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PRIVATE TOUR - VILLA FIRENZE BY SHARON JAFFE DAN





When M. Robert Guggenheim purchased a stately mansion overlooking Rock Creek Park in 1942, he named the residence after his mother, Florence. Ironically, the name could not have been more appropriate when, 34 years later, the Italian government acquired “Villa Firenze” as an embassy residence in Washington. Set on 22 secluded acres near Cleveland Park, the magnificent home has witnessed a steady stream of cultural, diplomatic and political activity over the years. But recently, Villa Firenze has been infused with a fresh and glamorous new look—as well as the laughter of bambini—since Italy’s new ambassador, Giulio Maria Terzi di Sant’Agata, Antonella Cinque and their two-year-old twins moved into the home last fall. 




While the architecture is Tudor in style, the interiors are decidedly Italian. "The house is really a meeting point of two traditions and two cultures,” says Ambassador Terzi on a recent tour. Cinque agrees, “When Americans come to the house, they love it, and so do Italians.”

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Magnolias form an intimate canopy around the pool of this project by Scott Brinitzer


To marry the house to its surroundings, Brinitzer designed a series of retaining walls that step down gracefully from the house to street level, creating broad terraces, with a walkway through them, that allow room for handsome plantings.  To the left of the entry-level terrace, a magnificent Southern magnolia nestles in a bed of white azaleas. To the right, three serviceberries obscure the view of the house while still allowing visitors to see through to the front door.


Patterned after the architectural lines of the residence, the area behind the house includes a stucco fireplace, swimming pool and patio. Little Girl magnolias form an intimate canopy around the swimming pool and patio, and soften the effect of the 100-foot-tall tulip poplars that were already present on the property. A raised bed screens the garden beyond the pool, accessible through the small dining terrace. Brinitzer explains that the design moves people through the landscape in such a way that it cannot be seen all at once. “It makes the site more interesting,” he says, “and gives people the illusion of discovery in the garden.”



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Ornate detail abounds in a traditional kitchen by designer Lois Kennedy


The ability to tackle a million details at once is one of the hallmarks of a good kitchen designer. And in a kitchen where the design is driven by a high level of decorative detail, the challenge is even greater. Such was the case in a Great Falls, Virginia, home where kitchen designer Lois Kennedy and interior designer Maria Galiani collaborated on a kitchen brimming with Old World style. Their client had toured a kitchen Kennedy designed years ago in a National Symphony Orchestra show house, and loved its Gothic elements—especially the chestnut range hood hand-carved with a griffin motif. She wanted to achieve a similar look in her home. 

The designers got to work, first figuring out how to transform the lackluster kitchen into a larger, more functional space. Kennedy’s colleague Victoria Feldman drew up plans to bump out the odd, triangular room into the backyard to gain space. She also created a new breakfast room housed in a turret framed by windows.



As their design took shape, Galiani and Kennedy devised ways to marry today’s state-of-the-art amenities with the handcrafted, traditional look their client desired. Behind the custom finishes, the carefully planned layout revolves around the demands of a busy family with two active teenagers. A large L-shaped island features raised tables built into either end for casual dining on stools. The side of the island closest to the refrigerator and range houses an oversized copper prep sink with built-in cutting and drainage boards and a dishwasher—one of two in the kitchen—to make cooking and clean-up a breeze. Cabinets conceal 21st-century conveniences, from a full-size water cooler to a microwave, coffee maker and trash and recycling bins. 

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Baltimore Real Estate Mogul Pat Turner Trend 2011 BY DEBORAH K. DIETSCH



Baltimore Real Estate Mogul Pat Turner Trend 2011 BY DEBORAH K. DIETSCH

Baltimore real estate mogul Pat Turner of Turner Development Group has built a reputation over the past decade for turning neglected urban properties into stylish spaces designed to draw residents back into the city. He has converted structures as unusual as an old hospital and a 1920s grain elevator into contemporary lofts, both with the help of architect Christopher Pfaeffle of the Baltimore firm Parameter Inc. 

“Chris is an extremely creative designer and he also has the ability to make his designs affordable,” says Turner. “He knows my taste.” So after the developer and his wife Jeanine purchased a home at auction on a heavily wooded site in Pikesville just outside the city, they tapped Pfaeffle to transform the shabby cottage into a modern dwelling that would be both sophisticated and practical. 

The architect approached the assignment in much the same way he tackled his previous designs for Turner: “I look for existing elements that are important and give meaning to the project.” In this case, Pfaeffle preserved the stone chimneys and basement of the home, while demolishing most of the older structure to make way for a more spacious layout. Baltimore real estate mogul interior image:





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