In the January issue, Michael Tardiff writes about the renovation of a 50-year-old ranch house in Potomac. Rather than tear down the original home and build anew—which would have cost more than $2 million—the owners demolished a third of the house and added a second story. The renovated home is larger than what they had planned to build, but cost about half the original estimate.

Click here to see more pictures of the renovation by David Haresign of DC-based Bonstra Haresign Architects.

Photo by Anice Hoachlander.

Were you the kid who built forts out of cardboard boxes? Did you pass geometry with flying colors? Does the idea of cleaning out gutters make you cringe? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Wiedemann Architects’ Mohican Hills residence in Bethesda might be up your alley.

The brown, boxy, 2,100-square-foot display of modern architecture will appeal to those with an affinity for right angles and natural lighting. The jury at the Maryland AIA Design Awards said that the house “struck us right away as being just an excellently done, consistent modern residence. In particular the flow of space from the living room to the pool, the whole inside/outside relationship that is the hallmark of modern architecture is beautifully handled in this project.”  

Photograph courtesy of Diego Valdez.

In the November issue, on newsstands today, Michael Tardif writes about the seamless addition and renovation of a century-old house in Old Town. To maintain the feel of the original house, moldings and wood trim for the addition were custom-milled to match the original woodwork, and new floors of reclaimed heart pine match the restored floors of the original house.

Click here to see more than a dozen pictures of the renovation by GTM Architects of Bethesda and Spectrum Contractors in Gaithersburg.

In the September issue, on newsstands today, Michael Tardif writes about a DC family that turned an eyesore into a classic Arts and Crafts-style home. Click here to see more than a dozen pictures of the renovation by Alexandria architect Charles Moore.

In the August issue of The Washingtonian, Michael Tardif writes about this dazzling renovation in Bethesda. The owners were planning to redo their kitchen when they realized the new design would outshine the rest of their late-1950s split-level. So they began thinking about a whole-house makeover.

In the July issue of the magazine, Michael Tardif wrote about a family in Lake Barcroft that turned a potential construction nightmare into a dream house by the water. The third floor of the new contemporary was built on a frame that spanned the top of the existing home.


Click here to read the article and see a slide show with more than 15 photos of the finished renovation, a light-filled modern home designed by Alexandria architect David Jameson.

Winners of this year’s Washingtonian Residential Design Awards prove that good design doesn’t have to be expensive or traditional. The competition, sponsored by the Washington chapter of the American Institute of Architects and The Washingtonian, drew 120 entries.

Click here to take a look pictures of 11 stunning projects—everything from contemporary condos and townhouses in the city to a “shack” in West Virginia and a gable-roofed log house in Fairfax—by many of Washington’s top architects. This Eastern Market rowhouse by David Jameson is one of my favorites.