A Mid-Century Modern Renaissance Remodel

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THE PROJECT: Built in 1984, the interiors of this Acorn Deck home had been updated only minimally until the time it was put on the market in late-2020. These particular types of homes are known for their woodsy, Mid-Century Modern appeal, and often prized by those who wish to feel as though they are living within, or surrounded, by nature.

THE PLACE: A private, residential community in Crownsville that, for the couple and their 18-year-old son, is a world away from the hustle and bustle of their career center in the District.

EXECUTING THE PLAN: The husband is a huge fan of modern design and as a result, the couple’s goals for the aesthetic were very detailed from the onset. To help conceive how they would convert the main level living space, the couple chose an architect they had worked with before, Robert Cox of Josh Hildreth Interiors of D.C. for the project. 

After years of thinking about what they would want in a dream home and then making the listing rounds, our feature homeowners realized that what they wanted was actually unavailable in the current home market. They did, however, come close with a property in Anne Arundel County. Overall, the home had good bones, and its location on an acre and a quarter of wooded backdrop with a flourishing landscape and idyllic views to a scenic creek off the Severn River encouraged them that they could “tweak” whatever they needed to on the inside.

“We really wanted something more modern, but we saw the potential,” the wife says. “There are some things we just loved about it in the backyard especially, and the entryway to the backyard.”

Initially, the wife says, she was most concerned with having the kitchen remodeled and would have been content with a basic refresh of that space and a much-needed appliance upgrade. Her husband says the original plan also included replacing all the windows, and giving the living room and dining room a makeover.

“And then one thing leads to another, and we ended up basically redoing the whole floor and the staircase,” the wife says.

In this role, Cox says he strived to consider the site and context, the existing character of the home and the clients’ lifestyle preferences. “For me, the design collaboration with the homeowners was very rewarding as they brought to the table a very sophisticated appreciation for the potential of what could be achieved,” Cox says.

It was Cox, says the husband, who recommended the couple consider Bayview Builders of Annapolis for the construction. “We really just took an immediate liking to Bayview. They’re personable, thoughtful, and highly transparent about their costs and their process.”

Overseeing the plan logistics was Bayview’s Director of Construction, Rich Lang. “I worked on this project in a Production Manager capacity, but all of the credit for the craftsmanship and construction needs to go to Bruce Dowling who was the Bayview Construction Manager on the project,” Lang says.

While the main level’s basic floorplan remained intact, Lang says that there were larger infrastructure matters that needed to be addressed in order to achieve the homeowners’ desire to have a more modern home with enhanced flow throughout. This included more interesting sightlines and would employ the strategic use of some contemporary materials that the homeowners were especially fond of. 

Those Doors

“There were some rather significant structural additions and modifications required to implement the design,” Lang explains. “Most notably, all of the steel work required to support the loft area and roof above. This allowed for the floating loft component and set the foundation for expanding the home and modifying the roof framing to allow for the introduction of the large, multi-slide door.”

Steel columns were added and dropped below to the basement into new footings, he adds.

These structural enhancements allowed some pretty amazing things to happen. This included the removal of some walls and elements that were boxy or confining, like the entry and drywall-framed home office loft located above the dining room. 

The original entry was lovely in a traditional way but felt restricted due to the stair rail wall on the immediate right and a boxy coat closet on the left. This was addressed in several ways. First, the entire entry was visually recalibrated by installing an ultra-modern, custom-made pivoting door. This element in particular had been on the husband’s wish list for some time. Five-feet wide by seven-feet high, this front door fabricated with a wood base by Gutierrez Studios of Baltimore, is clad with zinc. 

“The pivot door was just something that I had always wanted,” he says. “I knew that I wanted an oversized front door. I knew that I wanted a pivot door, and I knew that I wanted a very subtle patina metal facing on it.”

Second, a new stairway designed using glass side panels, weighty industrial steel beams with bolts, and heavy wood stair planks creates the architecturally stunning statement made upon entry. That statement is usually remarked upon later, however, after visitors have ceased being distracted by the expansive view of the creek straight ahead of them. 

As the floorplan expands to reveal the living and dining room combination, the home’s defining element, a sweeping 31-inch wide by 10-and-a-half-feet tall multi-slide door by Otiima, is unveiled. The effect is captivating.  “It appears as if the back of the house is missing,” Lang says.

Prior to the remodel, the husband says this part of the home had many windows, but they were limiting in several respects.

“While there was a lot of glass there, and you could obviously see the woods and then the river beyond, it wasn’t a clean view, it kept getting interrupted, and we wanted one vast expanse,” he says.

“That was the living room side. On the dining room side, there were two, maybe three small regular sash windows, and so we knocked out the whole wall of the dining room and actually pushed it out to be in the same plane as the living room wall.”

The existing stone fireplace feature was one original element in the home that became a non-negotiable. It would stay just where it was and just as it was, because the homeowners love its classic, rustic feel and they appreciate the texture and balance it lends the space. 

The replacement of a series of drywall-encased half walls and support columns with several sleek structural steel beams painted in a dark bronze unburdened the space of any limitation to enjoying the sublime placement of this home’s position in the hillside above the water. This is the intersection where seamless design and thoughtful sophistication meet in the home. 

Finishes, textures, and materials would play a huge role in the renaissance of this home’s next-level aesthetic. 

“The desire to create spaces that exude comfort and warmth were the drivers for the selection of the materials,” Cox says.

The beams were joined above to a ceiling of custom milled, rift-cut white oak and below to European white oak floors stained to pick up tones in the fireplace. These choices blend well with adjacent woods and the interior furnishings that were chosen for the living and dining spaces with the expert eye of Vivian Braunohler of Braunohler Design Associates in D.C. 

Located above the formal dining area, which was also broken loose from an outdated drywall shell, is the dwelling’s home office.

This workspace probably attained high marks for sophistication when the home was built in 1984, as it has an open-air vantage point to the main level below. Now this space makes a statement as an exquisite workspace that mimics sculpture with its glass walls. Just beneath it, in the dining room, the couple decided to forego the requisite dining room chandelier for a state-of-the-art integrated system of lighting within the ceiling beams that Cox suggested. 

That Kitchen

In addition to how exquisite everything looks in the home, the owners were also concerned about energy efficiency and made the upgrades necessary to qualify for Gold Level Certification according to National Green Building Standards. These included their appliance options for the custom-designed kitchen and in other areas throughout the home. 

For the ultra-modern approach to the kitchen’s design, the couple employed the talents of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath who was added to the team for this specific part of the project with Braunohler.

“And so, the three of us, the kitchen designer, the interior designer, and the homeowner spent a lot of time again thinking about, ‘what are the right materials?’” the husband explains. “Let’s match this blonde wood and the blue cabinetry, and…there’s a black granite, basalt countertop that’s a little bit marbled. And the idea was to try to not just have a great kitchen, but to have a kitchen that would fit with the rest of the main floor.”

And the fit is superb with ash wood used for some aspects of the cabinetry built by Premier Custom-Built Cabinets including the custom-integrated refrigerator that blends so effortlessly it appears as though it is part of the room’s support structure.

An accompanying island does indeed, stand alone when it comes to ingenuity in design. Form and function here is second to none, as this piece houses a convection speed oven, offers an attractive and durable task surface and provides deep storage drawers. Its sleek modern metal legs serve not just as ornamentation, but one of them functions as the conduit for the required electrical component for the oven—a true marvel of beauty and brains—as is the rest of this remodeled residence.

“We’ve always talked about our dream house, and I think we always thought one day we were just going to fall upon it, and then it dawned on us, no, we were actually going to have to build it,” says the wife when reflecting on the process. 

And while the process turned out to be less than a full build and more than just a few interior tweaks, at the end of the day the couple feels their decision to buy, then remodel, was among the best they had ever made.