By Beth Herman
In literature it’s been said that the real measure of
mastery is when the individual becomes inseparable from the act, as when the
dancer becomes the dance, or the musician is indistinguishable from the sound
he produces.
For antiques dealer/restorer and interior designer
Marilyn Hannigan, former owner of Dupont Circle's Cherishables Antiques,
creating a four-level home addition for her and commercial real estate developer
husband, John, was to be much more than just another example of her work. Like the
dancer or musician, it would become synonymous with a life steeped in coveted Americana.
Purchasing their two-story 1,060 s.f. Edgemoor post war Colonial
Revival-style residence in 1971, at the time the house was emblematic of their close
Bethesda enclave. Now within a block of the community’s burgeoning, bustling
cafes, bookstores and upscale shopping, homes in the area are considered prime
real estate and are almost unrecognizable from their nascent forms, according
to architect
Michael Callison who helmed the multi-storied renovation. In fact
the Hannigans had more than a typical update in mind.
Undergoing three earlier incarnations that expanded the home's footprint to 3,066 s.f. and involved the
kitchen, living room, a bedroom and the home’s façade, an addition
had been built on a concrete slab consisting of only a first and second level (the old basement and attic were restricted to the original space). Under
Callison’s baton, the homeowners desired to extend their existing basement to match
the home’s addition-created footprint, turning the below-grade results into a
combination antiques gallery and entertainment space for their large dinner
parties. What’s more, a new master bedroom suite was desired on an upper level,
and above that the old attic atop the post war part of the home needed to expand
into a newly-created, essentially fourth level space, creating a dormer-crowned
home office with a bird’s eye view for John.
“There was no way to do any of this when you’ve got
something built on a concrete slab,” Callison said, also citing the former
addition’s inadequate under 8-foot ceilings, for which an additional foot was
mandated. “We ended up tearing it all down and starting over.”
Molding, mantles
and muscles
With the home’s Colonial Revival architecture and Marilyn
Hannigan’s penchant for all things Americana, traditional, classical design
details were imminent for the wood-sided, brick-based addition. In the new living and dining rooms, crown molding and substantial Adams casing—a 3½-inch
wide wood casing—for doors and windows make a bold, muscular statement. “While honoring the residence’s style, we were trying to bring up
the personality of the former house from the way it was originally built,”
Callison said.
In the living room, an early 19th Century hand
carved mantle with acanthus leaves, dentil molding, carved ovals and quarter
fans frames a limestone fireplace, with an equally elegant antique grey/green
mantle—it’s the original paint, according to Hannigan—featuring elaborate
moldings in the dining room.
A connoisseur of old calligraphy, Hannigan found a 19th
Century signed and dated eagle from Pennsylvania that frames the fireplace.
“Penmanship was so important in the 19th Century,”
she explained, adding it was taught out of hotel rooms, bank buildings, etc. As
it became more detailed, contests were held for bird drawing with
awards. “It’s called ‘flourish drawing’ so the pen never stops,” she said.
Another flourish drawing in the hall features a bevy of birds: swans; eagles; a
love bird; a nest, signed and dated 1885.
Inspired by illustrations of the natural environment with
another home on the Eastern Shore, the homeowners display a grouping of duck
prints by Alexander Pope (the artist: 1849-1924, not the essayist and poet: 1688-1744) at the base of the addition’s staircase, as well as
various Audubon prints in the living room. Delicate early 20
th
Century feather-like sconces appear in the dining room, which Hannigan said she’d
never seen before despite decades in the antiques arena.
A serving table from history’s Sheridan period, a
mahogany tea table, 19th Century armchairs painted with gold leaf, a
19th Century tall case clock and a small vanity from the same era
stenciled with fruit complement the room with its floor-to-ceiling double-hung arched
windows.
Stairs, sprigs and
sunlight
Where flooring is concerned, 3-inch white oak boards in
the living and dining spaces, as well as in the below-grade gallery, are reflected
in a prominent stair banister, which Hannigan said was initially slated for a
cherry stain. “We saw the flooring and just had to do (the banister) the same way,” she said, referencing warmth and color.
In the dining room, the homeowner’s collection of Sprig
China redolent of Jefferson's at Monticello features green sprigs with blue and a
smidge of red in the center of its flowers. Enamored of the pattern, Hannigan
recreated the sprig element in a band that encircles the room on the white oak
flooring. A mahogany Sheridan-to-Empire period banquet table with twisted legs
circa 1830 creates the right foundation for the china.
According to Callison, while an elevator was installed
that traverses all four levels, the robust stair was designed to descend from
the main living space up to the master suite and down to the gallery level, bathed
in considerable light from a bank of windows. To maintain the profusion of
sunlight in the subterranean environment, a large 12-by-16-foot well redolent
of a patio courts light inside. Because its walls are high, Hannigan
created a custom covering and uses the illuminated well
space as an additional room.
Dreams, drawer
pulls and dormers
In the 18-by-18-foot third level master bedroom, a
painted wicker headboard, club chair, country sofa table, Sheridan period birds
eye maple chest and shutters create a comfortable oasis. His and hers
master baths include elements such as limestone flooring, limestone wainscoting and glass shower stalls, and in her bath a vaulted ceiling crowns a generous oval-top mirror created by architect
Callison, who is also a furniture designer.
Though not officially part of the addition, walls for what
was formerly a utilitarian kitchen were bumped out two feet, and Montgomery
Kitchen and Bath was called in to partner in Callison’s warm country kitchen-style transformation.
Punctuated by soft, recessed lighting, pendant lights, strong molding and fine design details
such as drawer pulls in the form of clock faces, a decorative laser-carved tile
element behind the stove was created by Bethesda’s Bartley Tile Concepts.
Mentored and employed for 23 years by visionary James Rouse who’d created Columbia, Maryland, later on under the
auspices of Federal Realty Investment Trust John Hannigan helped build California’s
toney Santana Row and also Bethesda Row. His new home office sits atop the
addition in what is considered the fourth — or extended attic — level. Its three classical but buoyant
dormers afford him a handy view from the top, both literally and figuratively.
“They almost doubled the size of the existing home to 5,382 s.f. with the new addition,” said Callison, who’d previously undertaken a 20-year transformation
of his own
Chevy Chase residence. “They ended up with a brand new house.”
Photo credit: Rey Lopez
