Landis LCC

"We live in a 19th century row house in the DuPont Circle Historic District. The homes on our block were designed by a well-known local architect and retain many of their period details.

Our kitchen hadn't been renovated in over twenty years and was in need of an update. The original heart of pine floor was badly worn and water-damaged in some areas. The kitchen was poorly lit, with a single-bulb pendant fixture and a 3-flood track light. The kitchen had a walk-in pantry with good cabinet space, but we have young children and lead paint issues were a concern with the pantry cabinets. The kitchen cabinets and countertops were in poor condition and needed to be replaced.

The refrigerator, washer and dryer were not well-integrated into the space and blocked sight lines. There was no exhaust fan for the stove. The room was not insulated, and, with three exterior walls, was quite cold in the winter. Also, we had no bath on the first floor.

We wanted a high quality renovation that would bring our kitchen up-to-date, but also be consistent with the character of our house. We also wanted to add a half bath on the first floor. We met with several design/build firms before choosing Landis.

The first contractor we selected turned us down after considering the job because of the age of our home and the scope of the work involved. He suggested that we look for a contractor with expertise working on older homes, in established neighborhoods. We continued our search until we found Landis. We looked at Landis's portfolio on their website and Chris came to our home and met with us. We liked Landis because -- as is apparent from their portfolio -- the people at Landis appreciate older homes, and have experience in doing tasteful, quality renovations of them.

"We were very pleased with Landis both from the design and build standpoints. The design we arrived at is simple, elegant, and functional. We replaced our original heart of pine floor with new heart of pine flooring. We moved the stove underneath the original kitchen chimney, and vented the exhaust fan out the chimney. The chimney is concealed in a cabinet above the stove.

The exhaust fan is a nice addition because my wife is Asian and she enjoys stir frying.
We installed a counter-depth refrigerator and Bosch front-loading under counter washer and dryer. The appliances are much better integrated into the space than before.

We converted the pantry into a half bath, and installed tall floor cabinets behind the kitchen door to replace our old pantry cabinets.

At Landis's suggestion, we added a new window in our east wall to bring in more natural light. We also converted our half-light door to a full-light door, and added a transom above the door to bring in even more light.

With regard to the "build" part of the project, Landis's crew came to work regularly and on time. There was never any "waiting around" for the contractor to show up. Everyone was professional, courteous, and worked hard. The crew gutted our kitchen to the brick, installed new wiring, plumbing, and insulation, and worked from there. As I mentioned to Chris at the time, the "dustbowl" during the demolition phase was mercifully short and well-contained.

In building out our new kitchen and bath, the quality of the workmanship and craftsmanship was very high. For example, where stock replacements were not available, Landis had our original moldings and trim reproduced to match the originals. In installing our new kitchen window and the transom over our back door, Landis's crew matched the original exterior brickwork arches over the door and window frames in our home."

Overall Results

"The time we devoted to the design process was well spent. Our designer listened to our ideas, comments and suggestions, and incorporated them into the design -- or pointed out to us where we were going wrong. He also offered creative suggestions -- such as the new window and transom -- which have made our kitchen a more pleasant space where people enjoy spending time in addition to simply preparing food. Working with him was a pleasure.

The crew's workmanship and attention to detail in installing our new cabinetry, appliances, and fixtures were excellent. Our new kitchen is a pleasure and we enjoy it every day. "