Washington, D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood, known as an elegant and chic area that’s home to ex-presidents, ambassadors, and other notable residents, features tree-lined streets with large, historic homes. When Lauren and Nicholas Pennys moved there from Brooklyn with their young family, the 1950s address they purchased was doing its best to blend in.

In fact, the home did not strongly reflect any particular style, explain architects Catherine and VW Fowlkes of Fowlkes Studio, whom Lauren and Nicholas would eventually bring on for a renovation. Its facade was dominated by a garage door and a full flight of stairs leading up to the front door, and a combination of brick and a mansard roof gave it a somewhat traditional, if atypical, feel. Lauren and Nicholas were drawn to the home more for its location and proximity to work.

But that wasn’t to say there wasn’t potential here: at around 2,400 square feet, the residence had three bedrooms and four and a half baths across its two stories, plus a walk-out finished basement. And while the front was mostly obscured from the street by foliage, its rear elevation with two oversized bay windows gave way to a generous backyard.

Before: Rear Facade

After: Rear Facade

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Lauren and Nicholas wanted to renovate to better accommodate both their expansive art collection and growing family, which includes their young son and a chocolate lab puppy. And in contrast with the more historic homes in the area, they wanted the home to feel “light and open and fresh,” says VW, prioritizing the backyard, natural light, and a balance between timelessness and unconventional and unexpected moves.

$213,641 General Condition	$78,000 Site Construction	$37,000 Concrete
$37,000 Masonry	$61,000 Metals	$390,000 Wood and Plastic
$69,000 Thermal and Moisture	$107,000 Doors and Windows	$257,000 Finishes
$36,000 Equipment	$170,000 Mechanical	$114,000 Electrical
Grand Total: $1,569,641

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

Fowlkes Studio started by expanding the home with a two-story, 700-square-foot addition to the rear, leaving the original facade mostly intact. The second floor now has a fourth bedroom and bathroom, and on the first, there’s a new informal family room and the dining room was enlarged.

Changes large and small were made throughout the home, too: the “somewhat squirrely main entrance” sequence was streamlined by knocking down a wall enclosing the stair to the lower level. On the ground floor, the layout was reorganized to create a better flow between the dining and kitchen spaces. The kitchen, too, was opened up, and now gets better natural light.

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

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A driving force behind the renovation from an aesthetic standpoint was Lauren and Nicholas’s contemporary art collection. At the entry, for example, a Classical-style marble bust on a stone pedestal contrasts the floor’s asymmetric-patterned tile. In the living room, artwork ranging from paintings to three-dimensional sculptural works is on nearly every wall, creating a dynamic sense of space.

Before: Front Hallway

After: Front Hallway

From the artwork to new finishes, the home now has an exciting tension between old and new—and between serious and playful, and handmade versus machine-made. “We leaned into their desire for a harmonious, cohesive whole with some moments of punchiness, personality, a bit of an edge,” Catherine notes.

The idea for some “edge” became quite literal when the design team left exposed a large structural beam that connects the main house to the rear addition, visible from the living room and dining room. In both spaces, the beam became not only a focal point, but also a juxtaposition against a supporting wall, which was hand-plastered by artisans from Twin Diamonds Studios to give the appearance of a relic.

Two sets of stairs in the entryway—one going up, one going down—also blend old and new through materials and textures. The stair to the second floor retains its original newel post and banister, which were refurbished and raised to a code-compliant height. Stripping the wood revealed two different wood species, which Catherine and VW highlighted by leaving them uncoated. The wood railing starkly contrasts the new stair to the lower level, which has frameless glass railing that provides an unobstructed view of the painting behind it.

The black and white painting in the front hall is by Mindy Solomon and American by Donna Rosenthal hangs on a hook to the right. More works in the home by notable artists include Maggie Michael, Hopie Stockman Hill, Katherine Bernhardt, Austyn Weiner, Joyce Billet, and Roe Ethridge. Lauren’s interest in art was shaped growing up in Miami surrounded by its vibrant scene." layout="wide" credit="Photo by Jenn Verrier" photoUserId=""/>

Before: Second Floor Bathroom

After: Second Floor Bathroom

The exterior of the addition is yet another essay in contrast and comparison, “conceived as an antidote to the original front,” says Catherine. Where the facade leans traditional, the rear is unmistakably modern: windows wrap around corners, floor-to-ceiling sliders connect to the yard, and the form is stacked and rectilinear. The cladding, a combination of shingles and a wood rainscreen stained to a soft gray, provides further distinction.

Catherine and VW say they always strive to create projects that reflect their clients, but working with Lauren and Nicholas made that especially easy. Says VW, “In this case, the collaboration and trust resulted in a real authenticity no one could have foreseen.”

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Project Credits:

Architect: Fowlkes Studio

Builder/General Contractor: Added Dimensions

Structural Engineer: Rathgeber Goss Associates

Civil Engineer: Huska & Horgan Engineering

Cabinetry Design: Ferris Custom Cabinetry

Venetian Plaster: Twin Diamonds / Stacey Tranter

Stone: Petra Stone / Yazz Yilmaz

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Before & After: A Family’s D.C. Home Gets an Artful—and Art-Filled—$1.6M Renovation