Project Details
- Project Name
- Bethesda, Md., Residence
- Location
-
Bethesda ,MD ,United States
- Architect
- David Jameson Architect
- Project Types
- Custom
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 3,400 sq. feet
- Awards
- 2006 Custom Home Design Award
- Shared by
- Editor
- Consultants
-
David Jameson Architect,Madden Corp,Landscape Architect: Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect,Paul Warchol
- Project Status
- Built
- Room or Space
- Living Room
- Style
- Modern
Project Description
2006 CHDA
Custom Home 3,000 to 5,000 Square Feet / Merit Award
The meticulous workmanship that went into this project impressed both the judging panel and the home's architect, David Jameson. "There's tremendous craft in this house," he says. The mason handcut the exterior stone so it forms a flawless ashlar pattern, while the contractor executed the challenge of a 12-by-24-foot window wall without a hitch. The stair railings, made from 1/4-inch stainless steel rods, convey the delicacy of piano strings, just as Jameson had intended. "We wanted a railing that shared the taut quality of the house," he says.
Top-notch construction isn't the home's only strong point. It's got a daringly imagined design as well. The original house on the site was a run-of-the-mill 1930s Colonial—perfectly pleasant, but not particularly exciting. Jameson took the house down to its foundation and re-created it with a Modern vocabulary. A stone-clad core holds the double-height living room, while stucco walls envelop that volume to form the rest of the spaces. "The big idea was to create these long linear stucco walls that wrap and protect the stone pavilion," says Jameson. The strategy handily gains the owners privacy from their close-by next-door neighbors. Because the house sits on its original footprint, its scale still works with its surroundings. "It's a very bold house for that context," said one judge.