In a prime situation just one block from the historic beauty of Georgetown University’s campus, this townhouse with its English basement entrance and elevated rear garden presented particular challenges to crafting a cohesive vision for the site. In line with our design approach, our solution embraced a playful relationship between Renaissance palazzo spatial organization and the clean lines of a severe modernist classicism. The façade indicates a tri-partite organization: the entry level supports a “piano nobile” of the public rooms, subtly underscored with ironwork, and the primary suites above. A gracious Italianate cornice caps the verticality and lends gravitas to the façade as a whole. The “piano nobile” level maximizes the living space. The library, whose inset wooden framed bookcases nod to the design ethos of Michael Graves, fills with light through generous windows framed with sleek classical forms. A galley kitchen creates a transition space between the library and elegantly appointed living room. The fireplace surround, salvaged from one of the grand houses of Georgetown, offers an interior focal point. The three harmonious sets of floor-to-ceiling bi-panel glass doors bathe the living room with natural light while connecting it to the limestone terrace and the garden beyond. Italian Renaissance garden principals infuse the exterior.  A central stone staircase, marked by a pair of granite obelisks, punctuates the wall and rises to a pair of parterres whose sides are elegantly framed by classical architectural motifs. The grotto-esque back wall with its cast-iron dolphin fountain and “1831” – the date of the original house on the site – create an exterior focal point for a secret oasis in the heart of one of Washington, D.C.’s oldest neighborhoods.

Photography by Gordon Beall