Haute from a Tote

Q&A with Carol Freedman of Carol Freedman Design

By Beth Herman

Celebrated for the abundant colors that define her work, interior designer Carol Freedman of Carol Freedman Design spoke with DCMud about an unusual commission: designing a house around the colors in a tote bag.

DCMud: So much of your world is about the unabashed use of color, accordingly what made the redesign of this residence different?

Freedman:  The inspiration for this 8,000 s.f. Bethesda house was a tote bag that the client really loved. It had geometric patterns of leaves: a rust leaf; turquoise leaf; an olive leaf; a caramel leaf; a black leaf. And her color preferences were also deeper than many I’ve used before, as exemplified in the tote which was our canvas.

DCMud: So how did the tote manifest itself in the home?

Freedman: To begin with, there are three floors, and the back of the house faces dense forest with a beautiful woodland view. We started in the great room with a large custom round patterned Odegard rug from Nepal. I then found this geometric fabric that picked up all of her colors and decided it would be great to use a fair amount of it, but not too much to overpower the room. So we used solids for the base of the couch and the chairs, applying the fabric for all the sofa’s throw pillows and back pillows. A complementary floral fabric from the same company is on some chairs, which pick up all those beautiful colors.

DCMud: In a previous story we did together, the inspiration for a home came from a painting. Though this home’s design was predicated on a tote bag, what about the spirited artwork in so many of the rooms—particularly the diptych in the living room?

Freedman: We wanted some really dynamic art on the walls, and my client and I fell in love with Susan Finsen who does exquisite work at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria. This was a custom commission we did, based on one of her previous designs, where she employed our colors with her artistic sense.

DCMud: The home’s master bedroom also appears to reflect the tote’s theme.

Freedman: I found the rug first, which picked up a lot of the same colors I used in the great room. The client already had the custom wood furniture, so I wanted a color on the walls that would make the furniture sing. We used turquoise from the tote, and then found this wonderful Duralee geometric pattern with turquoise and orange in it. Though many clients would be afraid to use such a bold pattern, this client was daring enough to use it on the window treatments. My favorite kind of person! The fabric on the bed is Donghia—more subtle with intricate designs that complemented the bold area rug.

DCMud: What about the art which, in the best sense, appears almost indistinguishable from the space—as if it was born there.

Freedman: It’s another piece by Susan Finsen—a spectacular artist in our region.

DCMud: How did you design spaces for family fun in this residence?

Freedman:Because the game room is adjacent to the great room, we used a deeper caramel color (seen in the tote bag) which flatters the rich-looking pool table. The client already had a suspended art deco light fixture. She and her family are avid baseball fans, and coincidentally Susan Finsen had designed these silkscreens of baseball fields around the country, so she custom colorized them for this space.

DCMud: Embracing your color addiction, it seems you might be drawn to D.C. spaces that speak to this.

Freedman: One of my favorite parts of D.C. is the area of 14^th and U Streets. I absolutely love jazz, both of my sons are jazz musicians, and the area is riddled with jazz clubs. We also love the great restaurants there, particularly Masa 14 and Estadio. What I love about Masa 14 is the juxtaposition of natural wood finishes, brick and metal, and the use of black, with a pop of red in the simple pendant light fixtures. It’s got that urban modern aesthetic going on with exposed metal ductwork. It feels hip, modern and earthy all at the same time.

photos courtesy of Anice Hoachlander

Micro-units at The Wharf Could Be D.C.'s First

D.C.'s first micros?  Rendering: Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

From a tiny flat on the Potomac waterfront, a young man stands looking dreamily out a floor-to-ceiling corner window.  He is only part of a rendering now, but in four years his small home will be real. Apartments at The Wharf, a massive public-private development planned for DC's Southwest Waterfront, could be the city's first micro-units.  The future building is at the corner of Maine Avenue SW and 9th Street SW.

The planned units measure just 330 square feet - about 30 square meters - to 380 square feet and feature sweeping views of the water.  The water is the focal point for this $1.5 billion 35-acre project, a public-private partnership between Hoffman-Madison Waterfront and the District of Columbia.  Perkins Eastman of DC is the residential and retail architect for the building called "Parcel 2", which will house the micro-units.  Rockwell Group is behind designs for the theater planned for the same building.

Micro-unit rendering: Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

The micro-units could be the first in a new development for the District.  Another developer planned some for Chinatown, but those were never built. In July, 60 percent of respondents to a survey by UrbanTurf said they would consider living in a 275 to 300 square foot apartment.  And with a trend in micro-unit housing sweeping the country thanks in part to a smaller-is-better way of viewing housing, it was only a matter of time before über-small apartments arrived in D.C.   In July, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a design competition to design 300 square foot apartments.

With the city adding about 1,100 residents per month and 70 percent of those new residents under the age of 35 (statistics that Office of Planning director Harriet Tregoning is fond of citing), DC's growth is creating a veritable perfect storm for micro-units.

"Parcel 2", water side. Rendering: Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

 "Smaller units are flying off the shelf," said Matt Steenhoek, Associate Development Director with Hoffman-Madison Waterfront.  He said a small team from Hoffman-Madison Waterfront took a look at trends, demographic forecasts, and a growing "less is more" aesthetic.  The decision to put micro-units in Parcel 2 made sense, he said.  The building will have 500 residential units, 40 percent of which will be studio apartments, though not all in the 300 square foot range.

According to Steenhoek, developers took a look at demand forecasts for the next 20 years, as well as demographic trends: those point to smaller household sizes and people staying single longer. "Some of the housing that has been historically built will be somewhat obsolete," Steenhoek said. "We were looking at all these things and having this conversations in a small group and saying what we can we do and how can we be a market leader in that market for the District."

Rendering: Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

According to developers, the planned micro-units will feature built-in furniture and cabinetry, small appliances and wall-beds. "The idea is that someone could move in with one suitcase," Steenhoek told DCMud.  Data from the OP shows D.C.'s new, young residents aren't bringing much furniture - or cars - creating a niche for furnished apartments.

All units will feature large windows and some will have small French balconies, features designed to open up the spaces and make them feel larger.

Rendering: Hoffman-Madison Waterfont

"Parcel 2", Maine Avenue frontage. Hoffman-Madison Waterfron

Amenities are key to The Wharf's micro-unit concept - a concept that sees micro-units as launch pads for engagement with walkable, 24-hour urban offerings and symbols of freedom from suburban commutes.

Developers are betting micro-units will help help achieve that vision - a vision focused on the urban and social life outside right one's doors. "In that sort of paradigm you can live in a very efficient space because you are not spending every hour in there - you are out in your environment," said Steenhoek.

Parcel 2 plans call for a rooftop terrace and pool,  as well as a cultural performing arts center with a 6,000-person capacity. A co-generation plant is planned to power the building.  Affordable and workforce housing will be mixed throughout market-rate units and offered in all unit sizes, including for micro-units. Plans for the larger development, The Wharf, call for 3.2 million square feet of development, including offices, apartments, and a four-star InterContinental Hotel, four piers, and a three-acre park.

Parcel 2, as well as the larger Phase One, Stage Two development plan for The Wharf, have already received design concept approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. After five hearings before the DC Zoning Commission in July, the plans should get a preliminary decision from the Commission by the end of October.  Developers expect to break ground in 2013.  The answer to the question of what life will be like in a D.C. micro unit will have to wait for a while: they won't be delivered until late 2016 or early 2017.

The Wharf's "Parcel 2" Floor Plan. Rendering courtesy Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

Morning Real Estate Fix

The housing crisis:  What went wrong?  (Contra Costa Times)  It may seem late for a post mortem exam, but some experts gathered recently to give their thoughts on why the housing market tanked.

Landmark nomination for Corcoran Gallery may derail sale (TheInTowner)  A landmark nomination filing with the Historic Preservation Review Board may sidetrack the sale of this historic building by preventing changes to its interior.

At Walter Reed, some push for a town center (Washington Post)  With the military hospital closed more than a year, advocates are pushing for the best uses for the site, and some see a suburban-style enclave ripe for development as competing visions line up before the District makes selections.

Arlington Board candidates discuss housing, transportation (Patch)  In a debate forum, the candidates talk about affordable housing, and say they will not vote for a trolley down Columbia Pike.

Newest FRB governor says QE3, purchasing of mortgages, made sense (HousingWire) The Feds initiation of the latest round of quantitative easing, released this summer, made good sense, argues the newest governor, saying that the FRB's purchase of mortgage-backed securities was the best of a dwindling set of tools.

Your Next Place

This 1885 red-brick Victorian was exhaustively renovated in 2006, making it the perfect blend of the best things old and new.  Sort of the opposite of my house, which is the perfect blend of the worst things old (lead paint, horribly inefficient steam radiators) and new (cheap storm windows that don't close all the way, a "Did I Do That?" Steve Urkel poster that's been permanently steamed onto my bathroom wall.)

There's an excellent foyer with a little airlock-like entryway between two doors, so cold air doesn't rush in during the winter, and which you can also use as a sort of holding pen for prospective guests.  ("Sorry, I just now noticed you're wearing flip-flops, I can't let you come into the party.  Sorry.")  The salmon-walled, glass-front-cabineted kitchen has more personality than the love child of Oscar Wilde and Nicki Minaj (so the rumors ARE true!), and opens onto a small family room, which makes a crap-ton of sense since everyone eats dinner in front of the television now anyway.  (Not only do I eat while watching television, I've starved myself for two or three hypoglycemic hours just so I could eat dinner during my favorite show.  Yes, I'm thirty-four years old.)

Upstairs you have the luxurious master bedroom suite, and a five-star marble-lined, glass-doored master bath that's so nice you could reasonably pretend you're George Clooney at his Italian Lake Como villa, just make sure you don't look into any reflective surfaces and shatter the illusion. There's a garage too, so you don't have to endure the neverending Kafkaesque hassle of street parking.  I recently had to look after a friend's car for a couple weeks while she was out of town, and I swear the city is playing a practical joke on us with those parking signs.  "Two hour parking:  All cars will be towed after ninety minutes, except on weekdays and weekends, when all parking is prohibited.  Just kidding.  Possibly."

1518 T Street NW
2 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
$1,495,000

Babes Development OK'd by ANC

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission held a hearing last night to approve development at 4600 Wisconsin Ave., affectionately known as the "Babes" site in Tenleytown.  In a hearing competing with a Vice Presidential debate and sudden death National League playoff, the ANC voted in a lightly attended meeting to support the residential project as Douglas Development gets ready to present the same plans to the Zoning Commission

The approval, the culmination of a Memorandum of Understanding between Douglas Development, the building's owner, and the ANC, gets Douglas past the neighborhood and to a final zoning vote.  Douglas's zoning application calls for a 6-story building with 48,000 s.f. of residential use above 13,000 s.f. of retail.  After a heated battle with some neighborhood turf bullies that feared dozens of new cars clogging Tenleytown, Douglas prevailed on turning the bottom two floors into retail by offering a host of transportation amenities (off-street handicap parking, a bike room, bike racks on Wisconsin, and a "digital multimodal display" in the lobby that lists updated bus, rail, bikeshare and car share data) rather than the 87 parking spaces that would have been required under current zoning regulations.

Douglas fought a contentious battle with some in the neighborhood that wanted garage parking to mitigate street parking, but the neighborhood acquiesced when, among other things, when Douglas agreed that residents would not qualify for neighborhood parking stickers and that commercial tenants over 3,500 s.f. would provide free validated parking. Jonathan Bender, the ANC Commissioner in whose district the project is located, said it was a tough compromise that neither side was entirely happy with, but that it allowed the project to go forward.   "This is a tremendous advance in Tenleytown...even if the ANC supported it without the parking restriction the Zoning Commission would never have supported this [without that parking condition]."  The concept of allowing new development while forbidding tenants of new residential developments has long been a contested one, with new residents feeling boxed out by local home owners.

Douglas also agreed to a check list of other neighborhood upgrades, including contributing up to $600,000 to underground utilities in front of the project, building a CaBi station at its expense if DDOT does not build one in the immediate vicinity on its own within 2 years, and enhancing the triangular park across the street.

The site has long been planned as a residential location, a previous owner intended high-end condos on the site, and though Douglas initially floated a plan for office space above retail after purchasing the property in January of 2009 (the site had been a pool hall recently), it soon began developing a plan for housing above the retail.  Click here for the most recent images of the project.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Designing Eden

Q&A with Ron Schneck of Square 134 Architects

By Beth Herman

As a mixed market rate and subsidized housing development, Eden Place at Beulah Crossing—with Phase 1 at 400-414 Eastern Avenue NE—in some ways has been seen as a bellwether of revitalized multifamily housing in D.C., but not for obvious reasons. DCMud spoke with Principal Ron Schneck of Square 134 Architects about the firm’s role in making aesthetics a key component of affordable housing.

DCMud: Tell us about the genesis of Eden Place at Beulah Crossing.

Schneck: Under the Fenty regime, there were a series of RFP’s put out to galvanize underutilized city-owned sites in the District. Washington Interfaith Network was involved with this one, specifically Beulah Baptist Church.

DCMud: What makes this housing project different?

Schneck: We chose an Arts and Crafts style. There’s always a site plan condition that’s governed by economics, and the problem with large townhome developments typically is you always fluctuate between designing individual town homes vs. a block of buildings that create one mass. The more material and colors that you can have at your disposal makes (the former) a lot easier.

DCMud: Tell us about the site.

Schneck: The existing site was public housing that had been abandoned for many years—a real blight on the community. The church identified the site, and we worked with two development groups: UrbanMatters Development Partners LLC and Denning Development, who partnered with Beulah Baptist Church—which was critical in convincing the community that this was something it needed. NCD Management was integral as they provided development and construction management.

DCMud: What is the time frame?

Schneck: Eden Place at Beulah Crossing is being developed in two phases, with the first broken up into two different buildings on Eastern Avenue NE. Part A of the first phase, along Eastern Avenue, has been completed and is occupied. Part B of Phase 1 is probably going to be finished by the end of the year if not sooner. There are to be 63, approximately 1,500 s.f. units altogether when Phase II along Dix Street NE and 61^st Street NE is built (estimated completion 2013).

DCMud: Describe the interior space.

Schneck: Most are three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, and there is the gabled space. They’re big, inhabitable bedroom or playroom-type bonus spaces. These townhomes have really nice finishes: hardwood floors; brushed nickel; chrome; some with stainless steel; Energy Star appliances; nice interiors that are market rate. The first floor is contemporary open concept.

DCMud: Is it fair to say the neighborhood is undergoing a lot of revitalization, which doesn’t stop with Eden Place?

Schneck:There’s more development scheduled to go on around it—plans to take over abandoned structures.

DCMud: How do you frame this and your role in it?

Schneck: The reason I’m doing multifamily housing right now is we’ve more or less maxed out the suburbs. Everyone understands that they don’t want to live 60 miles away from where they work. That’s why the housing market is so strong in D.C. because everyone’s moving back into the city, and it’s not just young professionals anymore—it’s families. (The Office of Planning reports about 1,100 residents moving into the District each month.)

DCMud: So what kind of design gauntlet does this throw down for you?

Schneck: The challenge for architects is to try and find a language and a style that is appropriate for that new demographic, which is ‘the family in the city.’ Granted, this is not downtown, but it’s not suburban and also not urban. It’s that buffer area that I think we’re going to be seeing more and more of. People want to live in the city.

DCMud: Speaking of the city and its challenges, what area impresses you the most?

Schneck: I’m a big fan of Penn Quarter. When I first came to D.C. in 1996, the neighborhood did not exist or at the very least had nowhere near the vibrancy it has now. It reminds me that D.C. is a big, international city, and it happened so quickly that it’s now a dynamic area. Penn Quarter and Columbia Heights are the two neighborhoods that happened seemingly overnight. In a couple of years’ time, they have completely transformed and impacted the surrounding neighborhoods.

Morning Real Estate Fix

A renewed inclusionary zoning debate (Market Urbanism) Some continue to support the subsidized housing program, others say its shortfalls do little to help general affordability of housing while throwing extra burdens on developers and creating upside-down incentives.

Buying power increases in DC housing market (Washington Post) In a report covering the last 2 months, a new study finds its easier to buy a home than it was this time last year.

New York, DC still at top of real estate investor market (Washington Business Journal)  A report by Cushman & Wakefield says that DC and NY remain on top in investor's minds, though investment in DC has slowed.

Foreclosures reach a 5-year low (HousingWire)  RealtyTrac gives its September numbers nationally, and the drop is attributed to a steep drop in foreclosure inventory.