20 years after we renovated our clients’ Chevy Chase rambler, we were asked to design a retirement present to themselves--a swimming pool & a screened porch. On this hilly site, the only flat ground dictated that the pool be located immediately behind the house. The result is a slender pool, running the full width of the house, with a terrace for sun at one end & a screened porch for shade at the other.

The porch is an exercise in dappled sun & carpentry. It is supported on steel legs which continue, partially clad in wood, to the roof, where corresponding beams cross over the top. These are exposed to view & make the roof a 5th facade, visible from the 2nd story master bedroom.

The facade facing the pool has 2 doors, 1 on each side of the water. In the center, a retractable screen opens the pavilion directly to the water, allowing the occupants to dive from the interior right into the pool. Construction involved 2 pages of 11X17 working drawings & an extraordinary carpenter.

Material Used :
1. Phantom Screen - front retractable screen wall
2. Pennsylvania Bluestone paving
3. Copper roof
4. Steel framing & structure