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Inside a $10M DC home with a ‘lady lair’

Rachel Nania | rnania@wtop.com

September 29, 2016, 1:11 AM

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This year’s DC Design House is open to the public Oct. 2 through Oct. 31. Tickets are $35 and proceeds benefit Children’s National Health System. (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
The “chic retreat” on the third floor of the home, designed by Barbara Brown of Barbara Brown Interiors, LLC. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The third-floor roof deck/cabana at the DC Design Home, designed by Quintece Hill-Mattauszek of Studio Q Designs. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The third-floor roof deck/cabana at the DC Design Home, designed by Quintece Hill-Mattauszek of Studio Q Designs. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The bar leading into the third-floor roof deck/cabana at the DC Design Home, designed by Quintece Hill-Mattauszek of Studio Q Designs. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The living room at the 2016 DC Design House, designed by Pamela Harvey. (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
The living room at the 2016 DC Design House, designed by Pamela Harvey.  (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
The third-floor loft area, designed by Steve Corbeille, Melanie Hansen and Pooja Mittra from Yardstick Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A third-floor bathroom, as part of the “chic retreat,” designed by Barbara Brown of Barbara Brown Interiors, LLC. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A reading nook/window seat in the dressing room of the “chic retreat,” designed by Barbara Brown of Barbara Brown Interiors, LLC.  (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The dressing room in the “chic retreat,” designed by Barbara Brown of Barbara Brown Interiors, LLC.   (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
The “mademoiselle chambre” is the perfect room for an adolescent dreaming of life in Paris. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The “mademoiselle chambre” is the perfect room for an adolescent dreaming of life in Paris. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The first-floor powder room in the 2016 DC Design House, designed by Lena Kroupnik.   (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
The master bedroom suite, designed by Victoria Sanchez of Victoria at Home, LLC and Victoria at Home. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
The master bedroom suite, designed by Victoria Sanchez of Victoria at Home, LLC and Victoria at Home.  (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The master bedroom suite, designed by Victoria Sanchez of Victoria at Home, LLC and Victoria at Home.  (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The master bedroom suite, designed by Victoria Sanchez of Victoria at Home, LLC and Victoria at Home.  (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The bathroom in the master bedroom suite, designed by Victoria Sanchez of Victoria at Home, LLC and Victoria at Home.  (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The dressing room of the “lady lair,” an edgy, second-floor retreat for the lady of the house, designed by Rachel Dougan of Vivi Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The bathroom of the “lady lair,” an edgy, second-floor retreat for the lady of the house, designed by Rachel Dougan of Vivi Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The “lady lair” is an edgy, second-floor retreat for the lady of the house, designed by Rachel Dougan of Vivi Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A hidden bar in the “lady lair,” designed by Rachel Dougan of Vivi Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The TV cabinet in the “lady lair” — no big screen and no visible cords — designed by Rachel Dougan of Vivi Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A bedroom inspired by the sunrise and sunset on the second floor of the DC Design House, designed by Charles C. Almonte of Charles C. Almonte Architecture I Interior Design.  
 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A bedroom inspired by the sunrise and sunset on the second floor of the DC Design House, designed by Charles C. Almonte of Charles C. Almonte Architecture I Interior Design. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A sitting area in the dining room of the DC Design House, designed by Jonathan Senner of Atelier Jonathan Senner. The core inspiration for this room is a wallpaper that is a reproduction of the 1739 Turgot Map of Paris.  
 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A sitting area in the dining room of the DC Design House, designed by Jonathan Senner of Atelier Jonathan Senner. The core inspiration for this room is a wallpaper that is a reproduction of the 1739 Turgot Map of Paris. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The “butler’s pantry” off the kitchen in the DC Design House, designed by Nadia N. Subaran & Megan M. Padilla of Aidan Design. (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
The “butler’s pantry” off the kitchen in the DC Design House, designed by Nadia N. Subaran & Megan M. Padilla of Aidan Design.  
 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The first-floor terrace at the DC Design House. Designer Kimberly Asner, of Country Casual Teak, likens it to a “treehouse retreat.”  
 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The first-floor terrace at the DC Design House. Designer Kimberly Asner, of Country Casual Teak, likens it to a “treehouse retreat.”  
 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The coral-centric family room, designed by Kelley Proxmire of Kelley Interior Design.  
 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The library and whiskey bar, designed by Josh Hildreth and Victor Sanz of DMG Interiors. (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
A “speakeasy” is positioned behind a panel in the wall in the home’s library and whiskey bar, designed by Josh Hildreth and Victor Sanz of DMG Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
A tapestry inside the library and whiskey bar, designed by Josh Hildreth and Victor Sanz of DMG Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The library and whiskey bar, designed by Josh Hildreth and Victor Sanz of DMG Interiors. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The celebrity-inspired sitting room, off the first-floor kitchen at the DC Design House, designed by Camille Saum of Camille Saum Interior Design, LLC.   (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House
The celebrity-inspired sitting room, off the first-floor kitchen at the DC Design House, designed by Camille Saum of Camille Saum Interior Design, LLC. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The tiled fireplace in the celebrity-inspired sitting room, off the first-floor kitchen at the DC Design House, designed by Camille Saum of Camille Saum Interior Design, LLC. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
The kitchen and breakfast room, designed by Betsy Barmat Stires of Frog Hill Designs, LLC. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Every year since 2008, DC Design House founder and president Skip Singleton, along with an all-volunteer staff, has selected a home in D.C., Maryland or Virginia and used it to showcase the latest styles in home design. (Photo Courtesy Angie Seckinge/DC Design House)
Photo Courtesy Angie Seckinge/DC Design House
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The living room at the 2016 DC Design House, designed by Pamela Harvey. (Courtesy Angie Seckinger/DC Design House)
The master bedroom suite, designed by Victoria Sanchez of Victoria at Home, LLC and Victoria at Home. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

WASHINGTON — A $10.8 million home in Northwest D.C. just received a major face-lift from more than 20 interior designers and artists in the area.

In the past month, they’ve been busy stenciling walls, installing countertops and constructing custom furniture — all to get the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion in the Wesley Heights/Berkley neighborhood ready for its debut as the 2016 DC Design House.

Every year since 2008, DC Design House founder and president Skip Singleton, along with an all-volunteer staff, has selected a home in D.C., Maryland or Virginia and used it to showcase the latest styles in home design.

This year’s DC Design House is the former home to the French ambassador. He lived in the five-story, 11,242-square-foot home while his primary residence in Kalorama was undergoing renovations.

Designers tour the home once it is vacant and then re-imagine each space — from libraries to living rooms and every hallway in between. In about a month’s time, their visions are brought to life and the public is invited to walk the newly designed home.

This year’s DC Design House is open to the public Oct. 2 through Oct. 31. Tickets are $35 and proceeds benefit Children’s National Health System. Singleton says in the past eight years, the nonprofit has raised more than $1.5 million for the D.C. pediatric hospital.

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