This client was a powerhouse couple in Washington DC. They had purchased a home a few days prior to us meeting for the first time. When they gave me the tour and asked for my recommendations for renovating and associated costs I encouraged them to find a new home which thankfully they did. They put the original home back on the market the next day and purchased this beauty from Ariana Huffington.

We ended up demolishing most the home and expanded it to create a larger more formal residence for their large scaled parties, which almost always included the President and First Lady at the time. Many special security features were added to the home such as Argon Gas windows which turned opaque at touch of a button - state of the art technology back in the early 90's. And of course the added "safe" rooms to accommodate the President and other Dignitaries.

By opening the foyer wall to the second floor and adding a new grand staircase and railing we were able to make a statement as soon as you entered the home. We enlarged the scale of most of the rooms on the first floor to match the grandeur of the new entrance foyer by eliminating service halls and combining several of the small rooms creating a better flow and scale to the entire home.

The client had never been exposed to high end antiques but was a very quick study, allowing us to form a beautiful collection for them. Many of the pieces were picked from my favorite NYC antique stores and dealers as well as a few from Europe. The marble fireplace mantels were flown in from France.