April 2, 2021

In a first, this is a story about a previously featured House of the Week. But it’s nothing like the house that was written about more than seven years ago. The Logan Circle Victorian, once a bed-and-breakfast, is now a boutique condo building, and this penthouse is part of its new, modern wing.

The wing was built in 2017 on the garden lot next to the original 1887 house and was joined with it to form a U-shaped building. Although the exterior mimics the older home and maintains the look of D.C.’s Logan Circle historic district, the interior goes in a different direction.

“This side was always intended to be modern and very open,” said architect Michael Beidler of Trout Design Studio, who worked on the project with the developer, Matt Shkor of Potomac Construction Group.

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The Washington Post

Roger and Susan Gendron looked at about a dozen houses before choosing this rowhouse in Dupont Circle. They were drawn to its location and history. Designed by architect George O. von Nerta and built for lawyer Myer Cohen in 1892, the house was later home to Emmett J. Scott, chief aide to Booker T. Washington and the highest-ranking African American in Woodrow Wilson’s administration.

At first, the couple had modest renovation goals.

“When we started the process, we were just going to do a small rehab,” Roger said.

Like a lot of renovation projects, this one kept expanding. The expansion was driven in part by a health scare Susan endured during the four-year project. The renovation was a welcome distraction, giving her something other than her illness to focus on.

“We sat down, and we said, ‘You know, we may never get an opportunity to do something like this again,’ ” Roger said. “We don’t know what our future is. Let’s do it all now, do it the way it should be done.”

After buying an 1892 row house in Dupont Circle, the owners anticipated a simple facelift—but as often happens, the project snowballed. Architect Michael Lee Beidler of Trout Design Studio masterminded a whole-house renovation that instilled a modern sensibility throughout, with an emphasis on wood. “The husband comes from a lumber family,” he explains, “and the presence of wood is very important to him.”

UrbanTurf’s favorite luxury listing of the year is a home four years in the making. 

The owners of the 19th-century Dupont Circle rowhouse at 1711 S Street NW purchased the home six year ago and then set off on a complete renovation with Michael Beidler of Trout Design Studio. Over four years, the house was largely gutted and reconfigured, and several new amenities were added.

In the foyer, a 9-foot-tall walnut custom pivot door opens onto an intricate and masterfully placed and installed tile floor and custom plaster finished walls.

For me, the most rewarding part of this job is opportunity to transform exceptionally thoughtful residential architecture into a two-dimensional medium, while maintaining the feeling and mood conveyed by exploring the architecture in person. I’ve been lucky to work with Trout Design Studio on a few projects, a firm whose work exemplifies the interesting moments and meticulous attention to detail that make me love photographing architecture.

This project, a beautiful farmhouse, showcased an elegant modern design, based on a cinderblock framing structure in keeping with the vernacular architecture of the region.

I find photographing architecture similar to watching movies on repeated viewings, or closely examining pieces of fine woodworking (which happen to be two of my hobbies; I recently watched The Big Short two times in close succession and was able to pick up on many brilliant details I missed at first). I love searching for all of the little details and hidden themes that the director chose to put in the film, and looking closely at the joinery that allows a piece of handcrafted furniture to flawlessly come together. In architecture, like in movies and woodworking, the smallest details are often intentional, and I try to work with the architect to capture the spirit of the project as best as possible.

Through the process of staging, composing, and modifying light, I try to capture the mood and detail of the project, so viewing the photograph can be a nuanced, interesting experience, just like experiencing the architecture in person.

We wrapped up the first day of the shoot with a twilight interior of the living room area, which frames a beautiful view of the rolling hills and pond outside. There were a few horses roaming around the fields, but sadly none ended up in the right place at the right time to be featured in the photograph.

As the sun rises, the front elevation of the house gets illuminated with beautiful golden light, so we took the opportunity to capture some exteriors, and got lucky to have brilliant morning clouds in the background. These were taken with the tripod in the rear bed, or on the roof of a robust Kubota four-wheeler that was expertly piloted through the hills by the architect.

We wrapped up the shoot with a tighter shot of the living room and porch areas, and some detail interior shots. Shooting this project was a blast, and I’m very happy that I had the chance to photograph such a beautiful home.

As UrbanTurf continues to keep an eye on the accessory dwelling market in DC, today we highlight a plan to retrofit a detached garage in Logan Circle to add an accessory apartment.

The owner of the home at 1436 S Street NW (map) has filed a zoning application to add one story to the detached garage on the site in order to create a one-bedroom duplex accessory apartment. The ground floor would house an open kitchen/living room and a powder room, as well as interior access to the existing garage parking space. The application describes the 515 square-foot accessory apartment as “a second principal dwelling unit”. 

The garage has an 843 square-foot footprint, greater than the typical maximum footprint of 450 square feet. Because the existing structure is non-conforming, the application is requesting a special exception to further the non-conforming status of the property. With the new story, the building will rise to just below 20 feet tall. Trout Design is the architect. 

See the article on UrbanTurf here