Almost every room in the house has large, rear-facing windows to give the Smiths and their guests panoramic views of the backyard.
Casual elegance…these are the two words that sum up what homeowners David and Diane Smith wanted for their custom home in Severna Park’s Nantucket on the Severn Community. When it came time to hire the team of professionals to bring their vision to life, Diane was prepared with the ideas and examples to ensure that she accurately communicate what would work for her family of six.
“She was a very involved and prepared client,” remarks Arlene Critzos, interior designer with Interior Concepts, Inc. of Annapolis. “She had done all sorts of homework and prepared concept boards to communicate with us the feel, colors, and style she wanted.”
Critzos and fellow designer Joyce Pearl worked with a team of professionals—including builder Chuck Converse of Converse Builders and architect Stephen T. Terhune—from the onset to craft a home for the Smiths that was the ultimate in sophistication and livability. “We needed to be able to flop down on the furniture, feel comfortable, warm, and cozy,” says Diane. Critzos and her team were careful to choose family-friendly details for the interiors.
“In all the rooms, the fabrics are not perishable,” she explains. “They’re kid-friendly, heavy-use friendly, [so] the spaces will look as good today as when they moved in. The home has an overall ‘wearability.’ ”The Smiths also invested in a home automation system that grants them easy access to audio, video, DVD and CD management systems, closed circuit cameras, pool management, and a Lutron lighting control system. Mike Ross, principal partner at Atlantic Control Technologies, believes there are many benefits to home automation, especially in a large home. “With smaller children, you can have lights left on in many rooms throughout the day. The Smiths can simply tap the ‘house off’ button from many locations and know that all of the lights are off without hesitation,” he notes.
While the house needed to accommodate the demands of a large family with small children, the Smiths also wanted a home where they could grow old. Converse and Terhune employed a variety of aging-in-place design concepts to make this possible. The Smiths chose to have an elevator installed in preparation for days when mobility may become an issue. All doorways are at minimum 36 inches wide to provide wheelchair and handicap accessibility.
Most of the home’s interior entryways are much wider than that, however, since capturing panoramic views of the outdoors and allowing each room to flow into the next were of paramount importance to the architect, builder, and designers. “It was critical to me that we had a really strong center of the house,” says Terhune. “I wanted it so you came in the front door and would look all the way through the house. …I tried to achieve a layering of spaces.”
Molding details on the ceiling are reproduced throughout the home in different ways, including the custom mantle in the living room.
The layering of these spaces is Critzos’ favorite thing about the house. “The core of the house…stretches the living room feel from one end of the house to the other,” she explains. “Usually the core of a house is just the passageways, but here, it is a room with vignettes that lead you from end to end.”
Interior Concepts capitalized on the views in the living room by framing the windows in reverse—with a sheer, gauzy fabric overlaying the heavier drapery. This created a more romantic, airy feel and allowed the beauty of the home’s exterior to become another layer of the interior design.
From the beginning stages, a lot of emphasis and time were spent on custom architectural details. Converse and Terhune created molding detail in a basket weave pattern for the living room. “We had to design that prior to the framing stage to coordinate all the framing and joist layouts so all the lighting would work and end up in the right places,” remembers Converse. “At the intersection of all those pieces of trim, the sprinkler heads and lights are placed perfectly in that ceiling—that’s a perfect example of how everything was in the right place when it came time to put the moldings on. Through working together like that, a lot of the processes came together seamlessly,” adds Terhune. The pattern on the ceiling is carried over to the millwork fireplace in the same room, just one of many intricate details giving this home a one-of-a-kind elegance.
“They used a lot of great trim details, such as a lot of interesting wainscoting, that give you a traditional feel but done in a cleaner, more contemporary application,” observes Pearl.“The stair railing and balusters were unusual because they were a straight picket but incorporated a whimsical ball instead of a traditional finial to give it that contemporary twist. All the fireplaces had a bit of a contemporary detail, also. The client wanted a ‘sophisticated cottage’ feel, and details like these helped to achieve this.”
Other ceiling applications, such as the tongue and groove mahogany ceilings used in two-story spaces like the staircase tower and the family room, help to distinguish the areas from those adjacent to them, adding interest but also helping to bring the visual dimensions of the spaces down to a more intimate level. This was especially important in the family room, which is connected to the kitchen and breakfast area—the distinct ceiling keeps the large space from looking like a tunnel of rooms.
Because of its open floor plan and large dimensions, the kitchen had to be thoughtfully planned, so the Smiths called on Donna Sisson of Pasadena, Maryland’s Bay Kitchens to create different zones within it. “There’s a prep area, a salad area, and space enough for large parties where caterers would have no problem functioning whatsoever,” says Sisson. The family spends most of their time together here, eating meals at the kitchen table or hanging out in the family room while dinner is prepared.
The large kitchen, breakfast area, and family room all flow seamlessly into one another.
In contrast to the white cabinets, the Smiths chose a polished absolute black granite for the island and a yellow river granite for the perimeter counters. “Some people like to mix things up and add interest and contrast by using different kinds of stone. The black island picks up the grays and blacks in the yellow river granite,” says Frank Damico, Jr. of Atlas Stone Fabricators, who supplied most of the stone throughout the house. The multi-level island provides space for the kids to have a quick snack and do some homework all in the hub of the home, and the polished granite finish makes wiping away fingerprints a breeze. “For family gatherings, people automatically congregate in the kitchen, so we wanted it to be welcoming and have people congregate in that space, but have it so they’re not on top of the cook,” explains Diane.
The family also loves spending time together in their backyard, complete with a pool, patio, and outdoor kitchen. In addition to configuring these hardscaping elements within the property, landscape architect Eric Blamphin of Barks Road Landscape Architecture in Arnold, Maryland took his direction from the existing wooded area when selecting plant material. “Our focus was to blend the regional context of the Mid-Atlantic with the coastal/Nantucket vernacular that was the driving architectural style for the house,” says Blamphin.
Outdoor home automation features include exterior lighting controlled by an astronomical clock and hi-fidelity outdoor speakers concealed by landscaping—including a set on the master bedroom balcony that double as terracotta planters.
At the front of the home, Blamphin realigned the driveway and created a granite and flagstone banded courtyard. Always considering the family-friendliness of the space, “the courtyard is then enveloped by a low fieldstone wall with white picket fencing details that make a grand architectural statement, and provide the kids a place for sidewalk chalk and skateboarding.”
From inside to out, every aspect of the Smiths’ home is thoughtfully engineered to blend traditional with contemporary; functionality with sophistication—all a reflection of how this family lives. “They’re great people; folks you’d love to have over for dinner,” says Converse. “While there are some parts that are very detailed, the whole home is very warm and welcoming, just like them.”
Annliese Scott is the Assistant Editor for ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
Atlantic Control Technologies: atlcontrol.com or 410-266-3588
Atlas Stone Fabricators, Inc: atlasstonefabricators.com or 410-672-4111
Barks Road Landscape Architecture: barksroad.com or 410-647-2090
Bay Kitchens: baykitchens.com or 410-647-2336
Converse Builders: conversebuilders.com or 410-647-0038
Interior Concepts, Inc.: interiorconceptsinc.com or 410-224-7366
Stephen T. Terhune, Architect, LLC: steveterhune.com or 410-544-3138
