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For Stan Goldstein and Sara Demb, their new owners’ suite addition is a reflection of their lives and travels together. A Paul Leber print featuring their room number at the Villa il Tesoro in Tuscany, Italy, and Romero Britto’s Cheek to Cheek are examples of art they’ve collected that has sentimental meaning.
“Everything we need is right here,” Goldstein says of the owners’ wing completed last year. But that was not the case when they purchased the home in 2003. At that time, the home had four and a half bedrooms, including a bedroom and bathroom on the lower level. At first they thought they would expand over the garage, but soon realized the new suite they envisioned should be constructed on the main level.
Goldstein, a native of Brooklyn, NY, and Demb, who grew up in a similar-looking neighborhood in Westport, CT, loved the home for its windows overlooking the two-acre property in the heart of Potomac and wanted to take advantage of the views. Working with Joel Sommer, president of Sommer Homes, and his in-house architect Tom Reineberg, the owners decided what they had to have, such as a window seat for Demb, a hidden TV for Goldstein, and more storage for both, as well as some things they didn’t need, but ended up incorporating. These extras include a wine cellar, bar, and media room on the expanded lower level.
Patterns With Purpose
With few constraints initially, Sommer first considered the site, then the owners’ art collection, and then what specific rooms they wanted for their first floor suite. Once established, Sommer enlisted Stephen Bournias of SCB Woodworking LLC to construct the built-ins stained in a dark color and designed in a grid fashion to hold glass art from the owners’ travels.
“When you have this vision of something architecturally special with vistas like these, you just hope that the homeowners finish it right,” Sommer says. And they did. “They went from plain Jane tile to fancy marble,” Sommer adds, the only fitting bathroom surface for this great design. “It feels good when the owner follows through and completes it first class,” he says.
Finished With Finesse
For Marlene Weiss Alexander, the minimalist look of Goldstein and Demb’s suite is what she prefers in design, but it’s often more difficult than traditional or eclectic styles to accomplish. “Anything goes with those looks,” says Alexander, principal of Weiss Design Inc.
Alexander works closely with homeowners to find out about their likes, dislikes, and interests. For Goldstein and Demb, their artwork was paramount. “Every piece of art has a story,” she says, and deserves a prominent place within the setting. The richly-stained woodwork and built-in shelving contrasts with the light-colored carpeting that was the first selection Alexander showed the homeowners. “We loved it and couldn’t consider anything else,” Demb says.
Invisible Line
In the bathroom, Julie Patronik, a landscape designer at McHale Landscape Design, created a dramatic waterfall and garden pond using weathered fieldstone boulders outside the window so the owners can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature year-round.
There’s a connection between spaces, too, such as the central dressing room offering four mirrors as well as four doorways leading to the office, closet, bedroom, and bathroom. The closet was inspired by one the owners saw at Design Center of the Americas in Florida. Goldstein says there’s an invisible line in the closet to divide their belongings. “We’ll see how long that lasts,” he jokes.
One thing that’s certain to last and even be expanded upon is the owners’ love of art. A trip this year to South Africa may result in a special piece for an empty niche in the entrance hall to the suite they call “heaven.”
