Washington, D.C
4 Dreamy Weekend Waterfront Homes Near DC
Bay Area Meets the Bay
When a California couple took over this Kent Island property—which had belonged to the wife’s family—they built a new 7,200-square-foot house with plenty of indoor and outdoor space to continue the tradition of family gatherings.
Erin Paige Pitts, of Erin Paige Pitts Interiors in Annapolis, teamed up with the architecture firm Hammond Wilson and Focus Construction to design a space that’s “so entertaining-oriented,” Pitts says. “One of the unique things is the amount of access and flow from those main living areas, just rolling out onto the lawn.”
The home’s aesthetic reflects elements characteristic of both East and West Coasts. “Since they were moving from Northern California, they wanted a little bit of a California vibe,” Pitts says. She worked to blend that state’s style with Chesapeake touches: The home’s neutral, airy spaces are supplemented with striped textiles, jute rugs, and rope ottomans.
About half of the clients’ sizable wine collection, transported across the country, sits in their new wine room. “They really wanted to embrace the wine experience here,” says Pitts, who designed a modern yet cozy cellar with climatized bottle storage, as well as a tasting room with waterfront views. A media room was another must, she says. “They use it all the time.”
Going With the Grain
This family compound—on more than 275 acres in Oxford, Maryland, along the Tred Avon River—consists of two houses plus a pool, a pool house, and an art studio, all designed by architect Reggie Gibson, of Reggie Gibson Architects, and constructed by Lundberg Builders in Stevensville.
Interior designer Laura Hodges, of Catonsville’s Laura Hodges Studio, played to the rustic setting by installing pine paneling in the cedar homes, which are less than 2,000 square feet each. So that the natural knots and grain patterning wouldn’t make the pine appear too busy, Hodges suggested two coats of a light whitewash. “We wanted both homes to feel light and airy so your eyes go straight to the view outside,” she says. “They’re on such a pretty piece of land we didn’t want to take away from that.”
The designer wove other natural influences into the two spaces. “The client specifically wanted to celebrate the seasons,” Hodges says. In what she refers to as the main home, she embraced colors and textures more reflective of summertime, including rattan-wrapped furniture. In the other, she opted for “warmer, cozy textures and deeper colors” that represent fall and winter.
Hodges also transformed a former storage building into a “crab shack,” where the homeowners host large gatherings. Custom cabinetry, benches, and dining tables were crafted out of reclaimed wood from the property’s previous structures. The art studio, which has a kitchenette, was built to be used not only by the owners but also by other creatives in their social circle.
Hodges filled the spaces with vintage pieces when possible, to avoid a “brand-new feel.” Sustainability was also a priority: “We don’t have any materials in there that you wouldn’t find in nature. It’s all woven materials and lots of different variations of wood and handcrafted pieces.”
Natural Setting
Similar in style to Philip Johnson’s famed Glass House, this Gibson Island, Maryland, home was in need of a range of updates when Jim Rill, the principal of Rill Architects, took over.
Because he says there was “no real sense of entry” upon setting foot in the house, Rill pushed out the foyer with a portico. He then added a screened porch to the back of the house. “The flow from that front-entry portico through the back to the pond beyond really accentuated the connection between the house and its response and homage to nature,” Rill says.
Inside, he gave the kitchen a more “modern, sleek architecture style,” opting for clean lines and bright brass hardware. “We figured that when you’re in the kitchen, you want to be part of the outside and part of the rest of the house,” Rill says, noting that the warm wood finishes in the space are meant to reflect the natural world outside.
The architect also got rid of the home’s drop ceilings, which “inhibited the views and encroached on the floor-to-ceiling glass.” Rill kept the non-glass walls in the home largely devoid of art. “There is no better art,” he says, “than looking out at nature.”
Serene and Peaceful
Without moving plumbing or structural elements, interior designer Kate Ballou and architect Colleen Healey worked in tandem to tackle what they call a “replace-in-place project.” They revamped much of the interior of this Wye River, Maryland, home, with a focus on the kitchen, living room, and primary bath-and-closet suite.
The home’s existing French-country detailing didn’t appeal to Ballou and Healey’s clients, both attorneys, who prefer midcentury-modern design. The couple, who live most of the time in the Logan Circle neighborhood, craved a “serene, peaceful getaway from city life,” says Ballou, the founder of Hendrick Interiors in DC.
The architectural alterations included applying a more natural finish to the cherry-wood floors, removing faux beams on the living-room ceiling to draw attention to the windows, and updating the firebox and fireplace surround. Healey, founder of DC’s Colleen Healey Architecture, also replaced the wrought-iron railing on the staircase with one made of glass to maximize the water view. She did opt to keep the arched wooden built-ins in the library: “It was really nice to have a room that you can kind of retreat to at night and watch a movie.”
The female client, who is from California, is “used to a very open and airy feel,” Healey says. Ballou tailored the home’s design to play to the waterfront setting, which is what drew her clients to the property in the first place. Says Healey: “We kept the scale of the furniture low and quiet so that you’re really letting the view of the river be the focal point.”
This article appears in the June 2024 issue of Washingtonian.
Where better to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and the country’s rich history than the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. A new exhibit, which opened Thursday, tells the United States’ 250-year history with 250 objects.
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250 objects for 250 years at the National Museum of American History
Where better to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and the country’s rich history than the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in D.C. A new exhibit, which opened Thursday, tells the United States’ 250-year history with 250 objects.
Visitors will see the museum mainstays like the original American flag that inspired the “Star Spangled Banner” and the desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but the new exhibit “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness,” will also show some artifacts never before displayed.
“A surfboard that was used by Duke Kahanamoku, who is a Native Hawaiian surfer who really popularized surfing to the world. He was an Olympian and we have his massive, 9-foot surfboard that he shaped in Southern California in 1928,” said Theo Gonzalves, a curator at the National Museum of American History.
The exhibit covers the history of the nation through political action, including a sweater worn by a young woman during a school walkout during the Civil Rights Movement and a Tea Party sign from the 2010s.
It also delves into military history with the Revolutionary War’s gunboat “Philadelphia,” and a uniform worn by Gen. George Washington.
Pop culture, lifestyle and entertainment are also front and center.
“We have a Nintendo game set and so there are folks that are looking at their at that Nintendo game set, and they’re thinking, ‘I can’t believe that that’s now part of history,’” Gonzalves said. “I’m old enough to realize what Nintendo was for our generation, but it is part of American history.”
Megan Smith, the head of experience development at the museum, said a seemingly mundane object is one of her favorite artifacts in the museum.
“Hidden in a kind of boring looking exterior, which is a file cabinet that contains over 52,000 jokes written by Phyllis Diller,” she said. “Phyllis Diller was one of the first female stand-up comedians in America. It’s just an ordinary filing cabinet, but it’s filled with her career basically, and her creative process and all of her knowledge.”
Scientific and technological achievement throughout American history is also celebrated, including the first radiocarbon dating machine from the 1950s.
Anthea Hartig, the Elizabeth MacMillan director of the museum, said staff at the museum had to whittle down nearly 2 million artifacts to 250 artifacts that define American history.
“To take 2 million to get down to 250, and the curators did a beautiful job. The whole team did a lot of thinking about what are those objects that help show us in action as a people? Help understand the dreams that we’ve put into the declaration, how it’s expanded, who it includes,” she told WTOP.
She said the exhibit is the brainchild of over three years of curation work.
The National Museum of American History is open every day but Christmas.
“I hope people see themselves reflected in our work and in these objects,“ Hartig said.
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Washington, D.C
The Work Behind the Welcome: NPS Tradespeople Restore Dupont Circle, Making D.C. Safer and More Beautiful (U.S. National Park Service)
NPS / Kelsey Graczyk
The hands behind the place
This work took more than plans. It took craftsmen and craftswomen.
NPS carpenters, masons, maintenance workers, preservation specialists, engineers and landscape architects worked together to renew the circle from the ground up. Crews installed about 10,000 feet of wood slats, cut and placed dowels, sanded rough surfaces, repaired worn concrete legs and painted benches to withstand weather and daily use.
Contractors also repaired fountain pipes and restored stone and marble features, returning moving water to the heart of the circle.
“I used to write project plans for this kind of work,” retired NPS Asset Manager Fred Francis said. “Now I’m out here helping do it. I’m working with a great group of people who are experts in their fields.”
Homelessness in the D.C. region ticked up slightly from 2025 to 2026, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Homelessness in the D.C. region ticked up slightly from 2025 to 2026, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Christine Hong, chair of the council’s Homeless Services Committee and chief of services to End and Prevent Homelessness with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, presented the findings at the council’s Wednesday meeting.
The report centers on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s mandated point-in-time count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.
“This year, the count was conducted on Feb. 4. We had to postpone it one week due to the extreme cold and winter weather event that we experienced the week prior,” Hong said. “Although it’s an imperfect measure, it provides an important regional snapshot of homelessness on a single night.”
The D.C. region reported 9,790 total people experiencing homelessness, an increase of 131 people or about 1% from 2025. The year-over-year regional change was modest. This count is closer in line to the 2019 number, before the pandemic.
“The regional story is that homelessness fell during the pandemic era, a period when expanded federal resources and emergency protections were in place, and then increased after those temporary supports ended,” Hong said. “The main takeaway is that regional homelessness is no longer increasing at the pace seen in 2023 and 2024, and is in line with the years immediately preceding the pandemic.”
Results varied by jurisdiction.
D.C. had the largest numerical increase, with 225 additional people counted. Prince George’s County, Maryland, had 175 additional people counted, a 29% increase. Montgomery County saw the largest decrease, down by 390 people or 26%. Hong pointed to the county’s investment in short-term housing.
“Montgomery County also spent a great deal to expand emergency shelter for families, because we are committed to ensuring no family with children would sleep outside even one night,” she said.
The count also included detailed information on race, veterans and household types.
“The broader evidence is clear, and is referenced in the report, that housing costs and the cost of living are major drivers of homelessness risk, especially for families with low income,” Hong said. “In practical terms, this means family homelessness is closely tied to whether low-income families can find and maintain housing.”
Read the full report here.
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© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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