Kessler Residence
This project is a modern house in a traditional neighborhood. An empty side yard of an existing house became the fifty foot wide lot for this new house in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The existing streetscape and surrounding neighborhood consists of houses built during the romantic period of domestic architecture and still retains a strong sense of nostalgia.
While intent on the intimate atmosphere of this tightly knit neighborhood, the clients for this project had no desire to live in a revivalist style house. Instead, the young couple with twin daughters wanted a house conducive to their informal lifestyle with no underused, formal living or dining rooms. They desired a house that was modern, light and open. It was to be universally designed to accommodate one of their twin daughters.
This house is designed to acclimatize the young twin to her surroundings utilizing integrated and seamless methods. Open spaces, wide halls, and an elevator allow her easy, natural access to any part of the house. Fully accessible bathrooms, kitchen, and an exercise pool are incorporated into the design to address her constraints and minimize her dependence on a wheelchair. Design decisions satisfy both the physical and emotional needs of the entire family. Their universal spatial concerns required a variety of generous, open, yet intimately scaled spaces with a sense of connectivity to each other. This contiguous series of spaces then becomes a house integrated within the site.
The 3,800 square foot house is organized around a seventy-five foot long lap pool. The linear arrangement and orientation of spaces are governed by the narrow width of the 150 foot deep lot. The major living spaces open to the pool and southern exposure. Views of a neighboring house to the west are shielded through the careful placement of windows and translucent panels.
This project uses simple lines and natural materials to relate this new house to its entrenched neighborhood. A two story, eighteen foot deep by thirty-six foot long volume with a steeply pitched roof becomes a threshold between the historic context and the modernist house. A front porch with columns continues the rhythm of the street. The abstraction of familiar elements, such as columns, clapboard siding, a standing seam metal roof, brick base and a bluestone porch, preserves the historic character and domestic scale of the street.
