Observatory Circle, DC - Kitchen Addition

Brief Explanation of the Scope of Work

This was our third renovation for these owners in this house. We bumped up the third story of their Dutch Colonial to add two bedrooms, a playroom and a bathroom. A wrap around front porch was added at the front, a side porch with mud room was added off the pantry and the back of the house was extended to add a large eat in kitchen with a wet bar.

We demoed an old powder room and moved it approximately 10’ forward. We also rebuilt two sets of stairs in front of the house, added front and side walks and built a patio at the rear, all with flagstone. The total project cost approximately $675,000.

Unusual Constraints/Challenges & Creative Solutions

First Floor

In order to create the large eat in kitchen at the rear of the house, the engineer required a huge flitch beam to be installed across the middle of it to support the existing master bath and sitting room.

The installation of a hydronic heating system on its own zone keeps the kitchen area warm and saves energy, but was very challenging to install.

An existing side porch with a concrete slab and stone foundation was carefully augmented with a new wood front porch to create a finished L shaped porch. Careful attention was taken to match the stone and the trim details.

This was our first client that wanted a substantial amount of custom wood countertops in the kitchen. They selected walnut and we learned a lot about the pros and cons of wood counters versus stone, solid surface and stainless steel.

Third Floor

The homeowners’ goal was to add two bedrooms and a bathroom for their growing family. The existing layout of their home dictated that the only solution was a third floor pop-up. To minimize risk and improve the energy efficiency of this new third floor..., to read more, click on "SEE MORE OF THIS PROJECT" below).

	Before and After - Besides adding square footage to the back of the house to accomodate a new kitchen, a third floor addition, a wrap-around porch, and flagstone patio were included in the overall scope of work
	Before and After - Front Porch

Overall Results

The renovated house has excellent spaces for all seasons and occasions for this growing family: a welcoming eat in kitchen to gather and to entertain, two new bedrooms, a bathroom and a playroom for the kids, a neighborly front porch and a durable rear patio. The homeowners are very happy with all the new well engineered, designed and built parts of their home.