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Arts & Crafts Waterfront Home |
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| This project was just featured in an article titled High Style and Easy Elegance by Dennis Hockman in the June 2003 issue of Chesapeake Home magazine. Excerpts from this article are featured throughout this page. You may also visit www.ChesapeakeHome.com to view the entire article as well as additional photographs. | ||
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"To visit the home is to feel at once contemporary and ancient. The structure is both highly crafted and naturalistic, simple yet complex. But these are comfortable juxtapositions, and the space itself is comfortable: comfortable to be in and comfortable in its environment. Located on the water's edge, architecture, workmanship, interior design, and landscape collaborate to produce a home organic to its environment. Imagine sailing a river for the first time, being struck by the beauty of a coastline-- timeworn bluffs, osprey nests, tangles of driftwood, and a home that just belongs there. A seamless integration of stone, glass, wood, metal, water, and sky, the residence is both a product and a part of the landscape-- as if a happenstance of nature."
Side view facing the river |
Front entry "I say as if, of course, because the home did not just happen. When the property was purchased, it included an older, drab, L-shaped "contemporary" that neither capitalized on the waterfront nor fit with the environment. Using nature as a guide, architect Chip Bohl, builder Bert Winchester, interior designer Susan Saladin-Weitzel, and landscape designer Andy Hobson collaborated to create a home in harmony with its setting. According to Bohl, the biggest challenge was adapting the existing building to create a new residence that would be integrated with the landscape. Waterfront property setbacks and deed restrictions limited the possibilities. Given these restrictions and desire to capitalize on the site and views, the architecture was changed dramatically--- nearly all of the former residence was demolished, saving only the basement floor and one of its walls." |
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| "In
determining a style, for the home, Bohl worked closely with his clients to
understand the environment. This, combined with their needs, would
define the home. Bohl remarks, "As we developed a concept that
fit the site, we looked at many options, but this highly crafted organic
design quickly became the approach. The final design is very site
specific. This home is created for the specific site; it would not
be appropriate for any other.""
Sitting room |
Stair down to lower
level
"In planning the home in accordance to the site, the connection to the water, which the clients desired, became inherent to the project. But, they also wanted the home to feel nautical-- possibly to reference boat design. Given these criteria, the concept was to merge the look of a classic mahogany Chris Craft runabout with elements of Arts and Crafts and Prairie School inspired homes." |
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"Prioritizing craftsmanship and the
relationship to nature, these two architectural movements focused on refining,
structuring, ordering, and emphasizing the natural world for human
benefit. A nautical example of these movements set afloat may be expressed
in vintage Chris Craft powerboats. Featuring exquisite craftsmanship,
these classic wooden vessels exhibit metal instruments seemingly sculpted into
the elegant mahogany decking. The house, then, became a marriage of these
two concepts."
View of stair from the exterior
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Sitting room "The house became a marriage of structure to the land. Incorporating mahogany, cedar, and cherry as well as stone, metal, and glass, Bohl's design is rooted to the environment. This marriage is also expressed through the view-- both from the outside looking in and inside looking out. Bohl notes that, "The view to the landscape from within is extremely important, blurring the edge between what is inside and outside. This was accomplished by making purposeful use of the same construction materials inside and out." For example the wood beams and trellises as well as the stonework extend from inside to exterior surfaces that expand into the landscape. This ambiguity of space-- inside to out-- leads to a progression of views." |
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Stair
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Front entry
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Column detail at front entry |
Interior view of
living room
"The precise integration of structure and environment, though, could not have been possible without superior construction. From the exterior woodwork, unique joinery, staircases, and post bases to the trellises, deck, and built-ins, the architectural design encompasses every surface of the home-- and the detailing implemented by Winchester Construction is furniture grade. As Bohl puts it, "The entire house was built with the same precision and care one would expect of the finest home furnishings."" |
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Interior view of
foyer
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Exterior view
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Exterior view |
"Reflecting on
the project as a whole, one is left with a sense of the goal-- to
integrate the residence with its environment. This integration,
though would have been impossible without the close collaboration of
professionals and clients.
In reference to this collaboration, Bohl notes that everyone involved "worked very closely to integrate finishes and landscape features," and that, "It is greatly rewarding to complete a house so fully integrated from landscape to interior and to make such a a unique contribution to the architecture of the area."" |
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Built-in desk designed by Chip Bohl. |
Built-in armoire designed by Chip Bohl. |
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| Photographs by Celia Pearson. | ||
