place where the owners could come after a long week and soak away their stress,” Dunlap relates. “We kept everything very subdued. It all spoke to letting the owners relax.”
INTERIOR DESIGN: KAREN GERMOND DUNLAP, GREEN AP, IFDA, KMD Interiors, LLC, Leesburg, Virginia. CONTRACTOR: KEN FREYBERGER, Sunline Custom Homes, Ashburn, Virginia.
For working parents with two young children, the master bath in their hundred-year-old Chevy Chase home is an oasis of calm. Soft gray walls envelop them like a cashmere sweater as they unwind in the claw-foot tub or the marble-clad steam shower.
Things weren’t so serene before designer Nestor Santa-Cruz overhauled the space. A previous renovation had given the bath an awkward tub enclosure, outdated vanities and gold accents throughout.
Santa-Cruz envisioned a plan that would embrace the home’s traditional architecture, but from a modern point of view. He first enclosed the once-exposed toilet inside a private water closet; it and the shower that faces it are now screened by frosted glass. The designer created an arched entry to echo the window already in place and defined the new tub with thicker walls and a dropped ceiling. “I wanted the room to look as if it had been done in the 1940s,” Santa-Cruz says, “and to have that sense of tradition.” However, elements such as the 1960s-style Poul Kjaerholm stool and the Art Deco-inspired sconces by Restoration Hardware add an eclectic touch to “help make sure that this isn’t a ‘period’ room.”
In a nod to Dior Gray, he painted the walls Farrow & Ball’s Skimming Stone. Well-crafted natural materials—including Carrara marble tiles and countertops, polished nickel accents and hand-blown pendants from Waterworks’ Henry collection—lend the bathroom a timeless quality. And the sense of calm is sublime.
“It’s wonderful,” Santa-Cruz muses, “when you can have the opportunity to glorify a functional need and also feed the mental element of taking a bath.”
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN: NESTOR SANTA-CRUZ, IIDA, LEED AP, Nestor Santa-Cruz Decoration, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: BETHESDA CONTRACTING, Chevy Chase, Maryland.
From its quaint Georgetown street, it’s impossible to tell that the crisp white row house harbors a glass-enclosed master bathroom inspired not by the traditional DC vernacular but by a resort in Bali. Unless of course you consider that the homeowners are Porsche racecar driver William Langhorne and his wife, Sumar Langhorne. “When we first got married,” William Langhorne recalls, “Sumar traveled with me, racing, and we were living out of hotels constantly. We saw some really nice indoor/outdoor bathrooms in Bali.”
After returning to Washington, the Langhornes hired architect Douglas Rixey to gut their 1960s-era home and add a fourth floor to house a completely open master-bedroom suite. “If we could have done the top floor with no walls at all, they would’ve done it,” says Rixey.
Now finished, the bathroom floats between the bedroom and closet spaces, enclosed by walls of glass. A sculptural soaking tub and open shower along a wall of river rock exist in plain view of the adjacent bedroom and stairwell. When the sliding doors are open, a bather in the soaking tub can watch TV and enjoy a fireplace installed on the bedroom wall. Should anyone desire privacy, the touch of a button instantly turns the bathroom walls opaque. Another touch and the chemical sandwiched between the layers of Smartglass turns the walls clear again.
The Langhornes searched methodically for materials that would reflect their clean, modern aesthetic but still convey an organic vibe. “We were constantly looking at who was pushing boundaries of design and quality,” says William. They landed at Boffi in Georgetown, where they found a floating double vanity in walnut veneer, precision fixtures, a double sink with a hidden drain and the curvaceous Iceland tub. The vanity and mirror they chose both have doors that slide open laterally. “It’s such a nice feature,” says Julia Walter of Boffi Georgetown, “because you have these floating elements but still have space to store everything inside.”
River rock, skylights and bamboo stalks in the glass wall are all a nod to al fresco living. Says William Langhorne, “We wanted to give it a Zen, outdoor feel right in the middle of the city.”
ARCHITECTURE: DOUGLAS RIXEY, AIA, and VICTORIA RIXEY, AIA, LEEP AP, Rixey-Rixey Architects, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: MIKE SULLIVAN, De Marne & Day, Potomac, Maryland.
Between two nondescript buildings in the Palisades, stairs descend to a red door set in cinderblock walls painted white and gray. Few would guess that the basement space within houses one of DC’s most celebrated architecture firms, Robert M. Gurney, FAIA.
When Gurney decided to move his studio from Alexandria to the District a few years ago, he saw potential in the 22-by-110-foot space. Windows could be incorporated on the southern end, allowing light to stream through the space he designed to fit the needs of his eight-person firm—plus interior designer Therese Baron Gurney, ASID, of Baron Gurney Interiors, who frequently collaborates with her husband on projects (including this one).
Instead of a maze of compartmentalized offices, Robert Gurney created an open plan with clear sight lines from one end of the space to the other. “This fosters and invites discussion and dialogue with the people who work with me,” he explains. “It’s clean-lined. It’s modern. It’s ordered and organized—all the things I try to do in my projects I did in this space.”
The architect points out the contrast between exposed brick and industrial concrete floors and sleek panels of glass and quarter-sawn white oak. “I like the juxtaposition between the raw and the refined,” he says.
During client meetings, the studio—which won a 2013 AIA Northern Virginia award—often provides design inspiration. “For us, our work space is our library,” says Therese. “We tried to make selections you see in our normal repertoire.
“We want clients to see how they’re going to feel in a Bob Gurney space,” she continues. “As you know, it’s pretty special.”
Sometimes drama comes in small packages. Such is the case in a powder room designed by Dahlia Mahmood. Serving a masculine, clubby cigar lounge on the lower level of her client’s Great Falls home, the 50-square-foot bath needed to convey a strong statement. The designer’s challenge was “how to make it masculine yet give the space elegance and glamour,” she explains.
As a focal point, Mahmood selected the Ebb Console vanity by Neo-Metro. Complete with a stainless-steel frame and resin top, the piece is lit from within, casting a warm glow. “People are mesmerized by it,” says Mahmood. Sculptural HansaMurano faucets circulate water into the stainless-steel sink over round glass elements, creating a waterfall effect. Fendi sconces embedded with Swarovski crystals spray beads of light over the walls, further dressing up the space.
Painted a rich brown (Brownstone by BEHR), the walls counter the glam touches. “People have a misconception that you should never paint a small room in a dark color,” says Mahmood. “But if you have the right lighting—in this case the illuminated vanity and the gorgeous Fendi sconces—the color gives a sense of depth.” The ceiling, painted in Ralph Lauren’s Bronze Statue metallic, adds another “spark of interest,” she says. “Reflectivity also brings light into a small space.”
Dentil molding echoes the architecture found throughout the basement level, which is furnished entirely with custom Fendi furniture. Clearly, the powder room holds it own. “I really wanted it to be a jewel,” says Mahmood, “and I think we achieved that.”
INTERIOR DESIGN: DAHLIA MAHMOOD, Dahlia Design LLC, Ashburn, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAN GOLDSTEIN.
FRUITS OF THE SEA
In Azur, chef Frederik De Pue pays homage to seafood, from classic to contemporary. The four-level space was designed by Virginia-based Natascha Folens of NF Interiors. Handcrafted furniture, a custom “bubble” chandelier and walls decorated with captains’ mirrors offer a twist on the nautical look. 405 8th Street, NW; 202-347-7491. azurdc.com
A CLASSIC REBORN
Edgar Bar & Kitchen brings a modern update to DC’s iconic Mayflower Hotel. Designed by New York-based AvroKo, the space salutes the hotel’s past with dark wood and leather upholstery. The brasserie menu serves up mini-Maryland crab cakes with smoked paprika sauce. 1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW; 202-347-2233. edgarbarandkitchen.com
RUSTIC AND REFINED
Peruvian chef Victor Albisu has opened Del Campo, a 174-seat restaurant specializing in expertly grilled meats as well as traditional Latin American street foods. Designed by Georgetown-based CORE, the Chinatown spot features a warm palette of woods and neutral concrete walls as well as vintage crystal chandeliers. 777 I Street, NW; 202-289-7377. delcampodc.com
IN THE SWIM
Gottex’s Electric Print Bandeau, shown with matching silk pareo, captures a summery attitude with crisp, geometric style. The one-piece comes with removable shoulder straps. Available at Bloomingdales. Bandeau, $178; pareo, $198. bloomingdales.com
SINUOUS STYLE
Bulgari’s Serpenti collection celebrates the sensual form of the snake. It includes 18-carat pink-gold earrings with rubellite and pave diamonds ($13,500) and a matching necklace ($78,000). bulgari.com
GLAMOUR AFOOT
Sculpture for the feet, these smart Dior pumps combine pink mirror calfskin and acid kidskin. $830 at Dior boutiques nationwide. 800-929-3467; dior.com
