Kitchen Refined on room

Zoning requirements were the least of the dilemmas since the owners wanted their new home sited essentially in the same spot as the original so as to preserve the landscaping, trees and pool, as well as retaining walls and an existing guest cottage. Unlike many homeowners embarking on new construction, these clients wanted “to build only what they needed,” reports Sullenberger. “They didn’t want a lot of extra square footage.” The requisite two-story foyer and formal living room were not on the wish list and the couple with two sons asked for only four bedrooms. The result is a custom home with 5,500 square feet on the first and second floors, plus a three-car garage on the basement level. The clients were attracted to images of homes in Brittany, so references to French Country-style emerged on the exterior: stone and stucco with wood trim, wrought iron details and random-width shingles to counter the formality. The pool in the front yard fostered an innovative floor plan. A hallway extends across the front of the house, joined to a mud room/changing room that combines sophistication with utility to accommodate storage needs and guests coming in, dripping from a swim. An office is located to the left of the front door with a hallway and powder room separating it from the formal dining room. The family room, casual dining area and kitchen are integrated into one living space. French doors in the family room open out to a pergola at the far end of the house, which provides another access point to the front yard. From the dining area, more French doors lead to a screened porch. McHale Landscape Design was tapped to ensure that the existing landscape would blend with the new home. McHale’s plan called for adding features such as the front steps and refacing the brick retaining walls with stone to better complement the architecture. The family typically enters the home through the garage into a gracious lower-level hallway. An elevator connects all three levels. This active family with two large dogs is committed to living an orderly life, so an abundance of storage was essential. In addition, the couple has diametrically opposed style preferences; the husband leans toward the clean lines of modern furnishings while the wife prefers a more traditional approach. Luckily, those style differences were not an issue in the master bedroom suite, where the couple agreed on a more contemporary look and hired Vincent Sagart of DC-based Poliform | Sagart Studio to create a sleek yet welcoming bedroom with dark wenge paneling and built-ins against coffee-colored walls. “They wanted a contemporary solution for a bedroom interior with traditional architecture,” says Sagart, who also designed a clean-lined dressing room with paneled built-ins to conceal clutter. Spacious his and hers baths were added by Sullenberger. Both the hallway and the family room boast dark, traditional moldings and cabinetry while the furnishings tend toward contemporary. In a reversal, the white kitchen leans toward the sleeker trends of today, but a farm sink, chandelier and hefty cabinet legs beneath the island buffer its modern attitude. Throughout the house, this counterplay of traditional and contemporary, rustic and refined, lends a subtle contrast to a neutral palette.