A Stunning Contemporary Home Framed by Nature and Water

Photography by Anice Hoachlander

Featured in The Local Scoop Magazine
Written by Karen Newton

The lot was long and narrow, but the views of Dymer Creek were outstanding.

The Northern Virginia couple who bought the lot did so, anticipating they would eventually have architect Randall Kipp design a second home for them. That moment arrived two years ago, and the resulting home was worth waiting for.

Essentially three buildings, the house encompasses a two-story great room combining all the shared spaces: living room, dining room, kitchen, exercise room and office; a primary suite; and on the second floor, two guest bedrooms connected by a bridge overlooking the living and dining areas and providing privacy for guests. “Every room looks out to the water,” Kipp says. “They wanted expansive glass and big views to have a sense of being part of nature.”

Although Kipp had set aside room for a swimming pool, it wasn’t decided until well into the process to build it as part of the original construction.

The pool is adjacent to the primary suite and accessed by a few steps down from the couple’s bedroom door. “That way, it makes the pool almost a private gesture,” he says, adding that while guests may use it, it’s situated most conveniently for them. “An Ipe fence screens the pool area from the street, creating a sweet little courtyard.”

The fireplace in the great room is two-sided, with the outdoor side fronting an outdoor living room area boasting views of the creek to one side and the pool to another. All the expansive windows inside the house have motorized roll-down shades for privacy and sun protection.

In addition to extensive hard and soft scaping of the landscape, the area between the house and creek got a much-needed makeover. “It was mostly conifers and deciduous after we got rid of all the scrubby growth,” Kipp says. “Once we had the canopy of trees limbed up, it left just the right amount of vegetative screening to help with solar shading.”

Working with Coastal Builders, Kipp’s longtime go-to builder, resulted in a seamless process. “It was a simple project, but the results were grand.”

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