Washington, D.C.-based architect Allan Greenberg knew the task would be herculean when he embarked on the restoration of this historic American Colonial. Owned by the same family for more than 200 years, the Alexandria, Virginia, house is one of the few freestanding residences in Old Town. Everyone -- members of the original family, the new owner (Greenberg's client), the neighbors, and local preservationists -- would scrutinize his changes.
But Greenberg, called the "most serious practitioner of classicism currently on the scene" by Yale University art history professor George Hersey, embraced the challenge. "Anyone can take an old building and put a new building beside it," he says, "but to get the two buildings to talk to one another is much more difficult." He succeeded marvelously, designing a house whose old and new parts converse as freely as family.
Greenberg began the project with a meticulous exterior restoration. To determine what the house looked like when it was built -- a few years before the U.S. Constitution was ratified -- his expert team peeled away layers of siding and roofing that had been added over years. The lucky discovery of a single original roof shingle suggested that the shingles were wooden, scalloped, and painted red -- the color of Washington's roof at Mount Vernon.
And when archaeologists determined that the ornate Victorian entry porch (nice, but anachronistic) had replaced a simple, asymmetrically placed raised platform, Greenberg removed the porch and restored the platform. Each well-researched step helped erase two centuries' worth of haphazard remodeling, giving the once-muddled house an appearance that Greenberg calls "austere, simple, and very robust."
The new homeowner also asked Greenberg to bring the house up to today's living standards. That meant incorporating central air-conditioning, new electrical wiring, the latest kitchen appliances, a home theater, a fitness room, and a two-bay garage.
To accommodate these requests, Greenberg remodeled an earlier addition, creating a masterful L-shaped wing that is both fresh and in harmony with the original structure. "I wanted to show the passage of time," Greenberg says of his design. "It sort of looks like the great-grandchild of the original house."
While the addition's architectural elements, such as dormers, board siding, and wooden roof shingles, resemble those of the original house, they are clearly much newer. Subtle architectural distinctions separate the old and new elements of the project. With its bright, open façade, narrow eaves, and porchless entry, the original portion is the public face, in a sense, beaming proudly at passersby. Aptly, it contains the more formal rooms of the house, including the living room, dining room, and library.
The new wing, with a large, new kitchen and sitting area, is more private, introspective, and comfortable, thanks in part to the heavy brow of a roofline, which rests on Tuscan columns, creating a deep-set covered porch. It is as if this single project embodies the architectural ideals of both town house and country house, with a common wall (rather than miles of highway) connecting the two.
Greenberg's immaculate garden design supports the town-and-country notion. Behind a crisp white picket fence, a formal parterre of boxwood hedges interplanted with lavender greets the public. Occasionally, bridal parties cluster on the sidewalk, posing for photographs in front of the roses spilling over the fence. In the crook of the addition, however, tall shrubbery hides a miniature lawn, where the homeowner's child can play.
The L-shaped wing wraps around the garden, giving the entire property what Greenberg calls "a very strong ending," making the property feel more self-contained and intimate. The wing's shape also relegates the more functional features -- garage, grocery-and-stroller entrance, utility room -- to the rear of the house.
It is evident from this house, as well as his rigorous portfolio, that Greenberg approaches his work with a deep understanding of and affinity for the history of American architecture. Here, the line between old and new is well-defined, yet the two elements fit perfectly -- a classical harmony that is essential to the success of the project. It's simple, Greenberg says: "I wanted to do something that would enhance that part of Old Town and make it prettier than before."
RESOURCES: Architecture by Allan Greenberg, Architect, 202/337-0010, www.allangreenberg.com; contractor, Gardiner & Gardiner, 301/261-6006, www.gardinerandgardiner.com; consulting engineers, Spiegel Zamecnik & Shah, 202/223-9500, www.szsdc.com.
PAGE:1
