The challenge facing Hill & Hurtt Architects in the renovation of the Bethesda Residence also represented an opportunity: Take a dated, builder-grade home lacking in style and turn the home into a well-detailed space with classic sensibility with roughly the same layout. The team recognized the layout of rooms of the 1990s home was sensible but the interior living spaces lacked connection, scale, spatial clarity, and a consistent design language.

In the design process, the team focused on bringing down the scale of the house, improving the connections between the living spaces, and focusing on detailing. The design was achieved through additive and subtractive processes. Custom designed cabinetry and appropriate crown and trim profiles were added to the interior to clarify spatial relationships and diminutive connections between rooms were enlarged. At the same time, exaggerated moldings and overwrought details in the home’s interior were stripped away.

The interior modifications complimented the transformational addition of a front porch on the home’s exterior. The porch provided an anchor the home was lacking. Additionally on the exterior, the driveway was reduced, providing the front elevation and garden with scale and focus.

Project Details
Award: Merit
Category: Renovations & Additions
Architect: Hill & Hurtt Architects
Builder: Fajen & Brown
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Size: 3,300 square feet