Wentworth, Inc. earns Six NARI Metro DC Capital COTY Awards

NARI METRO DC Honors Wentworth, Inc. With Six Capital CotY Awards

Wentworth, Inc. (www.wentworthstudio.com), a residential remodeling design/build company located in Chevy Chase, Maryland was honored with six 2008 Contractor of the year (Coty) awards from the Metro DC chapter of the National Association of Remodeling Industry (NARI). Each year, Metro DC NARI members submit their best remodeling work to be considered for the Capital CotY Awards. The Capital CotY represents the best in the remodeling and design-build industry in the metro DC region.

The honors were announced at the 2008 Metro DC NARI chapter’s annual awards banquette, January 24, 2009. Wentworth, Inc.’s awards included two Grand Prizes and four Merit awards:

· Residential Addition under $250,000: Grand Prize

· Residential Kitchen over $150,000: Grand Prize

· Residential Interior $250,000 and under: Merit Award

· Residential Bath $30,000-$60,000: Merit Award

· Residential Kitchen $50,000 to $100,000: Merit Award

· Residential Exterior Specialty Merit Award

Wentworth, Inc., founded by architect Bruce Wentworth, specializes in the design and remodeling of older urban homes. Previously, Wentworth, Inc. has won five Capital COTY awards, for a total of eleven awards in the past three years:

· 2007–Grand Prize—Residential Interiors

· 2007–Honorable Mention—Residential Kitchen

· 2007–Merit Award—Residential Addition

· 2006–Honorable Mention—Residential Kitchen

· 2005–Merit Award—Residential Bath

“These awards are a tribute to the Wentworth, Inc. employees for their expertise and collaboration on every project.” -Bruce Wentworth, AIA

Contact:
Candice Carver
Wentworth, Inc.
P 240.395.0705 x108
F 240.395.0707
ccarver@wentworthstudio.com
www.wentworthstudio.com
(photos available)

Garden Walls Come First

My garden is the place I come at the end of a day to forget the trials of running my remodeling business, a place to momentarily forget the difficulties of the world, a place to get refreshed. Designed environments should do that.

It took eight years to create the garden at my Northwest, Washington, D.C. home shared with my wife. It is a work-in-progress. Happily, our circa 1920 house was placed forward on its lot, 120' x 55', leaving ample space for a rear garden.

With the help of landscape architect, Mark White, we created our garden’s master plan allowing us to implement work in phases as it was affordable. Getting the design ‘right’ meant building the brick fence first; more than 160 linear feet of it!

DC city zoning laws require that fences be built at, or inside, property lines and not more than 6’ in height from grade. We hired a licensed surveyor to mark our property lines to ensure that placement of our brick fence could not be questioned.

We quickly learned the importance of our garden’s master plan because even the brick fence was too expensive to build all at once and required two phases:

1- The first 100' was built at the south and east in 2001,

2- The remaining 60' at the north side more than a year later.

The fence is the important design element of the garden because it provides closure and the architectural framework for the walled garden. Following our master plan, new planting was restricted to the newly fenced areas.

Visitors are quizzical when they learn we went to the effort to build a brick fence around our garden, until they tour the garden. Fence and plantings act as a couple, working together to complete the experience. The fence blocks the view of a wrap-around alley and with the help of a contained bamboo bed screens an adjacent office building. The enclosure creates a micro-climate, gentle on plants and its brick piers form plinths for cast-stone urns, adding height and enclosure.

For aesthetics I wanted a repeating pattern of brick piers, each capped with 2" thick flagstone, linked by brick walls. The piers are spaced 10' apart which creates visual rhythm but primarily serves a structural purpose to support a thin brick fence. A focal point, at the back end of the garden, was created with a round opening, called a ‘clairvoyee’, and embellished with scrolls of ironwork. The length and height of the brick fence required a structural engineer design a proper footing. For strength and economy a continuous 24"d. x 24"w. reinforced concrete footing was designed for an 8" wide fence, and a 24"d. x 36"w. footing was built for each brick pier (twice the thickness normally specified). The large footing, disliked by the mason because of its size, provided a cost savings because it allowed for less brick with a thin 8" wide wall between piers; whereas smaller piers and footings would have required a 12" thick brick wall. The fence has not settled or cracked in eight years, evidence of a job well done.

As a couple we joke that we’re both a bit introverted and if left alone could become hermits. We entertain often in the garden, which helps overcome our natural inclinations. At the end of the work day there is nothing I like more than to arrive home and walk in the garden. In the warm weather I open the French doors leading to our porch and soak up the lush garden aromas of this little urban oasis. It was all worth it.

2009 Trends for Interiors

2009 Color Trends

Inspired by tones to create a retreat from the stresses outside your home, color trends for 2009 are soothing and reflective of calm natural tones. Base colors create a casual attitude and neutral canvas for bright pops of color with a combination of warm and cool grays reflecting the purpose of the space. Neutrals range in vegetative and mineral shades found in nature like olive green, khaki, and bright pale blue. Contrast these with warm brown and golden leathers and woods in shades of camel, rust, and walnut to create a sense of warmth and coziness. Also, don’t be scared to brighten your home by using a play of light and dark with the use of silky pastels with vivid shades. Lavender and Yellow are your go to accent colors for the year.

To view more 2009 trends for Interiors, be sure to check out the 2009 issue of "Living Design," Wentworth's free annual newsletter. Contact us at newsletter@wentworthstudio.com to recieve a copy.

How to Create a Practical and Luxurious Town Home Kitchen

Our recent client was in the dilemma of moving into her townhome which she had purchased decades ago before being sent overseas for work assignments. She decided to rent the home and it experienced some normal neglect. Now that she has been relocated back in DC, the homeowner wanted to make a new home in her charming Queen Anne townhouse and started by remodeling the kitchen.

The home owners set out specific design parameters for upgrading the old 1970s kitchen:
• Open the kitchen to the adjacent dining room for informal living
• Take advantage of the sunny garden views
• Include a breakfast bar in the new design
• Provide ample storage
• Create a place for a laptop
• Maximize every bit of space

Meeting these goals required that the wall between the kitchen and the dining room to be opened and trimmed with molding to match the 1880s style home. At the kitchen's rear wall a larger opening was cut for new French doors with transom, which opened sight lines from front-to-back in the house, and the large glass area captures morning sunlight for a happy kitchen environment.

The new kitchen space was narrow; it measured only 11'-4" wide x 14' long. Careful design maximized the space and accommodates a long center island with a breakfast bar. The island is highlighted with three hand-blown glass pendants that lead the eye to the garden view. At the side of the island is a wall of tall 12” deep storage cabinets with central cubbies and a stone counter for a laptop. The opposite wall is fitted to be the true work area - cabinets, sink, and appliances. The tile backsplash is given aesthetic prominence with a grid of limestone and frosted glass mosaic.

A custom coffered beam ceiling unifies the design by reinforcing the kitchen's plan layout. The rectangular shape, mirroring the island, gives direction to the space, and accentuates the garden view.

Spaces flow front-to-back, with the kitchen acting as a visual link to the garden. Although a small-scale town house the design makes it feel spacious. The new kitchen was carefully planned with upscale detailing, that gives the home a sense of understated practical luxury.

To view the whole article and more pictures, be sure to check out the 2009 issue of "Living Design," Wentworth's free annual newsletter. Contact us at newsletter@wentworthstudio.com to recieve a copy.

Oh the Choices!

Guest blogger Jennifer Parker guides you through kitchen renovation selections; from cabinets to the precise shape of hardware this is an intelligent overview of what you may encounter when working with a designer/remodeler.

I like using analogies to describe the design process; so if we’re talking about making renovation/design selections consider this analogy. It’s like constructing a perfectly balanced mobile, one component at a time. Your architecture, fixtures, furniture, fabrics, flooring, wall color, and accessories—they’re all connected. Think creatively but also think holistically.

Say you’ve decided to move forward with the renovation of your kitchen. You’ve engaged an architect and designer, worked with them to nail down a plan and articulate a style direction. Now it’s time for selections to begin.

For the cabinetry, you fall for a beautiful wood-stained maple in a mid tone with a simple rectangular recessed panel and single-bead detail inside the flat frame.

Gorgeous; now to select the countertop; you decide on a natural material, granite, and that you’d like to pull out some of the browns to reinforce the “nature reference” suggested by the wood grain of the cabinet; how about this one:
Are you seeing the relationships; the connections? The organic movement in the wood grain and in the stone; hues from nature—it’s a marriage made in heaven.

As you move forward the architect and designer are looking to guide the selections to ensure there are connections or relationships between each element that will be a part of your completed space. We’re very conscious about the obvious and subtle network of similarities or foils that each and every selection brings to the design “total”; the mobile in perfect balance.

Now you need to choose a profile style for the edge of the countertop; as a general rule consider the level of formality you’re going for as well as the profile of the cabinet door as your inspiration. Your cabinet door has a flat frame with a single-bead detail inside the frame so the edge profile of the countertop should follow suit—pick something simple, not over-worked, and of course, comfortable to lean up against.

There are a plethora of edge styles but you manage to narrow them down to three; the first is a double eased edge. This is the most contemporary choice and looks good with the flat frame around the recessed panel of the cabinet.

The second is a half bullnose which kind of mimics the curve of the bead detail inside the flat frame of your cabinet door.

The third is an ogee edge which looks a little more traditional compared to the others.

Take a look at some of the other types of edges available for countertops. Check out this website for great bite-size blurbs about other kinds of countertop materials and edge styles: ; or go to this website to look at countertop materials with different edge styles actually simulated on the site.

Just like the countertop edge style, kitchen hardware should have some kind of aesthetic relationship with the forms around it.

For the hardware finish; an oil-rubbed bronze to pull out the soft gray and black-brown flecks in the stone looks great.

Handle style? You can go linear and geometric to accentuate the clean lines of the cabinet door frame, balancing the organic with modern. The double eased edge for the countertop relates nicely to this.

Or let’s say you want to reinforce the “nature reference” by choosing a textured handle that plays off of the wood grain of the cabinetry. The half bullnose for the countertop edge looks great with this one; the curves repeat. I call this look “earthy modern.”

Or do you want a more transitional look like this? The raised detail about 1/3 in from each end is called a “bead” and this echoes the wood bead detail running along the inside edge of the frame around the cabinet door.

The ogee edge on the countertop complements the graceful profile of this handle but if you look closely you can find relationships to the other countertop edge profiles as well.

All three picks are aesthetically pleasing and appropriate for your cabinets. All are simple in form, clean-lined and ergonomic choices; one a little more modern, one a little more rustic, and one a little more transitional. If you still can’t decide; take a look at your flatware, your tableware. Look for style clues or motifs in other things you love that will go into the same space.
If you find yourself overwhelmed in the selection process and are asking “How do I choose? What’s the basis?” Well, this is it: appropriateness, aesthetic relationships between your selections, harmony and balance in the design.

Fast forward another thousand-or-so selections (by now you’re a pro) and you’re done!

Remember the design process is a continuum of choices. No selection is isolated, and every change made to your design plan may require a re-examination of subsequent design choices.
And think, just like the best gatherings—where guests have enough in common, and yet enough variety to keep the conversations interesting and memorable—your home should have its own ongoing dialogue between each element carefully selected in the design process.



Jennifer Parker holds a degree in interior design, is an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers, and a member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Her background includes an A.A.S. with a major in fine arts and professional experience as a graphic designer with the National Geographic Society. Patera Home was established in the year 2000 and is located in Reston, Virginia.

Tricks and Treats of D.C.'s Architecture cont.d

To finish up this week long celebration, here is a short list of other haunted sites that almost didn't make it on the blog....

Have A Safe and Happy Halloween!

Blair House
The ghost of President Woodrow Wilson has occasionally been seen in the bedroom rocking chair.

Catholic University -Caldwell Hall
Mysterious lights and the ghost of a priest who fell to his death, following his discovery of one of the last books on performing exorcism is said to be seen in the attic window.

Ford's Theatre
John Wilkes Booth's footsteps have been heard running up the back staircase towards the presidential box.

Fort McNair - Building 21
John Wilkes Booth (even though already dead) and conspirators were hung in the attic of this building following Lincoln’s assassination. The carpenters who renovated this building reported hearing footsteps in the attic and feeling like someone was always following them. Mary Sarat who was convicted for her part, has been seen wandering the building officers trying to convince guests that she is innocent of the crime.

The Hay - Adams Hotel
This hotel was built in 1927 on the site where the mansion of Presidential Advisor Henry Adams had lived. The wife of the original mansion owner, Marian Hooper Adams, appears to haunt the hotel. At night, the scent of Mimosa is in the air on the eighth floor and the housekeeping closet on the 6th floor will NEVER stay locked after repeated lockings with the key by security. You will also notice that the chandelier of the hotel's lobby constantly sways.

Kendall Green – MSSD
MSSD is located in the back part of the campus of Gallaudet University on a hill facing Rhode Island Ave -- MSSD was founded in 1969 and Gallaudet was founded in 1857. The students at MSSD would feel hoof beats going through the campus, possibly the route taken during the Revolution War going towards Pennsylvania.

Marine Barracks at 8th & I
The lower parking garage is haunted by the spirit of a young child that was killed by a vehicle coming up the ramp. Every now and then marines have seen a red ball rolling down the ramp to the upper parking and heard a child's voice calling to them in the early hours of the morning.

Treasury Annex
A woman has been observed on the second floor of the Treasury annex. Workers have reported footsteps and voices after work hours. A late working worker, reported seeing the woman glide in front of her office. She went to report the incident to her supervisor, he was coming out of his office because he thought someone had peeked in his door; that was followed by the ruffle of a dress, similar to when a person is walking.

Tricks and Treats of D.C.'s Architecture cont.d

National Theatre

On Pennsylvania Avenue, three blocks from The White House, is the National Theatre, "The Theatre of Presidents." Almost every great stage performer of the past century has appeared here.
Almost since it’s construction, the National has been haunted by the friendly ghost of actor John McCullough, supposedly shot and killed by a fellow performer. A rusty pistol, perhaps the murder weapon, was unearthed under the stage in 1982, near where McCullough's remains are rumored to lie.

• On the opening night of a new show, the silent ghost can be seen in various parts of the theater, making sure that all is in order.
  
• Some reports tell of McCullough dressed as Hamlet, or his most famous role, the ill-fated Roman centurion, Virginius.
  
• One startled performer, who had known the deceased personally, said he saw McCullough seated calmly in front of the audience.
  
• From time to time, doormen and others report their encounters with the ghost in backstage hallways, on staircases, in dressing rooms, and on the empty Washington stage which he performed on.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital

The campus of St. Elizabeth’s sits on bluffs overlooking of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. It opened in 1855 as the Government Hospital for the Insane. During the Civil War it was converted temporarily into a hospital for wounded soldiers. In 1916, its name was officially changed to St. Elizabeth’s, the colonial-era name for the tract of land on which the hospital was built. Built in the Gothic style by Thomas U. Walter, who also designed the Capitol dome, the building itself has long drafty halls within its fortress like appearance. The campus and stories behind it manifest into it being known as a truly haunted asylum.

• Assassins and would-be assassins were confined at St. Elizabeth's. The man who tried to shoot President Andrew Jackson, the man who did shoot President Theodore Roosevelt and, the man who wounded President Ronald Reagan all ended up there.
  
• During renovations records, photos, and medical equipment have been discovered revealing experimentation, torture, and autopsies taking place in spaces that were condemned.
  
• There were always stories of staffers hearing noises from parts of the building which had long been since abandoned. Moans and groans, along with footsteps and numerous cold spots forced some to avoid that building at all cost.