Sometimes, working with a dream team means that what architect Gregory Ehrman calls the ?daydream phase? of a project actually comes true. That?s what happened on a piece of land overlooking the Magothy River near its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay; even before his clients drew up a wish list for their Gibson Island, Maryland, retreat, Ehrman says there was a fantastic team in place.
?We were all in lockstep from the beginning,? agrees landscape architect Bob Hruby.
?A dream team is what it was,? echoes interior designer Lauren Liess.
When designing a second home for a young family, ?practical doesn?t always win the day,? says Ehrman, adding that the final design might be ?more fun and experiential.? In this case, the challenge was to conjure a retreat that would be both a comfortable getaway for the parents, who live and work in Washington, DC, and a functional space for a family with young kids. ?We spent a lot of time in their DC house listening to them talk about how they live with their children,? the architect recalls. The solution turned out to be four linked volumes on the one-and-a-half-acre lot. ?It?s one house,? notes Ehrman of the design that weaves the landscape in around it, ?but each part has its own special character. We were enamored by the idea of moving between sections of the building.?
The idea was sparked, in part, by the former house on the lot, which occupied the same spot on a cliff 30 feet above the water but was hampered by architecture that b...