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Outdoor living options abound
Every remodeler likes the occasional challenge, and the best firms prove unflappable even when the homeowner is a high-profile litigator, CEO or presidential appointee.
Still, some might pause after learning that their new client has been a professional builder for 17 years and is president of Stanley Martin Homes – a company that has built more than 10,000 single-family residences.
“The firm I picked to remodel my personal residence was actually recommended by a tradesman I know in the industry, and then by other sources,” Steve Alloy said, describing how he came to select Burke-based Sun Design Remodeling to execute a rear elevation makeover he’d been thinking about for more than a year. “I interviewed several contenders, but Sun Design’s capabilities were a perfect match.”
The resulting “outdoor living” project subsequently won local and regional Contractor of the Year (COTY) awards for Sun Design from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, and Alloy’s enthusiastic praise.
“Their designer took my ideas and just made them better,” Alloy said. “Their lead carpenter was, simply … an artist, always finding ways to elevate a standard construction solution to a higher level.”
Certainly, the project’s many engaging, handsomely differentiated architectural elements played a factor in winning over COTY’s tough judges. Consisting of three primary components – a 14-by-12-foot hexagonal screened porch off the existing kitchen, a sprawling 30-by-25-foot upper deck with grilling zone, and an elegantly articulated staircase perfectly integrated to the flagstone terraces below – the whole is balanced and perfectly scaled, evoking a garden party setting commingled with accents of the French Quarter and even the Caribbean.
The dining porch, for instance, is as perfectly nuanced as any Bahamian summerhouse. 36-inch walls and paneling separated by wrapped columns, as well as the tongue-in-groove, crown molding, and decorative glass ceiling define an outdoor space that is both thoroughly and irresistibly comfortable.
The glass-coffered ceiling, meanwhile, can be lighted at night, while four massive skylights keep the porch and kitchen sunny during the day. And for convenience, the custom screen panels can be handily removed when summer ends.
“We use the dining porch almost exclusively until winter,” Alloy said. “It’s a very special, very lovely place.”
But Sun Design’s schematic is scrupulously functional in every respect: The old kitchen window is now re-deployed as a pass-through for food and beverages. The pre-existing family room connects to the deck through the double French doors. The dining room’s set of triple, double-hung windows invites a panoramic view from the backyard and pool. The grilling station – equipped with everything needed to store, cook, dice, marinate, stage and serve – is centrifugally convenient to myriad dining spots, the appeal of which seems to follow the sun.
For all its winning aesthetics, , it was not simply clever design, well-conceived activity zones or sensible traffic patterns that caught the COTY judges’ attention. To appreciate what’s at work here, one must look also at the selection of building materials that reduce maintenance needs, resist tough weather and add to durability.
With the outdoor “built” environment now an integral feature of home landscaping, the building products industry has undergone a technological revolution in recent years.
“All the decking planks are made of weather-resistant composite materials,” Sun Design project designer Darren Smith said.
The manufacturer points out that the planks won’t splinter in the sun or start building up moss after a rain. And they’re perfectly suited to any construction task – even fine woodworking assignments.
Similarly, the black powder-coated wrought iron railing is exceptionally durable and rust-resistant. So, too, the standing-seam metal roof atop the gazebo.
“The project really shows us something about how indoor-outdoor projects have evolved,” Smith said. “It is no longer enough that you meet seasonal requirements; today it’s important to produce durable work that’s easy to maintain.”
On this point, Steve Alloy is quick to concur: “This has become the centerpiece of family life. We’ve had parties for over 110 people and it didn’t seem crowded. Still, after several years, the whole complex is just like new.”
In other words, it’s a new era.
Winner of more than 60 peer awards for excellence in home remodeling, Sun Design staff periodically offer workshops on home remodeling topics.
For information, call 703-425-5588 or look online at www.SunDesignInc.com.
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