Background

When this family moved to Baltimore from New York in 2003, they spent a year looking for a house with architectural presence. They eventually found a beautiful 1930s brick Federal Revival that needed extensive upgrades and new space necessary for a young family with children. Additions were made to the house: a family room and large kitchen and breakfast room, two new bedrooms and baths, mudroom, and second floor laundry.

Our Approach

The first rooms completed by Chambers were the family and breakfast rooms and the dining room, giving the family and their friends a place to relax and entertain. As the girls grew up, they brought their friends to this welcoming house and the parents wanted a quiet get-away space from the family room. This resulted in the furnishing and decoration of the library, referred to as the Persian Room due to the husband's nationality and elements of the décor. Next a computer room was completed and many smaller projects were undertaken. Finally, the more formal living room was addressed, built around a baby grand piano and an unusually colored silk Persian rug. Here Chambers decided to add a touch of New York glamour while keeping the room comfortable for every member of the family.

Results

The idea of the living room's glazed black walls called for an acceptance of Chambers' ideas that might not have been possible had not the family and Chambers been working together for four years. While all the rooms are lived in by the family and an almost constant gathering of friends, the living room is the one people always remember: rich, sophisticated, warm, and embracing, it is a room for one or many and hints, in this bucolic setting, at the theatricality of a New York City apartment.