One of Georgetown’s unique properties, the townhouse known as the “Seam House” bears witness to its over two-hundred-year history. A visible seam down the middle of the Federal façade clearly demarcates the co-joining of the initial 1700’s workshop and its significant nineteenth-century expansion. Charmed by the house’s two centuries of growth, the owner sought to leave her own mark through a full renovation and  a three-level addition that would both pay homage to the site’s history and reflect her sense of eclectic modernity. Following the mantra of “repair rather than replace,” we removed years of paint to reveal the eighteenth-century timber roof beams in the house’s original section, restored the original pine floor, and stripped and reglazed original windows and French doors to create an ethos of unity from the sense of accretion that pervaded the interior. To expand the living space, we removed an uninspired twentieth-century addition projecting into the rear garden. We replaced it with an annex that included a new Snidero kitchen along with steel casement windows and doors, a primary bedroom suite, and a lower-level playroom – all accessed by a clean, contemporary staircase. 100-year-old reclaimed pine flooring ties – both visually and figuratively – the historic spaces of the house to those of the new addition. Interior designer Azali Kassum elevated the sense of organic unity with the selection of timeless mid-century modernist pieces and nineteenth-century reverse glass portraits. This unity continues into the property’s landscape where a large wheel, discovered when excavating the area of the eighteenth-century workshop, serves as the focal piece for the sculpted terrace garden, an appropriate marker of this site with such rich history.

Photography by Gordon Beall