THE
WASHINGTON
POST
.
SATURDAY,MAY
28, 2022
EZ
8
home,” says Medine, who de-
clined to divulge the renovation
costs. “We didn’t go through that
same calculus that you might
have if you were planning on
living in some place for two years
and selling it. We were budget-
constrained just like everybody
else, but the return on investment
in the short term was not our
major consideration at all.”Bloomberg says. “It has a warmth
to it even though it’s a very mod-
ern house — there [is] lots of
wood, which helps make it very
warm and welcoming.”
The homeowners say they are
happy with the outcome and
thankful there has been no neigh-
borhood backlash.
“We didn’t build it as an invest-
ment, we built it as our foreverthe space. A butler’s pantry com-
plete with backup refrigerator,
storage and counter space is adja-
cent to the main kitchen.
The kitchen appliances include
a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Therma-
dor cooktop, Miele oven and
steam oven. The cabinets came
from the German Kitchen Center
in D.C. and the countertops are a
mix of dark Dekton and white
Corian. The floors on the first
level are all engineered wood. The
kitchen island includes a sink and
a lower-level peninsula big
enough for morning coffee and a
laptop.
Moving from the kitchen into
the living room reveals a wall of
glass with a nod to Mondrian’s
patterns of rectangles looking out
to the backyard and a shed-roof
ceiling treatment that expands
the view to the outdoors in jaw-
dropping fashion. The fireplace
facing is made from a combina-
tion of custom millwork and Vi-
roc. A TV hides behind the deco-
rative panels.
The backyard was resculpted
by adding a concrete retaining
wall that terraces down from the
original brick, which frames a
nested patio. All the landscaping
was handled by Campion Hruby
Landscape Architects based in
Annapolis. The builders were Pe-
terson and Collins, based in
Bethesda.
“Everything feels very scaled,”fired fireplace for chilly evenings.
The main bath is in the front of
the house. To bring in natural
light, high windows were cut into
the exterior walls that provide
views to the outside while still
ensuring privacy. The bathroom
floors and walls are defined by
shades of gray tile from Stone
Source. There’s a curbless, door-
less, two-headed shower and a
free-standing, resin soaking tub
from Allene. The two-station van-
ity is topped with Dekton and
includes a makeup station.
The basement layout features a
second family room, workout
room, storage, full bath and a
second office. The steps leading
upstairs are illuminated by hand-
rails and a vertical wall panel
powered by color-changing LEDs.
Upstairs are three guest rooms, a
shared full bath and a half-bath.
Thinking ahead, the family left
room for an elevator that can be
installed that would connect all
three floors if needed. They also
went with geothermal heating
system that works via radiant
floor heat.
The heart of the home is the
main living area, which works on
several levels. There’s a wet bar
just past the foyer, which can be
hidden by floor-to-ceiling natural
wood panels. The same panels
also close off the mudroom as
needed. The smaller, informal
dining area floats in the middle ofdesign team didn’t want that to
happen. “We didn’t want it to look
like a UFO just landed in their
yard,” Bloomberg says. “We
looked at scale, proportion and
massing.”
Starting from scratch, the de-
signers worked within the con-
fines of the site and began pre-
senting conceptual drawings that
eventually became reality. “Janet
laid out three floor plans, and we
picked the one we liked the best,”
Medine says. “It was a back and
forth with her throughout — we
didn’t have to go to Home Depot
once.”
Demolition started in May
2018 with the homeowners mov-
ing into a rental house within
walking distance. They used a
local salvaging company to take
the existing house apart piece by
piece and recycle the compo-
nents. As excavation got under-
way, the design team discovered
something that nobody planned
for. “There was a lot of rock on the
site,” Bloomberg says. “Solid rock,
which is probably why they put
the driveways in the way they
did.” Removing rock created de-
lays and ended plans for excavat-
ing the basement level to increase
ceiling height.
Construction lasted 18 months
with the family returning in No-
vember 2019. The transformation
starts on the driveway. A gentle
slope replaced the steep climb as
board-formed retaining walls
help preserve a beloved silver ma-
ple tree in the front yard while
offering easier access. The new
home followed the same propor-
tions relative to width as the old
one with the garage and the front
door in the same locations.
Entering through the front
door offers a look through the
house and into the backyard. “The
kitchen and dining are pushed off
to the side and as soon as you get
in the front door, you’re hit with
the floor-to-ceiling windows look-
ing out the back,” Baldwin says.
“We worked on having that axis
when entering the house.”
Turning left reveals a formal
dining room occupying the front
of the house that’s big enough for
large family gatherings. “We did a
custom dining room table in
there,” Bloomberg says. “It’s near-
ly impossible to find a dining
table that will fit 12 people.”
Fabrication on the single ped-
estal, glass-topped table was han-
dled by Steve Prudhomme of Met-
al Specialties based in Lorton. A
floating glass sideboard offers ad-
ditional room for food.
Turning right from the front
door leads to a coat closet, powder
room, laundry, mudroom, an of-
fice large enough for both home-
owners and the main suite. Be-
cause all the active spaces for the
home are on one level, the main
bedroom and bath were purpose-
ly placed at the far end of the
house. The main bedroom in-
cludes a sitting area with views
and access to the backyard.
There’s also a low-profile gas-A NICE HOACHLANDER
The kitchen island includes a sink and lower-level peninsula large enough for morning coffee and a laptop. The smaller, informal dining
area floats in the middle of the space. A butler’s pantry with b ackup refrigerator, storage and counter space is adjacent to the main kitchen.CORRECTION
A story about a renovated home in Chevy Chase, Md., in the May 21
Real Estate section incorrectly published a cover photo of a different
home. The home above is the renovated, mid-century modern house
featured in the story.ANICE HOACHLANDER