City? Country? Why not both? Timothy and Jocelyn Greenan had been living in Potomac, MD, but neither was satisfied. He wanted to live in the country while she preferred the city. “I grew up in the country and always fancied myself the city girl,” says Jocelyn, who was reared on a farm in Loudoun County, VA. Their savvy Realtor suggested they buy two houses, one in the city and another in the country. After finding a classical French-style house in Northwest Washington, DC, and a restored stone barn turned-residence for weekends in Marshall, VA, the Greenans now both feel at home.
“I never thought I wanted a newly constructed house until I saw this one. It’s so clean and masculine,” Jocelyn says of their handsomely proportioned, 8,000-square-foot home designed and built by Rudi Djabbarzadeh, principal of Rudi D. The Greenans commissioned Fabiola Martens, principal of Fabiola Martens Interiors and Rudi D’s wife, to design the interiors.
“Fabiola is a magician with upholstery and guidance for colors on the walls and soft pieces,” says Jocelyn, who with Timothy enjoys collecting British and American Federal antiques. “With this house, we wanted to take our time,” she says.
“A lot of people want immediate gratification and don’t want to wait for the perfect piece,” Martens says. By contrast, the Greenans have taken several years to find just the right furnishings for their elegant home. While their exceptional antique collection includes pieces of extraordinary provenance, the Greenans, who have two young sons, Piers, 6, and Graham, 3, also mix in furnishings they can use on a daily basis. “We don’t want a couch that is 200 years old that someone’s going to sit down on the wrong way and splinter a leg,” Jocelyn says.
Starting Fresh
Since the Greenans moved most of their furnishings from their Potomac home to their residence outside of Middleburg, Martens felt she was starting with a clean canvas in the new city house, which has classic lines, wonderful flow, and views of greenery through almost every window and door.
The stately central entrance hall, a Rudi D signature, creates a dramatic introduction to the house. Martens had a crest that subtly intertwines “G” for Greenan and “N” for Napolitano, Jocelyn’s maiden name, hand painted on the herringbone floor in the foyer. Beyond, she left the expansive hall, which leads to the dining and living rooms and a covered porch with mahogany flooring, bare rather than adding a rug. “A lot of the old French houses, the mini chateaux, don’t have rugs. With such classical architecture, this lets you breathe, leaves the space open,” says Martens, 45. When the Greenans, passionate collectors, lost a pair of 1940s iron metal palm trees that were up for auction, Martens reinterpreted the design and had them custom made in iron and tole by Mike Reid Weeks. The pair stand like sentinels over a one-of-a-kind High Regency table c. 1805 that’s made of Coromandel and amboyna.
Contemplating Art
A glorious Bagues-style chandelier of beaded crystal and gilt metal palms that Martens discovered in an antiques warehouse in New York crowns the soigné living room with its pale pistachio green Venetian plaster walls, knole sofas covered in silk velvet, antique Oushak rug, and three cherished paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings, the great English post-impressionist.
“Sometimes at night, if it’s quiet in the house and I can’t find Timothy, I’ll look here, and usually this is where I’ll find him, looking at his paintings,” says Jocelyn, 35, referring to the refined living room.
Indeed Timothy, 48, medical director and co-founder of ImagiMed, a telemedicine company that specializes in open magnetic resonance imaging, enjoys his art immensely. “Art speaks to your heart. Great paintings are like old friends,” he says.
Art Connoisseurs
Timothy knows the history of each piece of art and antique in his home. He speaks enthusiastically, for example, about a distinctive black Regency slipper chair, pictured right, that he acquired from the Bill Blass estate. “Look at the lines on that chair,” he says, admiring the clean curves that seem remarkably contemporary on the c. 1810 chair that now graces his living room.
Across the central hall, Martens created a dining room with an intimate feel. “The French doors open onto the porch, so there’s no direct light,” she says. Instead of fighting that, Martens embraced it. “The Greenans rarely have lunch here. This is more of an evening dining room, so we wanted to make it very warm,” she says.
“The starting point was a Heriz rug, a serapi c. 1880, which has an intense, deep coral color,” Martens says of the rug the Greenans bought in Middleburg. This inspired her to layer multiple coats of paint in similar shades applied to the walls to create an aged effect. “The idea was for the walls to look almost like water had dripped, like striation,” says Martens, who also had mica added for subtle iridescence.
The Greenans bought a Boston American Federal mahogany pedestal dining room table c. 1800. Martens custom designed dining room chairs based on the classic Klismos chair, which she compares to the female body. “It’s like a woman, narrow in the middle,” she says.
Inspired by draperies she’d seen in a photo of one of Marie Antoinette’s rooms, Martens designed golden silk bishop’s sleeve draperies to complement the gold leaf on the ceiling. She also added a Charles X period chandelier, a pair of sconces, and low voltage halogen lighting. “The idea was that with the glow at night of candlelight, I wanted to make everyone look good,” Martens says. Dining while surrounded by fine art also helps guests feel good. The Greenans have accented their dining room with old masters’ paintings, including one above the mantel by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, who also painted Louis XIV’s menagerie. Rare objets d’art, such as a pair of American white pine eagle wall brackets c. 1770 and a silver German 19th century presentation piece stirrup cup that holds a liter of champagne, are among other highlights in the memorable room.
Pleasant Dreams
Upstairs, another porch, above the one on the first floor, provides splendid views over the garden and across the Potomac to Virginia. This “sunbathing balcony,” as Rudi D, 57, calls it, is accessible from three bedrooms including the owners’. “You want to have good circulation in a house, but I also try to have good circulation in a room. You should be able to get out of that room to an area that’s private. The balcony works well for those bedrooms,” the architect says.
“That balcony provides the best fireworks viewing on the Fourth of July. We can see about six fireworks displays in Virginia,” Jocelyn adds. On the day of our shoot, a glance from the balcony revealed a visitor in the garden of the Palisades home – a young buck with a new set of antlers.
In Piers’ room, pictured above, Martens took advantage of the view. “I put the bed under the window so at night, when Piers sees leaves in the wind, he will make up stories,” she says of the sleigh bed, which includes a trundle bed and custom linens.
Quiet and Calm
The owners’ bedroom, pictured opposite, reflects various subtle shades of champagne and evokes an Old Hollywood style of glamour. Every detail is luxurious from the sumptuous cashmere draperies and upholstered pure silk walls to the custom-made duchess sateen-covered headboard, and muted antique Indian rug. A striking mirrored desk and an art deco armchair with a sweetheart back are among the carefully chosen furnishings. This is one room where the Greenans plan to add more when they find exactly what they want, but they’re in no rush.
“This is a quiet, grown-up zone,” Martens says. “The TV is in the sitting room. This would only be for reading, sleeping, and romance.”
An Eclectic Mix
The family room, pictured opposite, reflects Timothy’s keen interest in horses and dogs. An equestrian, who rides a few times a week, he also collects oil paintings of dogs. In fact, the Greenans have 65 antique dog paintings in their Marshall home. Timothy also collects antique dog collars and marvels at the effort people went to in the last century to care for their canines. “In Edwardian England, objects made for daily life were so exquisitely made. They tell you sociologically about how people felt about their dogs,” he says.
The fact that Timothy rotates his art so consistently in both his city and country homes reveals how he feels about his collections, too. He tries to move paintings around every six months. “It’s like you’ve got new paintings because you see them from a different perspective,” he says.
With gorgeous residences now in both the city and country, the Greenans have the best of both worlds.
