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Life along the back fence line has become infinitely more interesting,” Sally Coulthard writes in her new book, Shed Chic, as she describes the growing popularity of – and myriad uses given to – detached structures on residential properties. “Where else can you escape from the house without traveling more than a few yards?”
We’ve found some glorious examples of that notion in our own backyard. They include a prominent family’s poolside retreat, a car collector’s dream garage, and an ambassador’s private sauna. For more incredible “sheds,” click on the “More Escapes at Home” link in the “Article Extras” section at the left to see a transplanted Russian teahouse, an historic barn-turned-art-gallery, and state-of-the-art horse stables.
A Retreat for Guests, Kids, and Date Night
As a part owner of the Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics teams, and a successful Internet entrepreneur, Raul Fernandez and his wife Jean-Marie do a lot of entertaining. That’s why they needed a guest house on their Potomac, MD, property. Designed by Ankie Barnes and decorated by José Solis Betancourt, it has a bedroom, two full baths, a full kitchen, and a laundry room.
Recording artist MC Hammer and wife Stephanie Fuller were the Fernandezes’ guests for five days during President Obama’s inauguration, for example. “It’s nice that you’re having people stay with you, but they also feel like they’re not intruding on your space, and they can come and go when they like,” Jean-Marie says.
And with three young children, she adds, “We wanted to be able to use the pool and to have the kitchen and the bathroom really close.” Jean-Marie’s fondest use, however, is a date night there with her husband. “He made dinner, and we had it in the pool house,” she says, “so it felt like we were going away.”
The Ultimate ‘Old Country Garage’
Randy Kell’s love of cars began in 1964 at age 16, when he purchased a 1961 Corvette. It wasn’t a classic then, but it is now, he says. It’s among his collection of more than 30 classic cars and motorcycles, and they are finally all in one place – in a barn on the waterfront Annapolis property where he and his wife, Jan Churchill, are building a home. (Previously, the former commercial real estate executive kept his cars and bikes in parking garages all over DC and Northern Virginia.)
Kell discovered the Maine Barn Company about seven years ago. He spent the next five years getting the proper permitting for the waterfront site, and working on a design with Annapolis Architect Catherine Purple Cherry. The result was worth the wait, he says. There’s a display area for the cars and bikes, a bay with car lifts where Kell can work on them, a wash and lubrication bay, a workshop, and a studio above.
The barn also serves as a museum for his “petroliana,” which includes old gas pumps, gas-station, and car-dealership signs that accent both the exterior and interior spaces. “I wanted it to look sort of like an old country garage,” Kell says. “It’s a great hobby, and I’ve had such a great time building this barn.”
A Slice of Finland in DC
In the words of Finnish Ambassador Pekka Lintu, sauna “is the very essence of the Finnish way of life… I would have difficulty imagining a way of life in Finland without sauna.” Indeed, he points out, Finland is a country of 5 million people and 2 million saunas.
When Lintu arrived at the ambassador’s residence in 2006, he found a log-cabin-style sauna that had been built in 1965, which was in serious need of an upgrade. “We wanted to build something that would be contemporary architecture – [the way] saunas are now designed in Finland,” Lintu says. The structure, designed by Finnish Architect Erkki Savolainen and local Architect Eric Morrison of Morrison Architects, incorporates the same type of brick as the main residence – with a much more modern twist. Lintu uses the sauna two to three times per week, with family, friends, and official guests such as visiting dignitaries and congressmen. “People come rather curious,” he says. “They seem to be pleased.”
