When Kara Heitz, 34, and her husband David Sylvester, 31, decided to leave their Watergate condo after four years, their primary search terms were "modern" and "contemporary." Eventually they stumbled across a gem of 1970s modern architecture in McLean.
Designed by Hugh Newell Jacobsen, an acclaimed architect, the three-level pavilion-style structure was their dream home. "We saw it and knew we wanted it," Heitz says.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
The home had fallen into disrepair and certain hallmarks of the era had lost their charm by the time the couple took ownership in December 2007. But two things were certain: This house had a history, and the couple saw their future in it. Here, their revived, airy living room.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
The new homeowners wanted to honor Jacobsen's vision while adapting the house to their lifestyle. To do so, they appealed to the talents of Douglas Burton and Christopher Ralston, owners of high-end furniture outpost Apartment Zero, who recommended injecting jolts of a single color in each room. To add warmth and energy to the central living area, they chose a vibrant golden yellow.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
The designers used art, acoustic tiles and Vitra chairs to add splashes of red in the dining room.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
The key to uniting the architect's ideals with those of the homeowners lay in the power of light.
"To let light in that doesn't bleach out the space or make you need sunglasses, you need to reach up and get reflected light," Jacobsen, now 80, says. He installed horizontal slits of glass and windows in the upper reaches of the house to achieve free-flowing illumination., like in the original spiral stairwell.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
The unfinished attic has been transformed into an office for Sylvester, adding hardwood floors, recessed lighting and shelving, and a custom-made spiral staircase that mimics Jacobsen's original, which is shown in the previous photo.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
"The aesthetic has always appealed to me and David, as well -- it was one of the first things we had in common," Heitz says, sitting in a classic Ball chair with Sylvester beside her. "There's a functional simplicity in it, and it integrates into any environment. We were in the city before, and now we're in the middle of the woods, and it still works."
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
The designers combined the original master and guest bedrooms and two guest bathrooms to create a 680-square-foot retreat decorated in soothing shades of gray and grass green. A silkscreen of a surfer by artist Glenn Fry echos the designers' efforts to incorporate pop art into the decor.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
After more than a year's worth of collaboration, the designers and homeowners think they have restored the home to its glory days. Sleek original light fixtures cast the same futuristic glow they did in the 1970s. Rain collects in Jacobsen's hidden gutters and travels down sections of chain -- inspired by traditional Japanese design. A thorough cleaning sufficiently restored the three exterior patio areas into breezy refuges from summer heat. And natural light once again plays a starring role.
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
![Then the team reverted to a clean palette with pure white paint throughout. "We wanted to respect Jacobsen's white interiors -- one of his trademarks," says Heitz, seated here in the classic Ball chair. "But [David and I] both like color, as well. We thought of the all-white room as sort of a canvas and added color in the right places to make it pop."](http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/100420/GAL-10Apr20-4346/media/PHO-10Apr20-218671.jpg)
Then the team reverted to a clean palette with pure white paint throughout. "We wanted to respect Jacobsen's white interiors -- one of his trademarks," says Heitz, seated here in the classic Ball chair. "But [David and I] both like color, as well. We thought of the all-white room as sort of a canvas and added color in the right places to make it pop."
Stacy Zarin Goldberg and Thomas Arledge
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher
Text Editor Kathleen Hom
Furnishing a future