At Home in a Bank

My latest post for DC Urban Turf went up today — one of my favorites to date, which features the home of Dr. Gary Mintz, who lives in a converted bank. Here is the before and after:

The original branch office of The City Bank, which is now home to Gary Mintz.

Gary bought the old bank in 1993. Over time, the gardens -- installed by the notable Oehme Van Sweden Landscape Architects, have done a good job at swaddling it in its flora and fauna.

You can see the full story behind the evolution of this house on Urban Turf (linked above), but I wanted to post some additional pictures here from my visit to Gary last week on a bright, sunny afternoon.

Gary has a significant collection of modern art, which extends into the gardens.

The best story about these gardens is that Oehme van Sweden Landscape Architects, who designed them, occupies the former headquarters of The City Bank. Gary’s house was a branch office.

The plantings are sculpture in themselves. Here, a stewartia tree is surrounded by stands of hosta in front, and waves of the rare hakonechloa in back.

His mailbox is the bank's old night deposit box.

Moving inside, you can see the strikingly modern interiors, designed by Philadelphia architect Michael Hauptman and built by Glass Construction, a local firm that specializes in historic restoration. I have fond memories of writing a story for Washington Spaces about Tom Glass’s 18th-century farmhouse in Flint Hill, Va.

The stark modern interiors contrast with the original windows and moldings from the bank. The living room was the bank's former lobby.

The living area on the second floor sits on perforated metal that looks like it's suspended within the original walls.

A bridge leads to the master bedroom in the rear.

Looking down on the dining room -- the bank's old vault. The work on the right is by Ellsworth Kelly. The series of colorful squares is by Josef Albers.

Looking into the kitchen. Gary warmed the interior with Shaker-style custom cabinetry throughout, topped with warm soapstone. The work on the left is by Frank Stella.

“The Shakers were the original modernists,” Gary says. “It kind of pulls the house together — it feels like the house is a whole” with the cabinetry by The Kennebec Company in Bath, Maine.

Gary is also a collector of photography, as you see in his kitchen. Left to right, the photographs are by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ruth Bernhard, Diane Arbus, and Sebastiao Salgado. He also owns two original photographs by Irving Penn.

Gary’s house received heaps of press and praise for years after the renovation was finished in 1994. It was featured in Architectural Digest twice, Metropolitan Home, The Washington Times, and HGTV, to name a few. But I was most impressed with the fact that his house still seems new and fresh after 16 years. Nothing at all looks dated.

“I just wanted it done right,” he says. I think he got what he was asking for.