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Q&A with SteveLawlor of Lawlor ArchitectsBy Beth Herman
After 10 years spent raising a young family in a 2,700s.f., three-story, circa 1905 row house in Capitol Hill, just off of LincolnPark, the homeowners desired a change and update. But instead of undertaking amassive renovation which would have required that the family – with its threechildren – move out for months, they purchased an identical adjacent residencefrom a favorite neighbor, embarking on a plan to create the indoor/outdoor refugethey’d always wanted. Steve Lawlor of Lawlor Architects was at the helm.
DCMud: What compelledthe homeowners to essentially purchase their old home all over again?
Lawlor: Theygot the second house exactly for that reason—because they were familiar with it.It’s a mirror image of the house that they were living in, but this new housecould be the clean slate they wanted. Unfortunately, the former owners weresmokers and hadn’t done much maintenance for years. There was a lot of remedialwork that had to be done: Water was getting in and had damaged a lot of thestructure in the rear…it needed a new life regardless of who moved in there. Itwas really on its last legs.
DCMud: Describethe client’s wish list.

Lawlor: Theywanted to have three bedrooms, including a master suite, and two full baths onthe top floor. The original house had three bedrooms and one bath. We alsomoved the laundry upstairs, but to the second floor where they wanted somecreature comforts. Then on the first floor, they wanted a big entertainingarea—an open kitchen/dining room space. They liked to cook, liked the outdoorsand wanted to animate the space with natural light.
DCMud: Giventhe period in which it was built, what did the first floor look like before?
Lawlor: Youcouldn’t see through the house for all the walls. Coming in through the mainentrance, some strange diagonal wall pushed you off. Artificial fire places—partof a renovation at one time or another— abounded that were purely decorative; therewere no elements to warm the home. We realigned all the openings in the houseso that when you walk in (it’s a side entrance), we made a vestibule with coatcloset and cubbies in which to put books, shoes, mail and more to organize.After you come in, you’re reoriented to the center of the house. We made along, visual access that slices through the entire house so that at any point,you can look east or west and see the outdoors. Light penetrates deep into thehouse and you have that connection to the outside. It helps bring the house tolife.
DCMud: Whatabout the materials?
Lawlor: Someof the flooring is reclaimed heart pine. The kitchen is American cherry, andthe island’s countertop is reclaimed white oak wood joists from a Wisconsinbarn. The kitchen floor is cork, a renewable material, and the room is warmedby hydronic radiant heating which, with all the glass, makes it verycomfortable.
DCMud: Withoutdoor space at such a premium in this neighborhood, in what other ways didyou open the space to light and air?
Lawlor: Partof the whole manifest destiny of this house was to try to bring the outdoorsinto the house. Most row houses have very little outdoor space. This houseoccupied 80 percent of the lot, as opposed to a more typical 60 percent. Withlittle backyard space, on the lower level (basement) floor we eroded the rearwalls, installed new windows, and made brick openings. We designed a staircasethat descends from the new kitchen down to the new terrace below, with theterrace accessed through the basement in which we lowered the floor andincreased the ceiling height. A polished and stained concrete slab with radiantheat created a hard surface yet a warm surface at the same time. A family roomwith TV and library/guest room which opens onto the terrace is where they spenda lot of their time. Big French doors—actually we made the home’s old pocketdoors into sliding barn doors—are used to isolate the space when guests arethere. We really decided to make the downstairs as desirable a destination asthe upstairs for this house.

DCMud: Speaking of desirable destinations, is there a part of the District you covet more than others?

Lawlor: I've lived in Capitol Hill for 26 years by design. My office is here. There are other parts of the city that are great, but Capitol Hill is the most modern historic area. All the things people try and put into an urban setting - access; walkability; public transportation - are here in what is essentially a small town in the middle of a big city.