Picture a French-inspired estate nestled in Northern Virginia fitted to your immediate needs and able to accommodate coming lifestyle changes. It might sound like a soft promise, but the custom and semi-custom residences by Keswick Homes are designed and built with sound quality, endless options, and a personalized aesthetic influenced by European country homes.
It wouldn’t make sense to build a home, especially in the current market, without an eye on the long term. “We ask our clients what their plans are for the next five years,” says John McDonough, president of Keswick Homes. The idea is to get a sense of what they want not only from their space at the moment, but also what they will want – pools, space for grandkids, home theaters, sport courts, even elevators for easy access to different floors.
Keswick has eight fully customizable floor plans, but McDonough says 20 percent of clients choose to start from scratch. A range of design services are also available.
Kitchens You Can Live In
For most clients, McDonough says, the kitchen is central to lifestyle. “If both the husband and the wife like to cook, that changes the kitchen,” he says. Depending on the styles and needs of the family, the kitchen can have two cooktops, two dishwashers, double ovens – even a satellite outdoor kitchen. He says a popular option is a large kitchen with two separate islands.
Old World charm is (thankfully) blended with modern conveniences in the Frasier’s chef’s kitchen – the space has dual ovens, Fisher & Paykel furniture-front dishwasher drawers, an eight-burner Viking stove, a Sub-Zero freezer, and a catering kitchen abutting a bulk pantry and butler’s pantry. Every detail counts – as McDonough says, “about 80 percent of clients want a pot-filler.”
Amenable, Adjustable Space
As time flies, needs change. A bath may become less useful, elevators may become more so, and a space for the grandkids to while away the hours may become necessary. Having some foresight while planning will help make your home as versatile over the years as possible. “Lots of things we put in the house directly relate to specific lifestyle,” says McDonough. That includes oversized dual showers, storage cubbies, indoor pools, and automated lighting and shade-control systems. He describes one couple who wanted to incorporate their grandchildren in the design, and they ended up designing a mosaic in the grandkids’ bathroom using each child’s name. In homebuilding, it doesn’t get more personal than that.
