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The desire to relax outside in style is inspiring extraordinary design. Consider the charming gazebo that Robert Gurney of Robert M. Gurney, FAIA Architect designed in Great Falls, VA. It exudes the character of an Arts and Crafts structure with a contemporary twist. “I designed this outdoor room so the homeowners could sit in the pavilion at water’s edge,” Gurney says of his cantilevered gazebo. After reworking a rugged grade, using a thin steel frame to define the room, a massive fieldstone chimney to anchor the space, and a steeply pitched copper roof to top it, Gurney designed a structure that becomes a destination and delights its owners. It’s their favorite spot to entertain, listen to music, read the Sunday paper, and unwind.
Victorian Splendor
The way Skip and Debbie Singleton recently had their Palisades property landscaped harkens to an era of grand old estates. Despite being challenged by a steep slope and an 18-foot drop, the Singletons wanted to enjoy the fact that their property overlooks Battery Kemble Park in Washington, DC. So they had a special pier system installed by F. d. Neal Construction Ltd. with 39 helical piers drilled into the ground to support a classic cabana and swimming pool with state-of-the-art amenities. The steep slope was filled in, leveled, and surrounded by a hand-forged iron fence by Chris Shea and landscaped by Mario Landscape Service Inc. The limestone terrace under the cabana seamlessly flows into the limestone coping around the heated salt water pool by Alpine Pool & Design Corporation. Architect John Barbara of Studio JNB PLLC designed a gracious cabana that complements the Singletons’ lovely Victorian home, Glen Hurst, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The cedar scallop shingles, made by Smoot Lumber Co., echo those on the 1880 house, as do the three historic colors on the cabana. Graceful Janus et Cie furniture, constructed from galvanized steel to hold up in all weather conditions, features flow-through fill cushions that drain after it rains. And a sound system ties into the main house. The cabana also holds a heated and air-conditioned bathroom complete with a shower and terrazzo tiles, plus a wet bar with Waterworks fixtures, a Viking refrigerator and ice-maker, phone lines, and WiFi. The Singletons, who own DC Living Real Estate, can work in the cabana, take a break to swim a lap in the pool, and then get back to business. “I’m just waiting for the waterproof laptop,” Debbie says.
Casual Fireside
Betsy Owen, principal of Maison et Jardin Ltd., and her husband, Charles Owen, principal of Fine Landscapes, recently added an O.W. Lee granite fire pit with lava rocks to their gorgeous Great Falls property, which features a series of inviting outdoor rooms. “This is the gentleman’s outdoor smoking lounge,” says Betsy. She selected Summer Classics’ Motion Rockers, made of woven all-weather wicker and covered in Sunbrella fabric, to complement the fire pit, which runs on propane and is two feet high. “People love a fire, this is a good height. It generates warmth for cool nights, and you could also roast s’mores,” she adds. While this new fire pit enhances a 14-by-14 foot area of the Owens’ property, it could also fit into a more intimate setting. “This would be suitable on a deck. If you’re allowed to have a gas grill, you can have this,” Betsy says.
Magical Glass Wonders
For the last 15 years, Alan Stein and Nancy Virts, co-founders of Tanglewood Conservatories, have been creating romantic conservatories using centuryold techniques with details such as copper-clad windows, stained glass, fanciful eave brackets, and mahogany.
“Our clients want to be part of the outdoors, but they want to be inside at the same time,” says Stein, who is also president and director of architecture at Tanglewood. These extraordinary conservatories are built in their entirety at the Denton, MD, workshop, then disassembled with each part carefully numbered, and reassembled onsite by the same crew who built it.
A recent commission in Delaware features a vaulted copper roof, gabled entry, and transom windows, pictured right. “The clients wanted a retreat away from the main house that could be used for many different functions inside,” Virts, vice president, says. A sumptuous sitting area and in-ground spa provide an enchanted escape.
The owner of the greenhouse pictured opposite was looking for an Old World industrial aesthetic. “We produced sketches of several of the ideas along a concept to build the main structure out of steel plates welded together then ‘skinned’ with a lightweight wood window wall system and topped with a glass roof – much the same way a great conservatory might have been built in the 1850s when there was an explosion of building with iron and glass,” Stein says of this Palm House in Leesburg, VA. Tanglewood tries to add personal details when possible. In this case for instance, the four leaf clover motifs reflect the owner’s native Ireland.
