Page 45 - Spring_2019

ArchDC Spring 2019.qxp_Spring 2019 2/20/19 5:17 PM Page 43
Land-facing façade, with the carport at left.
Exterior of the house before renovation. Photo by Greg Wiedemann
Project: Mid-Century Waterfront Renovation,
Talbot County, MD
Architects: Wiedemann Architects
Interior Designers: Shaun Jackson Inc.
Contractor: Bluepoint Construction, LLC
Photos © Anice Hoachlander/Hoachlander Davis Photography,
except as noted
glass doors and fixed windows above. The north (land-
facing) façade also has transoms above the datum, but
below is entirely brick, with a few slot openings and flush
wood doors. Along both the north and south sides, the
steel columns are situated slightly outside of the exterior
wall, providing shadow lines and vertical accents that
offset the otherwise horizontal compositions. At the north
side, four of the roof beams extend beyond the house:
The carport’s roof is suspended from the beams, and the
carport roof is set at the datum level. (The carport slab is
lower than the floor inside the house, so there is sufficient
headroom, although it is low.)
At the interior, the datum establishes the top plane
of kitchen cabinetry, built-in storage units, doors, wood
panels, and other elements. The columns are engaged in
walls, peeking out above the datum line in many cases.
The beams are visually prominent, emphasizing the
generous ceiling height and room sizes, and their spacing
sets the locations of major divisions between rooms.
“Some aspects of the [existing] house came off as
experimental,” noted project architect Barbara Sweeney,
AIA, an associate at Wiedemann Architects, pointing to the
quantity of built-in furniture, the peculiar indoor pool,
and the highly-unusual low-voltage electrical system
with strange toggles in lieu of conventional switches. The
pool—rather too small for swimming, rather too large
for a hot tub, and oddly positioned in the very middle of
the house—was eliminated; a new outdoor pool was
constructed. The client loved the built-ins, so most were
faithfully replicated using the same American walnut wood.
The client also loved the weird toggles, but it seems that
that technology dead-ended at some point: The switches
proved incompatible with current-day electrical systems
and had to be replaced.
MID-CENTURY MAKEOVER 43