This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

Anyone who has a deck or a swimming pool has used this old cliche when talking about their space: “Oh, we just live out here in the summertime!” So, we got to thinking...what if you really lived outside in the summertime? What would an outdoor house look like? What would it need to provide? Could you really “live out there”? Casa Cielo (“Sky House”) is a totally private, mostly roofless “house”, where the owners can really live in the warmer months. Open-air living room, dining room, and bedroom spaces were created. The clients wanted a modern, spa-like ambiance. Inspiration was provided by the client’s vacations to modernist hotspots Hix Island House in Vieques, Puerto Rico and Orbit In, Palm Springs, California. Design Criteria: - Create an “Outdoor House” around an existing pool. - Build sustainably. - Carefully consider wall designs to ensure total privacy. - “Bring the Indoors Outside” with clean, modern living spaces. Special Features: - Living room and Dining room with a gas fireplace - FSC Certified Tigerwood sundeck. - Outdoor bedroom and shower. - Poolhouse with a bathroom and kitchenette.

Anyone who has a deck or a swimming pool has used this old cliche when talking about their space: “Oh, we just live out here in the summertime!” So, we got to thinking...what if you really lived outside in the summertime? What would an outdoor house look like? What would it need to provide? Could you really “live out there”? Casa Cielo (“Sky House”) is a totally private, mostly roofless “house”, where the owners can really live in the warmer months. Open-air living room, dining room, and bedroom spaces were created. The clients wanted a modern, spa-like ambiance. Inspiration was provided by the client’s vacations to modernist hotspots Hix Island House in Vieques, Puerto Rico and Orbit In, Palm Springs, California. Design Criteria: - Create an “Outdoor House” around an existing pool. - Build sustainably. - Carefully consider wall designs to ensure total privacy. - “Bring the Indoors Outside” with clean, modern living spaces. Special Features: - Living room and Dining room with a gas fireplace - FSC Certified Tigerwood sundeck. - Outdoor bedroom and shower. - Poolhouse with a bathroom and kitchenette.

This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

Large farmhouse red two-story house exterior idea in DC Metro with a shed roof

This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

Anyone who has a deck or a swimming pool has used this old cliche when talking about their space: “Oh, we just live out here in the summertime!” So, we got to thinking...what if you really lived outside in the summertime? What would an outdoor house look like? What would it need to provide? Could you really “live out there”? Casa Cielo (“Sky House”) is a totally private, mostly roofless “house”, where the owners can really live in the warmer months. Open-air living room, dining room, and bedroom spaces were created. The clients wanted a modern, spa-like ambiance. Inspiration was provided by the client’s vacations to modernist hotspots Hix Island House in Vieques, Puerto Rico and Orbit In, Palm Springs, California. Design Criteria: - Create an “Outdoor House” around an existing pool. - Build sustainably. - Carefully consider wall designs to ensure total privacy. - “Bring the Indoors Outside” with clean, modern living spaces. Special Features: - Living room and Dining room with a gas fireplace - FSC Certified Tigerwood sundeck. - Outdoor bedroom and shower. - Poolhouse with a bathroom and kitchenette.

This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

2012 NARI CAPITAL COTY, MERIT AWARD WINNER, RESIDENTIAL BATH $30,000 to $60,000 The owners of this contemporary home in Centreville, Virginia, had a dated master bathroom suite that didn’t meet their modern tastes or their needs. To make the changes they wanted, the design team at Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes determined that the room would need to be gutted. All the partition walls had to go, as did the old whirlpool tub. And all of the plumbing and fixtures had to be relocated to new positions to meet the new design’s criteria. The clients previously replaced the bathroom windows with glass blocks. Thus, contemporary glass blocks were used instead of partition walls to add openness to this new bathroom layout. Large polished limestone tiles were used on the bathroom floors and walls, and stylish glass tiles were used as an accent. A free-standing oval tub adds to the room’s contemporary look and saves a lot of space as well. A two-person shower stall with a modern body spray shower system was also installed. Custom built high level cabinetry and vanities, and modern lighting—both recessed and hanging fixtures— contribute greatly to the success of the final project.

This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

Challenge: Our clients wanted to modernize the look of their 1997 home, and update all electrical and plumbing infrastructure. Structural issues were apparent at the onset of the project with missing bearing points and beams that should have been incorporated into the original build. Solution: The work started with a complete strip out of the interior. Existing finishes, appliances, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, electrical, plumbing, doors and frames, heating systems, all trim, drywall, insulation and vapour barrier we all removed. This left a bare wood frame shell which required some tricky structural changes to open up the interior necessitating load transfer modifications and additional foundations. The main stair was widened to create a luxurious ascent to the master bedroom overlooking the golf course. All bathrooms were fully replaced with a new kitchen designed to be open to the dining room and living room. The new interior finishes, and the essential design thereof, came together smoothly with all trades meeting agreed time frames and prices. We had a great time working with the client throughout the project. Communication was strong during the course of construction which resulted in a renovation that exceeded the client’s criteria and that also met our exacting level of quality.

Challenge: Our clients wanted to modernize the look of their 1997 home, and update all electrical and plumbing infrastructure. Structural issues were apparent at the onset of the project with missing bearing points and beams that should have been incorporated into the original build. Solution: The work started with a complete strip out of the interior. Existing finishes, appliances, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, electrical, plumbing, doors and frames, heating systems, all trim, drywall, insulation and vapour barrier we all removed. This left a bare wood frame shell which required some tricky structural changes to open up the interior necessitating load transfer modifications and additional foundations. The main stair was widened to create a luxurious ascent to the master bedroom overlooking the golf course. All bathrooms were fully replaced with a new kitchen designed to be open to the dining room and living room. The new interior finishes, and the essential design thereof, came together smoothly with all trades meeting agreed time frames and prices. We had a great time working with the client throughout the project. Communication was strong during the course of construction which resulted in a renovation that exceeded the client’s criteria and that also met our exacting level of quality.

This home was a typical Toll Brothers contemporary from the early ‘90’s. The exterior had reached the end of its life, with decayed cedar siding and a deteriorated roof. Greg & Tamara decided to use this opportunity to radically remake their home - to update its modern appeal and set it apart from any other suburban tract house. Spring Creek Design created a new deck, new siding design, entryways and sculptural landscaping for the home. Design Criteria: - Replace siding and give the home a bold, modern look. - Update the home’s landscaping with a spare modernism. - Add a new deck with an outdoor kitchen. Special Features: - Bold new exterior features fiber-cement panels and siding. -Three different colors are used to clearly define the shapes of the home. - Cantilevered concrete entryways features “floating” concrete slab landings. - Azek deck with tempered glass railings. - Custom wine-bottle light fixtures adorn the outdoor kitchen. - Massive planting boxes of Cor-Ten steel form the basis of a low-maintenance, dramatic landscape. - Custom-fabricated square gutters and downspouts compliment the linearity of the home’s design.

The Pond House is an architect designed mid-century modern ranch home originally built in the 1964. One of the home’s many distinctive features is a porch that wraps the full length of the rear of the house, overlooking a beautiful pond. The current owners want to extend the enjoyment of this view year round, and asked us to present solutions for enclosing a portion of this porch. We proposed a small addition, carefully designed to complement this amazing house, which is built around a hexagonal floorplan with distinctive “flying gable” rooflines. The result is a stunning glass walled addition. The project also encompassed several complimentary upgrades to other parts of the house. Design Criteria: - Provide 4-season breakfast room with view of the pond. - Tightly integrate the new structure into the existing design. - Use sustainable, energy efficient building practices and materials. Special Features: - Dramatic, 1.5-story, glass walled breakfast room. - Custom fabricated steel and glass exterior stairway. - Soy-based spray foam insulation - Standing seam galvalume “Cool Roof”. - Pella Designer series windows

This project represents an increasingly popular type of project - combining 2 bedrooms into a single master suite. The house is a 1910 craftsman, with 4 bedrooms on the second floor. Typical of older homes, the master bedroom had a very small bathroom, and very little closet space. The owners decided to sacrifice an adjacent guest bedroom to create a spacious master suite. The new rooms include a large bathroom, with hers and his vanities, separate toilet room, custom tile shower and soaking tub. The extra space also allowed us to install a luxurious custom walk-in closet. Design Criteria: - Increase size and utility of closet space. - Create a large, luxury bathroom with distinctly separate hers/his spaces. Special Features: - Custom tile shower, with frameless glass door - Platform soaking tub w/ custom tile deck - His/Hers vanities with quartz countertops. - Separate toilet room. - Room-sized walk-in closet with custom cabinet system. - Custom 5-Panel doors and built-up mouldings to match the original woodwork.

A Master Bedroom Suite addition and whole-house remodel transformed a dated, tired, dark house into a home awash in light with expansive views overlooking the Del Monte Forest. We opened up a compartementalized Kitchen to adjacent living spaces and introduced sustainable materials including Concrete and Vetrazzo countertops and bamboo cabinets. FSC white maple floors extend throughout the living area creating a seamless transition from space to space. About Thorn Architects Thorn Architects is an architectural design, interiors and planning firm with a broad range of projects and experience. We deliver highly personalized service through all phases of design. Thorn Architects provides the integrated services of Design and Construction. We bring the perspective of buildability to all our projects and offer our clients solution driven designs that meet funcitonal and budgetary criteria. Our years of design and construction experience enable our clients to achieve the custom, high-end quality results they desire. The Principals of Thorn Architects are LEED Accredited Professionals and Certified Green Building Professionals. Our practice incorporates sustainable design and green building materials and techniques into each project as a matter of course.

Challenge: Our clients wanted to modernize the look of their 1997 home, and update all electrical and plumbing infrastructure. Structural issues were apparent at the onset of the project with missing bearing points and beams that should have been incorporated into the original build. Solution: The work started with a complete strip out of the interior. Existing finishes, appliances, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, electrical, plumbing, doors and frames, heating systems, all trim, drywall, insulation and vapour barrier we all removed. This left a bare wood frame shell which required some tricky structural changes to open up the interior necessitating load transfer modifications and additional foundations. The main stair was widened to create a luxurious ascent to the master bedroom overlooking the golf course. All bathrooms were fully replaced with a new kitchen designed to be open to the dining room and living room. The new interior finishes, and the essential design thereof, came together smoothly with all trades meeting agreed time frames and prices. We had a great time working with the client throughout the project. Communication was strong during the course of construction which resulted in a renovation that exceeded the client’s criteria and that also met our exacting level of quality.

2012 NARI CAPITAL COTY, MERIT AWARD WINNER, RESIDENTIAL BATH $30,000 to $60,000 The owners of this contemporary home in Centreville, Virginia, had a dated master bathroom suite that didn’t meet their modern tastes or their needs. To make the changes they wanted, the design team at Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes determined that the room would need to be gutted. All the partition walls had to go, as did the old whirlpool tub. And all of the plumbing and fixtures had to be relocated to new positions to meet the new design’s criteria. The clients previously replaced the bathroom windows with glass blocks. Thus, contemporary glass blocks were used instead of partition walls to add openness to this new bathroom layout. Large polished limestone tiles were used on the bathroom floors and walls, and stylish glass tiles were used as an accent. A free-standing oval tub adds to the room’s contemporary look and saves a lot of space as well. A two-person shower stall with a modern body spray shower system was also installed. Custom built high level cabinetry and vanities, and modern lighting—both recessed and hanging fixtures— contribute greatly to the success of the final project.