Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Living Luxuriously With Nature
Step inside a Baltimore home rich in modern elegance
A clean modern look, indoor-outdoor living, and a design that complemented nearby mid-century ranch homes was the vision for this house outside Baltimore, MD. Local architecture firm Ziger/Snead filled the bill with walls of windows, indoor-outdoor transitions and a clever design that built the house into a hill, giving the 6,000-foot, two-story structure a lower profile when seen from the street. It is certainly high-end and minimalist in style, but it's also customized with a detailed sense of purpose that gives it a warm and personal feel.
Here's the house in back. A custom mahogany window-wall system helps blend the main living space with the terraces, gardens, and swimming pool in the rear yard. To help keep energy costs down, the firm used high-performance glazing and large roof overhangs to help keep the home cool in summer. In winter, radiant concrete and tile floors work with the low angle of the sun to keep the home warm and comfortable.
And here's how it looks from the front. While the house is actually two stories, part of the home is embedded into the hillside, so from the street the house appears to be one-story high, similar to the other ranch houses nearby.
The main body of the house is wrapped in a zinc rainscreen system, an exterior feature that actually sits outside another exterior wall. Gaps between each piece of zinc allow air to circulate and direct moisture away from the home. Additional smaller rooms in the home are covered in red cedar siding.
The main body of the house is wrapped in a zinc rainscreen system, an exterior feature that actually sits outside another exterior wall. Gaps between each piece of zinc allow air to circulate and direct moisture away from the home. Additional smaller rooms in the home are covered in red cedar siding.
The home's layout is almost like a split-level in reverse. With the main living areas on the ground floor, the top floor contains a garage, home office, and entryway. This setup allows visitors to experience the view of the primary living space as soon as they step in the front door.
The entry leads onto a bridge, which covers the great room and leads to the home office. A staircase leads down to the main room, while a glass wall along once side of the bridge shows a view of the enclosed front courtyard.
The main living area, put together by interior designer Jay Jenkins, of Jenkins Baer Associates, is a practice in casual elegance. The colors and furniture selections flow beautifully with the graphic floor covering from Warp & Weft. The light colors embrace the abundance of natural daylight in the room, and a carefully placed chrome Arco Floor Lamp adds to the warm and open ambiance.
Stainless steel and walnut shelving in the main living space display items from the owner's numerous collections. The dining chairs are from Holly Hunt.
The kitchen is a simple space made of dark wood cabinets and marble countertops, elegantly integrated into the living and dining spaces. Since it's visible upon entering the home, the kitchen needed to be as sleek and contemporary as the rest of the house. All appliances are hidden behind a set of bi-fold doors.
The kitchen, dining room, and living room are all in a single 18-foot-high space on the ground floor with the mahogany window wall. Having the primary living space right next to the window wall allows the client to experience the outdoors even when inside.
One of the cedar sections of the house can be seen when viewing the master bedroom from the outside. Designed as boxes that connect to the main zinc- rainscreen-covered space, the entry, guest bedroom/office, and master bedroom are contained in these warm, wooden spaces.
The master bedroom is a bright and light-filled space. Interior designer Jenkins did the room in a blue, yellow, and white palette. Glass pocket doors continue the nearly seamless transition between indoors and out, while eclectic paintings from Baltimore artist Deena Feigelson Margolis accent the white walls.
The walls are covered with a durable white nylon with silver colored threads incorporated into the fabric. Their subtle shine makes the space glow. Custom window treatments and bed linens complete the luxurious look.
A sleek all-white master bathroom connects to the bedroom.
A beautiful limestone mosaic tile on one of the walls in the master bath adds texture and visual interest whilekeeping within the home's clean, contemporary style.
Landscaping by Hord Coplan Macht reflects the client's love for nature. A bluestone patio with a canopy of ginkgo trees, lavender, and bubbling fountains provides a soothing space between the home and the rest of the yard. The window wall on the main section of this house takes advantage of the patio in mild weather, when the windows can be opened to the breezes.
All photography is by Alain Jaramillo, Kevin Weber, Douglas Bothner
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More ideas:
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Bring the Outside In With House Plants