Reviving Springdale

by Beth Herman


Prominent in Montgomery County agricultural circles, newlyweds Edward and Deborah Lea moved into a 2 1/2-story stucco house on 27 acres circa 1837-38. A gift from Edward's father, Delaware transplant Thomas Lea, Sr., the property in still-bucolic Brinklow, Maryland became home to a young couple who, along with their progeny, would continue to impact the community.

Nee Springdale Farm, the Leas became stalwart stewards of an agricultural site that also supported a tenant house, spring house, smoke house and a stone mason-constructed bank barn. Credited with acquiring one of the first threshing machines in Montgomery County, Edward became a progressive member of the local horticultural society, one of the founders of the Sandy Spring Farmers' Club and incorporators of the Savings Institution of Sandy Spring. According to historical records, Edward Lea "...reached out for better ways of doing things in home and farm."

At the end of a multi-year search for a singular 18th or 19th Century property, homeowners Johanna and Larry Weekley acquired Springdale Farm which had succumbed to years of complacency by well-meaning but aging subsequent homeowners. But just as it had reflected the Leas' ambitions and agrestic achievements (Deborah made local history when she became the first in her area to successfully can applesauce after 1850), Springdale would also become a manifestation of the Weekleys' passion as curators of regional history and coveted antiques. Perhaps paramount to that, it would become a pristine canvas for what unarguably was Larry Weekley's transcendent botanical vision.

Brass tacks

"To begin with, we needed to remove a bad addition in the back of the house," said JoAnn Zwally of Ashton Design Group, adding the program was to replace it with an historically correct one. The addition would contain a new kitchen, family room, master bedroom and bath. The rear facade would include a half moon-shaped terrace with wide steps that would eventually overlook one of the homeowners' many gardens. A neo-Colonial two-story porch with columns and a metal roof, added in the 1930s and which spanned the entire width of the facade, would need to be replaced with a Greek Revival porch with simple square columns and a wood roof - emblematic of the period.

According to Zwally, removal of the 1930s porch revealed evidence of footings and marks on the front facade indicating the exact placement of the structure's original porch. By the same token, it also required clean-up of dirt mounds used as fill in raising it up to the height of the front door, which had covered basement windows and some of the stone foundation, also resulting in considerable termite damage.

Restoring the 856 s.f. two-story tenant's house occupied in generations past  by various farm hands who were given shelter, certain foodstuffs and a garden (and which was later leased out by the Weekleys), refurbishing its kitchen, flooring, single bathroom and walls was on the agenda. The homeowners were then able to move in to be closer to the larger renovation of Springdale's primary residence.

Room with an historical view

In historical design, Zwally noted symmetry is a key component. Accordingly, the addition's kitchen reflected this in its fenestration. Double-paned banks of windows, which extend down to the sink and stove, match banks on the other side - divided by a French door. A kitchen farm table was forged by local craftsman Dr. Joe Reitman, who also made an armoire for the master bedroom. The Weekley's son Jon, log furniture maker and owner of Denver-based Medicine Wolf Co., created the kitchen's rustic corner table and a pair of aspen and spruce rocking chairs on the master bedroom balcony. (In an even later renovation, a butler's pantry was fashioned from a space off the kitchen, replete with undercounter Sub-Zero refrigerator, and items such as granite countertops were added.)

In the new family room, a fireplace mantle was reused from the demolished 1930s addition, and in fact the house now boasted six working fireplaces including a new one in the master bedroom. While the existing ones, whose chimneys were relined during the renovation, had black slate facades, the fireplace in the new master was faced with delicate Delft-style tiling.

A foyer in the existing house was refreshed to follow the dominant navy and terracotta colors in a Hamadan tribal rug in the Weekleys' possession. Expressed in Greeff wallpaper in a spectacular Phoenix pattern germane to the Colonial period, the motif follows a wooden staircase all the way up to the residence's third level. Fabric that accompanied the Greeff paper was used for window treatments in the living and dining rooms, and navy accents can also be found in the new family room and kitchen and in bedrooms. In the living room, a Weekley family 18th Century Chippendale clawfoot wing chair was covered in a navy and terracotta flame stitch.

Arbiters of Colonial good taste, many of the home's antiques had a familial provenance through Johanna Weekley's ancestors, the Hyde family. Journeying from 17th Century England to Connecticut and ultimately settling in 18th Century Bath, Maine, the Hydes - founders of iconic (and still thriving) Bath Iron Works - passed down a Connecticut cherry Queen Anne highboy, the aforementioned wing chair, 18th Century Delft chargers, brass andirons and more. Additional antiques acquired for Springdale included a Hepplewhite mahogany bow front chest with original brass and a New Hampshire-forged grandfather clock.

Upon construction the house had not been electrified though was naturally updated over the decades. Still there was no overhead lighting in the existing part of the house and care was taken during the renovation to honor that fact, except for a foyer fixture and dining room chandelier. In the addition, recessed lighting was used.

Quarter sawn oak flooring found in the existing part of the house, milled from local trees, was repaired and preserved. Zwally also noted that when refurbishing the home's third floor beams, plaster was removed to reveal actual trees with bark and pegs, presumably taken from the property at that time to build the structure. The home's existing exterior is stucco over brick; the addition is stucco over frame.

Gardens in stone

Outdoors, and when Larry Weekley, who has since passed away, retired, he exorcised his inner landscape architect and put it to work suffusing Springdale's acreage with an explosion of flora rivaling the massive scale gardens of European palaces and grounds. Zwally said in many ways the focus of this property is its magnificent gardens.

"The original property had many specimen trees," she explained, noting the Leas and successive homeowners, the Mannings, were interested in cultivating such. "Larry bloomed each spring. He built walls. He built wattles. He built ponds." As a result of a serious drought one year, he constructed an underground water system to ferry water to his gardens in the future. The old stone bank barn erected on the property when the Leas moved in was destroyed by fire in the 1940s, its ruins resurrected and repointed by Weekley into a walled-in, deer-proof garden defined by irises, peonies, roses, foxgloves, hybrid daylilies, baptisia, mums and more.

Currently on the market for $1,399,000., Springdale Farm's "bonus room" comes in the guise of its original spring house. Used by the Leas and Mannings to cool milk and butter, Zwally said it is delightful inside even on the hottest summer day, and the Weekleys used it to cool beer for their generous summer parties.

"At Christmas they always made the best eggnog served in little Limoges cups," the designer recalled of her years in the homeowners' social circle following Springdale's renovation. "You'd sit by a roaring fire. It was the highlight of my season."

Design for an Abled Life

by Beth Herman


Contracting polio as a child, Idaclaire Kerwin learned to make the most of every moment.

Commissioning interior designer JoAnn Zwally, ASID, of Ashton Design Group, who'd worked with Kerwin and husband Tom on previous residences, and Jonas Carnemark of Carnemark Design + Build (also a Kerwin design veteran), along with Carnemark Principal Michael Stehlick, the couple sought a residence that facilitated life with physical limitations but in which the accruing design was neither stark, ordinary nor clinical, and in fact was driven and enhanced by the challenge.

With a drive and determination reflected in her favorite color, a potent cinnabar, the almost life-long force in the League of Women Voters (now treasurer for the Arlington, Virginia chapter) was guided by Zwally to infuse a new apartment at Arlington's senior residential community, The Jefferson, with a strong color palette featuring cinnabar. The spicy hue both affirmed Idaclaire's bold spirit and served as a unifying element. And because of her disability, issues of flow and "purpose" were tantamount to aesthetics.

"It was actually two apartments that had been made into one some years ago," Zwally said of the 2,036 s.f. space, "but it was really appalling the way it was - so much waste that needed reconfiguration." The idea was for the homeowner to able to traverse the space unimpeded, accordingly doorways were widened, site lines created and design logic was employed, so to speak, where she could move to and through a reimagined foyer, master bath, hallway, kitchen, master bedroom, home office and more.

Life design
Speaking to principles of handicap accessible design, Carnemark said while his goal was to create a user-friendly space, other components factored in as well.

"For me, as a designer, there is universal design, but it's nice to design for the the life of the home and for whomever is going to use it: grandparents and grandkids. We look at design as purposeful. And one objective was to open up the space and make it feel bigger," he said.

As the homeowners wanted something minimal without sacrificing coveted storage space, Carnemark included elements such as a pop-up counter and wall-mounted fold down cutting board next to the refrigerator where they could chop vegetables - geared for wheelchair use. Instead of cabinets, drawers contained dishes.


Designed as height-specific to accommodate Idaclaire, counters were lowered - the sink side is 33 inches and the cooktop area is 30 inches as opposed to a normal 36, and Siematic cabinetry, which adapts well to unconventional spaces, was employed.The refrigerator has a bottom freezer for easy access, and the cooktop has a halogen top which makes it easy to clean and maintain. A speed oven - combination oven and microwave - sits below it at a comfortable height for the homeowner.

"In addition to accessibility issues in the kitchen, we wanted to create a real contemporary look with a pop of color in the back," Carnemark said. To that end, Zwally selected a custom-painted piece of glass in cinnabar that was used as a substantial backsplash behind the cooktop, the color teased throughout the entire residence in furnishings, textiles, wall color, art and more.

In the curatorial-type dining room, a series of gritty, industrial photographs by Historical American Engineering Record photographer John T. "Jet" Lowe flank a Dakota Jackson dining table. Vintage fire-retardant chairs from the S.S. United States, a luxury passenger liner built at Newport News, Virginia in 1952, and described as the first sea-going vessel built in compliance with US Navy fireproofing guidelines."We had to cut down the legs of the table for it all to work, but it looks great," Zwally said.

A locomotive runs through it
A former senior railroad executive with the Norfolk Southern Railway, husband Tom desired a study/library that was borne of a bedroom on the other side of the dining room, replete with cherished items such as a piece of stained glass art replicating a train and an extensive collection of books. The study can double as a guestroom in the two-bedroom apartment. For his wife, a home office design, though smaller, with height-adjusted built-in console with wraparound counter that runs from patio to desk provides ample workspace for League of Women Voters business.

In the quest for enlarged, open space, Carnemark and Zwally eliminated an existing bath. While the clients were reluctant at first for resale purposes, they decided to focus more on their own comfort and joy, Carnemark recalled, adding he counsels clients to "do the things that really make them happy" for the best value in the long run. Accordingly the bathroom was removed and walls on both sides opened, creating a glass-shelved display area for the homeowners' many collections including pottery from Native American artists Joy Cain, Bob Lansing and Robert Silas. Storage spaces were conceived at this juncture to hold games and other items for visiting grandchildren.

In the existing foyer, walls were "offset and funky," according to Carnemark, who ended up aligning them to clearly define the space and help expand the kitchen.

"We weren't able to get rid of an entire wall, as we had to move some piping and in these buildings certain risers go from floor to ceiling that you cannot move, but we expanded as much as we could," he said, adding that a foyer niche with focal point for a vase was created when an adjacent pantry with sliding door was eliminated.

Creative controls
In reconfiguring the master bath, which went from 46 to 97 s.f. and is often a major issue for a disabled homeowner, thresholds were eliminated. To get the shower drain to work properly, the surrounding porcelain and glass mosaic tile floor was built up slowly, according to Carnemark. "There's a little bit of a ramp that rises up a level so we could back it down to the drain." A deep shower bench was calculated for a specific height, where the homeowner can sit and control the main and hand showers separately. Controls are deftly embedded in a knee wall next to the drawer base. The toilet was situated on a pedestal at a desirable height for the homeowner, who is not without some mobility. And when the homeowner exits the master bath toward the cinnabar-hued bedroom, a closet was relocated to the other side creating a long, open hallway for ease of movement.

Where lighting was concerned, Carnemark said one of the focuses was to provide a high level of contrast in task areas. Noting the process becomes a challenge in buildings like the Kerwins' because of concrete ceilings and floors, the designer said all too often the ceiling must be built down to hide recessed lighting or ductwork for exhaust fans. In the homeowner's dining room, in lieu of customary wire mold, the lighting track was extended farther along so that it met the wall. "This cleaned up the ceiling lines for flow," Carnemark said.

Citing his methodology for projects like the Kerwins', Carnemark noted he prefers to do things so that everything has a purpose. "If you drive the design that way, you can make it more beautiful on top, always considering how the flow (and function) works first and then filling in color, texture and light."

Said Zwally,"Jonas and I did everything together. In the beginning we came up with a lot of the same ideas, and others complemented each other. It was a real partnership."

Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Hodgdon and courtesy of CARNEMARK.