Vassar Road, Alexandria, Virginia

The Vassar Road project is a one-story kitchen addition to an existing Ranch Style Home. The architectural concept emphasized creating new garden views and using natural lighting and to enhance the experience moving between the existing covered patio and the new addition. Marvin-fixed windows, resting on a retaining wall, were employed together with a cathedral ceiling to bring unobstructed views of the side yard garden. Southern and northern lighting are captured, and introduced through clearstory windows which provide access to a study loft above the kitchen which was added during construction. The study loft affords the occupant with a full 360-degree view of the rising and setting sun.
The project complexity involved underpinning the existing patio and brick piers, while designing a reinforced retaining wall in contact with marine clay. The existing patio is accessed from the living room through a set of French doors, and directly from the kitchen through a patio door. Two existing walls were removed form the original galley kitchen to provide for convenient dining adjacent to the new kitchen.

Photographs by Steve Johnson Photography, Alexandria, Virginia