Renaissance 2002

Kitchen Remodeling

The Last Piece

When a 1960s remodel plopped a family room and screened porch onto the back of this 1930s Colonial, some much needed space was added, but the new space ignored the existing kitchen. This most recent addition gives it its due and incorporates the kitchen back into the house.

The pop-out on the back adds about 175 square feet to the kitchen, plus it leaves room for a breakfast nook that seats four and an entryway from the garage. The judges all agreed that Cunningham & Quill did a "terrific job of maximizing the efficiency of the space. This isn't a large kitchen," they said, "and there's no wasted space whatsoever."

The judges also appreciated the awareness of controlling the visual axes of the space. The kitchen is full of clean corners and horizontal and vertical play. Everything about the room is designed to draw in light, too. The large skylight is the workhorse on this front, and clerestory windows above the upper cabinets and behind the range hood pull their weight, as well. The surfaces–granite countertops and backsplashes, light wood cabinets and floor, and stainless steel appliances–all brighten the space, too.

Category: Kitchen remodeling, $100,000 to $250,000

Location: Washington, D.C.

Contractor: Scott Hundley, Potomac Valley Builders, Poolesville, Md.

Designer: Cunningham + Quill Architects, Washington, D.C.

Additions

Advantage Point The original mission for this remodeling project was to make the stucco garage match the stone house and add a terrace that looks over the landscape. The angle of the existing garage, however, would leave that terrace overlooking only a limited portion of the expansive yard, so to take full advantage of the available vista, designer Bill Johnson got creative.

The clients chose to have the existing two-car garage demolished and to have a new three-car garage built at a 90-degree angle to the house. A breezeway connects the house and garage. This approach, says contractor Daniel Donatelli of C. Raymond Davis and Sons, created a "more intimate backdrop to the new terrace that surveys the expansive lawn, drawing even the casual observer into the landscaped perimeter."

Materials like clay tile, copper, carved wood, and local stone, according to Donatelli, "combine in new but sympathetic ways, harkening back to the home's original era and techniques of the past."

The judges liked how the material choices, proportioning, and craftsmanship unified the property and brought a "romantic quality" to the utilitarian addition.

Category: Additions, over $250,000

Location: St. David's, Pa.

Contractor: Daniel Donatelli, C. Raymond Davis and Sons, Kimberton, Pa.

Designer: Bill Johnson, Peter Zimmerman Architects, Berwyn, Pa.

Bathroom Remodeling

Stark Contrast

This 420-square-foot attic space had been divided into two small bedrooms and a bathroom. The clients wanted to remove all the walls and convert it into an open master bedroom suite. According to the judges, architect Robert Cole succeeded in creating an "exciting, spacious, and theatrical room."

Cole started with an open plane of stained MDF flooring. He removed the ceiling and incorporated existing timber rafters into the design, then filled the room with stark white fixtures, black floors and shelves, glass and Lumasite panels, and stainless steel. The judges said the modern materials provide an innovative contrast to the 80-year-old rafters.

Instead of a bath "room," Cole used acid-etched glass panels to divide the open area and hung a flat screen television on the bedroom side, in front of the panels. The judges particularly liked the open shower, which has back-lit panels that form the two back walls, a long tube shower fitting, and a wood slat floor. The straight lines and colors of the bath fixtures are in keeping with the clean architecture. Category: Bathroom remodeling, $50,000 to $100,000

Location: Alexandria, Va.

Contractor: Richard Hazboun, Added Dimensions, Takoma Park, Md.

Designer: Robert Cole, Cole Prevost, Washington, D.C.