Going,

Going,

Gone.

These are some images posted on The Building Group‘s Facebook page, chronicling the preparation of land in Great Falls, VA, for new construction.

So follows the pattern we’ve been seeing for a long time in enclaves such as Great Falls — every affluent ZIP code in the DC region, really — where older, smaller houses are being cleared to make way for bigger ones. This time, however, we’re seeing a whopper replace that old modest home on a five-acre lot on River Bend Road, as we all read about in The Washington Post this week:

The story claims that the landowner, 38-year-old Young Yi, who runs a local chain of sleep-disorder clinics, is building this 25,000-square-foot structure to resemble the Palace of Versailles. She will call it Le Chateau de Lumiere.

Throughout all the Web traffic we’ve see on this house, though, it’s unclear where the Versailles reference comes from — the media or the owner herself. Architect James McDonald, who is designing the house, says his client never used that term when expressing her desires for her new palace, er, mansion, er, chateau. (What DO you call this kind of home in the suburbs??)

For kicks, let’s take a look at the real thing:

Hmmm.

But that’s not really the point here. What has everyone so upset — indeed, the reason the story was on the front page — is that neighbors are pushed to the point of litigation in taking offense to the size and scope of this project. When I last checked, there were 800 comments on the Post story.

Here’s a sampling of those comments, beyond the numerous references to guillotines and “off with their heads!”:

“This nouveau riche excrescence in a neighborhood of comfortably large homes does the legendary Versailles no honor and would be more appropriate to Las Vegas.”

“Perfectly degenerate vulgarity.”

“If nothing else, they might make a fine setting for a Gothic horror story in 50 years or so.”

“My housewarming gift will be a cake and a copy of Tale of Two Cities. Build your house in Potomac or Bethesda where it fits in, Young Yi. Not in Great Falls.”

But that’s the thing — these homes are going up everywhere, and Great Falls is already full of them. Maybe not this large, but these nouveau chateaux, especially in areas such as Great Falls and Potomac where lots are generally bigger, are becoming rather common.

“The reality of the project is it’s got a not-so-unique exterior, but’s it’s caught some attention,” McDonald told me. “There are some other homes that are equally as detailed if not larger.”

Mike Mafi, who owns The Building Group, which is building Le Chateau de Lumiere, has come to specialize in this style. I suppose we can all crow about it as much as we want, but Mr. Mafi wouldn’t be in business if there weren’t a strong market for this gilded-age style. Here are some other homes to his credit, which are featured on The Building Group Web site:

Towlston Road, Mclean (10,000 Sq. Ft)

Elizabeth Street, Great Falls (14,000 Sq. Ft)

Crowell RD, Vienna (12,500 Sq. Ft)

Regardless of what owners do with large open spaces such as this one from the Vienna home,

or this one from the Great Falls mansion,

the fact remains that in these times, large lots demand large homes — simply because it makes no sense in today’s economy to build a 2,000-square-foot home on five acres.

“There is a relationship between land value and house size.  When you are buying a lot in the neighborhood of 1 million dollars you do not put a 2,000 s.f. home on it.  You will not be able to resell the home for the proper value.  The price of land has pushed the sizes of homes up,” McDonald said.

I’m not sure it necessitates pushing home sizes to 25,000 square feet, but there you have it. My knee-jerk reaction to this house was of shock that such a design would exist HERE, in staid Great Falls. But there again, McDonald replied, “Today,  large homes are being built with 10’, 11’, and 12’ ceilings, and being designed with much more variety in style.  Twenty years ago everything in Northern Virginia was Colonial in nature.  That does not mean good colonial design or well proportioned design.  Homes were designed with a suburban refection of colonial architecture.”

One commenter on the Post article agreed:  ”Taste is in the eye of the beholder. I personally think every side-hall colonial and raised ranch built in suburbia during the last 40 years are pretty tasteless, but there are certainly a lot of them out there.”

I wrote a story for the Post a couple years ago about a community in Potomac called Merry-Go-Round Farm, which holds every landowner to strict guidelines on the virtues of a home’s architecture, no matter the genre. (You can see the story here.)

Styles are all over the place there, but each design requires the approval of an architectural review board:

“We started out to do something significant architecturally at Merry-Go-Round Farm,” said Tyler Abell, who subdivided his family’s land overlooking the Potomac River to create this development. “The normal Potomac architecture is so awful, it’s hard to describe.”

Merry-Go-Round Farm is the only recent development of its kind that I know of in which people building big homes are dedicated to staying true to classical architecture. The “awful” stuff, thus, is not awful to a lot of people who are obviously purchasing those other homes along River Road, say, or Georgetown Pike.

Circling back to Le Chateau de Lumiere, I’ll be interested to see what the finished rooms look like, if they are ever published.

I e-mailed Mr. Mafi to get his take on where design is headed in the land of huge houses, but I didn’t get a response. He did tell the Huffington Post that  “It’s not really one of the hugest houses on the East Coast … Of course it is a big house, but it isn’t one of the biggest houses.”

Interestingly, he’s also building a 16,000-square-foot house across from this one, he told the Huffington Post. ”They’ve raised complaints about that one, too,” he said, according to the Web site.

A lot of people are saying they don’t want Beverly Hills or Miami to encroach on our neighborhoods, but look at the numbers: DC is home to five of the country’s 10 richest counties. And with wealthy people pouring in from so many different cultures and parts of the country — and the world — it was bound to happen.

“Great Falls has gone through a transition of people,” said McDonald, who also lives there. “Over the last 10 years a lot of the older homes are being redeveloped.  The speculative homes will always be a little more market-conservative to appeal to a larger market.  Custom homes will, and should, always reflect what the client is looking for.”

That said, he would not share any details about what Young Yi is specifically looking for at Le Chateau de Lumiere.

Mafi’s wife, Mandy Mafi, will be decorating the house for Yi and her family. “It’s going to be prettier than the White House,” she wrote on Facebook.

Sigh. We just spent our last weekend EVER at my Mom’s beach house in Fenwick Island, Del. Alas, she sold it, so we got to spend one final weekend to both pack up and say goodbye to the place we’ve been going for 10 years, since the boys were babies.

I’ve been moping about it all week, especially after a casual check of rental units in Fenwick produces spaces like this:

After I’ve been spoiled with this:

So, I’m consoling myself this with pictures of OTHER people’s lovely beach houses. Twisted, yes, but I can’t help it — it’s like picking at a scab.

DC architect  and designer Jerry Harpole just sent me images of a multi-generational family house in Rehoboth Beach, just about a half hour north of Fenwick. And WOW. What an amazing retreat for these grandparents, their three grown children and spouses, and all the grandchildren. (All photography by Jerry’s nephew, North Carolina photographer Philip Schmidt)

After a day of beach time, which is just off this amazing deck,

The family can retreat to this living room (oh dear Lord, I’m eating my heart out!)

The art, the poufs, the throw pillows -- almost looks like some fabulous movie set.

The space flows seamlessly out to the deck -- and I love all the throws for when the cool breezes come inside.

What a great vignette at the rear -- I just love that art. And it's complete with baskets of towels for a spontaneous dash out to the water.

Jerry recently helped this family remodel the house after they had already owned it for 20 years. The new look, he tells me, was designed to achieve a “Funky Hip Grandma in Malibu” feel.

Mission accomplished:

A perfect entry for this Funky Hip Grandma!

When anyone is hungry, this kitchen stands at the ready:

I feel like Diane Keaton is going to walk onto this stage set at any time! I especially love the coffered beadboard ceiling with the lamps tucked up inside.

Here’s a closer look at the sink:

The vintage tea towels are too cute for words.

And here’s where the family gets to dine:

The shutters, pendant lights and sconces totally complete this space.

Even going up the stairs is something special:

The style here only gets more refined as you move up to the next floor:

I can't imagine EVER leaving my bed if I were staying here. This bedroom with its view is most definitely a dream.

Every detail is tended to here:

The window treatments, the porcelain lamp, the matelasse, the tulips... a gorgeous combination of details and texture and surface and color and print!

The master bath suite here is worthy of a four-star hotel:

I’m really glad Jerry found me — and the timing is great too, because another one of his projects, a Kiawah Island retreat for super sports agent David Falk, is published in the latest issue of Home & Design Magazine. I am incredibly impressed with his architectural talent and design aesthetic, which is apparent when you read that story and also click through all the images on his Web site.

So for now, we will have to live the glamorous beach life vicariously through images of homes like this one, now that we can’t have it for ourselves anymore!

]]> http://dcbydesignblog.com/designers/beach-dreamin-with-jerry-harpole/feed/ 0 http://dcbydesignblog.com/artphoto/the-farragut-spheres-by-michael-sirvet/ http://dcbydesignblog.com/artphoto/the-farragut-spheres-by-michael-sirvet/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:59:06 +0000 Jennifer http://dcbydesignblog.com/?p=2346

I first noticed them when I was coming up the escalator at the Farragut West Metro stop with my son’s fourth-grade class on a field trip to Decatur House in February — these perforated metallic discs that glowed even in the daylight.

They stopped me in my tracks, they were so beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring at all those holes — like snowflakes almost, each one a different size:

I thought to myself that I couldn’t remember seeing them before. And now I know why. I was honored to be invited to the formal dedication of the Farragut Spheres yesterday, a sculptural light installation by Michael Enn Sirvet, a DC engineer-turned-artist who brings his scientific background into his sculptures.

The installation is the result of a collaboration between Metro, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, and the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities.

“Farragut Spheres is what art in transit is all about — as travelers enter or exit the station, it provides an unexpected delight along the way,” said Michael McBride, Metro’s Art in Transit manager. (Metro has an Art in Transit manager?? We learn something new every day!)

The Metro already has 30 commissioned art installations throughout the system, said Richard Sarles, general manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. “This is just a fabulous addition to that,” he said. “Michael is an engineer like me — what he’s doing here is a great addition to society.”

Michael Enn Sirvet

Michael, looking very Zen in his Mao-collared suit jacket, explained the motivation behind his work since he left the engineering field in 2008: Engineering “has been reflected in my work since the very beginning,” he told the crowd, over the groaning of the escalators and while confused commuters came and went. The combination of the natural and the industrial is what fascinates him.

He started “drilling holes in most of my sculptures and filling them with bolts,” like this:

"A Forgotten Place," 2007 (wow!!)

But then he and some friends happened to be watching a documentary on Ecuador at one point, which featured a square mile of ancient rocks “that had been worn away to the point of staggering beauty,” he said yesterday. “I ran back to the shop and started drilling holes and NOT filling them.”

Here is the result — a sculpture called Millennia from 2009 that served as the inspiration for the Farragut Spheres:

Michael drilled every single hole in this hemisphere himself.

This piece received an award for Excellence in Metal Craft by the James Renwick Alliance, which supports the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery across from the White House. (Small world — I’m a newly minted member of the JRA!) The piece got noticed by the Golden Triangle BID, and this project at Farragut West culminates almost three years of planning since then.

The installation forms an 80-foot wall of 20 concave discs of differing sizes, each one individually illuminated with custom-designed LED lights. Alex Cooper, a lighting designer for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, designed those lights, which glow anywhere from yellow to orange to pale green.

The lights glow over the crowd at yesterday's dedication.

All told, there are more than 139,000 holes in those spheres, only Michael did not drill all of them himself. He got assistance from Products Support Inc. in Jessup, MD, a machine shop whose bread and butter comes from fabricating parts for things like… fighter jets.

Union Electric Company from Baltimore installed the lights (other projects to their credit include the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap).

The Farragut West project is part of a strategic plan to make the Golden Triangle district a more pleasant area to work in and visit, said Leona Agouridis, the BID’s executive director.

“Art is a way to make the neighborhood much more enjoyable for people,” she said. Next on tap is an installation at the Farragut North Metro, just across Farragut Park. The two projects will then bracket the square between K and I streets. “We kind of see that (space) as our town square.”

They couldn’t have picked a better day for a press preview to have us drive through the leafy Spring Valley neighborhood and arrive here, at the 2012 DC Design House, which opens to the public on Saturday, April 14 and runs through Sunday, May 13:

What an elegant way to spend an afternoon, nibbling on hors d’oeuvres from Bibiana, and wandering three floors of rooms that just a couple months ago were, well, rather sad. Not anymore! Here’s a taste of the 23 designs you will see here, from Before to After (all photography by Robert Radifera).

I’ll start with my FAVORITE, a teen lounge tricked out in nothing but Missoni, by my good friend Victoria Sanchez. She started here,

and created THIS:

While “Get Smart” plays on a loop on the TV (not shown), Victoria’s space translates the whimsical colors and patterns of Missoni Home through window treatments, carpet, lighting, pillows, and that HUGE pouf using vintage mid-century furniture as a vehicle — what a perfect pairing! (Target, eat your heart out — this is the REAL stuff. Sure, most of us probably couldn’t afford this room, which is why you have to get over here in the next month to experience all this eye candy in person).

Moving right along, let’s see how design-house regular Kelley Proxmire applied her signature style to this enormous ballroom:

I wouldn’t know where to begin here. But Kelley did:

She created L’Orangerie, “a classic take on a modern sunroom. With Palladian windows on three sides, the room reminded me of Versailles and evoked a grandness that I wanted to emphasize,” she writes. And befitting an orangerie, to define this large end room, she included mirrored walls and greenery throughout.

Marika Meyer‘s breakfast room, which looks out to the lovely patio, would put anyone in a good mindset for the impending day. Here’s what she started with:

And the result:

“Because I have a 2-year-old son, this is the opposite of my real life!” she says. “This is my reaction to having a 2-year-old son.” Indeed!

And while we’re talking about opposites, let’s consider what Nadia Subaran of Aidan Design did with this ghastly kitchen:

(Who EVER thought this design was cool?). At any rate, here’s the lovely, luminous transformation:

And now, for some more mood and soul, we move on to the family room by Dan Proctor of Kirk Designs in Baltimore. He got this space to start with, the old dining room:

And he turned it into THIS:

Wow. I don’t think I would ever leave this space! The cocktail table and desk are custom by Maryland artisan Mitchell Yanosky, and the amazing chandelier and wall sconces were also custom by another Maryland source, McLain Wiesand.

Now, let’s move upstairs, to the impressive master bedroom by Sharon Kleinman of Transitions.

(eww, who would EVER have wanted THIS bedroom??)

But I could definitely get on board with this:

Just outside this room is the balcony, plain-Jane:

And here’s what Shanon Munn and Amanda Welch of Ambi Design Studio did with it:

“It was kind of nice to take a space that had never been loved and do something with it,” Shanon says. I agree! Here’s what the balcony looks like to someone standing out on the hill behind the house:

Here’s what might be the most dramatic transformation in this house. Carolyn Wilson and Elizabeth Boland of Design in a Day took this RANDOM, nothing space:

and made it into the most amazing transition between two of the upstairs rooms:

Lorna Gross of Savant Interior Design also made an impressive turnaround with this ugly, paneled nightmare of a study:

(I mean, if it weren’t bad enough already, they had to put a big ole fluorescent light on the ceiling!)

Here’s how Lorna tamed it:

Ahh, so much better.

The third floor, reserved for the young son and teenage daughter, took vanilla spaces and gave the new, impressive life. These are lucky children!

Susan Nelson, using her own daughter as muse, took this space

and filled it with color and pattern. She even used her own daughter’s prom dress (not shown) as a prop.

“My goal was to get a different pattern on every surface,” she says. I think she accomplished it! I loved Susan’s approach here. Like most kids’ rooms, it’s a blend of pieces from the little-girl stage (a dresser painted with birdies) combined with more sophisticated elements (the profusion of gorgeous fabric on the bed and the addition of wallpaper from Farrow & Ball).

Across the hall, Nancy Twomey of Finnian’s Moon created a young boy’s room from a very similar “before” to what Susan had:

Here’s the result:

Several visitors were saying that the silver buck’s head above the bed resembles Harry Potter’s “petronus” — how right! I also love how Nancy created room to grow: the blue backing behind the bed can serve as a headboard for a Queen-size bed for when the young one gets older.

As with any old house, you’re often faced with ugly, OLD tile.

Pepto pink, anyone?

Dear God. This might have looked good on “I Dream of Jeannie,” but not really anywhere else. Here’s how Allie Man of Case Design interpreted it for a nursery bathroom:

Ohhh, so much better.

Upstairs, Christopher Patrick and Kaitlyn Andrews-Rice of Christopher Patrick Interiors embraced the old brown-and-white tile on the floor of their bath:

And created this dazzling new space, punctuated by vivid Farrow & Ball wallpaper:

They even chose a modern brown mosaic tile to run up the shower wall, literally taking the old floor into a new dimension:

“We’d like to show [visitors] what you could do with a floor like this,” Christopher says.” And instead of ripping out the old shower floor, he instead put a teak tray down. The tray wasn’t inexpensive, he notes, but much cheaper than ripping out and starting over. What a great tip for those of us with old showers!

Well, I couldn’t cover all the spaces here, but then why would you go and see the house in person if I did? Even the rooms shown here have detail and texture that just can’t be captured on camera. So please go see it — the drive through Spring Valley alone will make it worth your while!

It’s a truism that we DC natives never get out to see the the attractions in our city that draw millions of visitors here each year. I, for one, always love hosting our Chicago relatives becuase it’s a great excuse to get out and see my own city.

Come to find out, there are gems hidden away from the normal tourist stomping grounds that I a) never knew about or b) have passed by so many times and never given a second glace.

How many times have you driven up Foxhall Road and peeked behind these gates as you sped by?

And unless you’ve been to a wedding here, do you know what history lurks behind these walls as you zoom past them up 16th Street?

Thanks to architectural historian and interior designer M.E. “Bud” Yeck, we can all learn more about the beautiful architecture that surrounds us, and the history behind it.

Yeck, who with Ed Bouchard is the talent behind The Mill Company in Falls Church, has developed a loyal following with decorative arts and architectural tours in other cities, but this year he’s bringing it home.

He will be conducting a two-and-a-half day tour May 30 – June 1, which covers all transportation, entrance fees, three lunches and two dinners. The cost is $1,150, but what you’ll get is on the level of a college course.

“This is not an ordinary DC tour. You’ve done that,” Bud writes in a description of the weekend.

Beyond the Kreeger Museum and Meridian House, the tour will also tentatively include:

Heurich House: “A beer baron’s fireproof Victorian mansion.”

The Mexican Cultural Institute, designed by architect Nathan Wyeth:

Dumbarton Oaks, both the mansion:

and the gardens, designed by Beatrix Farrand:

Photograph by Roger Foley

Photograph by Karl Gercens

Bud has given us some teaser questions about the tour, which he will no doubt answer with aplomb: “Why do all of those palaces exist on Massachusetts Avenue and 16th Street? Who built them and why in this rural farm and swamp land  ’The District of Columbia?’ Why were they built, when and for whom?”

Like the Indonesian Embassy, which was originally built for the Irish-immigrant-turned-gold-mining baron Thomas Walsh, and inherited by his socialite daughter Evalyn, who once owned the Hope Diamond:

Or the Russian ambassador’s house, which was built on commission for George Pullman, who of course invented the Pullman Car.

“Who were the architects? Were there scandals involved” in these properties? Yeck asks. No doubt — this IS DC, after all.

Also being considered for this tour: The Korean Ambassador’s house:

And the Scottish Rite Temple, designed by John Russell Pope:

Wow, what’s behind THAT? Embarrassing that I grew up here and there’s so much I don’t know about this place.

Bud had conducted tours in New England, explaining the wonders behind Edith Wharton’s home, called The Mount, and Philip Johnson’s Glass House in Connecticut (Johnson also designed what is now the Kreeger Museum, the namesake of its owners, David and Carmen Kreeger. David was the founder of GEICO).

The man is a walking encyclopedia, and among the most well-mannered I’ve ever met. Not one for online communication, he instead writes notes on beautiful cards to express his sentiments — I’m the proud owner of three of them!

He’s also modest about the breadth of his knowledge. I love his line here, at the end of the description of his tour: “Every effort will be made to ensure value for expenditure.”

So for those of you who are hard-core architecture lovers and want to make an investment in your decorative knowledge of our fair city, call Bud — it will be a fabulous weekend.

Dates: May 30 – June 1

Cost: $1,150

Tour Guide: M.E. Yeck

The Mill Company

201 Douglas Avenue

Falls Church, VA

703.241.8981

www.themillcompany.com

Ahh, Spring. It’s an explosion of color and lushness. I just love walking through my neighborhood at this time of year, when yards look like this:

I have always loved this house, just a few blocks from my own. I always slow down to admire it as I walk by, and keep looking at it as I turn the corner to the side, still admiring… when I see THIS:

OK. I realize today is April Fool’s Day. But as this Christmas wreath has been hanging there since, well, Christmas, is this REALLY a joke? What are these people thinking?

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t mean to unfairly single out anyone, because there’s MORE — also within walking distance of my home:

You’ve really got to admire how the blossoming trees frame not only the wreath, but the GARLANDS, with PINE CONES. Pine cones, remember, come out in the fall. Remember? The FALL.

It’s Spring, people. My neighborhood is full of more appropriate regalia, such as Easter-egg or spring-flower wreaths, or flags with bunnies on them (ok, that’s another post for another day, so we’ll leave that one alone for now…)

Didn’t your mother tell you that red clashes with pink? Let’s back up a bit here, just to put a VERY fine point on it:

The mint-green siding and merlot door trim are bad enough without the red/pink thing going on.

Who ARE these people who don’t take down their Christmas decorations? I asked our postman, who was also doing his rounds yesterday when I was on this sojourn, and he just shrugged. This is a guy who’s seen it all, so nothing really fazes him anymore. He did point out that his dad also has his wreath still up. “But he left for Florida right after Christmas.” Well, there’s that I guess.

But I’m pretty sure these neighbors are at home. And I know this person must be at home, because his Christmas lights were still on in the sunny mid-afternoon yesterday:

Sigh. I think it’s even worse that they tried to center the ribbon inside that rotting frame — it just makes the whole effect more tragic — even back during the real Christmastime!

What’s disturbing to me is that, if I can find three houses within walking distance of mine that are still decked out on April Fool’s day, I’m sure all of you out there can ALSO find at least one example nearby. That adds up to a lot of tired, outdated decorations. And believe me, it doesn’t do anything to honor Santa.

Please — put dear old Santa out of his misery. He’s tired, and he wants to go home (or the attic, whichever comes first).

I have the great pleasure of commuting through the DC monuments each day on my way to work, so last week was completely BRILLIANT, as I got to cross the bridge over the Tidal Basin to see the thousands of cherry trees in full bloom, ringing the water like fat, pink cotton candy.

Sadly, the blooms are gone and the green leaves not quite here, and the trees are in their odd transitional period, that not-so-beautiful time akin to our azaleas when the flowers wilt and the leaves haven’t fully matured. Just goes to prove how fleeting the rites of spring are.

But thanks to Geremy Coy, a young woodworker here in DC, we can capture the cherry blossom’s essence year-round:

Geremy’s cherry-blossom panel illustrates the (fittingly) Japanese craft of kumiko, in which slim lengths of straight-grain timber are arranged into traditional patterns and pictures. Here, he joined more than 200 pieces of Alaskan yellow cedar into a wall panel “that evokes the complexity and sense of ordered wildness seen in a blossoming branch,” he writes in an e-mail.

Here, you can see more of the panel’s details:

“The yellow cedar strips were sawn out of a five-foot-long, six-inch-wide board with a hundred-year-old hand saw, and planed to thickness with traditional hand planes,” Geremy explains. “Each piece is oriented to ensure that evenness and uniformity prevail, increasing the power of the overall pattern.”

(Clearly, he doesn’t have kids yet, or this would have been a post about pick-up sticks.)

I asked Geremy what got him started down this incredibly intricate road. The St. John’s College graduate told me that he came by woodworking by way of oil painting at art school in Aix-en-Provence (poor boy).

“That rhythm of (painting) appealed to me, though I also felt myself wanting some kind of immediate, tangible feedback in the thing I was creating,” he writes. “Creating things out of wood, where I could at least judge myself based on how smooth a surface was or how well-fitting a joint turned out to be, started to call to me.”

He found his way back to the area, got an apprenticeship with master cabinetmaker William Schreitz in Annapolis, and now lives with his wife in the District.

Here’s some more of his work:

Having graduated from St. John’s in Annapolis, which focuses on great literature, it’s no surprise that Geremy is a really great writer. I just love how he describes the passion behind his work:

“It has always been important to me that I not simply be a factory-like producer of durable goods; so to avoid the fate of machines, I refused from the beginning to work with them,” he writes.

“Everything I do, I do entirely by hand, because it helps me understand both the material and myself in much greater depth.”

“There’s something deeply compelling about work done by hand — something that resonates with us as we experience the slight variations created by human hands.”

“It’s very humanizing to witness,” he continues. “Life and death is written into the work, and it’s the story that I’m after.”

Wait a minute — where did the winter go? If I squint, the cherry blossoms outside our window at night can be mistaken for snow, which was sadly lacking this “winter.”

On one hand, the blossoms make my heart sing, but the spring fever just doesn’t hit as hard as when we’ve had a prolonged freeze. Now I find myself longing for the white stuff. So in honor of our fleeting winter, here’s a little tribute, care of the talented ladies at Bethesda’s Waterlily Interiors.

Tracy Schlegel and Kelcey Huff recently completed a condo renovation in Deer Valley, in this idyllic snowy neighborhood:

All photos courtesy of Andrea Joseph Photography

Can’t you imagine yourself in a snuggly shearling overcoat as you approach the entrance to this lovely pied-à-terre?

The owners are also from Bethesda, and purchased the 1980s-era vacation property out of foreclosure, which the designers say left it “in complete disrepair.” Here’s the demo’d “before” picture:

Fast forward to the transformed space:

Wow. According to the Waterlilys team, their clients wanted a more modern interpretation of the ski getaway aethestic. Using Kravet fabrics and furnishings from AmericanEye at the Washington Design Center, Crate & Barrel, and West Elm, they transformed the space into a warm contemporary chalet in a palette of plum and gray.

The Kravet fabric on the accent pillows was the starting point for the living room's palette.

An indoor hot tub was relocated to a back deck to make room for this dining area, and the large windows were added to bring the majestic mountain view inside. Dining table and Lee Industries chairs from AmericanEye at the Washington Design Center.

The designers also attacked the kitchen with zeal (scroll up to the “before” picture to see just how far they brought this space into the 21st century).

The layout was redesigned to allow for entertaining at the bar and easy flow throughout the area, the designers say.

Smokey topaz glass tile on the backsplash serves as a counterpoint to the honed Nordic Black granite countertop. Better storage and upgrades such as a warming drawer and wine cooler are more highlights.

The entire condo is only 1,600 square feet, so Tracy and Kelcey has to be efficient in their space planning. They borrowed what was previously storage space to add this third bedroom with built-in bunk beds so the owners can accommodate more (young) visitors:

This bedroom makes me feel like I was deprived as a child.

Older guests can enjoy this lovely room:

I particularly like how the rustic wood-framed mirror echoes the planked wall behind the bed.

The owners themselves, meanwhile, get to enjoy this transformed master suite:

Can't you just imagine a long, hot, shower here after a day of skiing?

Tracy says the owners purchased and renovated this condo not only for themselves, but also for potential renters — hint, hint! For a dose of winter AND great design, one need not go further than Bethesda.

Waterlily Interiors

6302 Ridge Drive

Bethesda, MD 20816

301.674.7763

info@waterlilyinteriors.com

I was thrilled to get an invitation this year to the opening party of the annual Washington Winter Show, which kicks off Friday and runs through Sunday. What I really loved about this antique show, without even looking at all my photos, is that is wasn’t a mass of BROWN STUFF. You know, the 200-year-old brown mahogany pieces that seem to typify the concept of an antiques show. (NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT, BUT…)

We like some variety, too.

Like these incredible French bistro chairs — original paint and frames, with only the seats re-upholstered, fittingly with a fleur-de-lys pattern:

“We’re almost pathologically eclectic,” said Tim Brennan, who with Dave Mouilleseaux run Brennan & Mouilleseaux from Northfield, CT. Note the website address: antiqueseclectic.com.

Here’s what greets visitors to their booth:

And of course, I swooned over these Italian Mid-Century dining chairs, which Tim and I both agreed were quietly elegant and not the screaming, iconic, “look at me I’m Mid-Century!” kind of pieces.

I also fell in love with Antique American Wicker, whose booth takes you back in time so you think you’ve been invited to tea in the garden room at the Vanderbilt cottage in Newport:

I couldn’t adequately photograph the entire space, so I just shot the vignette above, but it’s worth a visit, for sure.  On the far wall of this same booth is a collection of framed vintage catalogue pictures of men’s fashion that I COULD NOT GET OVER. (yes, I had to use capital letters for that — because I was screaming it in my head!)

Antique American Wicker sells period pieces from between 1850 and 1930, and it somehow makes sense that it is based in Nashua, NH…

There are plenty of art/print booths in the show this year, but this one on the main floor (darned if I didn’t forget to write down the name!), really stopped me in my tracks:

Again, the painting really illustrates how this show has some incredible objects that are fun, whimsical, and NOT fusty.

And speaking of whimsical, these antique toys from Gemini Antiques of Oldwick, NJ are close to my heart, as we have some similar pieces in our own home:

While we’re on the children’s theme, I was also drawn to this “shape book” at Wm. Hutchison Books of Mendenhall, PA:

And I think the dealer thought I was being sacrilege when I noted that the pages of this book could be extracted and framed for a child’s bedroom, but…

Wouldn’t these pages just look SO FABULOUS in a frame??

Indeed, there is an entire book section at the show containing tomes on everything antique. Me? I just loved the signage:

Getting back to the brown stuff, I need to emphasize here that there are several stunning examples of it, like these pieces from Alfred Bullard Inc. from Philadelphia:

I ADORE the fabric treatment in the windows of this chest.

I was also impressed by the amount of Americana to be found throughout the show — my favorite has got to be this parade shield from Cunha – St. John Antiques of Charlestown, MA.

There’s a leather strap in the back of the shield that holds up to 7 flags, and it was meant to hang outside buildings during a parade. How cool is that??

More cool stuff: collections. Any good decorating expert will tell you to group and display your collections all together, so they have more visual impact. And there are plenty of examples at this show; I was most taken by these boxes at Rick Scott of San Francisco:

Of course, much of the fun in going to a preview party like this is seeing your friends. I was so excited to see that Bill Adair of Gold Leaf Studios has a booth here for the first time (I blogged about his enchanting Dupont Circle studio in 2010), with some of his greatest hits of historic frames on display.

Designer Barbara Hawthorn, Lauren Hillyard, and Bill Adair

Bill always says that the frame is almost more important than the art, the way he sees it. And the way he displays his frames leads me to agree.

Society photographer Kyle Samperton, who himself was named to the society list in the December issue of Washington Life Magazine, was (of course) working the party tonight. He shoots many of our events at the Washington Design Center too, so it was fun to put HIM in front of the camera for a change, along with two of my favorite designers, Kelley Proxmire and Frank Babb Randolph.

Kelley Proxmire, Frank Babb Randolph, and Kyle Samperton

The organizers of this year’s show designated “Celebrating the White House” as its theme, so as you enter the show, there is an incredible exhibit of White House artifacts that reach all the way back to George Washington. Here are two of my favorites:

A dish celebrating JFK Jr.'s birth, which I was delighted to see is the same day as my older son!

A toile raincoat with matching hat?! You GO, Mamie Eisenhower! (I need to let our Schumacher showroom know about this -- they produced the coat, which was designed by Elizabeth Draper in 1955.)

Just like the show itself, which has all sorts of unusual, quirky, and colorful items on display, the White House exhibit features offbeat pieces such as a hand-written dinner invitation by Thomas Jefferson to a guest; the only china plate ever made for the Kennedys (the prototype was never produced into a full service due to his assassination); a White House fence finial; and President Ulysses Grant’s boot spur.

The show goes through Sunday, and there are some great talks during the run. The former White House florist is speaking Friday morning about three decades of flowers in the White House; designers Frank Randolph, John Irelan and Andrew Law are giving a guided walks of their favorite items in the show; and the former White House pastry chef is speaking on Saturday about “All the Presidents’ Pastries.”

The BEST feature might be an opportunity for you to bring in your own antiques for appraisal on Saturday; nine dealers will be giving verbal appraisals from 9 to 11 a.m.

The show is at the Katzen Arts Center at American University — check the Web site for details.

Have a great weekend!

I always joke around that I can frequently lose my train of thought if someone dangles something shiny in front of me. Imagine my meltdown, then, when Anissa Swanzy of SKD Studios sent me this photo of a newly renovated kitchen in Huntingtown, MD:

Besides the dramatic lighting, extending the shiny glass-and-stone-tile backsplash all the way up the wall is a great way to glamorize this space.

This shiny little jewel box of a kitchen is all the more eye-popping once you see what it used to be:

This is the story of a couple who has lived in this house for 14 years — neatniks who kept the place spotless but couldn’t do anything to avoid it becoming dated. Anissa gave them a stunning redo that, unlike so many of us with mess-making children, could preserve a showhouse quality in real life.

“They recognized that it was time to update the space and were not sure what direction to go,” Anissa writes in an e-mail. “We helped them to redesign the space to not only fit their needs but really showcase their great style.”

That means this:

Became THIS:

SKD eliminated the old pantry closet and installed tall cabinetry to surround new stainless appliances. They also narrowed the island to add more counter space on the side wall. The bar is zebra wood, crowned by its own crystal chandelier.

And this:

Became THIS:

The designers added a partition wall to break up the long, narrow space and also to house a television on the other side. The new warm gray tones (goodbye teal rug and mauve walls!) don't hurt, either.

And THIS:

The countertops are white Quartz, and the new cabinets are a chocolate-stained semi-custom maple. The flooring is Turkish marble.

Most designers get a little cagey when asked about price, because, ADMIT IT, it’s the first thing we wonder when we see an incredible project like this one. I was pleasantly surprised when Anissa offered the information right up front: About $68,000 for materials and labor — not surprising for a 100-percent makeover. Great job, ladies, and thanks for sharing!