The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-28)

7

EZ

K

THE

WASHINGTON

POST

.

SATURDAY,

MAY

28, 2022

Y SCOTT SOWERS

ol Weil were planning their future around
e striking out. “We looked for two years and
hat we loved. But the process was valuable
was important for us,” says Weil, 62, who
tor with the National Cancer Institute.
ng, they walked through a house for sale in
hat came close to hitting the mark. The
d Weil that the house was designed by Kube
, which wasn’t correct.
ing people we designed that house, but we
loomberg, principal of Kube. Despite the
s and the designer talked on the phone and
ocial invite. “We went to their Halloween
first sight,” says Medine, who is 68 and a
pert.
wn and site visit, the design team learned
in a two-story Colonial with an attached

garage in Bethesda. They bought the house in 1992 for $473,480 and

raised their family. They’d done a few small renovation projects over

the years but to get the main suite, living area and laundry on the

same floor was going to go way beyond a bump-out.

“One of the big issues even before going into the house was how

high they had to climb to get up the driveway, it was very steep,” says

Andrew Baldwin, project designer at Kube. “They wanted to remove

that challenge and the steepness of the site.”

The house backs up to a wooded section buttressed by a brick

retaining wall. The homeowners also wanted to take advantage of

nature views. To make the backyard more accessible, address the

driveway and get everything on one level, the existing house had to

come down.

Rather than wrestle with the emotional trauma of demolishing the

family home, the homeowners focused on what they’d gain through

the process. “The teardown was an opportunity to do something we

wanted to do, which was to have a more contemporary house,”

Medine says. “It was a great house and a great neighborhood, but it

was also a chance to do something that was in the back of our mind.”

Teardowns can often raise concerns in established neighborhoods

when a McMansion suddenly arises in a collection of bungalows. The

Managing a

teardown to build

their dream digs

A c ouple focused on what they would gain by

constructing a new home in their neighborhood

PHOTOS BY ANICE HOACHLANDER

COVER STORY