OPaL Principal Sean Ruppert said he hopes to begin work on the lot this summer. If all goes well, Naylor Court Stables at 10th and O could be completed by the end of this year.
The Board of Zoning Adjustments – the last stop before permitting – approved the zoning variances March 6. The plan to build three 2,600 s.f. townhouses previously gained approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board and received support from community associations.
Ruppert said the new homes are designed to blend with the historic carriage homes in the community while also offering a modern “west coast” feel. He said Seattle-based architect Greg Sparhawk of GPS Designs finds a way to bring natural light and design features that bring the outdoors inside.
“He can make things historic that blend with DC, but the flow and floor plan really does feel West Coast,” Ruppert said.
Original designs focused on a modern feel. But in working with the Historic Preservation Office, Ruppert said the designs evolved to blend with the historic buildings from the street while using a lot of glass in the back and on the third level.
The 2.5-story homes include a full basement and rooftop terraces. “Carriage houses” in back will serve as garages with a loft for storage. Ruppert said he has not yet set a price for the homes.
When completed, the three townhomes will be part of the unique neighborhood that focuses on alley life and still has a strong historic presence from the days of horse-drawn carriages.
Ruppert said it was important to him to foster that equestrian lifestyle in the project.
“It really is the most exciting thing I think I’ve done in my solo career since 2000,” he said. “I grew up on a horse farm, so to do something in D.C. that has an equestrian feel ... is really, really cool.”
1 comments:
The "equestrian lifestyle" comment is a bit much (Mr. Ruppert, if you weren't already aware, you're part of the 1% unless your parents were the stablehands!) but the designs look very interesting. The one sad thing is that DC has so few appealing, nontraditional developments like this that supply & demand will almost certainly make these alley rowhouses the province of the affluent: if not the 1%, than at least the 5%.
Still, better than nothing and certainly better than alley dwellings as slums, which of course was the historic condition. And the buyers will represent the adventuruous side of the affluent, their duller cousins esconced in Georgetown or McLean.
This project will show that there's a market for more developments of this general nature. DC sorely lacks pedestrian and partly-pedestrian urban precincts. We're ready for that more granular level of urbanism!
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