Names: Sara & Pete
Size: 5,000 square feet, including the basement apartment
Years Lived in: 10
Sara and Pete's DC rowhouse is decorated with a mix of antiques and repurposed theater props. The couple has long supported theater companies in DC — including Constellation Theatre and Woolly Mammoth — and have collected and incorporated their favorite stage props into their home.
Sara and Pete chose quirky and eclectic fixtures and furnishings. The result is a cozy and comfortable home.
Apartment Therapy Survey
Style: hmmm ... unstudied couples-taste-compromising dinner-party-ready informal. Or, slightly boho-eclectic contemporary.
Inspiration: Bloomsbury; Sydney Australia; Wiener Werkstatte and the Art Nouveau styles of Prague and Budapest.
What Friends Say: How long have you lived here? (implying, I think, that they want to know whether we bought before or after the neighborhood got pricey).
Biggest Embarrassment: Front yard needs much more attention! It's pretty weedy and unworthy of our neighbors.
Biggest Challenge: I try pretty hard not to buy new things that are made in a handful of foreign countries that are the "usual suspects" for the consumer-snob crowd — a strictly personal bias related to my feelings about labor practices in manufacturing. It means I'm always out there hunting down vintage or made-in-USA items, whenever possible, and that is time-consuming and can be frustrating — so many things in the West Elm catalogue are really cute!
Proudest DIY: We are not really DIY-ers, alas! I worked closely with a wonderful stained-glass artist to design the two pieces we have installed in the house, which she created and our awesome carpenter installed, and I am proud of those.
Biggest Indulgence: $6,000 Galle chandelier — which gets roughly the same number of compliments as the $220 Home Depot chandelier in the next room!
Best Advice: Hopefully your life will be long, and decorating is probably not the most important thing you'll do — don't sweat it.
Dream Source/Item: The theater! Right now I love the large painting of a nearby commercial storefront that is in our living room; it was part of the set for a play done at Woolly Mammoth here in DC. We also have a side table from the production of Quills that was at Woolly (and that has appeared since on-stage at the theater, when they borrowed it from us). We used to have a prop sock-puppet in a place of pride, that played an important part in the world-premiere production of Craig Wright's Recent Tragic Events, but we gave it to Dori Legg, the actress who was the puppeteer. And, we have a photo in a place of pride above the mantelpiece in our kitchen, that is a picture of the audience at our friend Callie Kimball's night of plays, "It's Not You, It's Me" — we're in the photo, as are several friends and acquaintances in the theater world, and our theater friends are always delighted to see it and pick out who they know in the audience and ask more about the evening.
Resources:
Paint Color: We last painted the interior about 10 years ago, so I don't remember, and it's different all over the house. But I'm a true believer in Benjamin Moore paints, they go on like a dream and my contractors always seem happy when I specify them.
Furniture and accessories: I prefer vintage, probably considered shabby-chic — Miss Pixie's and Goodwood in DC's 14th & U neighborhood, and Paradiso in Baltimore's Hampden. For kitchen and office doodads I just love Home Rule on 14th Street.
Appliances: Sears.
Lighting: either Pottery Barn new, or The Brass Knob in DC's Adams Morgan, old.
Window Treatments: Ballard Design or Pottery Barn (or the Restoration Hardware discount sales near Baltimore), and then my sewing machine to fix them up just right — you can make a huge difference in a window treatment with a little customization and adding some weight at the hem and some structure to the header.
Art: Portland, Oregon's Last Thursday in the Alberta Arts District; friends who paint; vintage stores.
(Thanks, Sara and Pete!)
(Images: Rachael Grad)
Related Post:
• Survey: Theatre Props in the Home?
• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE Check out past house tours here
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
mmm. the spider stained glass is divine!
view kdkaboom's profile
Could you provide more details on the mosaic in the bathroom? This is excellent!
view enmnm's profile
Holy rowhouse, Batman! This is awesome. I love to see DCites with some creative impulses, and also love to see non-DIYers who have created an awesome and unique space. Thanks so much for sharing your home with us!
view Jenny in DC's profile
5k square feet?!
view clampers's profile
Man... beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL! This is the kind of place I dream to have someday.
view dunklekatze's profile
5k sq ft on "apartment" therapy?.....
view abc123's profile
I dislike both of you having such a beutiful home. We are no longer on speaking terms.
That was the best rant I could come up with.
Can we get more info on this house pretty please... especially the washroom/mosaic.
view chicity1126's profile
Gorgeous. Fabulous. Want!
view rosenatti's profile
That mosaic over the bath is stunning; one of those rare bathroom features which will always look good. The original architectural features, especially the stairs, the door frames and the leadlighting, are also exquisite.
view Blandwagon's profile
There once was an apartment named "Bohemouth"...
Seriously, nice comfy place you've made there. That bathroom is amazing... wow. You like the gloss on the green wall? Not sure, here.... thinkin'...
view Laughing Tiger's profile
I love your advice. Sending you both a virtual hug from down here in Florida.
view quiltmaster's profile
This is by far THE coolest house tour I've seen yet. I love everything about this house, and I mean EVERYTHING. I found some inspiration in just about every photo, something I could take away and apply to my own little place or that I could recommend to friends/family at some point. And the fact that it is painted bright yellow just sealed the deal for me. Thank you so much for posting!! This is one I'll probably keep coming back to again and again. Bravo!
view bumblebeechicago's profile
bumblebeechicago -- thank you so much for the kind words! And thanks to Rachael for coming and taking pix of our house.
For those who want to know, the paint color on the EXTERIOR of the house is Benjamin Moore "Sunburst".
view scormeny's profile
The washroom mosaic! So glad to oblige with information. Rachael took an EXCELLENT photo, it looks nice in real life but nothing as nice as it looks in the picture.
I worked on the initial design idea with an artist/muralist here in DC -- Jarrett Ferrier. I had been obsessing over old advertisements for bathing and bathroom products as I was working with our architect on the elaborate master-bathroom renovation, and so this was designed to look like it could have been a 1910s or 1920s magazine ad for a soap called "Kleen" -- we just made up the name. Based on my imagined Kleen soap, the elements I wanted in the picture -- soap bar, hand, washcloth, bubbles -- and some examples of ads from the period, Jarrett came up with the design and did all the mosaic work in glass tiles.
The installation was done separately by a wonderful tile guy, Davis Holland Leichsenring of Holland Tile, and his crew.
Our architect was Alan Batson, such a talented man and he was involved with decisions on many of the fits and finishes.
Our master carpenter was Rob Farrie, and he did wonderful work that really brought the whole renovation to life. Along with the great team at Ideal Tile, our general contractors.
view scormeny's profile
This looks like a happy and fun home, filled with life and color and your own vibrant personalities. A pleasure to look at!
view mirandabee's profile
It is truly the most beautiful house, and both Pete and Sara are beautiful people. They not only support theater organizations, but also, its many artists; beneath these 3 glorious floors there is a whole 'nother 1 bedroom basement apartment that is enormous and fully-furnished, that they provide gratis for visiting actors/writers. I have twice stayed there as a transplant from NYC and look forward to my next visit!
view jelefko's profile
Laughing Tiger -- I agree with you about the shiny green paint, it is not ideal as it's too dark and too glossy for my taste, particularly given that it's such a dark room with north-facing windows. I do hope to re-paint that room someday -- we're just waiting to get around to needing to do other work in that room. I'd love to add moulding at the ceiling and some built-in bookcases -- that would be my dream renovation in there!
view scormeny's profile
cool place! and awesome that they're supporters of local arts!
view scenicartisan's profile
Wowee zowee!
view KidMoe's profile
beatifull house, very inspirational
view conny01's profile
Wow!! Man, I could only dream of ever living in such a beautiful space.
view caminante's profile
Very simple and classic, but still fun at the same time. I believe the spacing was done very well, it can be overwhelming at times to fill such a large space. I love all the small decorative items that make every room homey.
view ohiomom87's profile