Walls Give Way to Flow and Function

An Edgemoor house loses walls, gaining better flow and livability.

Photo by Marion Butterworth

Their ultimate remodel became a mental snapshot the day the Wicker-Skinner family moved into their Edgemoor home 14 years ago. The little house already featured an addition, but it was far from ideal.

When Maris Wicker, a singer and pianist; her husband Larry Skinner, an attorney; and their son Branson moved to the area from Richmond, they “bought for the neighborhood more than for the house,” she says.

“This is an extraordinary neighborhood. It has become more so since we moved here. It turned out that our son, who was four years old at the time, started at Sidwell Friends School, which happens to be a half block away from here,” Wicker says.

“We’re very close to D.C. There are probably 150 restaurants within walking distance, and it’s an eight-minute walk to the metro. This is a very desirable place.”

But at that time, the house wasn’t. “We had to do some fairly major renovations to move in. It had been a rental property with something like 13 people living here, and it’s not that big. It was hardly habitable,” she says.

They ripped out a “filthy” kitchen on the second floor, transforming the space into a master bathroom, and replaced drywall in a couple of rooms. They moved in, dreaming of doing much more.

Fast Forward

When the Wicker-Skinner family began to explore a housing change a year or so ago, they struggled with the decision. They could tear the house down and rebuild on their property as many of their Edgemoor neighbors were doing, they could move or they could remodel. “We went round and round with that, as I’m sure many people do. I think it’s part of the process,” says Wicker.

A decision to remodel was based on their affection for the neighborhood. ” We looked at several other houses in the neighborhood. We didn’t feel that they could give us much more than what we could get [with this property]. You’d have to have a real good reason to leave this neighborhood if you were going to stay in the Washington, D.C. area.” Remodeling, she says, “wasn’t as much a monetary-based decision as it was a practical one.”

A Lasting Impression

Their choice of the design/build company Hopkins & Porter, was based on a positive, lasting impression. “Years ago, we saw several new houses [they built] in Merry-Go-Round Farm in Potomac,” Wicker says. “They were just beautiful, and it was clear to me that they do great work.” After meeting with Hopkins & Porter, she knew they would “be easy to work with. Hopkins & Porter is one-stop shopping,” she says.

Achieving the Goal

Wicker’s primary objective was to change the flow in the house and eliminate small, awkward rooms. Architect Kai Tong met with Wicker and Skinner for several months. They developed a plan that would “open up—both spatially and functionally—long congested activities, spaces and views,” Tong explains. “The results include a new kitchen that allows uninterrupted interaction with an adjacent family room and encourages traffic and sight lines towards the rear yard. The family now enjoys an unimpeded flow of energy—what some refer to as “chi”— throughout the house.”

Delicious Design

For the new kitchen, “Kai sent us to Stuart Kitchens on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda, which at first I didn’t think was necessary. I didn’t really understand the value of that, but now I do,” says Wicker. “He referred us specifically to Harriet Finder,” a certified kitchen designer. “She worked with Kai and us, helping to select all the components, including appliances. She was integral to the kitchen design.”

Wicker and Skinner’s taste for simple lines and a clean look inspired Finder. From the display at the Stuart Kitchens showroom, they chose frameless maple Acorn cabinets with a Mandarin finish, Newport door style and satin nickel hardware by Top Knobs.

The appliances are all high-end. A stunning achievement of technology and engineering, the brushed stainless steel Abbaka seamless range hood, whose stack and canopy are joined without a trace, dominates as the room’s focal point, a beautiful and functional piece of kitchen sculpture above the six-burner Thermador range.

Brushed stainless steel subtly glows on the side-by-side Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer and the deep, single-bowl Franke sink. The large island boasts a prep sink and an under counter U-Line beverage fridge, making the space workable for more than one cook at a time. Concealed behind a cabinetry panel, the Asko dishwasher holds more, is quieter and uses less water and energy than traditional machines.

Honed black granite countertops anchor the clean, almost contemporary design and are practically maintenance free. “All I do is wipe them,” says Wicker.

Possibilities Become Realities

In the backyard, a new twin-gabled screened porch is set above a new arbor and a flagstone patio. On the less-than-a-quarter acre lot, the addition of the patio was a good way of dealing with a space that was too small for a grassy yard. It also eliminated an area that got muddy when it rained, Wicker explains.

The patio is a cleaner play place for their two Welsh Corgis, Uma and Beatrix. “They like the porch too, because it’s elevated and they can look over the fence and see people going by,” she says. A small clapboard garage was left intact and simply refurbished. It serves as a backdrop to the new outdoor rooms. “It’s really cute,” she adds.

Going Green

“We were interested in using the most environmentally-friendly materials,” she says. In addition to choosing energy-efficient appliances and Pella Architect Series® windows, “the house was repainted on the inside with Benjamin Moore Eco Spec® paint, which is a low Volatile Organic Compounds paint. We used cork flooring in the basement, which is environmentally very sound.”

The basement was renovated into an open plan apartment with a private entrance and two large rooms for 18-year-old Branson and his extensive musical studio equipment.

Wicker is happy with their decision to remodel: “There’s nothing that I wish I’d done [differently]. I’m satisfied.”

—Marion Butterworth