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BELOW & FACING PAGE: Sited on a Georgetown bluff in overlooking the Potomac River and Francis Scott Key bridge, this house has, arguably, the best view of
any house in the city. It has had three owners over the last 20 years, and we have worked with each one of them. For the first owners, we renovated the rear 15 feet
of the original 19th-century townhouse. We added a new four-story steel-and-glass curtain wall that revealed the view of the river, plus a new kitchen. The second
owners took us to the top to create a roof deck that added an outdoor component to take full advantage of the sweeping views. And the third and current owners
gutted, reconfigured and replaced every surface in the interior in the previously unrenovated portion. We created a staircase that enlarged and replaced the original.
It connects all levels, both functionally and now, architecturally.
Below top photograph by Julia Heine
Facing page and below bottom photographs by Anice Hoachlander
"Every structure has a
DNA and once you
establish that, the
building designs itself."
—Mark McInturff