Ritz-Carlton Terrace, Washington D.C.
Location — Washington, District of Columbia
Project Type — Terrace design for a private residence, built from an empty space
Scope — Outdoor living, dining and garden areas
Services — Outdoor living design, landscape and garden design, outdoor lighting design, furniture specification
Infrastructure — Electrical supply installed to serve the terrace
Custom Elements — Custom electric grill, automated heated Tuuci umbrellas, couture outdoor fabrics
Furnishings — Janus et Cie, Dedon
Outdoor — Planted garden, landscaping, outdoor lighting scheme
Tuxedo Park sits among the most established addresses in Atlanta, and the house we were given had wonderful proportions hidden beneath decades of accumulated decision making. This was a complete gut renovation. We took the principal rooms back to the framing and rebuilt them from the architecture outward, which is always where I prefer to begin. Before a single fabric was chosen, we established the coffered ceiling, the wainscot layout and the built-in cabinetry, because those elements set the rhythm that every other choice must answer to.
The coffered ceiling was drawn to the room rather than ordered from a catalog. Its beam spacing was set against the window openings so that the ceiling and the wall beneath it read as one composition. The wainscot was designed to a custom height and panel proportion. The built-in cabinetry was planned around the television so that the screen recedes into the millwork instead of commanding the wall. This is the architecture inside the architecture, and it is the part of a room that most people feel without being able to name.
Furniture was commissioned through Century Furniture and specified to the exact dimensions of the finished rooms. The rug was made to order in wool and silk. The throw pillows were fabricated to our own specification, and the paint was custom mixed. Nothing of consequence in these rooms was bought ready made. A collection of blue and white bell jars and a considered art installation completed the layered, collected quality the house asked for.
The project ran five to six months on site and depended upon an exceptional general contractor. That kind of partnership is what allows millwork of this level to be executed properly, and it is the same standard of collaboration I bring to homes in Chapin and around Lake Murray today.