Studio Z Design Concepts: Speculative Luxury Home 3,500 to 5,000 Square Feet, Gold Award Winner
What is an artist? A person who creates with their imagination? With their hands? Someone who enriches lives in some way? What if I said an artist is a person who develops an individual idea and transforms that idea into something that speaks to another?
I prefer this last definition, because it encompasses not only the creator but also those for whom a thing is created. This definition recognizes that, in order to be an artist, a person’s work must connect to someone else in some way. It is in this sense that I think of architects, builders, and remodelers as artists, developing concepts for homes that their clients can truly identify with, that they can live in. Whether designing for a specific client or constructing a spec house for some unknown family, these professionals must create homes that speak to someone in order to succeed.
Having said that, the winners of this year’s Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association’s (MNCBIA) Custom Builder Awards of Excellence deserve congratulations. The projects you will see in the following pages are filled with personality and style. They consider environment, scale, and function. They are, in fact, works of art.
Studio Z Design Concepts
Speculative Luxury Home
3,500 to 5,000 Square Feet
GOLD AWARD WINNER
Designed to take advantage of a park-like setting on a sloping lot, this house features a shingle and stone exterior and charming front porch reminiscent of the turn-of-the-century, traditional style. Dramatic rooflines and a custom mahogany front door designed by builder Patrick Keating add character to the façade. One of the challenges to designing speculative infill projects is maintaining the feel of the surrounding area while also creating a unique property that will interest potential buyers—this colorful arts-and-crafts style remains in keeping with the neighborhood. Although building a speculative home and thus not designing for a particular client, Studio Z Design Concepts created a structure ideal for entertaining, a typical request from clients in the Chevy Chase area.
Photography by Ron Solomon. Construction by Patrick K. Keating Company, Inc.
BOWA Builders, Inc.
Custom Partial House Renovation
GOLD AWARD WINNER
The homeowners of this traditional house in Potomac hired BOWA Builders to design a space that would make use of their rear yard and create smoother transitions through the home. “You couldn’t get from one room to the next,” says Principal Steve Kirstein. “We tried to open closed, cramped spaces.”
To remedy the home’s awkward flow, they designed a sweeping hall across the length of the back of the house that allowed access to all rooms. French doors and stained glass skylights ensure a rich light quality. Twin circular staircases flank the renovation leading to the pool, patio, and outdoor areas.
Other than creating a seamless transition between existing and newly established spaces, the most difficult part of this project, according to Kirstein, was accommodating the clients, who chose to remain in the home during the renovation process.
Photography by Jim Tetro. Architecture by Thomas French Architect, PC
Chevy Chase Customs, LLC
Custom House Addition
GOLD AWARD WINNER
To take advantage of views of this forested site and provide added space, Chevy Chase Customs designed a creative addition that includes a family room, house bib, and screen porch. To promote circulation around the house, interior and exterior spiral staircases connect the new areas. Windows that complement the existing home span the length of the interior stair and offer glimpses of backyard greenery. The family room, characterized by a spacious pyramidal ceiling, connects with the kitchen and living room. The lower level provides a pet area and attaches to a nicely sized screen porch. Framed by robust stone piers, the porch transitions between inside and out. To contain the addition, Chevy Chase Customs crowned the unique massing with distinct rooflines.
Light and materials serve important roles in this Arts-and-Crafts home, located on a wooded lot in Bethesda. Meridian Homes, Inc. carefully arranged the house to offer ample family and guest space as well as quiet areas for family members including a master suite, private library, deck, and breakfast room.
The vestibule is accented with skylights, crown molding, and limestone flooring; the cozy living room features an artistic fireplace surrounded in marble; a chair rail, wainscoting, and double hung windows with transoms in the dining room add custom detail; and the home is outfitted with a luxury kitchen and butler’s pantry. The master suite echoes the home’s entryway with double hung windows, a three-sided fireplace with limestone surround, and a sitting room with his and her walk-in closets.
Photography by Saima Akhtar. Architecture by Mangan Group Architects.
Meridian Homes, Inc.
Custom Home 5,000 to 7,500 Square Feet
GOLD AWARD WINNER
When asked to design a home for a large family that frequently entertains, Rosemark Design/Build set to the task of creating a rich gentleman’s estate. Varied rooflines and a number of wings and entrances provide the feeling that this home was perhaps built in phases over several generations. The owners’ want list included integrated kitchen, dining, and living areas for the family and formal dining, living, and serving areas for company. The master suite, situated on the home’s main level, is easily accessible for the soon-to-be empty nesters and connects to a study, allowing them to work from home. A lower level houses a fitness center, in-law suite, and dramatic wine cellar to accommodate the owners’ collection.
Working in an established neighborhood in Bethesda under precise building regulations, Sandy Spring Builders needed to make sense of this old home. Rather than raise the entire structure, they collaborated with the client, an interior designer, to create an old-world feel using much of the existing structure. Care was taken to preserve an in-ground pool as well as a stream that ran under a stone bridge. Part of the driveway, this structure was reworked to feel like an old European stone bridge. From there, the drive leads through a breezeway, part of the original garage. In the family room, Sandy Spring crafted built-ins from rescued barn wood, lending a warm feeling to the room.
Photography by Bob Narod. Architecture by Studio Z Design Concepts.
Rosemark Design/Build
Custom Home Over 12,500 Square Feet
GOLD AWARD WINNER
Taking advantage of forested views and borrowing lines from a neighboring farm, Wood Visions Construction selected a linear design for this contemporary home that incorporates large walls of glass, judicious ceilings, and an open floor plan. A skywalk also opens the living area to the woods and creates the sensation of floating over the lush landscape. The unconventional design employs only straight lines and makes careful and creative use of a prominent diagonal line along the home’s exterior.
He likes the modern style, but she wants a home with Victorian charm, so Whittington Design/Build crafted a house that not only meshes their tastes, but fits the context of the neighborhood as well. After studying the architecture of other houses in the area, the owners and designers selected a gambrel roof structure to keep the scale of the house from overwhelming the site. An integrated landscape plan including plantings, a flagstone patio, a sitting wall, and custom fencing adds to the exterior charm. The screened porch beyond the family room pleased the wife’s desire for a porch space similar to one from a previous home, while the third floor stair tower introduced the husband’s modern flair to the structure.
Photography by Sandra Mack. Architecture by Design Concepts Architects.
Sandy Spring Builders, LLC
Custom Transitional Home
GOLD AWARD WINNER
With its shingle style and full-length front porch, the exterior of this home forms a romantic scene accented by tapered columns, cedar bracketed gables, an eyebrow dormer, and exposed “king post” trusses. Interior space in the foyer is maximized with deep arched case openings and views to the second floor hallway. Spacious connections between the kitchen and living room and throughout the home create an open area and promote circulation. Windows are dispersed through the living areas to offer lighting and an airy atmosphere. The family room features a ten-foot tray ceiling.
Working for a client who travels regularly, Jeffco Development Corp., along with Custom Design Concepts, was entrusted to deliver quality construction with little client interaction. The architectural design is one-of-a-kind, themed as a Mediterranean estate. Solid masonry veneer, a hand-troweled Italianesque finish, and a European imported roof system make for a truly handsome building. Unique exterior detailings also include custom blacksmith railings and a cobbled courtyard. Inside, guests are greeted by an artistically designed floating staircase with a hand-forged railing and brackets. Limestone floors lead to an immense, two-story library crafted of cherry millwork. The custom limestone fireplace and spiral staircase give the room an old-world charm.
Photography by Michael Kress. Architecture by Sutton Yantis Associates.
Wood Visions Construction, Inc.
Custom Contemporary Home
GOLD AWARD WINNER
Located in a well-established neighborhood in Bethesda, this charming traditional home required an update to better fit the active lifestyle of its owners. Emphasis was placed on renovating the “kitchen wing,” which includes a mudroom, pantry, breakfast area, powder room, and garage. In the kitchen, a decorative wooden hood with tile inlay coordinates with the tumbled stone tile backsplash.
Meridian Homes, Inc. took great care during the renovation process to maintain the existing feel of the home, dismantling, refinishing, and reinstalling the original staircase and keeping original moldings in tact. Upstairs in the reconfigured master suite, the group enhanced existing built-ins with a new finish and hardware. Meridian played with fieldstone, a hip roof, and a dormer window on the home’s exterior faces, tying together new and existing spaces with architectural shingles.
Photography by Julia Heine. Architecture by McInturff Architects.
Whittington Design/Build
Custom Home Under 3,500 Square Feet
GOLD AWARD WINNER
Built by Patrick K. Keating Construction, this arts-and-crafts style home, nestled into the crest of a hill, makes skillful use of floor plans, steps, ceiling heights, and windows to create a central gallery space that branches through the house. Coffered ceilings complete with recessed lighting highlight the homeowners’ exquisite art collection. Upstairs, Studio Z positioned the master suite above the tallest point on the lot, surrounding the room with large windows that look out over treetops. The result is a year-round art show that changes with the seasons. The bedroom is complete with his and hers walk-in closets and an oversized dressing area with custom built-ins.
Clients for this traditional custom home needed a house that could keep up with their active and energetic growing family while still allowing them to entertain in a sophisticated environment. After locating a nicely- sized lot, Sandy Spring Builders set to work designing a functional and livable yet elegant home. The front of the house contains the family’s entertaining rooms—a banquet-size dining room, bar, and formal entryway with warm wood floors. A family center includes the kitchen, breakfast room, family room, laundry, garage, and back staircase separate from the more public areas of the home. Additional family space was gained with a family-friendly great room in the basement and an outdoor sport court.
Photography by Bryan Whittington. Architecture by Fox Architects.
AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE WINNERS
Speculative Luxury Home Under 3,500 Sq.Ft.
Silver Award Home Builders, Inc.
Architect: Architecture Collaborative, Inc.
Speculative Luxury Homes 3,500 to 5,000 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Studio Z Design Concepts
Builder: Patrick K. Keating Company, Inc.
Silver Award Hemingway Homes, LLC
Architect: KAW Architects
Bronze Award Ridan Builders
Architect: Creaser/O’Brien Architects
Bronze Award Crescendo Homes LLC
Architect: The Lessard Architectural Group
Speculative Luxury Homes 5,000 to 7,500 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Wood Visions Construction, Inc.
Architect: Claude C. Lapp Architects
Silver Award Studio Z Design Concepts
Builder: Patrick K. Keating Company, Inc.
Bronze Award Douglas Construction Group, LLC
Architect: Raoul Ussabet, AIA
Speculative Luxury Home Over 7,500 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Studio Z Design Concepts Builder:
Holohan Development Inc.
Speculative Luxury Traditional Homes
Gold Award Studio Z Design Concepts
Builder: Patrick K. Keating Company, Inc.
Silver Award Studio Z Design Concepts
Builder: Holohan Development Inc.
Bronze Award W.C. & A.N. Miller Companies
Architect: Ken Weinstein
Custom Homes Under 3,500 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Whittington Design/Build Architect: Fox Arcitects
Silver Award Rosemark Design/Build
Architect: Design Concepts Architects
Custom Homes 3,500 to 5,000 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Chevy Chase Customs, LLC
Architect: Mangan Group Architects
Silver Award Rosemark Design/Build
Architect: Snyder-Egbue Architects
Bronze Award Golden Builders, Inc.
Architect: William Lindy
Custom Homes 5,000 to 7,500 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Meridian Homes, Inc.
Architect: Studio Z Design Concepts
Silver Award Rosenthal Homes
Architect: SMB Architects
Bronze Award Rosemark Design/Build
Architect: Snyder-Egbue Architects
Custom Home 7,500 to 12,500 Sq.Ft.
Gold Award Jeffco Development Corp.
Architect: Custom Design Concepts
Custom Home Over 12,500 Square Feet
Gold Award Rosemark Design/Build
Architect: Design Concepts Architects
Custom Traditional Home
Gold Award Sandy Spring Builders, LLC
Architect: Sutton Yantis Associates
Custom Contemporary Home
Gold Award Wood Visions Construction, Inc.
Architect: McInturff Architects
Custom Transitional Home
Gold Award Sandy Spring Builders, LLC
Architect: Sutton Yantis Associates
Custom House Additions
Gold Award Chevy Chase Customs, LLC
Architect: Mangan Group Architects
Silver Award Douglas Construction Group, LLC
Architect: Raoul Ussabet, AIA
Custom Kitchen
Gold Award Wood Visions Construction, Inc.
Architect: Claude C. Lapp Architects
Custom Partial House Renovations
Gold Award Bowa Builders, Inc.
Architect: Thomas French Architect, PC
Silver Award Whittington Design/Build
Architect: Peter Grina
Custom Whole House Renovations
Gold Award Meridian Homes, Inc.
Architect: Sutton Yantis Associates
Silver Award Windsor Design-Build Inc.
Architect: Kent Williams
Bronze Award Building Innovations, LLC
Architect: Mangan Group Architects
