Living larger
City dwellers loved their rowhouse but it was too small, so a renovation doubled the space
WASHINGTON When Roshni Ghosh and Alaap Shah found their 1,400-square-foot rowhouse in 2009, they were drawn to the 1892 details: high ceilings, six stainedglass windows and four fireplaces. The small rooms in the two-storey house felt cosy.
A few years later, they found themselves with a toddler and two busy careers, running out of closet space, office space and outdoor space. The outdated plumbing and electrical systems were wearing out and could not support modern appliances and technology.
We love the vibrancy of the arts and music scene in the area, as well as the diversity of the population.
Tired of tripping on toys in the living room and having only one full-sized bathroom, they contemplated moving farther out. But real estate searches elsewhere made them realize they couldn’t bear to leave their walkable neighbourhood.
When they bought the house, Shah says, they weren’t thinking of raising kids there, but eventually they changed their minds. “We love the vibrancy of the arts and music scene in the area, as well as the diversity of the population,” Shah says.
Ghosh says, “We finally decided we wanted our dream house in the house that we already loved, but we knew we’d have to use every little part of the place to get what we wanted.”
After a renovation by architect Carmel Greer of District Design, the couple, now with two boys and two dogs, have a smart, kidfriendly home that has doubled in size and is full of modern, grownup amenities.
Instead of a first floor with chopped-up rooms, there’s a big open space.
The front door opens into a living area, followed by a sleek kitchen in the centre of the home, defined by an 11-foot (3.3-metre) island, and then a dining table at the end.
Greer had the dingy crawl space dug out to add a family room, wine room, full bath and office.
By adding a third storey, Greer was able to put in a master bedroom and bath, a home office, generous storage and a small roof terrace with views over the city. “Putting the master suite on the third floor provides additional privacy and a general sense of getting away,” Greer says. The reconfigured second floor holds the bedrooms of Rivan, 6, and Talin, 1; a guest room; and two full baths.
The house checks all the boxes for comfortable family living. Laundry areas were designed on two floors. Storage cubes made of reclaimed crossbeams from the house renovation are hung on the exposed brick wall just inside the front door to hold keys, dog leashes and shoes. Two offices on different floors give each parent a space to work in. Ghosh, 41, is an executive in the health-care sector, and Shah, 39, is a lawyer. Having their own places to retreat to helps “accommodate the work-life balance,” Shah says.
Other features express the owners’ lifestyle and passions. Childand dog-friendly features include durable quartzite counters and a matte finish on the floors to help protect against scratches from little hands and paws. Cooking and entertaining are always on the menu. Under a kitchen counter is the Urban Cultivator, which looks like a wine fridge but is an automated indoor garden that grows herbs and microgreens. On a recent visit, they were growing sunflower greens, sweet pea shoots, mustard greens and micro-basil. The wine-loving couple had a temperature- and humiditycontrolled wine room installed on the lower level to store the bottles they pick up on trips to vineyards. The floor is made up of 1,500 wine corks they have been collecting for 15 years.
Shah and Ghosh are thankful they could stay in the house they love. “We are tremendously grateful we could build our dream house in Washington,” Shah says. “We are so blessed we were able to stay.”
The couple did feel bittersweet about having to remove so much of the original interior. They made an album of relics found behind mantels and tucked in walls: a 1940 receipt from Gelb’s Grocery on Florida Avenue, a photo from 1875, a 1966 D.C. Public Library card and an 1892 receipt for a payment of 20 cents. They saved all the original glass doorknobs (replacing them with a modern version by Emtek) and are looking for a way to display them.
They are happy to preserve the things that help tell the story of their home. “We fell in love with the house because of its historical beauty,” Ghosh says. “That motivated us to reinvent the home to be beautiful in a more modern way.”