Avid art collectors and gregarious hosts, our clients wanted to return this 1860’s Greek Revival Dumbarton townhouse to its original elegance while expanding the property to accommodate their penchant for entertaining. Our design focused on seamless integration between historic restoration and a two-storey, modern addition to meet their needs. A fireplace with a renovated nineteenth-century surround forms a focal point for the gracious living room, framed with full inset panelling, a high dado, and detailed crown molding. New floor-to-ceiling windows flood the formerly dour room with full light and offer a vista to the landscaped terrace beyond. The subtle tones and cool, gray variegated marble of the de Giulio kitchen matched the refined ethos of the classicism of the original house. This ethos is continued in the more casual gathering space of the sunroom of the addition, with the clean lines of a modernist aesthetic that define the bright space with its mahogany-framed windows and French doors providing ease of access to the terrace and pool beyond. The discrete side entrance to the garden terrace adds a whimsical element, a nod to the history of garden entertaining appropriate for this gem tucked away in Georgetown.

Photography by Gordon Beall