Page 78 - Winter_2018

ArchDC Winter 2018.qxp_Winter 2018 11/27/18 9:42 AM Page 76

The Hutner pool deck and screened porch. Photos © Julia Heine/McInturff Architects

Merit Award in Architecture/ the top. These are exposed to view and make the roof a fifth facade,
Washingtonian Honorable Mention for Small Projects visible from the second story master bedroom.” A retractable
screen permits users to dive from the porch directly into the pool.
Hutner Pool & Porch Some of the porch’s steel structural elements are painted red
Chevy Chase, MD to add a color accent to a design that otherwise relies on a neutral-
toned palette. Broad stone pavers on either side of the pool align with
McInturff Architects the dimensions of the porch and act as a framing device to focus
one’s attention on the surface of the pool as a liquid sculptural object.
Garden Designers: Carex Design
The pool’s two ends align with the house’s center section, while
Structural Engineers: Neubauer Consulting Engineers, PA
the porch aligns with one of the house’s two adjoining wings,
General Contractor: Timber Ridge Builders
creating a disciplined and harmonious geometrical relationship
between the house and its new backyard amenity.
Not all escapes need to be located in distant rural areas—some of
On the far side of the pool, a low stone wall and the sloped
them can be as close by as your back yard. Twenty years after
garden beyond complete the framing of the project, producing an
McInturff Architects renovated a 1950s-era Chevy Chase rambler,
atmosphere of a sophisticated oasis in the middle of a settled
the same owners invited the firm back to design a new backyard
residential area. In contrast to the Lost Whiskey Cabin, which
pool and screened porch that would serve as the owners’ retirement
encourages contemplation of the greater landscape beyond, the
gift to themselves.
Hutner pool and porch project is oriented toward enjoying one’s
“On this hilly site, the only [plot of] flat ground dictated that
immediate, enclosing environment.
the pool be located immediately behind the house,” the firm said.
Detailed plans are often the key to a successful construction
“The result is a slender pool, running the full width of the house,
project, but that was not the case in this instance. “Construction
with a terrace for sun at one end, and a screened porch for shade
involved two pages of 11" x 17" working drawings and an
at the other.”
extraordinary carpenter,” the architects said. With the help of
The porch “is an exercise in dappled sun and carpentry,” the
their new pool, the owners are looking forward to a long and
firm said. “It is supported on steel legs which continue, partially
heathy retirement.
clad in wood, to the roof, where corresponding beams cross over
76 LITTLE GEMS