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When it comes to residential real estate, we all know that “location, location, location” often tops the list of selling points. But what else is important in a home? Solid architecture, detailed design, spaciousness, natural beauty, a sense of belonging to a great community all come to mind – and all of these elements and more have come together during a recent 10-month renovation of a contemporary home in the Lakeview Estates neighborhood of Chevy Chase.
A couple of blocks down the street from Henry Clay High School on Lakeshore Drive, the 5,600-square-foot home has been a passion project for two couples, mortgage broker Bryan May and his wife, Cathy, a real estate agent, and architect/designer Rebecca Burnworth and her husband, Eric, owner of the Burnworth Builds.
After purchasing the house in January, the Mays pulled in the Burnworths, with whom they have partnered on a handful of residential renovations in recent years.
“We hate to call it flipping because it’s never like what you see on HGTV,” Rebecca Burnworth said. There’s no cookie-cutter formula, for one thing, and the projects definitely take longer than a few weeks. Having partnered on two previous homes in the Lakeview Estates neighborhood, one on Bridgeport Drive and another on The Island, the Burnworths and Mays have their communication system down pat, checking in with one another daily.
“We really believe in this neighborhood,” Burnworth said. “The people are just amazing.”
The Lakeshore Drive house was built in 1978 by the first homeowners, Hiang Kwang and Jeannie Thé, who moved in to the house in 1979. Hiang Kwang Thé (pronounced Shi-ung Kwong Tay) created the design and blueprints and did a lot of the build work himself. A civil engineer by education, he is known locally as a martial arts master and teacher with the Central Shaolin Martial Arts organization (not to be confused with his brother, Sin Thé, of Sin Thé Karate School fame).
“Our first two, of four, children were born when we lived there until 1986,” said Jeannie Thé, a Pilates instructor who has worked with the YMCA for 16 years. “That’s probably my fondest memory, that we started our family when we lived at Lakeshore.”
Outdoor recreation abounds at the property on Lakeshore. Around the corner from the house is Lakeview Park, one of the city’s 100 public parks. The home’s fenced-in backyard has a lazy-river swimming pool, once reported to have been the largest residential pool in Kentucky. Looking for a landscaping solution for the island in the center of the pool, the Burnworths left in a Japanese Maple tree and some original stone work that were already in place and installed a putting green.
“My husband and I have a pool with fiberglass walls and a concrete bottom,” Rebecca Burnworth said. “We learned how to renovate that using waterproofing techniques.”
An exterior water feature also greets guests at the front of the house, in the form of a small pond that now features a new bridge to the front door. Along with modern front-yard landscape that includes tall grasses, Japanese maple trees and Russian sage, it makes for great curb appeal. The façade of the house comprises Hardie board that is painted a neutral brown-gray, original stone work and a new addition of vertical cedar siding in the middle of the stonework. While the description may look busy on paper, the combination works well, with the materials blending and contrasting to a striking effect.
Woods, metals and stones are natural materials that fit perfectly with Burnworth’s philosophy and fulfillment of architecture. Inside the home, the original three-story stone fireplace is quite a sculptural work of art in each room it touches. By the time it reaches the third floor, it is a massive stone statement, without an opening but as a chimney with a hearth. Also on the third floor, along a wall of closets and storage areas, a previous owner who was a coin dealer left a safe. Too heavy to move, the Burnworths left it in place and its contents remain a mystery. Perhaps the next homeowner will have some time to test out possible lock combinations?
Speaking of surprises, the Burnworths found another one on the main floor when renovations began. Before installing hardwood flooring, they took up the carpet in the living room, where they uncovered a trap door revealing about four feet of water beneath the living room and adjacent patio room. Despite initial fears of structural issues leading to the standing water, further investigation suggests the existence of a former indoor swimming pool. (They filled it in properly so that nothing remains but a tale to tell.)
To the left of the foyer – an open space, three stories high – sits a sunken dining room; a sunken living room also sits to the right, in which the Burnworths added a wood-burning fireplace. The living room’s coat closet deserved a grand gesture of its own, so a barn door on a sliding track replaces a regular open-and-shut door. Another striking artistic element surrounding the home’s entry is the staircase in the foyer, made from a folded-up piece of continuous steel that came from Ironhorse Forge.
Families can’t live by aesthetics alone, so in honor of day-to-day living each floor has a laundry room. Another case of functional form is the walk-in shower in the second floor’s master bath, with settings near the entrance rather than under the shower head.
On the main floor, the kitchen was gutted, relocated and rebuilt. With help from Architectural Kitchens & Baths, the Burnworths decided to forego upper cabinets in lieu of a wall of windows looking out at the backyard pool, bringing the outside into the home. Other modern kitchen touches include waterfall edges on the quartz island and a backsplash of glass subway tile running the length of the wall.
“We knew that strong, cold contemporary does not sell,” Rebecca Burnworth said. “I was trying to go for a natural modern look.”
Quartz and glass, plus metal and wood details, are natural elements that complement the stone hearth and fireplace in the kitchen.
Before putting the house on the market in October, the Burnworths hosted a “design open house” for the neighbors – about 150 people showed up for a tour and to share their appreciation for bringing grandeur back to this Lakeshore home.
“Lakeview Estates is a neighborhood in transition,” said Burnworth, who herself lives in the neighborhood and has grown to love it.
“Young families are moving in and renovating the traditional homes – homes with great floor plans and huge backyards.”
Reflecting on the time her family lived on Lakeshore Drive, Jeannie Thé said she absolutely loved the neighborhood. “It was an excellent location, the best for jogging and bike riding,” she said, “and it was just up the street from where I grew up on Idle Hour Drive.”
Having spent the bulk of 2016 putting their heads and hearts together to revitalize this grand Lakeshore home, the Mays and Burnworths put it on the market in mid-October, with hopes that a new generation of homeowners will soon be able to engage in the exceptional experience of raising a family in the unique home.
“We really believe that we’re just getting the house ready for another 50 years of family life,” Rebecca Burnworth said. “This is what we do.”