Arlington home, Arlington VA (2006-present) My latest project is a
large single family dwelling designed and built from the ground up. Scope includes all architecture, landscape and interiors.
This is probably one of the greenest houses in the metropoitan DC area. While substantially complete, work is on-going.
Click either picture or here to go to a separate page on this project.
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| Front (north) view |
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| Rear (south) view |
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4227 Amau St., Honolulu Hawaii (2003-2005) The
house was built in 1953 in Kahala - a flat dry area of Honolulu on the other side of Diamond Head from Waikiki. The
project included doing numerous restorations to the house (unheard of in Hawaii). Primary here is the landscape.
Being expensive to buy and usable year round, every bit of land is used. My goal was to produce a landscape, not a garden,
and included the pool, the pond, a cabana bath, whirlpool spa, and outdoor shower. Owing
to a corner lot which sits high from the street, the plan reverses the norm - the front and front side yard becomes the 'backyard'
play space. The pool takes on a lap-friendly,50's kitch, Hawaiian shape. A U-shaped screen enclosed the equipment
and forms one wall of a pergola off the master bedroom and ends the short end of the pool with a water fountain spout.
The pergola protects the room from the morning tropical sun, it blocks view of a telephone pole as one moves up the yard,
and it defines the more intimate space around the volcano spa. Taken from my work at 3626 Leahi (see below) the volcano
spa reflects Hawaii by being an island in a sea of gravel. An outdoor shower surrounded by a grove of MacArthur palms
at the far top of the yard completes the progression from public to intimate. The whole front side is surrounded by
a moss rock wall, topped by a wooden fence with a continuous Murraya paniculata (orange jessamine) hedge inside to unify all
the parts and provide absolute privacy from the street. The back yard, off the huge lanai being
the highest profile outside space when a visitor comes into the property, acts as a front yard. It includes a formal raised
pond, Japanese style stepping stones set in gravel, and a grove of black bamboo (phyllostachys nigra). The bamboo provides
privacy from the neighbors and shade from the western sun. It is contained by the ability to stop watering it.
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| Site Plan (click to enlarge) |
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| 1 Entry formed by new cabana powder room |
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| 2 View of the cabana bath with swing and house front |
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| 3 Pool looking towrds waterspout, mech. screen, and master bedroom pergola |
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| 4 View of pergola off master bedroom |
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| 5 View from pergola looking back at pool |
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| 6 Volcano spa with shower beyond rock wall. |
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| 7 Backyard with bamboo grove and pond |
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| 8 Lanai facing backyard, house entry at left behind bookshelf room divider. |
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3 Vacation Condos, Honolulu, Hawaii (2001-2002) This project was the purchase and renovation of three Waikiki
condo units for use as short term vacation rentals. Small changes to the problematic existing plans made for gracious
and efficient spaces. Decorating was done in a cool, tropical theme. I ran the unit rentals successfully for three
years before selling the units at a profit.
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| Studio unit view of cove lit mural |
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| Studio unit view of bed |
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| One bedroom unit living area |
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| Studio unit plan |
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| The Pacific Monarch viewed from Waikiki Beach |
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| Bathroom |
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3626 Leahi landscape, Honolulu, Hawaii (2002)
This project strted by walling in a 5000 s.f. lot across the street from Kapiolani Park. Around the house
the overriding concept was to creat planting islands in a sea of gravel, as an imitation of the Hawaiian islands surrounded
by the Pacific. Being on a dry side micro-climate, this provided asuccessful way to balance dry and sprinklered areas.
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| Garden view looking towards sugar cane |
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| Garden view at Black bamboo stand hiding a private outdoor shower in the far corner |
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2020 Hillyer Place, NW, Washington DC (1999-2002) We
found this burnt out shell in a prime Dupont Circle location. It gave the opportunity to gut and do a completely new
interior, before it became common to do so in historic townhouses in DC. Complete loss of all original features also gave
the opportunity for an unapologetic modern interior. Built in 1886, the original house had many Japonaise details,
as was the fashion of the time. Picking up on this and with my study of Japanese language, I incorporated Japanese features
such as the shojis screens, and materials use with the extensive maple (which being rarely used at the time was very affordable)
combined with clay green colors similar to traditional Japanese tea house color combinations.
This house
was on the 2000 Dupont Circle House Tour.
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| Shoji screens at master suite |
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| Living/Dining |
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| Kitchen view showing checkerboard tile and st. steel cabinets |
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| Exterior porch formed from gutting a 20's addition at the rear of the house |
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| View of main room looking towards front bay |
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| Master bedroom with bed floating in room and Japanese style tokonoma built-ins |
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2918
18th St NW, Washington DC (1989-1998) On our first home built mid 1920's, this years-long renovation started
with hands-on work restoring windows each by hand and painstakingly stripping of all the original interior doors and hardware.
Major bath and kitchen renovations responded to the 1920's original by using similar materials and aiming at similar ideals
popular when the house was built.
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| Living room with high wainscot moulding and glazed walls |
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| Kitchen with linoleum floors, lab top counters |
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| Master bath added at second floor sleeping porch |
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