Northwest, DC - Residential Addition & Whole House Renovation

Brief Explanation of the Scope of Work

This challenging project was for a long time customer who is a successful artist in Northwest Washington, DC. The artist wanted to expand his existing house in many areas in order to meet his professional and personal needs, first was the need for an additional studio space off of the main floor. The owner and the assistants had outgrown their space in the basement.

The second need was for an expanded guest/office space on the upper floor, which meant adding a second dormer to match the existing one and extending the end of the house out over the planned studio space.

Another need of the client was to renovate the existing kitchen including an eat-in/breakfast room and a mudroom.

The last requirement was to open up the center of the house allowing much more light into the entire house. The expansion of the center stairway was designed to accommodate the new scale of the house. Installing eight Velux skylights with remote controlled blinds and venting possessed a challenging structural and logistic problem with the client living and working in the house during construction.

Before - View of Staircase

Unusual Constraints/Challenges & Creative Solutions

All of the new windows as well as the replacement of the existing windows were Pella Architect Series. Adding Velux skylights in the studio, breakfast room, and mudroom maximized the natural light flow and air circulation. Lining up the mullions of the studio casement and double-hung windows with the french doors was a difficult challenge. Many problems would have been resolved earlier if we had insisted on shop drawings from the window supplier.

We replaced existing aluminum siding with painted clapboard and painted the existing and new brick white. The goal was to unify the whole house with an updated contemporary feeling. The shingles are Slate-Line and helped the rooflines stand out.

Thoughtful landscaping and stone work around all four sides of the house helped to maximized privacy and give this client a well located intown house and office.

Overall Results

The project was a complete success at a price, which included design fees, of approximately $300,000.

Before - Existing kitchen