The recurring theme of this contemporary addition is openness – in space and in thought. For Joan Parker, the three-story addition to a traditional home she and her husband David Gordon and sons Alex and Charlie had lived in for more than 10 years meant flowing the inside with the outside and providing space to entertain. “The first floor open plan means we spend more time together without being on top of one another,” Parker says. For Alex and Charlie, the addition to their Northwest Washington home provides more space downstairs to play pool, watch TV, and have friends over. It also gives them a homework corner on the main floor that relates to the rest of the home. “You can see what’s going on,” Charlie says, while Alex likes the light from the corner windows.
Lessons emerged in this renovation project as well. “One thing I learned from all this is to keep an open mind,” Gordon says. “The interesting thing about the house is that we use all the space,” he adds. This is just what Architect John Dennis Murphey, principal of Meditch Murphey Architects, had in mind.
“We wanted a house where every space would be regularly used and where the distinction between ‘original house’ and ‘addition’ would disappear,” Parker adds. When Murphey saw the beautiful street and colonial homes, he knew he wanted to keep the front intact, but just hint at a change.
“Always think in terms of light,” Murphey says. “During the initial interview, I wanted to look out the windows, but couldn’t,” he adds. To rectify this, Murphey first created a front-to-back, six-foot-wide center hallway. He pushed the existing staircase out of the way and opened up the living room by removing walls. “The hall also forced most of the new construction off to one side resulting in new spaces that were wonderfully long and thin,” he adds.
“I wanted to pull the backyard right through the house and tight up to the front door,” Murphey says. “If you’re lucky, you can hit on an idea strong enough to make everything else fall in line behind it. That’s what happened here. This idea ended up running the show – it ordered everything.”
A Band of Light
The second floor of the addition seems to float above the main floor due to the band of clerestory windows. “The design allowed me to play with a few ideas that have really intrigued me, such as floating a whole volume – something the clerestory windows appear to do – and working with long thin spaces,” Murphey says. “Of course, we always learn from our lighting,” adds Murphey, who worked with Brian Berger, project architect with Meditch Murphey Architects, on this design and Maureen Moran of MCLA Inc. for lighting.
The dining room’s clerestory windows also borrow the neighbor’s treetops, Murphey says, emphasizing the connection to the outside while complementing the more than 200 lights hidden on the beams. “The ceiling is like a lampshade,” the architect adds, and the wall of Channel glass is like moving art. The sun silhouettes the branches and creates a dazzling light show. Parker says, “It’s like a dancing painting.” A skylight in the dining room floor adds natural light to the lower level.
While redesigning the kitchen, Murphey opened the cooking area to the original living room via an oversized pass-through. This was a surprise for Parker. “This is less of a pass-through than an architectural entrance,” she says. Gordon, who does a good deal of the cooking, is a fan of the new kitchen. “The kitchen gives the illusion of being large,” he says. “It doesn’t look or act or feel small.” Being in the center of the home, this cooking station with glass backsplash and Corian counters “doesn’t dissipate the flow,” Gordon adds.
A Treasure
The walls remained white throughout the home so the colors of furnishings and accessories create an impact. From the chartreuse circular sofa to the eggplant homework chairs to the lime green porch seats, the home is comfortable and inviting. It’s important that the home has a sense of fun, Parker adds.
In the living room, they also custom designed an area rug with lines that lead to the front door at one angle and to the rear from another vantage point. They draw your eyes to the light.
Murphey sees this home as a tree house, while Parker calls it her “pearl,” a small treasure. “It’s everything you could want in a small space,” she says. With the new 1,200-square-foot addition, the house totals approximately 2,700 square feet excluding the lower level, Murphey says.
“John and Joan could envision what the space could be,” says Gordon, who left the interior design up to his wife. “Mom had her ideas of what she wanted,” Charlie adds.
Creativity Abounds
Parker and Gordon interviewed several architects, but couldn’t quite find someone with the same vision they had, until they got a postcard from Meditch Murphey Architects. A guest cottage on the card inspired Parker to call the firm. “This is what I had been waiting for,” she adds. “I didn’t want a formal home; I wanted it to wrap its arms around those who live in the space.”
The boys and their friends like how modern the home is. The whole family is thrilled with the results.
“The house sets a wonderful mood,” Parker says, “from the first morning sip of coffee while watching birds to seeing the kids and their friends flow from one space to the next. It’s the sort of house that naturally begs us to call our friends, play good music, collect art that delights, and cook great food. In short, it’s a happy and creative space.”
