This is almost the paradigm for a rear addition project: a new master bedroom suite above a family room. The variations on this theme are almost endless, but each iteration has some feature that makes it unique. In this case, the original house was a small 1937 four-square, and its kitchen had been remodeled recently and was to be preserved without any alteration. The addition needed to accommodate several large pieces of furniture with special significance for the owners.

The solution was to drop the floor of the new first floor room by two steps and raise the ceiling of the bedroom above. Arched openings from the kitchen and dining room to the new family room echo the arched openings in the original structure and make spaces to contain the steps from the older spaces into the new. A small rear vestibule, also with an arched opening opens onto a patio.

The master bedroom, down a short corridor from the rest of the second floor and with windows looking into trees on three sides, feels decidedly removed from rest of the house. The square sloped tray ceiling, papered in William Morris' Willow pattern heightens the sense of remove and gives the space a sense of repose that befits the retreat for two busy Washington professionals.

General Contractor:
Rasevic Construction

Interior Design:
Carol Ridker

Kitchen Cabinets:
Kitchen Techniq