An iconic building of the Washington landscape and in the national imagination, Luigi Moretti’s Watergate epitomizes the heritage of mid-century modernism. Capturing the ethos of that heritage while updating the space for today’s lifestyle became the challenge the owners brought to us in their desire for a complete renovation of their apartment in the historic building. We sought to balance in restoring the ideals of the Modernist free and open plan to take advantage of the 100 linear feet of windows and exquisite views of the Watergate complex and river beyond, while infusing the space with warmth, natural materials, and the joie de’vivre embodied by the owner’s contemporary art collection. This required dismantling earlier interventions, including the partitioning of the space with flimsy walls and the extensive 1980’s decorative exuberance found throughout the space – antitheses of the clean lines of Modernism. Reconfiguring the floorplan to maximize the views, we employed the Modernist device of a “floating” object to delineate the apartment’s spaces: columns, wrapped with teak and bronze panels, celebrate their visible structural purpose. A floating object wrapped in teak on one side and bird’s eye maple on the other delineates living room and family room. Following our maxim of preserving what is original and good, we saved the entrance hall’s Carrara marble floor, a nod to the grandeur of the Watergate, while wrapping its curved walls with Zebra wood that emphasizes its form. The curvature intentionally contrasts with the horizontal ribbon window beyond, and, for the element of surprise, we closed off one opening from the entrance hall to enhance the experience of  spatial delight as one moves through the apartment. A retro-fit of the kitchen by Snaidero followed the contours of our aesthetic. A partnership with New York designer Didi Granger in selection of soft, scaled furniture and textiles, paired with the owner’s works of artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Motherwell, create a holistic vision appropriate for the site’s place in American and architectural history.

Photography by Gordon Beall