Bethesda Americana Redux!

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 19^th 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 19^th Century signed and dated eagle from Pennsylvania that frames the fireplace.

“Penmanship was so important in the 19^th 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, 19^th Century armchairs painted with gold leaf, a 19^th 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

Shaw's Parcel 42 Gets a Redo

The city is once again seeking bids for a vacant lot in Shaw once occupied by protesters demanding subsidized housing, this time DC leaders hope its prominent Rhode Island Avenue address will invite great architecture rather than protests.

Parcel 42, the catchy name given to the site at Rhode Island and 7th St., NW, across from the new Shaw library and planned affordable housing project, has been vacant for over a decade, but was awarded as a development parcel back in 2007.  Economic necessity lead to scaling back the project, with all the design of a county college dorm, from 94 units to 52 units, and to a higher income bar to applicants.  That, in turn, caused a sit-in and tent city to pop up in 2010, with protesters demanding lower income levels in a zone dominated by low-income housing.  But those plans also failed too, and the site remains vacant.  

But city leaders have finally issued a new Request for Proposals, now with a new vision.  Rather than shoot for the lowest income residents, the District government is again encouraging a maxed out building and - a first - decent architecture.

Current zoning allows a 65 foot building with 4.2 FAR, but the District and local ANC are encouraging a zoning change that allows a 90 foot building with 6.0 FAR, a ground floor dominated by retail, and now an 80% AMI designation rather than the lowest subsidized housing designation.  The proposal also states a preference for additional affordable units, a "high quality" public space component, and "high quality architecture" with a "signature design."  

To subsidize the project, the District is providing the land, leaving developers to come up with the right building plan.  Alex Padro, ANC Commissioner for the area, notes that specifications were left deliberately vague in order to allow developers the greatest flexibility.  "In order to get the creative juices flowing, we worked with the Deputy Mayor to make sure there weren't exact minimums." We need "outstanding architecture" noted Padro.  "Its gotta be a building that works financially, that activates the street, we already have a significant pocket of affordable housing in the area."  But most of all, said Padro, the building needs to meet high architectural standards like the Shaw library.

Developers, however, will be incentivized to compete on the affordable housing provision to get the nod from the city, and the quality of the architecture is likely not going to be something the community agrees upon.

Proposals are due by July 26. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

 If you want a house that you can impress your parents with, this is absolutely the one.  Everything about this place is refined, understated, sophisticated, and excruciatingly classy.  Not one off note.  If you bought this place and brought your parents here, they'd just get real quiet and then look at you in a way they've never looked at you before and then break down in tears apologizing for all the mistakes they made raising you, like when they got you knockoff "Nikeys" in fourth grade because "no one will notice anyway."  (At least that's how it goes in my daydream.  In reality, my parents would just look around, nod, and move in.)

The powder blue living room is expansive and features several large windows and a fantastic white fireplace; the dining room is elegant and more than large enough for any size family.  The kitchen has been recently renovated, and it shows; right next to the classic woodwork are the latest gleaming top-of-the-line appliances.  You can also see the park from the kitchen windows, so you can gaze out at nature's glory as your Pork n' Beans simmer.  My favorite part of the house was the "pub room," which was being used as an office, but could be used as, well, a pub.  With brick floors and an awesomely weathered wooden bar and a grille for grill(e?)ing, this would be hands down the greatest man cave of all time.  There are even some beautiful french doors that lead out to the patio, for when someone needs to vomit.

Upstairs are two equally masterful master bedroom suites, each outfitted with a full luxurious bath and excellent closets.  A lot of places have one incredible master suite and then a lesser one, but here, both people can have a suite that preserves their secret belief that they are superior to the other person.  As I get older, I'm convinced that this is the key to a lasting relationship.  That, and having secret affairs.

3510 Whitehaven Parkway NW
2 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms
$899,000

Today in Pictures - Silver Spring Library

View from Fenton Street. Source: Pre-proposal Slide Show

The new Silver Spring library, on the shelf for more than a decade, is nearing a decision on a general contractor, a step that should allow it to begin construction this fall, with hopes of a late 2014 opening.

New renderings feature the layouts and perspectives from project architects Lukmire Partnership.

The library is planned as a 5-story, cast- stone building at Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue. A pavilion with a glass facade facing Fenton connected to the main building at the top of the second floor creates a covered path for the future Purple Line to pass through.

The project officially broke ground in August 2010. Ground work and utility relocation underway now aim to keep the project moving forward and avoid future delays.

Silver Spring real estate development news

Your Next Place

I've been going to open houses for a while now, and I admit I'm a little jaded.  Usually my reaction to a place ranges between polite, bored indulgence (i.e. the face women make when you try to hit on them in Whole Foods) or outright curled-lip disgust (i.e. the face women make when I try to hit on them in Whole Foods).  I'm hard to impress.  But this place - this place made me outright giddy, back to my first innocent days of open-housing.  (Cue Madonna's "Like A Virgin.")

I mean, look at it.  Never will you find another place like this.  The extraordinary top floor in the Dove House Mansion, this place is to attics what Tom Cruise is to short guys.  Exposed beams and skylights combine for an incredible dramatic effect, and every room in the house is completely distinctive.  As soon as you step off the private elevator (yes, that's right), you're struck not just by the sheer size of the place (downright amphitheaterlike), but by how much there is to look at.  Every nook and corner and area has a little unexpected touch, whether it's an angle or a light fixture or, in the case of a master bathroom, a life-size statue of a horse on top of the vanity.

The kitchen features stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, and the master bath has an awesome double sink vanity.  The master bedroom is lofted, so you can look down on your kingdom, and there's also a private balcony so you can look down on, well, Dupont.  And priced at just under 770K, you can bet it won't be on the market long, so start begging the in-laws for another advance on the ol' inheritance.

1740 New Hampshire Avenue NW #NH-G
2 Bedrooms, 1.5 Baths
$729,900

Washington D.C. real estate news

Kalorama Apartment Building Impresses HPRB, On Track for 2012 Groundbreaking

A five-story, nine-unit apartment building planned for a vacant parcel at 2225 California Street, NW in the Sheridan-Kalorama historical district has passed an important hurdle and could break ground before the end of the year.

"HPRB basically approved the concept," confirms Don Malnati, a partner on the project at MMG.  "We're onto geotech testing, stuff like that.  The next step is permit plans; we'd like to have foundation/grade permitting first, so we can maybe start digging before the complete building permit comes through.  It's hard to say, all these processes take anywhere from two to six months.  At any rate, it's a by-right building, and we're within the zoning codes, so at this point it's mostly just technical."

Plans for the project, from MMG and designed by Ralph Cunningham of Cunningham Quill, met with moderate resistance from community members at an HPRB hearing earlier this year, on issues ranging from the design itself to the placement of the proposed building to the impact on a garden on the site. The proposed building "is inspired by the classical vertical proportions and tripartite façade organization prevalent in the neighborhood’s buildings while being contemporary in detailing," with three horizontal bands of different-colored brickwork denoting each story. Plans call for one unit on the ground level, with two units on each of the upper levels, and two penthouse units with access to a rooftop terrace.

The building will sit off-center on the lot, directly on the party wall of the smaller rowhouse, with a 12.5 foot side yard separating the building from the larger apartment building at 2219 California.

Predictably, this caused some consternation from the owners of the rowhouse. Of particular note is a light well on the facing side of the rowhouse which will be completely blocked off by the new building; upon questioning, MMG reps said preserving the well, possibly through the use of glass wall, was "not feasible." Don Hawkins, an architect representing the owners of the rowhouse, made a forceful plea for "any relief at all" from the board, claiming his clients' house lost 40% of its value when the MMG project was announced. He also noted wryly that "they [MMG] have been responsive to every request we've made, except the one for them to go away."

In response, MMG reps noted that zoning required them to pick a side ("You can't just build in the middle") and that, as they saw it, the many windows on the facing side of the apartment building at 2219 took precedence over the more limited exposure of the rowhouse. They also pointed to their extensive cooperation with the neighborhood on the particulars of the project - meetings with the ANC, with the Sheridan-Kalorama Historical Association, an on-site meeting with locals - and even went so far to promise consideration of community suggestions on facade materials.

This was a reccuring theme from even the sharpest critics of the project - the developers, it had to be said, had engaged the community, and this engagement seemed to take the edge off of what could have been a very contentious meeting.

The vacant parcel is home now to a garden, and Jim Pepper, a retired National Park Service employee who lives nearby, made an impassioned pleas on its behalf, calling it "historic" and a necessary element of the neighborhood's aesthetic. But despite his efforts, the board ruled that the project is “not incompatible with the character of its location,” and recommended final approval.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

MoCo Planners Ponder Move to Wheaton

Talk about walking the walk; Montgomery County planners may promote the redevelopment of Wheaton they have been pushing by moving their own headquarters to downtown Wheaton.
The county council approved a redevelopment plan last month that would build a new 150,000 square foot headquarters for M-NCPPC at Grandview Avenue, Reedie Drive, and Triangle Lane, a site now used as a surface parking lot.  The project would be financed by the county's Capital Improvements Plan.

Financing sunk the planning department's previous attempt at building a new headquarters - the now-defunct SilverPlace.  First conceptualized back in 2006, SilverPlace was to include 300 residential units, lush public greenspaces (below right), and the planning headquarters on 3.24 acres.  Details were exhaustively worked out in conjunction with community members, only to falter when it came time for the county council to approve the financing plan.

"On SilverPlace, we worked very hard with the community," recalls Dan Hertz, project manager at Montgomery County Department of Parks, who worked on the project.  ""We wanted to respect concerns about an office building next to an existing neighborhood.  The plan we came up with called for two wings; a low-rise next to the existing community, and then a taller component facing Crown Plaza.  But we were going to fund it by borrowing money with certificates of participation (COPs), which had to be authorized by the county council.  But there was concern about the recession, so it didn't get the votes."


With the economy kinda sorta turning around now, has there been any talk of reviving SilverPlace?

"No," says Hertz.  "The county has been really encouraging us to go into Wheaton."  And this time, the financing plan is structured differently, in such a way that the county council might find more much more palatable.  "This new plan would be funded with general obligation bonds, which is like the county itself is taking on the debt."

Wheaton, which has lagged behind the rest of MoCo despite a surplus of developable real estate and the presence of a metro station, has seen a major wave of redevelopment as of late.  There were virtually no residential units in downtown Wheaton near the metro station before 2004; now there are nearly 700, with many more in the pipeline, from Patriot Realty's Safeway/residential project on Reedie to Washington Property Company's 221 units on the former site of the First Baptist Church of Wheaton, to B.F. Saul's Wheaton Triangle project that could potentially bring a million square feet of office/retail/hotel space to the area.


Wheaton, MD real estate development news

Woodmont Central Office Building Up for Bid, Construction to Begin Midsummer

Donohoe Development's Bethesda office building at 8280 Wisconsin Avenue, one of three components of the developer's ambitious Woodmont Central megadevelopment, went up for bid last week, with an eye towards breaking ground in midsummer.

"Right now we're pricing it among subs as a GMP [Guaranteed Maximum Price]," said an estimator at Donohoe.  "Assuming things go forward as planned, it's supposed to start construction in July."

The rectangular six-story building, designed by WDG Architecture, will feature just over 81,000 square feet of office space, including 10,500 square feet of ground floor retail.  Developers anticipate LEED Silver certification. In renderings, the Wisconsin-facing facade is a visually interesting massing of planes, mostly metal and glass with a few precast concrete panels for contrast.  On the northeast corner is a vertical element that denotes the entrance to the Battery Lane District.

The first phase of the Woodmont Central project, the Gallery of Bethesda, kicked into gear last month, when demolition began at 4800 Auburn Avenue, the planned site of the residential tower.  That 17-story building will feature 234 dwellings, just under 200 below-grade parking spaces, and 4600 s.f. of ground floor retail space.  A second 16-story residential tower is also planned at 4850 Rugby Avenue, separated from the Gallery of Bethesda by a large plaza, but is reportedly still in the design development stage.


Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news

Your Next Place

Here we have a rock-solid classic old rowhouse that's been extensively renovated inside.  It's like a mint-condition '57 Chevy that when you start it up, you realize can also fly and shoot lasers from the headlights.

The living room, right off, is sleek and modern, with recessed lighting and a simple, open layout. The openish staircase leads up and down to the four bedrooms (the basement one has its own entrance too), all of which are roomy and very bright.

The kitchen is clearly the crown jewel of the house, and very large, with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops and even a little mounted television, so you can get super absorbed in "Judge Judy" while your three-cheese macaroni silently carbonizes in the oven.

The kitchen opens out, via twin glass doors, onto a fine wooden deck that overlooks a flagstone patio and a wide grassy yard.  Behind that is a sizable detached garage, for parking cars in, or using for band practice when your midlife crisis hits.  (Just please remember to lock the doors.  I'm still traumatized from walking in on my dad and his coworkers in the garage, years ago, as they were covering a Sublime song.)  It's also within walking distance to Eastern Market, and H Street, which is my new favorite nightlife neighborhood, if only because I know my ex is too lazy to ride her bike all the way out there.

430 10th Street NE
4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths
$799,900