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Living room, with the library visible in the left background. Renovated kitchen. Photos © Nikolas Koenig Photography, LLC
Along with the rural houses and urban row houses covered elsewhere and renovate it. They hired Richard Williams Architects (RWA) to
in this issue, the juries this year honored three freestanding houses oversee the project. Working with firm principal Richard
in suburban settings. Although quite different from one another, Williams, FAIA, was project architect Timothy Abrams, AIA.
the three houses are linked in a generational manner: One of them The house’s four pavilions are linked at their corners, creating
is an important modernist house in the District originally designed a staggered, linear plan that fits the site and opens up views to the
by Hugh Newell Jacobsen, FAIA, while the other two are new houses wooded surroundings. “The simple, gabled sheds, stitched together
designed by one of Jacobsen’s protégés. at the corners, create spatial overlaps in plan and section that make
a compact plan seem spacious and dynamic,” Williams said.
Washingtonian Preservation Award Preserving and updating the work of an architectural master
like Jacobsen always poses a delicate design challenge. In this case,
Four Pavilions however, that challenge was especially personal, as Williams had
Washington, DC admired the house since before he even knew that he wanted to
become an architect.
Richard Williams Architects, PLLC RWA’s design for the renovation replaced the house’s HVAC
Interior Designers: Jim Luigs Designs and electrical systems, upgraded its triangular windows with
Landscape Architects: Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect PLLC high-efficiency glass, installed new insulation and flashing, and
Structural Engineers: Linton Engineering, LLC added a rainscreen—a layered exterior cladding system that can
General Contractor: Mauck, Zantzinger and Associates reduce the penetration of moisture and heat. The project also
involved some redesign of the master bathroom on the house’s
eastern side, and in the kitchen and adjoining study/guest room
Widely regarded as the dean of Washington-area modernist architects,
at its western end.
Hugh Newell Jacobsen, FAIA, is best known for his modular pavilion
“Internal design changes focused on a new layout for the
residences, which combine simple, gabled “Monopoly house”
kitchen, laundry, and guest bath that opened up an axial connection
volumes in various configurations. Although he has designed many
between the two western pavilions, and better integration of the
such houses over the years, the only example in the District itself is
house to the landscape,” Williams said. “A new glass door with a
Four Pavilions, also known as the Dreier-Barton House, a 1,990-square
sliding shutter at the eastern pavilion replaces one of two distinctive
foot, one-bedroom house with an additional study/guest room.
oriel windows, enabling one to walk gracefully from the master suite
The house is located on University Terrace, NW, in Washington’s
to a new garden terrace created by raising the grade with a cast-in-
Kent area, a suburban neighborhood situated between the Palisades
place concrete retaining wall.” The driveway to the house was also
and Foxhall. Completed in 1977, it was recognized as a Record
shortened and reconfigured to provide more space for the garden.
House by Architectural Record magazine in 1978, and is featured
“The house was rebuilt substantially,” Williams said, “yet the
in the AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, DC.
intent of the details, the form of the massing, and the genius of the
In spite of its architectural significance, the house fell into
plan were honored as historic preservation of a modern masterwork.”
disrepair over the years and was at risk of being demolished when
it was sold in 2010 to new owners who instead wanted to preserve
BREATHING ROOM 59