Midas Touch: Rich Metal, Ornamentation Turn Sedate Home into Showstopper
By • October 14, 2021 0 720
After a dismal 19 months, we’d all love to see the world in a golden hue. The home at 3420 N St. NW offers just such a vision, rendered in an opulent palette of metallics, marble, glass, and light. It is as stunning as it is singular.
Built in 1900, the 2,150-square-foot home was thoroughly renovated by BOWA builders from late 2018 to the summer of last year. Every inch of space in the main home and carriage house has been reimagined with decorative details that surprise and delight — from the rococo, boiserie-inspired plaster work (Greg Giannetti) to the sculptural light fixtures, and Versailles-pattern French oak flooring subtly inlaid with brass. While the overall look and feel is a celebration of gilded ages past, the open flow and sleek design are totally in keeping with today’s modern aesthetic.
The visual drama starts at the front door, which opens into a bright white foyer with a white-painted exposed brick wall facing a living and dining area where a built-in daybed holds court within a deep front bay window and elaborate molding and medallions grace the walls and high ceilings.
That all takes you to the jewel box of a kitchen, which features hammered brass cabinetry (soft open), marble counters and sink (Calacatta Sponda), and gold-veined marble backsplash (Mosaique). Appliances (some integrated) include a Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer, Bosch dishwasher, Electrolux microwave, and ILVE Majestic oven/range with central grill and custom-designed marble hood. For all its glitter, it is amazingly serene. Maybe because it looks out on and leads to a pergola and wisteria-shaded courtyard with leathered Rhodonite flooring, bubbling fountains and a rose garden. The perfect place to take your morning caffè or evening apéritif.
A few steps up from the courtyard is the ultimate WFH space (or third bedroom): an airy carriage house with clerestory windows, a beamed and coffered vaulted ceiling and an accordion glass wall (NanaWall) that opens to the outside. The en-suite bath features a skylight, a frameless glass shower with blue-grey tile (Ann Sacks), an amusing bubble-shaped ceiling light, and Calacatta marble vanity. Behind the carriage house and accessible through its back door is a two-car parking area.
Back in the main house there are two bedrooms. The primary suite takes up the entire second level. At one end is a full dressing room accessorized with gold hardware (Sherle Wagner), gold-flecked antiqued mirrors, and walls of closets with built-in storage compartments. At the other is a generous bedroom bedecked with plaster wall and ceiling decoration (similar to the living and dining room below), a crystal feather chandelier and — surprise! — a polished nickel double slipper tub (handmade by The Bath Works) coyly nestled in the bay window. The luxurious primary bath boasts a skylight, heated floor, Calacatta topped double vanity with gold stepped glass sinks (Linkasinks) and Kallista hardware, and a glass shower lined with bold blush/ebony tile (Mosaique). Between these two rooms is a powder room and a separate closet enclosing an LG washer and dryer.
On the lower level, which had been dug down to create a higher ceiling, there is an elegant, spacious guest suite with a storage-friendly bedroom and marble-clad bath.
As smart as it is beautiful, the renovation also included a new roof, HVAC, security system with Ring video doorbell, and an app-controlled Lutron lighting system.
This unique three-bedroom, three-and-one-half-bath rowhome with carriage house at 3420 N St NW is listed for $2,800,000 with Washington Fine Properties – The Hatfield Weir Gale Team. For details, contact Heidi Hatfield, 202.258.1919, heidi@hatfieldweir.com or Anne Hatfield Weir, 202.255.2490, anne@hatfieldweir.com. For a visual tour, visit http://spws.homevisit.com/hvid/343433.
