WHEN JUDITH MATLOFF moved back to the U.S. after a career in foreign journalism, she dreamed of buying a home — and did just that in 2000. What she didn't count on was that her dream brownstone — four floors, almost 5,000 square feet — in West Harlem would be surrounded by crack houses and infested with termites. In her new book, "Home Girl" ($25, Random House), Matloff documents everything about her renovation, from how she and her husband befriended local drug addicts and dealers, to how she coped with lousy grocery stores and ethnic tension.
» EXPRESS: Do you think somebody without years of experience being in war zones as a reporter in places like Rwanda, Chechnya and Sudan would be able to do what you did?
» MATLOFF: I think it takes a certain spirit of adventure, and a tough skin, to do it and not feel paroxysms of fear. When you're in areas where people are actually starving it humbles you. It teaches you humans can adapt to anything. This [experience of renovating a house in a sketchy neighborhood] was not terribly dramatic; it was more of an annoyance.
Also, living abroad helps you deal with other cultures. [Moving to a new area] is a lot like moving into another foreign country, so you try to respect their mores and customs. Living abroad teaches you a little bit about negotiating, because you're always an outsider. Your comfort level is always being jolted.
» EXPRESS: Would you buy and rehab a house in a gentrifying neighborhood again? Would you ever want to?
» MATLOFF: We were thinking of doing it again when the South Bronx was really cheap. We were thinking of buying an old factory warehouse, but then we looked at each other and — well, really, friends and family looked at each other and said, "You can't do that again." It's a little like childbirth; you forget the pain each time.
Incidentally, the house is still a total wreck. We didn't manage to fix the stairs totally to the wall; the stairs are coming off again. And the house is still sloping. An engineer came in and said, "It'll cost just a little bit, just $50,000 to $100,000." Increasingly, with the mortgage squeeze and food prices going through the roof, every little extra $5 matters, let alone $50,000. So we've kind of put that off. ... We just hope the house doesn't fall down in the next few years.
IN A CONDO with an area of about 650 square feet, space could be a little tight for two people. Add a 60-pound mutt to your life, and you're looking at potentially even less comfy quarters — not to mention a lot of hair on the sofa.
But Emily Knaus and Giovanni Pindilli, who live in the aforementioned home in Arlington's Hartford condo complex, don't seem to mind. And judging from the constantly wagging tail of their 8-year-old border collie-golden retriever mix Dakota, neither does she. Dakota's actually got more space at her disposal than you might think.
With a little creativity and Pindilli's handiwork, the couple turned the bottom half of their hall closet into an indoor "doghouse" for Dakota. Pindilli nailed a horizontal board into the back wall to section off the space for Dakota to sleep in. The dimensions of the doghouse floor are about 3 feet by 4 feet — just enough room for Dakota to freely wander in and out of the miniature den, and to curl up on her full-size bed inside.
"When she was a puppy, she used to look for places like this," says Knaus, 27, an energy analyst.
IN A CONDO MARKET IN WHICH hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances come standard, sellers need something dramatic — yet practical — to make their properties stand out.
Welcome to the age of the flat-panel fixture, when 42-inch plasma televisions are included in the price of property.
High-definition televisions typically retail for about $2,000, which is "a big chunk of change," or a month's mortgage, says Kevin Gray, a sales associate at Logan Station (Loganstationcondos.com). The Bogdan Builders property, located on R Street in Logan Circle, has 62 units that come standard with 42-inch flat-panel televisions. "By offering a TV, it's one less decision the purchaser has to make."
ONCE UPON A TIME in the 1960s, artists in New York City discovered that warehouses, factories and other old abandoned buildings made an economical housing choice. In these former digs of the Industrial Revolution, creative types could combine work studios with living space. Although these urban pioneers may have had to forgo separate kitchens and nice bathrooms, the cheap rent and sheer amount of open space were compensation.
Fast-forward 50 years to today, when living in lofts has become a hip prospect for urban professionals. Unlike New York and other cities, though, the D.C. area offers little, if any, industrial stock — old paint factories, defunct ketchup-bottling plants, shipping warehouses — that can be converted in to such spaces.
But that hasn't deterred developers, who in the past five or six years have turned old schools and churches into condos. New loft buildings have also sprung up faster than you can say "urban hipster." These cityfied spaces, though, present new challenges for owners and interior designers not accustomed to open, undefined space, 10-foot-high ceilings and expansive windows.
Norman Smith of D.C.-based Norman Smith Architecture designed one of the first buildings with such a vibe in D.C.: Lofts at Meridian Hill, built between 2001 and 2002. Why the increasing interest in lofts? Smith says it's "a confluence of factors — a client base of young professionals as well as some empty nesters, an increasing acceptance of modernism, and the romantic notion of an artist's loft — that made returning to the city and living in it a desirable thing to do," says Smith. He is currently at work on a project in the increasingly hot H Street neighborhood and sees Anacostia as the next most likely frontier for development.
DC Lofts (DCLofts.com), a real estate Web site, claims that there are more than 160 loft-style residences in the District, Maryland and Virginia. But not everything listed as "loft" or "loft-style" is the real McCoy in Smith's opinion. Smith's definition? A modern, open space with no pronounced barrier between public and private areas, which features exposed duct work and exposed surfaces (brick, concrete), employs alternative materials (cork, steel) and has ceilings that are more than eight feet tall.
Most of all, though, says Smith, "a loft is a space with an attitude."
MARY PFAFFKO was on her way back from the gym, walking down Connecticut Avenue, and there it was. A wood thrush, common in the East but rarely seen outside deeply wooded areas. But there it was, right on the street. The only problem was that it was dead.
In her role as president of the D.C. chapter of the National Audubon Society, Pfaffko, 30, takes field trips to more remote areas (Great Falls, Va.; Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Va.) to get her wildlife fix. If you're a condo-dweller hoping to go beyond pointing binoculars at Rock Creek Park or on the Mall and actually attract feathered friends to your balcony, this news may come as a bit of a disappointment. But with a little work, it's very possible to bring nature to your high-rise castle.
First, don't buy into the stereotypes about bird-watchers. You can enjoy the pastime without it taking over your life. "I'm not one of those people who lives and breathes birding," insists Dave Davis, 63, a former EPA water quality management employee, who lives in a townhouse-style condo in Arlington. "I have a life." And so, too, can you, if you start small and manageable.
One feeder should be more than enough to get started, especially considering the unique challenges of a small space in an urban environment. Cramped quarters mean you don't have room for too many gewgaws, and if you've never tried balcony birding, you'll want to figure out whether your neighborhood is home to cute wrens, pretty hummingbirds or just pigeons.
Continue Reading "Feathers at Your Nest: Spotting Wild Birds" »
FURNISHINGS THAT DO DOUBLE or even triple duty can help to ensure that a sleek new pad functions as well as it looks. "Furniture for small spaces should do multiple things in the room and be versatile," says Pottery Barn spokeswoman Lauren Nelson. "It should serve as storage and also be aesthetically pleasing."
Vastu (1829 14th Street NW, 202-234-8344), a furniture store that also offers interior design services, sells plenty of practical space-savers. Elite's platform Bachelor Storage Bed (pictured above) with six storage drawers underneath ($2,635) is one of the shop's biggest sellers. "Most people give up the footprint of their bed in terms of storage," says Jason Claire, the co-owner of Vastu. "This is a new approach, and it's been very successful. [The bed] offers more storage than a typical standing dresser."
Vastu also sells a variety of furniture cubes and ottomans with built-in storage. Rectangle- and cube-shaped storage ottomans by Steven Anthony (from $246), for instance, come in hundreds of different fabrics and leathers. You can use them to seat guests as well as store blankets or photo albums.
WHEN VENESSA MENDENHALL, 28, was looking for a condo in the District, location and price were her two driving factors. The consultant for nonprofits wanted to be in Adams Morgan or Dupont Circle, but she soon found she didn't have a lot to choose from there when it came to new construction.
Then, she discovered her eventual home in the West Olmstead Condominiums at Harvard and 18th streets NW, in a turn-of-the-20th-century brownstone that had recently been converted into five condos.
By snagging one of those units last December, Mendenhall got historic charm along with the modern design elements most condo buyers are looking for these days. Her appliances? Stainless steel, of course. Counters? Zodiaq quartz. And the floors? A light pine hardwood.
A wealth of storage space was also a big selling point for Mendenhall. Because the brownstone is built into a hill, Mendenhall has stairs that lead from her entry down to her one-bedroom condo. Under those stairs, the developer smartly incorporated a long walk-in closet and other storage space. "It's a small unit, but the layout is good," says Mendenhall. "And they were really creative about using every nook and cranny."
Mendenhall isn't alone in appreciating high style and smart design. Condo developers know that, besides a good location and a good price, many buyers like her want the biggest decor bang for their buck, especially in the current marketplace.
Continue Reading "Intelligent Designers: Condo Developing" »
JOE CARMACK, owner of 14th Street's perpetually leafy plant shop, Garden District (1801 14th St. NW; 202-797-9005), always knew he had a greener thumb than most people. While his childhood buddies were at soccer practice, Carmack was working in his family's garden in San Antonio, Texas — "and I loved it," he says. As an adult, Carmack earned a graduate certificate in landscape design from George Washington University and then in 2002 started a business based on his passion for plants. In March, almost five years after the debut of the first Garden District, he opened a second shop (1520 14th St. NW; 202-797-9005) a few blocks south, this one solely dedicated to interior plants and accessories.
We quizzed Carmack, 42, about his company's growth spurt and picked up tips on everything from how to keep flora content in cramped quarters to why you should add more leaves to your indoor decor.
» EXPRESS: What's the biggest mistake people make with houseplants?
» CARMACK: Not knowing the conditions that the plant would like, particularly for a sun garden. You really need to know how much sun a plant would like. Over-watering can be a big issue, too.
» EXPRESS: How important is it to find the right container for a plant?
» CARMACK: Very important, on two different levels. One is the care of the plant; you need to get a container that's the right size for it. And then there's the aesthetic part. There are so many different options that we have [at the Garden District], with pottery and different styles of pots. It's a great way to introduce color.
Continue Reading "Business is Blooming: D.C.'s Garden District" »
BE HONEST, NOW, CONDOMINIUM OWNERS. Your condo association meetings are:
A. Tedious. I avoid them like my office mate with chronic pinkeye.
B. A chance to flirt. That cute guy from the fourth floor might show up.
C. Worthwhile. I feel like I am affecting life in my building in a positive way.
Did you answer A or B? Remember, folks, it's your money (and your neighbors') that's being spent by your condo association, so why wouldn't you want a say? If that means signing on for monthly or quarterly meetings, it might actually be a good use of your time — and not just so you can meet potential mates.
FROM THE TIME she opened her first antique business in college, Andrea Ridout has been hooked on home improvement, whether it's refinishing old Victorian dressers or laying new kitchen tile. The Texas-based DIY expert doles out tips on her nationally syndicated radio show, "Ask Andrea," and in articles for magazines like This Old House Journal and Country Home.
We caught up with her to ask for pad-updating ideas and to get the scoop on her just-published new home-improvement bible, "If I Had a Hammer" ($18, Collins).
» EXPRESS: What do first-timers need to know about owning a home?
» RIDOUT: I have two daughters in their 20s, and they don't realize the amount of work that goes into owning or even renting a home. Watch for anything that's going to deteriorate your space.
» EXPRESS: So, maintenance is crucial?
» RIDOUT: It's like anything else. If you don't brush your teeth every day, your teeth are going to rot. If you don't maintain your home, your house is going to rot. So, clean out the gutters. Make sure that everything is caulked. Check the drainage. Do anything that you can to keep surfaces primed and painted and not let your paint get to a point where it's peeling.
» EXPRESS: In the book, you write that some of these quick fixes can save you money. How?
» RIDOUT: When it comes to installation, gaps are the enemy. Just imagine Fort Knox. You could have Fort Knox, but if you have a little doorway open, people are going to run in and out. Look at your attic and your perimeter walls for those gaps where your money can leak out.
Addison Road