Letter
Dear Mr. Cooper:
In its meeting of 21 April, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed a second concept submission for a new single-family residence on an undeveloped, newly subdivided lot at 7981 East Beach Drive, NW (case number SL 16-091). The Commission did not take an action and provided the following comments.
In their discussion of the project, the Commission members expressed appreciation for the consideration of their previous comments. However, they reiterated the importance of the character and placement of the proposed house within the larger context, and they urged the development of a more elegant and less complicated design, with a simpler palette of materials and details. They identified two primary issues of scale and context for the design of the house: finding the proper alignment between the two adjacent houses, and respecting the wider public realm of Rock Creek Park and the neighborhood streets. For the reworking of the concept, they suggested that an alternative strategy might be to consider the massing of the house as two simple connected volumes, with the larger slightly forward as the public face of the house, and the smaller set back into the slope and more private in character.
The Commission recommended that a new concept submission be developed in consultation with the staff, and that a small physical model would help in studying the design of the house in relation to the site and surrounding context. As always, the staff is available to assist you with your next submission.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Patrick Cooper
Compass Design and Development
1380 Monroe Street, NW, Suite 204
Washington, DC 20010
cc: Colin Bruce, 1740 Poplar Lane, NW