One of Mars’s challenges was figuring out how to integrate the structure with the pool in the back yard’s limited area. The solution minimized the use of space while maximizing the project’s cool factor: Mars abutted the structure directly up to the pool and installed a glass, automatic garage door to provide both a visual and a physical connection between the indoor seating area and the pool. Besides saving space, says Mars, placing the pool up against the house “also adds a lot of drama because the pool acts as a reflecting pool from the inside. You can also sit on the edge under cover.”
Built for entertaining, the pool house is equipped with a drop-down, rear-projection movie screen designed so that guests can watch films from the seating area—or afloat in the pool. Meanwhile, a TV pops up from the kitchen countertop. From the kitchen, a large pass-through window opens to the side terrace, which houses an alfresco dining area and built-in grill.
Though the body of the pool house is clad in brick to complement the main house, Mars and interior designer Stephanie Radomsky selected other materials that would establish a more modern sensibility, including stone floor tiles (heated for year-round use), stainless-steel stair rails and concrete countertops. The front exterior volume of the house is clad in granite. “The stability of the brick anchors the pool house but the stone adds a little bit of life and greater character and craft,” says Mars. They found just the right type of granite at Charles Luck Stone Center in Sterling; masons had to specially cut the Van Tassell granite on site for its application, which resembles a dry-stacked treatment.
The same granite was used on the seat walls throughout the landscape program, designed and built by Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction. The project incorporates hardscape, lush plantings, strategically placed boulders, a fire pit and a hot tub built into the rocks.
Both client and architect are thrilled with the outcome of the pool house; Mars is now finalizing plans for a renovation of his client’s main house that will reflect the modernism of the pool structure.
Though they are a small part of his practice, Randall Mars appreciates the playful nature of pool-house designs. “We’ve done several pool houses,” he says. “It’s a fun type of project. Function is important, but function always revolves around somebody having a good time.”
Anice Hoachlander is a principal of Hoachlander Davis Photography in
Washington, DC.
ARCHITECTURE: Randall Mars AIA, project designer; Kristen Uitto, project architect, Randall Mars Architects, McLean, Virginia.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Gruver and Cooley, Leesburg, Virginia. Landscape Architecture: Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction, Sterling, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: Stephanie A. Radomsky, Fairfax, Virginia.
A dramatically pitched roof lends the structure
a modern sensibility.
The upstairs bedroom loft overlooks the pool.
From the kitchen, a large pass-through opens to the side
terrace, which houses an alfresco dining area and built-in
grill. A concrete countertop serves as a bar.
Capital Design Week
Celebrity designers and showroom experts introduced a host of chic new arrivals at The Washington Design Center in March
Roger Thomas, the designer behind the interiors of the Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau resorts, unveiled his new 26-piece collection for Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman (along with a killer slide show of his luxe hotel rooms and lavish casinos) to a full house of local designers. Thomas travels the world for inspiration. The Roger Thomas Signature Collection includes the Veneto lounge chair with silver-leaf frame (pictured at top with Thomas). The Belgrave desk boasts an inset leather top. “I love chairs to be as dramatic from the back as they are in the front,” said Thomas. As for desks, he continued, “When they stand alone, they need to be pieces of sculpture.” A winning combination, indeed. Visit www.el-fm.com.
The Salon Sofa is one of 25 pieces that recently debuted in the Henredon for Scalamandré collection. This dramatic high-back piece combines tufting and nailhead trim. Visit www.scalamandre.com.
Stephanie Odegard introduced some of her latest rug designsVisit www.odegardinc.com.
Farrow & Ball has introduced 18 fresh new colors to its palette. Visit www.farrow-ball.com.
Interior designer Candice Olsen, host of HGTV’s “Divine Design,” offered design tips and introduced her new upholstery collection during Capital Design Week. “I wanted to showcase beautiful design schemes on classic shapes,” she said, describing her line that includes the Beckett chair and the Ollie sofa. Olson’s collection is available at the Charles Ray showroom or visit www.candiceolson.com. —Sharon Jaffe Dan
Party Central
Find 145 bar stools under one roof
Great Gatherings, a 17,000-square-foot showroom dedicated to the art of celebration, recently opened in the new Virginia Gateway Center in Gainesville. The store offers all the accoutrements of home entertaining—from billiards tables and bar stools to outdoor furnishings and grill ensembles. Great Gatherings also features a wide range of accessories, including tabletop items and barware from brands such as Waterford, Nambé and Mikasa; espresso machines; Wurlitzer juke boxes and more.
Great Gatherings plans to serve the Washington, DC, party circuit well, with four additional stores slated to open in the area by next year. The showroom is located at 13177 Gateway Center Drive in Gainesville, VA. Phone (703) 753-0515 or visit www.mygreatgatherings.com.—SJD
On the Shelf
New books celebrate good design indoors and out
Tour an eclectic mix of residences that capture the cultural diversity of the nation’s capital in Dream Homes: Greater Washington, DC. Part of a hardcover series, the book features homes designed by many of the Washington area’s top architects, with styles ranging from classical Gothic, Italianate and Victorian to chic urban contemporary. Panache Partners, Plano, TX, February 2008; $34.95.
Noted interior designer Charlotte Moss takes you through a couture-inspired home in her latest design book, A FLAIR FOR LIVING. Balancing the rich details of the French court with patterns reminiscent of English manor life in her design, Moss emphasizes that spaces with personalized elegance can be attained without forgoing comfort. Assouline, New York, NY, May 2008; $65.
French author and photographer Sébastien Siraudeau explores the antique shops and flea markets of France in his first book translated into English, VINTAGE FRENCH INTERIORS. Whether your home is minimal, traditional or rustic, a French treasure can spark up any room and make a distinct decorative statement. From hand-embroidered linens to cut-crystal wine goblets, this book provides plenty of ideas to help you create a French-inspired home. Flammarion, Paris, France, March 2008; $34.95.
Porches, versatile additions to any home, not only change the way your house looks but also change the way you live in your house as well. Take a break, sip a glass of lemonade and watch the world go by with ON THE PORCH. Architects James Crisp and Sandra Mahoney offer a complete design guide to porches, with tips on construction, maintenance, lighting and finishing touches. Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, April 2007; $30. —Margaret Lee
Karen Bengel’s client didn’t just want his primary bathroom equipped as a spa. He wanted a separate, dedicated spa in his new Arlington condominium. After purchasing and combining two adjacent units in the building, he already had two bathrooms in his home. So the spa—configured from what would have been a kitchen in one of the units—developed “as a refuge, a place to really relax and just shed the tensions of life,” says Bengel.
The space, fully open to an exterior wall of windows, was a bit unconventional for a spa. But an automated system of shades provides ample privacy when needed. Bengel proposed a material palette that celebrates nature. “The walls are black slate and the floors are silver travertine. The travertine is just simply gorgeous,” Bengel says. To add contrast to the stone surfaces, she employed wood accents on the custom-designed, stained-beech vanity and on the base of the BainUltra tub, which accommodates two.
In the true spirit of a spa, the tub is equipped with air jets and heated backrests; the floors are also heated. The walls of slate wrap around the tub and enclose a separate shower area. Organic shapes play off one another, from the curves of the tub to the semi-recessed sink that is cradled by the wooden vanity.
Bengel also designed a thorough lighting plan for the space. Above the tub, a line of recessed lights accentuates the texture of the slate below. Three ceiling-mounted fixtures provide ambient light, while a pendant with a frosted-glass shade floats over the vanity. Each set of fixtures is controlled by an individual dimmer, providing infinite mood combinations. The medicine cabinet door, when open, has a mirror inside for ease of use in front of the vanity.
To Bengel, the quality of the stone surfaces, supplied by Architectural Ceramics, sets this spa apart. The honed silver travertine floors are quarried in former mineral springs in Italy; the stone has only been on the market for a few years. And the black slate on the walls, quarried in India, is installed in a broken joint pattern. “The beauty of those stones is compelling to me,” she says. “I think often people see themselves in a war with nature on many levels and people try to fight nature in many ways. But I think part of the idea of a spa is reconnecting with nature.”
DESIGN Karen Bengel, ASID, Design Milieu, Washington, DC;
RESOURCES: Floor: Honed silver travertine, Architectural Ceramics. Wall: Black slate, Architectural Ceramics. Bath: Bain-Ultra. Sink: La-Cava. Tub Fixtures: Lefroy Brooks. Pendant: Steng Light. Painting: Alicia Arguelles.
The custom vanity in stained beech cradles the sculptural sink.
Interior designer Gwen Seidlitz had a clear vision of the look she wanted to achieve in her teenage son’s bathroom in her family’s new Great Falls home. She wanted it to be masculine and convey an Old World style, but also wanted to avoid anything too traditional or fussy.
Seidlitz turned to kitchen and bath designer Davida Rodriguez to help make her vision a reality. Given the architecture of the long, narrow space, installing a bathtub and a separate shower wasn’t an option. Seidlitz chose to forgo the bath, since there are several other tubs in her home, and opted for a spacious shower clad in textural travertine. To create interest, Rodriguez added a chair rail detail to the shower, above which she created a diagonal tile pattern on the wall. She also designed a diagonal pattern on the shower floor to complement the walls.
“The travertine is a new material from Turkey,” says Rodriguez. “There’s only one quarry that makes it. It just has this beautiful movement, which really adds a lot of interest.”
As the focal point in the room, Seidlitz selected double-vanity cabinetry by Habersham in a distressed wood finish. The natural material palette also includes an ebony-stained hickory floor, which is used throughout the house. Rodriguez suggested a Cosmic Black granite countertop to tie together the dark floors and the travertine, which has dark striations.
Plumbing fixtures in a dark, “live” finish are the final touch. “They actually change tone and develop a patina over time,” says Seidlitz.
INTERIOR DESIGN: Gwen Seidlitz, Sage Interiors, Great Falls, Virginia; Bath Design: Davida Rodriguez, Davida’s Kitchen & Tiles, Gaithersburg, Maryland; photography: Bob Narod, Sterling, Virginia
RESOURCES: Vanity: Habersham. Plumbing Fixtures: Rohl. Travertine Tile & Countertop: Davida’s Kitchen & Tiles.
Toto's Ethos Collection
Toto’s Ethos Collection pays tribute to great American cities. Celebrating New York’s Art Deco movement, the Design N II Pedestal Lavatory and Widespread Faucet shown here are sleek and simple but sophisticated enough to work in any style of bathroom. The faucet is polished chrome with contoured lever handles. Visit www.totousa.com.
Available in brushed nickel, the eight-inch Sunray showerhead plays to the whimsical side of shower lovers’ tastes. It features five adjustable shower spokes that radiate from the center spray hub; it mounts to any standard shower arm. Visit www.danze.com.
After introducing the square WaterTile shower spray last year, Kohler debuted the WaterTile Round Shower Spray in 2008. Both products were designed to eliminate the visual clutter of multiple showerheads. The round tile covers the same basic footprint as its square counterpart, comes in two spray intensities and can be adjusted up and down and in all directions. Visit www.kohler.com.
JACLO’s Rain Canopy is designed to transform the mundane shower into a luxurious day at the spa. Rain canopies are available in round, square, oval and rectangular models and in a range of sizes from 12 to 20 inches. Visit www.jaclo.com.
Los Angeles-based Alchemy Glass & Light recently introduced the Celestial Series of sinks, which are crafted from geometric shapes reminiscent of a meteor shower. The Mosaic sink shown here incorporates glass shards and pebbles in a brilliant spectrum of color. Visit www.alchemyglass.com.
Perfect for a powder room or compact bath, Stone Forest’s space-saving Slab Vanity marries a Carrara marble top with a sleek stainless-steel stand. The top is also available in honed basalt. Visit www.stoneforest.com.
Kohler’s new Revival wall-mount faucet creates a clutter-free countertop space that is easy to clean. This wall-mounted version is a new design of one of the company’s most popular faucet collections, perfect for both traditional and transitional settings. It is available in several finishes, including brushed nickel, gold, bronze and brass. Visit www.kohler.com.
THG’s latest line of faucetry is made of Bernardaud porcelain, emulating the finest French dinnerware. The Capucine Mauve motif shown here combines painted purple butterflies with a gold finish. Other styles are stamped with metallic accents or drizzled with garlands of black and gold bay leaves. Visit www.thgusa.com.
The Sirius faucet by Danze makes a sleek, sculptural statement in the bath with its ribbon-like spout. Available in brushed nickel and chrome, the Sirius collection includes a full line of accessories, including shelves. Visit www.danze.com.
Freshen up for spring with Waterworks’
newest line of bathroom accessories. The collection includes toothbrush holder, lidded containers, tank tray and wastebasket (not shown) in iceberg and crepe. Visit www.waterworks.com.
Ann Sacks’ new Mirror tiles bring a modern aesthetic to the bath. The product’s smooth surface and metallic effects—available in silver or copper—convey a minimalist vibe. Intense polishing imparts these porcelain tiles with their reflective surface. Visit www.annsacks.com.
Smooth Sailing
The 143-foot Wally Esence marries the sleek form of an America’s Cup contender with the comforts of a luxury yacht. The high-performance, Italian-built sloop boasts a teak deck, a one-person sail handling system—plus air-conditioned cabins and satellite TV. Visit wally.com
new design gem
I. Gorman Jewelers recently relocated to a swank new showroom designed by Washington’s Hickok Cole Architects. The space has an inviting but unmistakably hip vibe with floating display cases and a white-resin beverage bar. It’s the perfect backdrop to spotlight I. Gorman’s well-edited collection, including a pendant and cufflinks by jewelry designer Todd Reed. 1133 20th Street, NW; www.igorman.com
made in the shade
Beach-bound sun worshippers are snapping up Jimmy Choo’s new sunglasses. The Marge Ring-Temple shades come in Dark Havana or Black Shiny frames. They’re $296 at Bloomingdale’s Chevy Chase, 5300 Western Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD; www.bloomingdales.com
bag alert
We love the Dior Gypsy hobo in soft red leather from the spring 2008 collection. Its curvy contours are embellished with perforated ruffles—too much fun to resist. Available in three sizes, the medium is $1,750 at Dior, 5471-E Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD, or the Dior handbag boutique in Saks Fifth Avenue in
Tysons Galleria; www.dior.com
Without a carefully thought-out lighting plan, says lighting designer Wayne Hinson of Washington, DC-based Hinson Design Group, you probably aren’t playing up the drama in your home to its fullest potential. “Lighting is very frequently overlooked,” Hinson says. “I work regularly with a lot of designers in the District because they recognize the need for a good lighting plan.”
A good lighting plan delivers multiple “layers” of light to a room, each individually controlled layer serving a different function. Layers might include overhead downlights, spotlights that highlight art, uplights that wash a wall with light and lamps that provide ambient light.
Hinson finds that many of his clients’ homes have only one layer of light in the form of recessed lights in the ceiling. “These lights really don’t function beyond putting light in the room,” he says. “To create interest in any space, you have to have contrast. When you light with one layer you’re basically doing the same thing as creating a cloudy or an overcast day because there is no shadow.”
Part set designer and part illusionist, Hinson can create a mood, accentuate art or architectural elements and even mask design flaws through the use of strategically placed lighting. Just as interior designers use color to lead the eye to a focal point such as an accent wall in a room, lighting can also perform a similar function. “If you add color to an accent wall and then wash it with light, even better. That wall will have much more interest,” he says.
“You can use lighting to create effects that alter your perception of a space,” Hinson adds. “For example, if you have a narrow hall you can make it seem wider by washing one of the walls with light.”
In a typical dining room project, Hinson might employ anywhere from three to six layers of light. One accent layer would highlight art on the wall or the texture of a fireplace. Another layer over the table would encompass two “pin” lights—1.5-inch spots in the ceiling that make flower centerpieces “pop” and add sparkle to crystal chandeliers. A third layer, two downlights equipped with flood distribution bulbs, would light the table surface so that guests can see what they’re eating, independent of the chandelier. The chandelier, Hinson says, should be lit dimly to simulate the soft, warm glow of candlelight. Barely discernible to the eye, these various layers interact to create an ideal mood in the room.
All of the layers Hinson creates are on dimmers, to allow homeowners to customize a room’s mood even further. Many of the new systems he installs are automated to allow users to select pre-programmed “scenes” in each room. He almost exclusively uses low-voltage lighting in all of his jobs. “They’re so efficient, you save a lot of energy and they provide a much higher quality of light,” he says. “They’re much better at accenting things and they render colors perfectly.”
Figures like these are a wake-up call to a growing number of area builders and architects taking the initiative to build homes that are more energy efficient and eco-friendly. Meanwhile, consumers are learning that they can help drive the marketplace, whether they are building a new home, remodeling an existing one or simply adopting new earth-friendly practices.
The following pages spotlight the work of DC, Maryland and Virginia architects and builders who are on the cutting edge of sustainable design. This feature also offers advice on how you can be a more responsible steward of the environment by repurposing building supplies and planting greener gardens.
The grandson of Jacques Yves-Cousteau, this present-day explorer and environmentalist carries on the family business with 21st-century flair. At 29, he is the president and CEO of EarthEcho International, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that he and his sister, Alexandra Cousteau, founded to encourage people to help restore and protect oceans and freshwater systems through the power of the media and personal experience. He has lectured on sustainability at Harvard and the United Nations and also runs Azure Worldwide, a strategic “green lifestyle” consulting firm. And then there’s his television career, which keeps Cousteau on the road (and out to sea) for weeks at a time.
On the rare occasion that he’s in town, he enjoys relaxing at home. “I love design,” says the tall, navy blue-eyed Cousteau, who has spent two years finding just the right mix of furnishings for his bachelor pad. Honing in on a “classic contemporary” look, he has selected clean-lined pieces that convey an Asian aesthetic. Red accents embolden the neutral color palette in the main living space. It opens to his home office, where he works from a sleek glass-topped desk. A world map dominates one wall, while black-and-white photographs of his grandfather adorn another. In his bedroom, a Lumeo bed by Ligne Roset evokes a Zen-like vibe.
Throughout his home, Cousteau displays a treasure trove of artifacts from around the globe. Many of these mementoes were collected by the father he never knew. Philippe Cousteau, Sr., traveled the world to direct, film and produce more than 30 films for “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.” Tragically, he died in a seaplane crash just seven months before his son was born.
Being home, Cousteau says, “kind of reminds me of where I come from and where I’m going. All the things from my father and the things I’ve collected over the years have a lot of significance. They connect me to those places and remind me of the importance of the work that we’re doing.”
Born in Los Angeles, Cousteau grew up in the U.S. but spent summers in the south of France. He earned a master’s degree in history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
By the time Cousteau was old enough to go on expedition, his grandfather had traded active duty aboard the Calypso for the life of an “elder statesman,” says Cousteau. Though they never explored together, Cousteau remembers “everything from tasting wine with him—he was a wine connoisseur—to talking about the environment. It was a broad dialogue and that really influenced my sister and me in terms of how we have looked at our work.”
It was his father’s friends, explorers and scientists, who took Philippe, Jr., on his first expeditions. “I got my first exposure to travel exploration and filming,” recalls Cousteau. “And I loved it.”
Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau founded EarthEcho International in memory of their father, in order to take his work to the next level. “My grandfather really opened people’s eyes to images that we take for granted today,” says Cousteau. In turn, Philippe, Sr., studied man’s impact on ecosystems. “Now that we understand a lot of that interplay, how do we take action? That’s the third generation,” Philippe, Jr., says. “We’ve expanded our horizon not just from exploration and oceans, which are kind of the hook and which are sexy,” he continues, “but then how do you translate that into a dialogue with people about a new lifestyle ethic? We’d like people to change their behavior overnight, but that’s not going to happen. It’s really important to take baby steps.”
Cousteau does not own a car; he takes Metro. He buys organic, locally grown food whenever possible. His cleaning supplies are toxin-free. His sheets are organic cotton. And he vows that his next home will be a loft in a green building. All of these choices, he says, help make a difference.
Cousteau’s documentary career dovetails nicely with EarthEcho’s mission. In Animal Planet’s “Ocean’s Deadliest,” which Cousteau co-hosted with the late Steve Irwin, he made the claim that the deadliest creature in the oceans is humankind. In “Oceans,” he has witnessed the horrendous practice of shark-finning in Mozambique, investigated the invasive lionfish in the Bahamas and looked a sperm whale in the eye in the Sea of Cortez. June will find him in the Arctic—the last journey in a year of filming the eight-part, hi-def series. “Oceans” will air in the U.S. in late 2008 or early 2009. Until then, Cousteau faithfully shares adventures and insights from the field in his blog at EarthEcho.org.
One posting made last November upon arrival in Africa for the first time in his life reveals this explorer’s intense passion and purpose: “Trepidation, excitement, joy and wonder have all combined into a tight ball of energy in my stomach….This is going to be quite an adventure and as my father once said, ‘Adventure is where you lead a full life.’”
Photographer Lydia Cutter is based in Arlington, Virginia.
Designers Danny Christmas and Shannon Woodward
helped them update the once-drab space using
sophisticated furnishings and a warm color palette.
At home for a short break from the campaign trail in January, ABC News senior political correspondent Jake Tapper plays with six-month-old daughter, Alice Paul, in his sun-filled great room. In two days, Tapper is scheduled to fly down to Fort Lauderdale to catch up with the Giuliani campaign and then to Simi Valley, California, to cover a Republican debate. Where he goes after that is anyone’s guess. “If I get to run home and see Alice during this busy time, I always take the opportunity,” he says as she nods off in his arms. “This makes the three-hour flight worth it.”
With election year in full swing, Tapper will be on the road for weeks on end. But fortunately, the family’s new home in a forested enclave bordering Rock Creek Park offers a peaceful refuge from the fray when Tapper just happens to be in DC. “There’s nothing like coming back here after an intense day of political melodrama and sitting on the porch,” he says. “It’s quiet and isolated. Even though it’s just a few blocks away from one of the busiest streets in DC, it feels like another world.”
A self-described “political dork” who grew up in Philadelphia, Jake Tapper, 38, has lived in Washington since the 1990s. He began his journalism career in print, covering politics for Washington City Paper and later Salon.com. After stints on the CNN talk show “Take Five” and a VH1 series on pop culture, he landed a job with ABC News. Tapper now contributes regularly to “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “World News with Charles Gibson” and “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
Tapper met Jennifer at the 2004Iowa presidential caucus. They made plans to go to dinner back home in DC the following night. “After that first dinner with him, I knew something was going to happen,” says Jennifer, who does advocacy work on women’s issues. The couple married in 2006 in Jennifer’s home state of Missouri. “We got married at President Truman’s old men’s club,” says Jennifer. “It felt very East Coast because of the history and the politics.”
After a few months in Jake’s Adams Morgan bachelor pad (black leather sofa, James Bond poster), the couple decided it was time to find a more permanent residence. When their agent showed them the four-story home on Rock Creek, they were instantly drawn to the property and its leafy surroundings. “There was so much natural light. I had a deep emotional connection to it on one level because it reminds me a lot of my grandparents’ house...from the bookshelves in the living room to the light to the trees,” says Jake. They made an offer within hours and the house was theirs.
The Tappers turned to mother-daughter design team Danny Christmas and Shannon Woodward for help with the interiors. “Every wall was white,” recalls Jennifer. “There were these thick curtains in the great room. It seemed kind of closed-in and dark. We wanted to make it feel more like a home, give it some warmth and make it a happy place to walk into.”
In close collaboration with Jennifer, Christmas and Woodward set out to create spaces that reflected the couple’s style. They selected a warm color palette of creams and golds and replaced the heavy cornices with dupioni silk drapes. They upholstered new furniture—including a pair of love seats and a sofa in the great room—with rich fabrics in gold, raspberry and toile. And in the dining room, they fashioned custom drapes in a vibrant silk plaid.
“We wanted it to be youthful,” says Woodward. “It’s their first home and Jennifer wanted to be able to entertain more and wanted it to be sophisticated but still fun.”
The Tappers couldn’t be happier with the outcome. “I think having this home be such a reflection of who I am and who Jake is makes me feel very comfortable,” says Jennifer. “Even when he’s not here, it doesn’t seem like he’s very far away.”
The great room of the home.
The Tappers moved into the house in May 2007, just a few months before Alice was born; most of the work was complete in time for her arrival. The nursery is done up in pink—Jennifer’s favorite color. Above the changing table is a painting that Jake created for their daughter in the months before her birth.
To spend as much time as possible with the family, Tapper has a soundproof study equipped so that he can feed audio from home. He also posts daily commentary on his ABC News blog, Political Punch.
In the world of round-the-clock news online and on TV, does this political junky have a hard time disconnecting from the never-ending stream of political drama and punditry? “With 24/7 [news] and Blackberries and email, it can be a challenge,” Tapper admits. “But if Alice is awake, it’s pretty easy to put the Blackberry away.”
Photographer Bob Narod is based in Sterling, Virginia
INTERIOR DESIGN: Danny Christmas, ASID, and Shannon Woodward, Interior Magic, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Part of the beauty—and the challenge—of renovating a home is preserving the spirit of the original structure while creating a new whole. This was the task facing Yuri Sagatov of Sagatov Associates, Inc., when he embarked on a plan to overhaul and expand the 1960s Arlington contemporary that he and his wife Michelle purchased in 2003.
Built on a quiet cul-de-sac, the home is perched on the edge of a wooded ravine. A meandering creek below flows into the Potomac River nearby. Wooded properties located a few minutes from Washington, DC, don’t get much better than this one.
Despite the home’s shortcomings, Sagatov envisioned the full potential of the residence, whose previous owner was the architect who designed it. Like most homes of its era, it contained a series of small rooms, including an outdated kitchen, and had little connection with the surrounding landscape. But its clean lines and dramatic positioning had strong appeal. “The idea was obviously to make the house a lot different,” says Sagatov. “The previous house had really no windows across the back. The goal was to open up the back of the property and leverage the view.”
Sagatov approached the design carefully, taking time to get to know the house and the lay of the land. He devised a plan that would double the size of the original 2,500-square-foot structure with a four-story addition. The finished project would include a spacious new kitchen and great room, an airy loft, two new bedrooms and two new baths plus a lower level complete with an office, a rec room with a home theater and a bar and an exercise room. Careful massing would create a “dialog with the landscape” and conceal much of the new volume from the front of the property, where the façade would in many aspects remain true to its original form.
“I worked on the plans for about two years before we actually started,” says Sagatov. “A lot changes over two years. What you think you want changes. One of the advantages to living in a house prior to renovating is that I got to go through the seasons and got very familiar and intimate with the lot. Having that time to let the plans kind of gestate in the long run allowed me to best leverage the views and the orientation.”
Sagatov cites one of his greatest challenges as “trying to integrate the house so it architecturally looked like one, as opposed to an addition.” He selected exterior materials that would help blend the original structure with the new. The addition is clad in cedar and HardiePanel siding, while the brick on the original façade was painted a complementary dark forest green. Inside and out, natural surfaces and finishes reinforce a well-honed modern aesthetic.
In the foyer, an ascending staircase was removed to make way for a new bedroom on the second floor. To create a smooth transition from the foyer into the new volume, Sagatov concealed a 20-foot steel support beam in the floor system above. “The general idea was to create kind of an acceleration when you walk in. You come through the door and into this view,” he says.
The entry leads through the original part of the home, where the living room and dining room are still located, into the dramatic new space beyond, housing a gleaming kitchen and a great room with 24-foot-high ceilings ascending to an airy loft. By skewing the great room seven and a half degrees from the main bias of the home, Sagatov diverted the view away from the neighboring property. Massive windows frame nature’s glory all year round.
Designed with entertaining in mind, the kitchen features a 48-inch professional range, two full-sized sinks and dishwashers, a built-in espresso machine and wine cooler, and a large U-shaped island with bar seating. The kitchen/great room opens to a large screened porch perched over the ravine.
Throughout the home, natural materials echo its surroundings. “The goal was to create an organic contemporary, to blend a lot of exterior materials and bring them inside the house,” says Sagatov. “We used a lot of slate, Carrera marble and dark woods to create a blending with the forest.”
With no formal training in design or architecture, the “self-taught” Sagatov, 31, learned his trade on the job, working for the family-owned company his father Lou Sagatov started in 1985. “I grew up in the family business,” Yuri says. His experience paid off when the firm was awarded a 2007 Contractor of the Year award for his home in the category of entire house over $1 million.
Ready for the next challenge, Sagatov put this award-winning property on the market late last year. Construction is almost complete on his family’s new home in Arlington, built to be environmentally friendly from the ground up. “It’s extremely green. It will be the first house in Arlington with a full green ‘living roof,’” he says. “We think it will be the greenest house built in Arlington from the systems involved to the insulation to the green roof. It’s going to be a pretty cool house.”
A true kosher kitchen, with separate areas for milk, meat and “pareve” food preparation, demands a generous amount of space. The Wolasky family, whose Baltimore kitchen was too small to accommodate these three separate zones, approached the designers at Baltimore’s Studio One to update their home and create a complete kosher kitchen.
“The original kitchen was very small and difficult to maneuver as a kosher kitchen. There was not enough space for each task,” says Marie Schwartz, who proposed a plan with colleague Rebeka Gurfinchel that would add more space to the kitchen in the front of the house. This addition would be balanced by a new loggia on the opposite side of the property.
The new front space became a large, light-filled dining area, where decorative painting on the walls reinforces a garden feel.
A breakfast bar connects this area to the main kitchen space, where there are three separate sinks and dishwashers. “The breakfast bar is for ease of dining without having to travel to the main body of the kitchen, as it is now very long,” says Schwartz. “We are partial to breakfast bars of varying sorts—we love the ‘bed and breakfast’ feel.”
Hearth-style cabinetry surrounds the main cooktop, with pull-out spice storage keeping essentials close at hand. A hand-painted tile backsplash creates an Old World look—as do the porcelain floor tiles from Italy.
The kitchen not only meets the family’s dietary requirements, but it’s also an elegant new spot for entertaining.
KITCHEN DESIGN: Rebeka Gurfinchel and Marie Schwartz, Studio One, Baltimore, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: Anne Gummerson, Baltimore, Maryland.
Illuminated at night, the pool evokes a resort feel in the courtyard of the stucco-clad residence.
On the left, the freestanding pool house encloses a wet bar and a changing room for guests. The pool house doors are collapsible NanaWalls that can be opened completely.Like a stage set, a simple stone façade greets guests outside this Northwest DC home. Curious passersby might assume the structure is a museum or an embassy - until they enter and discover an expansive living room decked out with palm trees and a gold shag rug. Beyond, a wall of glass overlooks the pool, complete with fountains and a pool house awash in white drapes.This is a modern custom home where the vibe is decidedly more Delano than DC. It was built for serious entertaining by a single, 40-something real estate developer who refuses to take himself too seriously. Humor and political innuendo create a common thread in the pop art and sculpture thoughtfully placed throughout the home. A sci-fi fan, the owner even designed a logo for his new abode—a rocket ship—and commissioned an outdoor sculpture and dozens of monogrammed pool towels to reinforce the playful theme.
But there is more behind the project than sleek design and pop culture. The owner was compelled to build the home during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "I was so upset by the condition of our country. I thought I could create a venue where people could meet to talk about things and to raise money for change." Though he often hosted fundraisers for 80 or 90 guests at his former DC home, he wanted to go even bigger.
So he bought an infill lot on a street of Victorians and Colonials and started talking to architects. Though he wanted the home to have a formal façade that would blend into the neighborhood, he sought a modern interior with large rooms that could be used for multiple purposes. "The original concept I wanted is a stage set. I wanted a façade that was very serious. But you open up the curtain, and it's actually playful," he says.
After two "big-name" architects drew up concepts that he felt did not reflect his vision, the owner was ready to throw in the towel. Then mutual friends introduced him to John Sage and John Coplen, two young architects who had recently launched their own firm, Alter Urban LLC, in Baltimore. The homeowner scheduled a meeting with both the architects and Josh and Emily Rosenthal of Rosenthal Homes, the custom building firm he was close to hiring. "John Sage sketched out exactly what I was talking about in front of us on a napkin," the homeowner recalls. "Emily Rosenthal said, 'That will work,' and we salvaged the project." He hired Rosenthal and Alter Urban on the spot. Also on board were Christopher Rice, who was involved in the concept stage and acted as architect of record; DC lighting designer Scott Guenther; DC landscape designer Thorne Rankin; and interior designers Sam Ewing and Gail Winn of Winter Park, Florida-based Ewing Noble & Winn. (Ewing and Winn had designed three previous residences for the client, who also owns a home in Florida.)
The project would be a collaborative effort among all the members of this group. "The team was excited by the chance to create something young and fresh and embraced Alter Urban's outside-the-box approach," says the homeowner. The architects embarked on a design program that would satisfy a number of requirements. As the scope of the structure grew to encompass 9,500 square feet, they wanted to downplay the size of the house from the street. They were faced with creating the volume their client wanted on a half-acre, wedge-shaped lot. With neighboring properties on all sides, establishing privacy presented another challenge.
Sage and Coplen sited the main, rectangular part of the house parallel to the street. They carefully scaled the façade so that the second story housing the master suite would be barely visible from the front. "Although the house is seemingly tall, the façade is still only one story," says Sage. "It helps bring down the scale of the rest of the house behind it."
To fit the oddly shaped lot, they angled a guest wing from the west side of the main house toward the rear of the property and added a free-standing pool house at the same angle on the east side. The structures form a triangular perimeter, screening the pool and courtyard from neighboring properties.
From the façade inward, the house progresses from formal to casual to intimate. The most formal spaces—the dining room and office—are located along the façade, their walls faced with the same cast stone used on the exterior. These spaces spill into the open living room and kitchen, which in turn lead to the bedrooms and the pool and courtyard beyond.
The home's cast-stone façade lends it a serious and solid presence. The architects scaled this exterior wall to mask the home's second story and minimize its mass from the street.Dark-stained bamboo kitchen cabinets and inked-maple floors in the kitchen and living room offset a colorful array of art and furnishings. The kitchen leads to a mudroom and a caterer's kitchen. With the two kitchens combined, the house is equipped to handle elaborate affairs with the countertops serving as stylish buffet and bar stations and the catering kitchen reserved for food storage, prep and clean-up.From the great room, a corridor housing an Andy Warhol series on the JFK assassination and a Keith Haring sculpture leads to a formal powder room, a large open stairway and the guest wing. With luxurious bathrooms, custom closets and access to the pool courtyard, the two guest suites rival any five-star hotel. Upstairs, far removed from the action below, the master suite boasts custom furniture, a dressing room by Poliform and a large bathroom with a steam shower and an oversized Italian tub hand-carved from a single block of marble.The home's lower level was designed to accommodate guests in style. A fully stocked bar, polished concrete floor and cascading "Mr. Bubbles" chandelier create a glamorous effect in the game room. It leads to another luxe powder room, a plush home theater and a gym.
Throughout the interiors, a clean-lined, minimalist sensibility prevails. A premium was placed on top-of-the-line lighting, appliances and finishes, from the glass-beaded Maya Romanoff wall covering in the main powder room to the crystal-orb chandeliers in the dining room. "It's important that the house have a solid textural feel," says the homeowner, who also had the property wired with a state-of-the-art Lutron lighting system and audio-visual automation.
The design team reviewed countless magazine clips and photographs their client collected to hone in on selections that would complement—and not compete with—the overall interior scheme. Says John Coplen, "There was a very conscious choice to make sure there was a simplified palette throughout the house. You'll notice that his furniture is very bright in color. It was really all about dimming the background and letting the furniture speak for itself."
The client wanted to be sure that the interiors didn't come off as cold, as is the case in some ultra-modern spaces. Designer Sam Ewing says they achieved a warm feel through the liberal use of color and texture. "Putting those huge trees in the living room totally changes the mood of the room," he says.
The same cast-stone used on the exterior lines the walls of the formal dining room, where Schonbek crystal-orb chandeliers make a glamorous statement. The dining room overlooks the entry courtyard and the office beyond.
"There is a continuity in the feel of everything we did that flows through the house. You don't feel disjointed when you go from one room to the next," says Gail Winn. "There's a certain whimsy to it, too, that makes it comfortable, even in the artwork. It doesn't look forbidden. It looks like you're meant to have fun."
Part of the reason the project was such a success is that all of the players were involved from its inception. "It was definitely a democratic process," says John Sage. "A lot of decisions were kind of thrown out there at meetings…In the end, whatever decision was made was never far askew from the original concept. It was an unusual situation in that the builder was included from the very beginning conceptual design, which was really nice because when we actually got to construction, there were no surprises."
The builders also made a concerted effort to be sure everything would come together seamlessly. "Rosenthal was very good about taking a very educated look at materials and putting the time into doing that," says John Coplen. "A lot of contractors don't want to deal with that."
The fruits of this collaboration are most apparent in the kitchen. The architects devised and roughly sketched the concept of a kitchen "in the round," with a large center island. Knowing the client's plan for entertaining on a large scale, Emily Rosenthal and kitchen designer Jerry Weed of Kitchen and Bath Studios in Chevy Chase drew up detailed plans that would function efficiently whether a meal was underway for two or 200. In turn, Ewing and Winn helped specify the finishing touches, such as the colorful bar stools and the stainless-steel cabinet hardware.
One of the team's priorities was to make the house as green as possible without compromising its aesthetic qualities. It features spray-in Icynene insulation; Energy Star-rated appliances; low-VOC paints; double-insulated, argon gas-filled windows; and basement floors made from recycled rubber. "We always try to bring it [green design] to the forefront," says John Coplen, "not so much to push clients but to educate them. Hopefully, when this client does his next project, it's not a question, it's a direction."
Their client is, in fact, contemplating his next DC project—an Indonesian-style glass house with a pool on the roof. When he's ready, he says, he'll be using the same design team. "If you have a strong vision of what you want to do, it's very important that you deal with people who want to realize it and not people who want to fit you into a box," says the homeowner. "I wanted something unique. It's not a new house built to look like an old house with all the chopped-up rooms that people used 100 years ago. It's a contemporary house with contemporary flow, which I think makes it stand out."
Architecture: John Coplen and John Sage, Alter Urban LLC, Baltimore, Maryland. Architect of Record: Christopher Rice, AIA, Austin, Texas. Contractor: Rosenthal Homes, Rockville, Maryland. Interior Design: Sam Ewing and Gail Winn, Ewing Noble & Winn, Winter Park, Florida. Landscape Design: Thorne Rankin & Associates, LLC, Washington, DC.
