PROJECT Potomac Beach House

LOCATION  Leonardtown, Maryland, US

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  11/15/2014

ARCHITECT Maginniss + del Ninno Archiects

ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT  

OWNER/CLIENT  Carlo + Theresa del Ninno

CONTRACTOR / CONSTRUCTION MANAGER  A & A Painting & Restoration Co

PHOTOGRAPHER  Hoachlander Davis Photography

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Marilisa del Ninno

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT

With a bit of whimsy, cresting barrel vault waves break over the vegetated roof planes expressing the place where the surf meets the shore. The beach house meshes with the midcentury grouping of cottages along the broad Potomac River. Developed in 1958, the one story concrete block summer cottage provided a respite for working class families from Washington’s heat and fast-paced life style. Over the intervening fifty years, the maple and willow oak trees broadened into substantial shade trees. Preserving these mature trees, the new house rose from the existing foundation walls, transforming the summer cottage into a year round, energy efficient house with a particular sensitivity to the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Reducing the existing hardscape and covering most of the roof with vegetated plants, storm water runoff into the river is slowed and filtered. A continuous two by four grid of fiber cement rainscreen panels and cedar studs wraps the super insulated walls. The existing cottage’s oak flooring was removed and replaced. New flooring surfaces were formed from rapidly renewable materials. With a partial second story and a loft, interior living spaces flow into one volume sculpted by the roof forms and graced with a panoramic view of the river.

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF

IMAGE CAPTIONS & CREDITS

IMAGE 1  Northeast view, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 2  Northwest View, vegetated roofs, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 3  South Elevation, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 4  Interior stairs, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 5  Upper level kitchen and loft, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 6  View from loft, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 7  Upper level dining and living areas, Hoachlander Davis Photography

IMAGE 8  Detail of Waves, Hoachlander Davis Photography