This breezeway, constructed to connect the existing home and the new addition, features brick inserts and bluestone banding.
The homeowners were attracted to the 1800s farmhouse because of its inherent character and setting amid lush lawns and woods. But because they simply did not have the time to take on the design of the project, they contacted Joseph Fava, of Fava Design Group located in Fort Lauderdale. Despite his Florida locale, Fava is a Baltimore native who retains roots—and clients-in the area.
“He has the ability to bridge a range of styles,” says the husband. “I like a traditional look and an Asian feel also. I like the style, quality, and historic feel of [Asian-inspired design], even though some of the pieces are new.” In addition, the house needed to be comfortable and livable to reflect the lifestyle of an active family.
The homeowners already had a few pieces, like an Asian apothecary chest, that informed Fava’s decisions. Working collaboratively with the homeowners, each detail and piece of furniture was hand selected to fit the style, size, and needs of the rooms.The capstone of the project is unmistakably the chinoiserie wallpaper Fava selected for the two-story foyer. “That was the inspiration, and the colors throughout the downstairs pulled from that wallpaper,” says Fava, noting how the soothing, earthy tones of cocoa, green, peach, and coral radiate from the hall into the surrounding rooms. “I knew that because of the clients’ interest in Asia, they would appreciate it as well,” Fava recalls. “All of the fabrics were extensions of the color palette in the wallpaper.”
The paper is a “pieced-paper,” a technique that gives the wallpaper dimension. It took a New York installer two weeks to hang the paper. Once installed, a watercolor artist hand-painted tiny corrections where the pieces of wallpaper joined. Now, the wallpaper is a stunning centerpiece to the custom interior design of the home. Ironically, it was the one design item that was a sticking point for the homeowners. “Joe was adamant that we should do it,” the husband recalls. “He had to convince me and I’m so glad he did.”
The natural bamboo wall covering from F. Schumacher is yet another Asian-inspired element of the home.
Having won over the homeowners, the project continued with each detail inspired and custom created. According to Fava, utilizing custom-made furnishings, rugs, and finishes gives the project not only uniqueness, but offers the flexibility to get exactly what a project needs. The canape and two custom chests are characterized by their traditional design, but topped with rock crystal lamps, add a splash of modernity to the foyer. Because the living and dining rooms are long and narrow, the rugs were custom made to properly fit the space.
Fava embraced the clients’ interest in texture over pattern, particularly with respect to the wall treatments. In the dining room, he upholstered the walls with a striped silk. “When you have a large space like that, the upholstered walls give it a nice warm feeling and it diminishes any echo,” he explains. The silk blends with the rich, English Gothic-inspired side chairs the clients purchased, and softens the finish on the side chairs as well as the perspective of an oversized custom dining table made to match the enormous scale of the room. Upholstered chairs set off-rather than compete with-the details in the gothic chairs and the luxuriant walls.
The theme of texture and unique wall treatments carries over into the library, which is paper covered with leather tiles painstakingly installed like bricks, piece by piece. “Not only do you have the texture of the leather but the tones of the leather, so it gives the room a lot of depth,” says Fava. The breakfast room is wallpapered in natural bamboo. Although meant to be hung horizontally, Fava installed it vertically-a tricky process-which gives the room a sense of height.
“I hadn’t seen this anywhere,” says the husband of the custom finishings. “The furniture pieces were beautiful and the uniqueness was really appealing.”
“The reality is that custom design gives you the opportunity to tweak everything to your specifications,” says Fava. “When you’re dealing with a designer, most people want custom because they don’t necessarily want something they’re going to see at a friend’s house or their next door neighbor’s.”The same feeling of custom comfort carried into the exterior spaces and a new addition added by the homeowners. Rather than sequester the exercise room in the basement, the homeowners brought on Penza Associates Architects to design a room for fitness. The structure stands like an airy pavilion in the landscape and features a dramatic cathedral ceiling and French doors with sweeping views to the remodeled exterior environment. “With the backyard looking so nice we decided to have it as open as possible,” says the husband. “In the warmer months we can open the doors and you feel almost like you’re outside.”
The addition of this outdoor pavilion—complete with fireplace—allows the homeowner and his guests to enjoy the outdoor space.
The existing pool received a major facelift from the addition of a dramatic exterior pavilion made of fieldstone with a post-and-beam ceiling and a copper roof. The addition of a fireplace makes the pavilion a welcome place of respite almost year-round. According to the husband, the goal was “to create another living environment where we can have friends and family over around the pool. Even when the weather isn’t great, with the fireplace, we can use it into the fall.”
According to landscape architect Stuart Ortel of Stone Hill Design, the placement of the exterior elements was important. The pavilion and pool create an axial view as visitors enter the landscape from the home’s breezeway, and there are views of the lawn from the exercise room. “It creates a nice enclave with views from the house, entranceway, and from the pool back to the house,” says Ortel.
The use of stone respects the home’s history and complements its setting, but it is offset by brick inserts and bluestone banding that add richness and dimension to the paving and hardscaped elements. “Using the fieldstone gave it a country setting that isn’t overdone,” says Ortel.
The exterior project required a lot of paving and structural work. To soften the look of the pavers, Ortel explains that the walkways meander, the stone walls are low, and there are places where the paving is broken by natural elements. “Between all of the structural elements of the home and the paving associated with them, we complemented the new structures with low stonewalls, landscaping, and decorative lighting,” explains Ortel. “But keeping it simple and allowing it all to read as one piece rather than over decorating or making any one element too elaborate kept everything working together.”
The property’s abundance of mature trees and its naturally elegant topographical changes meant that Ortel did not need to add large plant material. “The setting speaks for itself,” he explains. Rather, he turned to Carol Crampton of Baltimore’s Crampton Lighting Design to accent what was already there, predominantly with artful exterior lighting. Pendant lights in the breezeway, uplit trees, and lighting in the stone pavilion that reflects onto the pool give the house a new personality at night.
Day or night, the home seems to say “I am country chic.” Without losing the old-fashioned farm aesthetic that originally attracted the homeowners to the place in the beginning, the house has become an updated version of itself that does not relinquish either style or comfort. And in the process, the husband, who had lived in redesigned homes before but never taken on a project of his own, found his own inner designer.
Christianna McCausland is a Contributing Editor to ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
Fava Design Group: favadesigngroup.com or 954-568-3732
Penza Associates Architects, Inc.: penza.com or 410-435-6677
Stone Hill Design: stonehilldesignassociates.com or 410-464-2000
Other Resources:
Alex Cooper Gallery of Rugs
Apex Drapery Co.
Crampton Lighting Design Ibello & Co.
Renaissance Fine Art
Stark Carpets
