A
ppreciating an older home requires a special eye.
Good things often happen when its owners celebrate its idiosyncracies rather than forcing the
home into a conventional mold.
Such was the case for a couple who had recently
rebuilt their DC home after a fire. Though they were “not looking,” they came across an online listing in Massachusetts Heights.
“I knew the house in a previous incarnation and thought it was the
most amazing place ever,” says one spouse, the CEO of a financial
software platform company. Modest in size with an unassuming,
stucco-clad front façade, the 1940s-era house would not look out
of place in a remote French village. The backyard is far more dramatic as it slopes down to forested Rock Creek Park.
The home remained a small cottage for most of its history.
Then, in 1999, previous owners renovated and built an addition.
The update would later catch the eye of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as well as former Senator Jon Corzine, both of
whom have called the residence home.
This couple were also smitten and jumped at the opportunity,
despite the property’s obvious quirks. “It’s an upside-down house,”
ARCHITECTURE: SCARLETT BREEDING, AIA, principal in charge; SARAH FAVRAO,
project architect, Alt Breeding Schwarz Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. INTERIOR
DESIGN: HELEN SULLIVAN, Helen Sullivan Design, Washington, DC. LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECT: KEVIN CAMPION, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis,
Maryland. RENOVATION CONSTRUCTION: BRET ANDERSON, president; STEVE
MICEK, project manager; Pyramid Builders, Annapolis, Maryland.
72 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 • homeanddesign.com
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