Noticed: Newel Posts

Interesting newel posts in a Bethesda, Maryland, Colonial home.

Pocketful of Tudors: Woodhaven

Welcome to my new regular feature, Pocketful of Tudors.  I adore this particular architectural style and will spotlight neighborhoods in the DMV that have a strong concentration of Tudor homes. One particularly cool thing that happened when my family and I bought a Tudor in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland, was that both my father and my father-in-law both said, upon seeing the photos while we were still under contract, that they had really wanted to buy a Tudor home years in the past. It felt like a special family history. Tudors are not nearly as popular in our area as say a Colonial or a Cape Cod style house, so to me they feel special.  They also evoke feelings of European charm, as I have noted in a different blog written while I was in Europe.

So I shall begin my journey through Tudor places in my home neighborhood, Woodhaven. Our neighborhood was established between 1936 and 1941, with approximately 127 homes, 56 of which are Tudor homes built by Peter Dein. The homes in the neighborhood share some common floor plans with the expected additions and modifications that over three-quarters of a century bring. The typical features of Tudors include angled roof lines, fretwork, stucco, stone, and brick.  The unique character of Woodhaven includes the heavy tree cover true to our name. on the outside mirror charming details such as arched doorways, exposed wooden beams, and massive stone or granite fireplaces inside.

Interior details that I've noticed while visiting neighbors' homes include arched doorways, exposed wooden beams, and massive stone or granite fireplaces some say were built from stones quarried right here in one of our blocks.  Many homes have living rooms with a step down to create volume ceilings above, built in garages, narrow slat hardwood floors, and charming alcoves and niches. Some homeowners over the years have replaced light fixtures but a few have remained.

One of the most charming elements of Woodhaven is the concentration and consistency of Tudor styles.  Of course other home styles were built over the years, but the majority of homes lined up along the few streets are Tudors.  Be sure to drive through Woodhaven and Whittier Boulevards, Poe and Alcott Roads, and Thoreau and Bryant Drives in the spring when we have our secret little azalea show.

The Much Anticipated Living Room Sconces

I have been on a quest for living room sconces for over a year and a half.  I share my story to "Keep It Real" about improvements to your home. Not all projects are a weekend success or an instant fix. I struggle with decisions just like you. And taking the time to make the right choice for your home and your family can be so rewarding that it is worth the time and effort. Well, mostly.  Effort yes; time... not so much.

It all began when we bought our Bethesda home almost two years ago. We loved everything about it, except the wood thing over our massive living room fireplace. I am sure it was treasured over the years by previous owners and I respected its unique nature. It just was not for my family. So yes, we removed it. To be more accurate, at the end of September 2011, I paid my friend Pieter to take it all down including the mantel. Much to our surprise, behind that wooden facade was an archeological find of fireplace embellishments over the decades. We found a slip of paper dated 1951 back there, plus dubious wiring faintly visible on the photo on the right. And yes, those little metal electrical covers that promised of lighting to come.

Jump ahead to late January 2012 to discover minor progress on the lighting front. We hired an electrician to confirm and modernize the connection between the wires behind those plates and a switch on the wall by the front door.  As a temporary solution, they crudely though safely attached two mismatched light bulbs to the wires, to validate electrical success. Running in parallel to our sconce quest was the restoration of the plaster. We'll call this phase the retro industrial look. Visitors politely tried to ignore it.  But by mid-spring 2012, our plaster guy had applied 13 layers over 6 or 7 visits to reach the point where we were ready for sconce selection and painting.

I created a Pinterest board for living room sconce ideas. Friends weighed in. I vacillated between much bling, subtle oil rubbed bronze, antiqued but new fixtures, custom-made from New York City, and many in between. I narrowed in on a vintage look, to keep with the style of our 1938 Tudor. A random postcard from Artisan Lamp Company in Cleveland Park, Washington, DC, led me to dropping by their shop one evening in February 2013; yes that much time had passed. I found some I liked. I mentioned them to my loving spouse. He wondered why I had not bought them. Next time I could get there was April 4, 2013. I found an American vintage pair from the 1920s or 1930s with crystal and brass. And it only took me 8 days to get an electrician here to install them on a dimmer switch. Tah dah!  I present to you the final product. Now we just need a mantel.

The Royal Wedding and Our New House

Today is the one-and-a-half-year anniversary for William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and for my family's move into our home in Bethesda. To commemorate both occasions, I bought a handmade Emma Bridgewater Royal Wedding mug last year. Because we had sold our house one day before buying our new home, we were homeless for a day. Our generous friends Nick and Carrie let all four of us plus our two cats stay with them for that night. The Royal Wedding coverage started in the US at 5:30am ET on Friday, April 29, 2011, so Carrrie and I awoke before dawn to watch the ceremony. It is no coincidence that Carrie is the one who started my Emma Bridgewater collection and that we were watching the festivities together.

This is the mug I use every Friday for my morning coffee. I derive simple pleasures from the feel of the mug in my hand, that continued joy of home ownership, and the few moments of peace before the busy-ness of life.

I feel lucky every day that I wake up in my beautiful home, with its Tudor charm, gourmet kitchen, and cozy sunroom. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help other buyers find their dream home, too.

Manageable Laundry Room Reno, Adding Value and Personal Style

Without much introduction to my new blog, I want to share a small renovation project I recently completed in my home.  With a manageable scope and timeline, and about $4,500, I added my personal style as well as value to my home by transforming my basement laundry room into a pleasant place. Of course I had help from my contractor, Mike, and his team.  I did select and purchase all finish materials myself, though Mike supplied the behind the scenes items like the drywall, rough in plumbing and electrical, 2x4s, and so forth.  My supportive husband Brian gave me the nod and the planning began.

Let me step back.  We bought our now 74 year old Tudor house in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland 20817 on April 29, 2011, so we just celebrated our one year anniversary.  Though the house had undergone considerable and gorgeous renovations by the previous owners, the laundry room had been improved only by the addition of new front-load washer and dryer in 2008 and maybe the toilet was relatively new too.  Oh yes, there is a toilet in our basement laundry room.  But I strongly disliked the color and being in the basement without any windows, it was not the most cheerful place to make my laundry clean.

The washer and dryer were on pedestals, all the rage in laundry appliances, but being only 5'3" tall, rounding up, the tops aligned just below my shoulder and even if there had been a nice surface, folding would have been at eye level.  The old wash tub with drain pipe from the washer and the leaky old faucet, exposed pipes and wires and all, contributed to the overall mood.  I dreamed about shiny, happy laundry rooms.  I created a Laundress Pinterest board.  I coveted a new laundry room.  I set a budget, scheduled the work once I got an estimate from my contractor Mike, and went shopping.

A few more notes on my blog before the debrief and the reveal.  Although I am reasonably handy, this is not a Do-It-Yourself blog.  Certainly not an interior designer, I care about and plan to discuss room and house layout and design.  This is not an "on-a-dime" super budget conscious blog, though I find bargains where I can.  Tying it all together is my interest in real estate, homes and projects.  More on real estate in future posts.

Welcome to our perfect new laundry room!  Pretty pale yellow walls (Duron SW7123 "Yellow Beam") in eggshell finish, gorgeous "White Ice" granite counter (a remnant from Granite Works in Rockville) at comfortable folding height, bronze cabinet knobs, plenty of extra, always-appreciated storage, crisp white porcelain farm sink with stainless gooseneck pull-out faucet, all with a fresh and clean perspective!

Other details....

- New wall behind the washer, dryer, sink and toilet, hiding all electrical, outlets for w&d, pipes, etc., plus a backdrop for cabinets 

- New flush mount electronic ballast fluorescent ceiling light fixture from Home Depot, no flicker or delay so voila, instant light!
- Under-cabinet LED light strip with switch on wall above counter plus extra outlet, say for ironing (ha)
- White painted wood cabinets from Ikea, some with glass panels and others above and below the sink with solid doors

- Crown molding to tidily conceal the wires and some pipes
- Direct drainage for washer into behind-the-wall sewer stack
- Repair the broken dryer handle, switch order of washer and dryer and side of dryer hinge for easier transfer of wet clean clothes to dryer.

For the finishing touches, I need a towel bar and a toilet paper holder, to reinforce the combo powder room and laundry room functionality.  We kept the existing tile floor and just rerouted existing plumbing and electrical.  I spent a little more than I probably needed to on the cabinets because I wanted the nicer wood finish with glass and the bronze cabinet knobs from Union Hardware in Bethesda were an extravagance (I'd buy online for much less in the future).  

I did this project to make an everyday chore more pleasant for myself, to add some of my own personal style to my home, and to improve the value of my home, in that order.

But I am one cheerful laundress now.  I'll have a smile on my face for years to come.