There is something special about a home that stays in a family through generations, especially when it’s a home filled with cherished memories. Such was the case in 2020, when a daughter (and her husband) purchased her mother’s house as the ideal place to raise the couple’s two growing boys.
“I’ve been coming to this house since 1997,” says the husband, who was then dating his wife. “My mother-in-law would always joke, ‘One day, you’re going to buy this house.’”
Nestled on an idyllic wooded lot, the five-bedroom, 4,452-square-foot house had received its share of updates over the years. The mother, a successful real estate agent, had maintained the house beautifully. The addition of an outdoor pavilion and swimming pool, where the family loves to gather en masse, is among the best renovations she has completed.
“My husband and I used to live in Arlington,” says the daughter. “We’d been debating renovating a teardown and maybe buying a second home, but our boys were so busy with sports on the weekends. It occurred to us that by buying my mother’s house, which was too big for one person, we’d have both a vacation home and a real one.”
Once the couple purchased the house, they began to think about refreshing the interiors, improving its functionality, and modifying certain spaces to better suit their active lifestyles. They hired Kristen Bonney-James of Oakton-based KBJ Interiors to help them navigate the process.
“This house is extra special to my clients, because of their family history,” says Bonney-James. “Because they were so familiar with the home, they knew exactly what they wanted from a functional POV — it was also time to make it reflect their personal style.”
With two boys and a dog running in and out of the house, one of the essential changes early on would be the addition of a desperately needed mudroom. The decision was made to move the laundry room from its former spot (next to the garage and off the kitchen) to the second floor, where the bedrooms are located.
In addition to the mudroom’s custom built-ins, its farmhouse-style sink is a nod to the old kitchen’s apron-fronted sink, which was remounted in the garage during the kitchen’s renovation, retaining its nostalgic associations.
“The family loves to cook and entertain, and wanted a showstopping kitchen,” says Bonney-James. “We designed a new kitchen in the same layout as the old one, with customized inset cabinetry and a full-height stone backsplash for a bit of luxury.”
Improvements in the kitchen’s functionality included layering lighting, centralizing light switches, and adding a larger refrigerator and freezer. The navy-blue island base features the favored color palette of blues, greens, and whites seen throughout the home.
The couple enjoys entertaining, both casually and formally, and paid tribute to the previous homeowner in the dining room, a room they love to use.
“We had taken our kids to Paris over spring break last year and had visited Versailles; a room there had reminded them of their grandmother’s dining room, all red damask fabric walls, rich wood furnishings, gold accents, and crystal chandeliers,” says the husband, referencing the old décor.
“They wanted to update the existing upholstered walls with a new fabric to maintain that rich and cozy feel. It also absorbs noise while in use,” says Bonney-James.
A bold floral Thibaut print in blues and whites covers the walls. The white curtains are trimmed in green embroidery and the ceiling is painted sky-blue, contrasting with crisp trim work. The dining room, with new furniture, makes a statement at the front of the house, where the space is immediately visible through a wide cased opening.
“We went room by room,” says Bonney-James, of the process of redoing floors, repainting walls, layering new furniture with old, and reupholstering tired pieces, always with vibrant performance fabrics.
For example, the family room’s former bar doubled in size, while a variety of patterns, from small-scale geometric to animal print, enliven its soft furnishings. Grasscloth adds textural contrast to shelf-backs here, as do woven natural shades to the windows.
From “her” Tiffany-blue glossy home office to “their” parlor’s swivel armchairs that are centered around a velvet ottoman at the front of the house, the thoughtful redesign sparkles. To give the family needed space, the renovation included a full basement remodel, something the previous generation never quite got off the ground.
“Our goal for this renovation was very much to create a home to reflect the homeowners’ style, while honoring the past. We wanted everything to be warm and inviting, but also be polished and comfortable,” says Bonney-James.
“We got to modernize and refresh the home, while honoring my mother by leaving a trail of breadcrumbs of her presence around the house,” says the wife. Her mother, of course, loves seeing the continuity of both her home and her family within it.
Feature image of renovated Vienna home by Robert Radifera for Stylish Productions
This story originally ran in our August issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
