When Yuri Sagatov, owner of Sagatov Design & Build, and his real-estate agent wife, Michelle, moved into their eighth (yes, eighth) house in Arlington, the lot didn’t offer much in the way of a yard. Rather than sacrifice the hangout space and entertaining possibilities of an outdoor area, they passed over plans for a more traditional basement rec room, opting for a sprawling rooftop deck instead.
They didn’t stop there: The Sagatovs created an indoor portion of the roof level, too, turning it into a den and playroom for cocktail-sipping adults and game-playing kids. “We’ve even used it for sunrise yoga followed by mimosas and fun sunset yoga with wine,” says Michelle. It feels like an elaborate treehouse, with a wet bar, beverage fridge, air hockey, and low-slung, comfy couches.
The deck itself parallels the aesthetics of the house—clean lines, custom built-ins, and midcentury-modern ease coupled with of-the-moment technology, such as the solar panels that line the roof and the Smarthome system that controls every light and most gadgets. For the deck’s surface, the Sagatovs chose mahogany planks the will eventually morph to a subtly silver shade, and they engineered the space to hold a hot tub—just in case. That shower, tucked away in the corner? “It’s actually really private,” says Michelle. “It’s the perfect spot to cool off on a summer evening.”
This article appears in our July 2016 issue of Washingtonian.
Hillary writes about interiors, real estate, arts, and culture. She is the former digital media editor of The New Republic, and her work has also been published in Glamour, The New York Times Book Review, and The Washington Post, among others. You can follow her on Instagram @hillarylouisekelly or on Pinterest @hlkelly.
