This whole-home renovation is an ongoing project. Enjoy progress shots and come back soon for finished spaces!
This short-term rental was an opportunity to have a lot of fun with color as the client wanted a Mardi Gras - inspired palette. I wanted the home to embody the spirit of New Orleans so that it can be a memorable highlight of guests’ visit to the city.
Photography by Laura Steffan
A Moroccan inspired guest suite.
A cool and relaxed space by the pool.
Designing and managing the Mt. Vernon Square project was such an amazing journey.
We converted the 1900 three-story row home into four condos. The house was previously occupied as a rooming house and still had some of its original details. The interior was in somewhat good condition but desperately needed to be brought into the 21st century. The only thing we couldn’t bring into this century was the façade. Being in a historic district, the façade couldn’t be touched. Luckily, it was a beautiful design and in great condition. The scope of the project included two bedrooms and two bathrooms for each unit with the exception of the penthouse unit. For this unit, we planned for three bedrooms and an owner’s suite. To do this, we enlarged the cellar and built a pop-up level for the penthouse.
Demolition took about a week and from there we started underpinning and excavation. The cellar was, as with any old DC row house, very shallow. We ended up digging an additional three feet which gave us a ceiling height a little under ten feet. Once the entire building was gutted, I was in awe of the 120 year-old brick and beams. The brick was in such great condition that, although we were going for an elegant classic design, we decided to leave some of it exposed. The brick throughout paired well with the solid wood floors, Carrara marble, and chrome fixtures.
Custom fire rated doors were painted black and finished with chrome hardware.
This classic DC rowhouse kitchen was pretty much designed by the clients’ wish list. The couple had a long list of must-haves that we managed to fit in a small space. We completely re-thought the previous layout moving everything but the kitchen sink (see what I did there??) and the refrigerator moving to a new location. They wanted an island with a cooktop and a separate combo oven/mircowave. Typically, this arrangement wouldn’t work in smaller kitchens as you would want to save space with a traditional range, but I think it worked here because they were willing to let go of some counter space beside the refrigerator. I managed to talk them into a narrow pantry cabinet to the left of the refrigerator for a built-in look.
For entertaining, they wanted a dedicated bar space and wine cooler. The wall adjacent to the door was the perfect place for the bar as there wasn’t enough space for standard-depth cabinets.
For finishes, the desired palette was bright whites, marble, stainless steel, and Jacobean floors. The floors! The living room/dining area had existing hardwood floors, the kitchen had 12x12 tile. I was the only one on team tiled kitchen floor (for utility purposes) while the clients wanted to blend a new hardwood floor into the existing floor and stain everything a new color. Ultimately, everyone was happy with the end result.
The main bathroom is one of the first major projects we’ve taken on to elevate our 1910 brownstone from the developer’s finishes. The remodel was actually kick-started by a leaking toilet. What started as replacing the toilet led to replacing the floor as well and eventually resulted in a full bath remodel. Unbeknownst to us, the leak had been going on for quite a while and caused considerable damage to the subfloor. By the time we discovered the extent of the water damage, naturally we had to upgrade everything. The first selection I made was the floor tile. I went with a black basalt and decided on a herringbone pattern. I also chose black for the vanity. From there, I knew I wanted the sink to tie into the floor so I found a great black stone vessel sink. To balance out all the black, I had white marble and polished nickel fixtures in mind. On a trip to the stone yard, I found the perfect piece of Calacatta marble in just the right size.
Montego’s favorite floors are stone. He approved of the black basalt tile right away.
A quick turn around for a rental property.
This project had a very quick turn-around. The client wanted to transform a unit in their building they used for guests into an income-producing vacation rental. In addition to a short timeline, budget was on the smaller side. They already had a few larger pieces of furniture, so the main focus was on filling in the gaps with smaller furniture pieces, lighting, window treatments, accessories, and artwork.
Caribbean restaurant and bar in Annapolis currently under construction. Opening 2024.
Restaurant, bar, and bakery concept currently in design and pre-construction.