Beauty and the Barn

Q and A with John Blackburn
by Beth Herman

Celebrated equestrian architect John Blackburn of Blackburn Architects, PC, also known for his deft restorations and renovations of historical properties, was charged with resurrecting a post Civil War-era bank barn, where the lower portion of the structure is built into a hillside, and where the foundation actually predated the war. Desiring a barn conversion where the 2,590 s.f. structure would be used for entertaining, much of the site design was driven by the client's wife, whose environmental concerns and adopted green practices resulted in an effort to preserve as much of the severely deteriorating historic structure as possible. The project received an AIA Merit Award in Historic Resources and Southern Living magazine's Home Award in Historic Restoration. DCMud spoke with Blackburn about the project.

DCMud: Tell is about the genesis of this historic structure and its metamorphosis.

Blackburn: It's my understanding that the bank barn foundation dates back to before the Civil War. It's on the banks of the Potomac in Loudoun County, Virginia, probably less than a mile from the Battle of Ball's Bluff (aka the Battle of Leesburg, October 21, 1861). I would imagine the barn was burned down at one point and rebuilt in the 1870s. The saw marks on the timber tell us the barn itself is post Civil War.

The open concept design includes an ample kitchen and a sleeping loft, so somebody can stay there overnight. An old corn crib on the south side of the bank barn has been converted to a sundeck on top, with view of the extensive horse farm to the west, and underneath it's a place for workers and caterers to pull in and conveniently unload trays and equipment out of view of any guests.

DCMud: What was the program for the bank barn?

Blackburn: In addition to extended family gatherings, it was to be used for meetings, receptions, office retreats, etc. The basement stores some of the family's classic cars, go-carts and other recreational equipment.

DCMud: What strategy did you use in adapting an historic structure like this for modern purposes?

Blackburn: My goal in doing any project like this is that when you walk away from it, you close it up and it appears like it originally was: a barn. Whenever I renovate an original structure I like to respect its original use and perpetuate that to any degree possible, though here the northeast facade was replaced with floor-to-ceiling glass that provides panoramic vistas of the property and Potomac.

DCMud: What about the exterior?

Blackburn: It's been completely reclad, as it had to be, in SIPs (structurally insulated panels) and new board-and-batten skin. How you clad and insulate these old buildings is important. We did this barn in original plywood--the one that goes against the original siding we paint black, so when you see through the cracks in the original barn board you don't see anything: It's all black. To support that, we bolted into a 12x12 timber that ran around the perimeter a stainless steel shelf angle which carries the weight of the panel. The panel sits on that and is screwed into the timber frame of the barn, and you add normal building paper and barn boards on the outside of that panel just like what was found the original barn. So on the inside you see the original boards and on the outside are new boards, but you can't tell the difference.

DCMud: The interior seems to maintain the barn's rusticity while courting air and light.

Blackburn: Interior materials and finishes are exactly from the original except where pieces were added to strengthen the structure or replace rotted board. Flooring is oak, as is the timber. We rebuilt the existing double sliding doors. After they are opened, behind them you have a double French glazed glass door  entrance which lets in a lot of natural light and ventilation, but when you walk away, you close the barn doors so as not to see them, and the look of the original barn is maintained.

DCMud: During many barn conversions, we see items like patios and decks.

Blackburn: Many times when people want to renovate something like this they'll put a deck on it and that's a sure sign that it's no longer a barn but a residence. I didn't want to do that. Subsequently on the east side, where additional double barn doors were falling off, I did the same as on the front side: We rebuilt the barn doors and put French glazed glass doors behind it. When you open these 6-foot wide doors, instead of a deck sticking outside of the barn that doesn't fit, your interior space now becomes your deck. A railing behind the barn doors but in front of the French doors prevents any egress. As mentioned earlier the corn crib on the south side was turned into a deck, but it is out of view.

DCMud: There were other barns on the property, so did you preserve them too?

Blackburn: We used barn siding on the interior of the bank barn, for example the sliding door in the kitchen and paneling in the bathroom. We had an existing barn on the north end that was falling apart, and we used the wood for this one. I've also learned from designing over 160 horse barns (some from historic beginnings) that these structures tend to be organic: Over the years, farmers would add a window here, a lean-to there, etc., so that it grows as you'd find with an industrial building. We did punch in a couple of windows so that light was channeled into a bathroom or kitchen.

DCMud: How would you summarize the work you did on this barn?

Blackburn: It responds to its historic context, and yet it responds to the site. Two of the major elements that respond to the site are the north window, which completely exposes it to the view, and the corn crib sun deck to the south which faces out over the farm but is completely hidden. These elements were melded into the context in a very successful way.

DCMud: Speaking of architecture that works, what would you count among the District's most influential designs for you?

Blackburn: There are two, though different as night and day, that I think are the best buildings in D.C. For an interior space I really like the Rotunda of the Library of Congress--the big, open reading room--which is the grandest, most beautiful, functional space. It's ornate, historic and fascinating. From the exterior, my choice has to be the Finnish Embassy. Because of its design and embellishment like the vines growing over it, it's my favorite building in D.C.

photos courtesy of Kenneth Wyner

HPRB Approves Two New Buidings for Blagden Alley

Slowly but surely, Shaw’s Blagden Alley neighborhood is growing. Two new developments proposed by Altus Realty Partners will fill in a couple of empty lots in the historic district and are now one step closer to reality—though a completion date is anyone’s guess.

Building at 1212 9th Street

On Thursday, DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board looked over proposed designs for the buildings by PGN Architects. One, at 1212 9th Street, will be four stories tall and include a small ground floor retail space; the other will sit at 917 M Street, but its longest side will run along the alley. HPRB approved both projects, leaving smaller details to be worked out with the Historic Planning Office staff.

At this point, both developments are in the very early stages, so details like whether the buildings will include condos or apartments, or how many units each will hold, are still up in the air. As for an estimated timeline for next steps, “it’s pure conjecture,” said Charlie Kehler, a principal with Altus. This stage is very much about design.

1212 9th Street, from the south

The four-story building on 9th Street is relatively straightforward. Filling in a vacant lot between Squares Fashions and a string of row houses, the building’s 9th Street façade will be clad in buff brick, with a stepped back central bay and a top floor of glass and aluminum. The ground floor would include shop windows topped by a steel canopy; above would be two floors of residences, plus a penthouse set back by about four feet. Just south of the building runs an alley, which residents would use to access parking.

The HPRB had a few comments about the height of the penthouse and whether the alley would be wide enough to regularly accommodate cars, but the board unanimously approved the design.

Building at 917 M Street

The second building is a bit more complicated. In an effort to complement the decorative Second Empire row houses that lie along M Street just west of 9th Street and just east of the proposed building, the architects gave the development’s M Street façade three vertical sections alternately made of block, glass and brick. Turning the corner, the long side along Blagden Alley uses the same materials—and includes a three-story glass gallery—though with more of a horizontal orientation.

The design incorporates an existing historic one-story garage on the alley. The developers are planning on excavating to create underground parking, and the new building would rest on top of part of the structure.

917 M Street building seen from west

HPRB members expressed some concern that, while the side of the building appears to be sufficiently industrial to fit with the alley’s overall aesthetic, the front is a bit too stark to complement the row houses. “It’s a blank cypher—I’m not sure what you’re trying to capture,” said HPRB member Nancy Metzger. Still, the group approved the design, leaving the developers to work with HPO to iron out any final issues.

Kehler was pleased with the decisions and said Altus is excited about the area. “We love the neighborhood’s identity,” he said. “We think it’s where DC will be focused in the future.”

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

Your Next Place

Rare in Georgetown (or any other neighborhood in the District), this house features a two-level floor plan, with half the first floor elevated.  The effect is of a larger, offset living space, and one in which you're guaranteed to trip on the steps in the middle of the house at least once a month, probably while carrying beverages and/or attempting a seduction.  The main living area is flooded with light, as is the dining room, thanks to some extremely oversized windows, large even by oversized window standards.

The huge master bedroom features long, wide windows and tree-filled views, and a fantastic mirrored closet.  The master bath has a really cool curtain-less shower, with a small protruding wall instead of a door or curtain.  It felt very European to me, plus you wouldn't have to worry about your significant other coming in to grab something "really quick" while you're showering, seeing you through the shower curtain, and being like, "are you shaving your chest with my razor?"  ("Um, yes, and just be glad you didn't see what I was shaving with your razor thirty seconds ago.")  The guest bedroom has fantastic built-ins and a massive skylight; definitely get your guests drunk and then crouch outside their door the next morning and howl with laughter at their moans as they're awoken by the intense midday light streaming in.

Finally, the crown jewel of this house is undeniably the garden.  Designed by Oehme Van Sweden, this backyard paradise is lush, intensely green, and decorated with a discreet Far East vibe.  (Loved the marble Buddha head.)  It's like your own little piece of Thailand, only without the eight year old pickpockets and Frenchmen wearing sarongs.

1313 28th Street NW
4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$2,695,000

A More Accessible Georgetown, and Other BID Ideas

For a guy who has spent his career hopscotching between the public and private sectors, heading up the Georgetown Business Improvement District could be the ideal job. Joe Sternlieb, a Northwest DC resident and former vice president for acquisitions with EastBanc, the DC-based developer, started his new job as CEO of the Georgetown BID in mid-October. It’s his second round of employment with one of the city’s BIDs; Sternlieb spent ten years as part of the Downtown BID at a time when that area was just beginning to bloom. Before that, he spent time as a staff director for the DC City Council and worked on social justice issues.

Reporters and others focused on the city’s development scene might know Sternlieb as one of the chattiest and most accessible folks in the business. Here, he talked to DCMud about his new gig.

DCMud: Why did you decide to work for the Georgetown BID?


Joe Sternlieb: I’ve never had more fun than when I was working with the BIDs and I thought it could be a really fun and interesting opportunity to apply what I’ve learned in last 20-some years. And it’s in a new and interesting environment, quite different from the Downtown BID.

DCMud: How is it so different?

Sternlieb: When I started working for the Downtown BID, there were something like 40-50 surface parking lots, few restaurants, and very few people living there. We were trying to give definition to a place while development was occurring from private sector. [In contrast], Georgetown is really well-defined and developed: it’s got a vibrant retail and restaurant presence, and all these other physical attributes, from the C&O Canal and the waterfront to historic neighborhoods. The task here is how to make it appear and be a really accessible place.

DCMud: What do you mean, “accessible”?

Sternlieb: A lot of people perceive it as difficult to get to. There are lots of ways to change that. [For example], there’s a huge number of underground parking spaces in Georgetown that are closed on the weekend; demand isn’t high because there’s street parking. But the latter creates a lot of congestion. So I’d like to look at how to improve congestion parking. I also think we need a lot more bike racks, cabbie stations, and Circulator service. I think of transportation the same way DDOT does: considering all options, including cars, buses, bikeshare, pedestrians—it’s all a single system.

DCMud: Georgetown used to be the place to go in DC, but there are so many dynamic neighborhoods now. How do you plan to compete?

Sternlieb: We’ll need to work harder to remind people that Georgetown is here. We’re working with local merchants to think about ways to attract people back to Georgetown; we have opportunities to do open markets and special events, and we’re also working closely with home furnishings and design retailers to create a real urban design district.

DCMud: The new park along the river is such a terrific resource—do you have plans for it?

Sternlieb: Because that park is owned by the National Park Service, things like vendors selling food can’t happen there. We haven’t yet come up with a program for concerts, movies, etc. to occur there, but that’s not to say we can’t. It’s on our radar screen and we’ll be spending time with the Park Service to figure out how to better integrate the neighborhood and the park.

DCMud: How do you define your job, and the role of the BID?

Sternlieb: BIDs can help facilitate programs, projects, and solutions to problems that individuals might not be able to tackle on their own. It’s a middle space between the private, governmental, and residential sector. For example, the regional bus map that WMATA uses was developed out of the Downtown BID. I see us doing things like that here—some demonstration projects, sometimes convening a bunch of people to look at something and try to develop a better plan.

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

Development of Rare Vacant Lot in Dupont to Start Next Month

A nine-story apartment building planned in Dupont Circle at the corner of 17th and O Streets, NW will break ground this year, replacing a parking lot on one of the last undeveloped lots in the neighborhood.  The First Baptist Church of Washington owns the lot, but developer Keener Squire will build the 218-unit building under a 99-year ground lease with the church.  Eric Colbert and Associates is the architectural firm on the project.

Rendering: Eric Colbert & Associates

DCMud reported in April that the developer intended to break ground this year, but unlike project start dates that regularly slip indefinitely, executives at Keener Squire assure DCMud that the initial estimates are still valid.  Developers expect the total construction time to be about 18 months.

The project has obtained necessary approvals from the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) (the site sits in the Dupont Circle Historic District), and the DC Board of Zoning adjustment, and has the support of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B and the Dupont Circle Conservancy.  The building's 118 units will be mostly junior one-bedrooms and some two-bedrooms, which were added to plans in response to requests from neighbors.

The building's design fits in with neighboring 1930's-era buildings, an architect on the project said.   "The design draws from the art moderne apartment buildings in the area, but at the same time is an updated 21st century building," Steve Dickens, architect with Eric Colbert and Associates told DCMud.  He cited Bay State Apartments and Boston House Condominiums, both just across the street from the site, as examples of neighboring art moderne-style structures.

Art moderne buildings in the neighborhood, Dickens said, were built after just after the historic district's so-called "period of significance" - a period historic districts look to in consideration of design appropriateness - which goes up until the 1930's.  Still, the HPRB backed the design.  "Given that this neighborhood has almost no buildings that date to the period of significance, the HPRB felt that the buildings that were around us were the significant buildings to look at."

Dickens emphasized that the design process has been collaborative, with the church as a major partner, "they want to make sure that whatever goes there is something that the most immediate neighbors are happy with."

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Alexandria Affordable Housing Complex Back on Track

An AHC Inc.-developed affordable housing complex at the corner of East Reed Avenue and Route 1/Jefferson Davis Highway, in Alexandria, is now slated for an early 2014 groundbreaking, after hitting delays earlier this year.

The latest iteration of the project, which has increased to 77 units, from an original 59, should head to the Alexandria City Council in December for final approval, according to John Welsh, Vice President at AHC.

"We're really happy with the design," says Welsh.  "The city planning office gave their opinion on it, and asked for a few minor changes.  Mostly design stuff - switching a metal accent to the other side of the building so it would be a stronger element on Route 1, that kind of thing."

The Bonstra-Haresign-designed building will offer 15 one-bedroom units, 51 two-bedroom units, and eleven three-bedroom units, at 60% of AMI (approximately $56,000/year).  The facade is "primarily brick, with a few other materials, and some metal accents to give it a nice polish," said Welsh.  The building will be five stories tall on the east side, and taper down to three stories on the west, and there will also be 77 below-grade parking spaces, a one-to-one ratio that marks a significant increase from the earlier design's 0.77 ratio, a number that caused some consternation among city planners as potentially insufficient.  Construction is projected to take 18 months, with leasing estimated to take until the end of 2015.

The project will sit on a joined plot consisting of a city-owned parcel at 3600 Jefferson Davis Highway and three privately-owned parcels controlled by AHC.  Funding is being provided by a package of AHC funds, a $1.1 million-plus affordable housing loan from the city, and tax credits, the application deadline for the latter contributing, at least in part, to past delays.

Piazza Arriba!

Q and A with Jane Treacy of Treacy and Eagleburger Architects, PC  
By Beth Herman

Desiring a new kitchen and family room that fed into a garden space, Chevy Chase, Md. homeowners were also dealing with a deteriorating garage and non-existent backyard aesthetic. DCMud spoke with architect Jane Treacy of Treacy and Eagleburger Architects PC about reimagining the space to include a rooftop terrace—atop the garage.

DCMud: Describe the challenges of this project, which was both a renovation and new construction.

Treacy: When we came to the project—a bungalow built circa the early 1920s—there were multiple issues. These included an existing garage off the alley, which is about 8 feet down from the first floor. The yard itself was not at the exact same height as the first floor—it was reasonably higher. They wanted to keep the two-car garage, though it was falling down and popped up above grade—a bit of an albatross in the backyard/garden.

DCMud: What were the first steps?

Treacy: When we considered the family room addition, we placed it down a couple of steps so it could feed out to the garden level. We dropped the whole roof of the garage down by using a concrete slab for its roof to condense the height as much as possible and to get it to be at that same level.

DCMud: So the idea was to walk straight out and be on the roof of the garage.

Treacy: Yes, and we also terraced the stone paving over the roof. When the discussion arose about a screened porch, we decided to put it all the way at the back of the site, over the roof, and made an edge to the patio. It creates this kind of urban courtyard—a piazza. The area between the house and the screened porch is about 600 s.f. and the porch itself is 180 s.f.

DCMud: So to be clear, when you’re in the piazza with its screened porch and stone terrace, you’re on the roof of the garage.

Treacy: The terrace is half over the garage, and half over earth. So much of the design had to do with being able to pull the cars in from the alley, and then build over the top with the screen porch at the back of the terrace. There is also an enclosed stair that goes straight down into the garage.

DCMud: How did you create the family room?

Treacy: The kitchen, which we also renovated, is on the main level of the original house, and we stepped things down two steps into the family room. This allowed us to get a nice ceiling height in there—about 10 feet—and make that room very much a part of the garden space in the back. Three tall French doors with clerestory windows support the notion.

Treacy: The owners are ardent gardeners, so being able to push a really nice space into the garden as well as have a screened space out there was important. Following construction, they developed a beautiful, festive garden that integrates the space.

DCMud: You and your husband Phillip have produced such a vast body of residential work. Is there a particular D.C. architect who truly influenced you from the beginning?

Treacy: It would have to be mid-century modernist architect David Condon, who created Hollin Hills in Alexandria among other special properties. I have always been inspired by everything from his shed roofs to his fresh modern style.

Abdo Envisions Condos for Empty Rhode Island Avenue Lot

You could call it a vindication. Or you could simply say the market finally changed.

Either way, Jim Abdo says he’s got revamped plans for the property he owns at 1427 and 1429 Rhode Island Avenue NW, the only vacant lot on that block and one of the few left in the neighborhood. The Logan Circle-based developer had been planning on erecting a 70-something unit apartment building there, but ran into opposition from neighbors due to its size. As of this past February, he had backed off from the project entirely.

The lot as it currently appears

Now he says he’s got new plans for the lot, which backs up to the P Street Whole Foods Market. Due to a steadily improving housing market and the increased availability of financing for condo construction, Abdo has returned to the plan he says he’d initially envisioned for the property before the economy tanked: a high-end condo building containing just a few units.

“My vision has always been a boutique building with a small number of units,” explained Abdo. “And every day and month I wait, the market comes back in my favor to do what I want. We think it’s a win-win for everyone, and it’s what the neighborhood will embrace.”

Abdo didn’t provide many details about what he has in mind, as the project hasn’t gone far beyond the basic concept stage. But he says he’s imagining a 90-foot high building that contains nine or ten units, each taking up an entire floor and potentially reached by elevators that open directly into the units.

That’s a big difference from the property’s previous iteration, which was an eight-story rental building conceived of at a time when condo financing was almost nonexistent. Although the design earned approvals from the Historic Preservation Review Board, neighbors objected to its density and Abdo eventually withdrew his plans.

The lot with its prior structures, which were knocked down in 2007

“I said, ‘Let’s revisit this thing,’” he explained.

Nothing’s happening anytime soon. The developer, who bought the property in 2001, says the company probably won’t start moving on the project until 2014. At that point, in-house architects will begin putting together design ideas and he’ll reach out to HPRB and the community.

It’s not like the firm doesn’t have enough going on as it is. Besides projects in Brookland and Arlington, Abdo is also planning to develop a spot a few dozen feet to the east: 1400 14th Street, a corner lot at the intersection of 14th Street and Rhode Island Avenue that currently includes a Caribou Coffee and Abdo’s own office (and next to the DCMud office). That project—a six-story building to include ground floor retail, one floor of offices, and some 30 residences—received HPRB approval a couple of months ago. Groundbreaking is set for next year.

That turns the block of Rhode Island between 14th and 15th streets a mini Abdo-ville. The developer owns another property on the block, and developed the two condo buildings framing the empty lot—the Zenith and the Willison—more than a decade ago.

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

10 Questions with ... Anthony Lanier

10 Questions is a new weekly feature in which we interview some of the leading District figures in real estate, architecture, development, and planning. This week's subject ... Anthony Lanier, president and owner of EastBanc.

Born in Brazil and raised in Austria, Lanier, informally known as the "King of Georgetown," arrived in DC in the Eighties, and over the years has almost singlehandedly transformed once-sleepy Georgetown into a dynamic, European-style pedestrian center.  It's a testament to his influence that when his company recently acquired properties in the U Street NW and H Street NE corridors, it was hailed as a definitive milestone in these areas' return to viability.



1.  What's a typical day for you?

Fifteen hours long!

2.  What or who is your biggest influence?

My kids.  If they can do it, so should I.

3.What neighborhood do you live in?

Georgetown.

4.  What is your biggest DC pet peeve?

The village/pedestrian context.

5.  What is the #1 most played song on your iPod?

I don't own an iPod.

6.  Favorite DC haunt?

Kafe Leopold.

7.  What's your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?

Sit in my garden.

8.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Somewhere between Salzburg and Bozen (Bolzano).

9.  If you couldn't be a.businessman, what would you be?

I think I'd be an intellectual.

10.  Name one thing most people don't know about you.

I really like turtles.

Adams Morgan Condos Release New Renderings

Developers have released new renderings of the condos that will take up the largest vacant lot on Champlain Street.   Federal Capital Partners and Altus Realty Partners will break ground shortly on a 41-unit condominium at 2337 Champlain Street, NW, in Adams Morgan.  Designed by PGN Architects, the renderings show a contemporary structure with a split facade adjacent to the former brass knob warehouse.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Whistle Stop Design

Q and A with Sabine Roy of SR/A Interior Architecture and Design
by Beth Herman

With preserving and repurposing historic buildings at the top of their dance card, SR/A Interior Architecture and Design embarked on a challenge to transform an abandoned turn-of-the-century freight train depot into high-end public spaces for a residential development: The Apartments at Cobblestone Square, 627 Cobblestone Blvd., Fredericksburg, Va.  DCMud spoke with SR/A Principal Sabine Roy about the 10,000 s.f. redesign.

DCMud: What elements about this building struck you?

Roy: The building was this magnificent long solid brick structure with amazing 5- or 6-inch solid maple flooring. It was in bad condition; the roof was caving in. We fell in love with it when we saw it!

DCMud: How did it come to its new life?

Roy: It found itself in the middle of a development of new residential buildings, originally by K. Hovnanian Homes and slated for a condominium venture, and then sold to Home Properties as apartments. It was put in a drawer for a couple of years due to the economy but taken out again with all of its possibilities.

DCMud: Old structures often come with challenges and caveats. How did you decide what to keep and what to jettison?

Roy: We wanted to keep as much of the building's history as possible. We kept the solid brick walls and I fought to keep the flooring. You don’t see 5- or 6-inch solid maple anymore. Another battle was to save the ceiling as it was made of cedar and had no insulation. Because of its (historical fabric), we had the insulation and all the re-roofing done from the exterior to save the cedar. Usually these things are sandblasted, or high-power washed, or blasted with an equally abrasive material, but walnut shell is among the softest and used in restoration—it doesn’t attack the wood; just the coating. Once it was cleaned this way it was absolutely splendid.

DCMud: What was the thinking behind the redesign, which appears to be a real juxtaposition of history and today.

Roy: There was so much history in the building conserving the brick, the flooring, ceiling and trusses that we could go the other way and bring in modern techniques, materials, furniture and finishes to the design. The contrast between the historical building and new materials is an interesting, warm, comfortable treatment. I’m French and it’s something you see a lot in Paris, where you have all these old buildings and units with crowns and trims and pretty parquets. The best way to showcase an antique is to put something modern in it. It was the same thinking behind what we did at Foundry Lofts.

DCMud: How did you arrive at the color palette you chose, which in many ways emulates nature.

Roy: The building already had a lot of red because of the brick, so we didn’t want to do anything too urban so we went a little more traditional with warm greens, pale yellows and golds—as in the ceiling. Instead of red we did a deep purple. The colors were simple and ‘forest-y’ in keeping with the Fredericksburg environment. We had the thick maple flooring to warm it up.

DCMud: What about ambient and/or task lighting in such a vast space?

Roy: We used uplights on the 30-foot ceilings and on the trusses so you could see the height of the ceiling—the volume of the room and the beauty of the existing materials. We dropped some LED’s from the height of the trusses in the common areas. In the fitness center we dropped the lights. It was a matter of pinpoint lighting. There’s a fireplace. Even though the light is not awfully strong or bright in the club room, you really feel the space. Adding floor lamps and table lamps and partial LED’s here and there, you have enough lighting so you can see what you’re doing or where you’re walking but you are not aware of the light. It’s just a warm space.

DCMud: Speaking of warm spaces, if you could choose one area of the District that felt like home to you, what would it be?

Roy: I really like Southeast Waterfront. The park they’ve built is wonderful, and it’s where Foundry Lofts is located. But if I had to move (from Maryland), it would be to the upper part of Georgetown. It’s the European in me: I like those little houses and being able to walk to places. The old world in me is still alive.

Your Next Place

This U street home isn't at all what you think of when you hear "U Street."  (Drunk projectile vomiters, perpetual go-go music blasting at all hours.)  No, this house is a ways down U Street, where the narrow rowhouses and nightlife give way to 24/7 tranquility and homes of more stately proportions. No, the only vomiters out here are rich bulimic high schoolers.

This massive Colonial is newly-built and correspondingly pristine.  It's got that "new house" smell permeating every room, which isn't a "smell" so much as an "absence of smells," which makes sense considering how many thousands of odors have been slyly secreted over the years in the average pre-inhabited house.  There's a huge open formal living room and dining room, each of which seems as big as a regulation ice rink. The gourmet kitchen sports luxurious marble countertops and the family room (complete with fireplace) looks out, via a wall of triple-sized windows, onto the massive fenced-in backyard.  There's a large flagstone patio out there, but the rest of it is a long flat grassy area that's so big you could probably do an emergency plane landing back there.  I mean, there probably wouldn't be any survivors, but the plane would, technically, be on the ground.

Upstairs is a master bedroom suite that's truly palatial, with a sitting room and a master bath that features a massive shower and a freestanding soaking tub.  The house also features two separate libraries, so you can have one library for all those paperbacks with raised metallic lettering you buy in airports, and another for the serious literary books and statesman biographies that you're saving for when your tastes mature, which we both know will never happen.

Topping it all off, the house is one of an enclave of eight newly-built homes, so if you've got seven good friends with stellar credit and/or a million dollars lying around, you all could conceivably buy all the houses and form your own little independent breakaway republic.   I mean, it worked out so well for David Koresh!

4800 U Street NW
5 Bedrooms, 5.5 Baths
$1,895,000