Originally built in 1976, this modernist home featured an indoor pool that dominated the ground floor. In collaboration with architect Patrick Brian Jones, we transformed the space by filling in the pool and rebuilding the walls while preserving the original footprint. The redesign includes massive windows throughout to take advantage of the sunlight and greenery surrounding the home.
For the exterior cladding, we installed Abodo timber, a FSC® certified, thermally modified New Zealand plantation pine. This eco-friendly alternative to old growth timbers like cedar not only compliments its natural setting but also requires less maintenance. Coated with a protector made from plant oils, the timber is shielded from UV rays, moisture, and fungus, making it perfect for this environment.
The Ley LTD team undertook extensive engineering work, including the construction of floating wooden stair treads on steel stairs and the installation of a custom pivot front door from Brazil. When our client’s teenager requested a hidden door leading to a study room, we crafted a bookcase with a secret book lever to open the door. Additionally, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted our plans to construct a luxurious in-home gym in the basement to meet the homeowners’ evolving needs.
This project is a testament to our team’s flexibility and dedication to bringing clients’ and architects’ visions to life, preserving original architectural features while updating the structure to fit the homeowners’ needs.
Our clients wanted to transform their cramped kitchen into a spacious, family-friendly area. To achieve this, we constructed a custom steel and glass addition that created a charming breakfast nook. By removing the kitchen wall, we improved the flow between the breakfast nook, kitchen, and living room.
The kitchen now features oak beams on the ceiling, custom millwork, and marble countertops with reeded oak siding. The centerpiece of the living room is a beautiful marble fireplace crafted by our team. A mudroom off the living room is delineated with colorful tiling and lockers. Additionally, we constructed a new master bath for our clients, featuring a spacious marble steam shower. Our attention to detail can be seen across this project, reflecting our craftsmanship and dedication to executing the vision of the architects at Thomson & Cooke.
This project involved a major transformation designed by Fowlkes Studio, converting the kitchen into a functional mudroom and the living room into a spacious showcase kitchen. The mudroom features a custom-built dog bath, while the new kitchen has a large island and a cozy breakfast nook. At the request of our client's children, we meticulously constructed a wood-burning pizza oven in the kitchen from scratch. Every detail of this project was carefully considered and executed to address the specific needs of our clients, resulting in the perfect home for their family.
The Ley LTD team completed a whole-house renovation for this project, including extensive hardscaping and interior enhancements. Outside, we refinished the pool, meticulously constructed a pool deck, added a convenient changing room and bathroom, and crafted an elegant new back entry portico. Inside, we transformed the kitchen by removing walls to open up the space and installing custom-fabricated steel and glass cabinet doors, along with a hidden paneled door leading to the pantry. A sunroom with a heated floor was added to the living room to maximize the house’s beautiful views of Rock Creek Park, featuring expansive windows and a terrazzo tile floor. Our team also retouched and resealed all wood inside the house and expertly crafted custom millwork, along with new windows that were carefully selected to match the style of the house. We are proud to have brought the vision of Saltbox Architecture and our clients to life while preserving the unique character of the home and its natural surroundings.
This early 19th-century row home received a three-story addition on the rear of the house, as well as a complete gut renovation of the existing space.
From top-to-bottom, Ley LTD made significant structural adjustments, added new windows, and reworked the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure. To gain additional height in the basement, we removed a thick concrete slab and lowered the floor—without underpinning—to the existing footer. The kitchen was relocated to the first level of the new addition, and it notably features a heated, polished concrete floor, exposed brick, and a 12-foot tall, triple multi-slide door. This kind of detail is why the project took on the name of “the Wabi-Sabi home,” an enthusiastic nod to the traditional Japanese aesthetic that embraces asymmetry and roughness. We found ways to celebrate the natural imperfections of the existing home, and to contrast and connect them to the clean lines of our new construction. We partnered with Wak Tok Architects on this exciting project.
We engaged MCDStudio, one of our design partners, to permit and generate plans for this project: an accessory dwelling unit converted into a tranquil yoga studio.
We created a cozy yet well-lit and ventilated space to create just the right atmosphere. Window, door and skylight openings were punched through the elderly exterior, and repurposed materials were used to create warm interior features. A fold down desk, an elevated day-bed with storage beneath, and exposed, reclaimed wood rafters provided space-efficient accents throughout the studio. We also chose a bi-fold door to infuse the studio with an indoor/outdoor quality, and to open the studio out toward our client’s beloved garden.
For this lovely stone cottage in the 16th St Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., Ley LTD partnered with WAK TOK Architects to convert an enclosed outdoor space into an eat-in family kitchen.
We embraced and executed on our client’s vision for a contrasting black-and-white palette by crafting blackened oak millwork, installing black Corian counter-tops, and by selectively-applying black paint to wood window frames and door units. We also created new window and door openings to allow for enviable amounts of natural white light in the space. Additionally, when extensive research revealed the absence of local suppliers of blackened oak cabinetry, we solved for the challenge while adhering to our client’s budget by researching and ourselves executing on a process to convert white oak into a blackened color. It was a process that involved the use of steel-wool and vinegar to spark a chemical reaction in the tannins of the white oak.
Our client was very pleased with the final product, as was the Ley LTD team.
A cornerstone of Chevy Chase Village, this home had been expanded over the years to over double it’s original size.
We were selected by the new owners to remodel the home to fit the needs of their young family. The project involved a full interior gut and remodel, new hardscaping and landscaping with a new custom swimming pool.
The interior work features two new custom built stair-cases with curved railing. One of which required that we build a small 2nd floor addition. These interior images show off newly opened up spaces that more flow and natural light, shop-built and site-built custom mill-work. Custom made steel and glass doors give new life to a Sunroom that was part of the original house. Wood bi-folding door panels open up to allow a large indoor/outdoor family dining area. New herringbone wood floors have been installed in the entry foyer and old white Oak flooring is revived by sanding and refinishing. Significant upgrades to the Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing were necessary to accommodate the reconfigured home. The newly installed state-of-art automated lighting, shade and audio/visual technology systems streamlined the operation of the house. Almost everything can now be operated via an iPhone or iPad.
Stand by for images of the new pool surrounded by its new stone, wood pergola and plantings!
