As oenophiles deeply steeped in vineyard traditions and landscapes, the owners of this Potomac property sought a dwelling that reflected their knowledge and passion. We turned to French and Italian Renaissance villa precedents, and, working closely with celebrated interior designer Frank Randolph, we completely transformed an ordinary 1980’s brick house into a stately 20,000-square-foot residence evocative of Old World terroir. Drawing from the severe elegance of French Renaissance architecture, we transformed the prosaic brick front façade into a gracious limestone and stucco composition. Doric pilasters rise two storeys to support a planar imposing cornice, a robust framing of the façade’s central axis underscored by the graceful, yet weighty, rectangular copper-roofed bays. The façade offers a play between horizontal weight and vertical stretch in order to balance the hefty slate roof, punctuated by gable-clipped dormers. The original garage of the original structure was reimagined as a gardener’s cottage to maintain dialogue with the massing of the main house, completing the aesthetic of this redesign. A new four-bay garage organized with post-and-lintel articulation sits at a 90-degree angle to the primary structure. The configuration embraces a cobblestone motor court that, with its marble fountain inspired by a Roman sketch, recalls a European piazza. The spatial intersection of the approach offers a sense of cohesion to the expansive three-storey addition that envelops the rear of the house. The interior of the dwelling follows Renaissance villa principles. The formal spaces demonstrate a simplified elegance driven by the clean lines of doric classicism, while the design for the spaces of delight intentionally evoke their individual functions. The centrally planned wine cellar, with ample storage for an extensive collection and a tasting area, has a marble floor that suggests the compasses found in early cartography, playfully alluding to the global breadth of the collection. The small indoor spa, framed by windows in the modernist embrace of classicism, seems a natural extension of the woods beyond. Elegant exterior spaces continue the relationship between function, delight, and landscape. Bronze foliage detailing on the bronze colonnettes and balustrade add organic dynamism to the exterior dining loggia.  The exterior free-standing fireplace with its imposing massing of clear geometric lines forms the focal point of the patio surrounded by the woods, while the crisp rectangular pool nods to the rational proportions of the site as a whole. This extraordinary property holistically embodies the integration of the Renaissance villa with the land it occupies.

Photography by Gordon Beall