Evening star., 1951-09-01
Architect Fashions Interest and Drama in Own Foueve House
Trouchaud Expresses
His Ideas, Relatively
Free Of Compromises
By Robert J. Lewis
p.rI Estate Editor Of The Stor

For sheer interest and drama,
there are few contemporary houses
in the District area that can oeI
compared with a four-level house
recently completed on Cnam
Bridge road.
Houses cannot fairly be COM
pared with one another, it is true,
and no comparisons are intenaeo|
here. The amount you spend, the
site you choose, your famllys
specific needs and the problems
involved-all affect what you get
in the way of house.
Architects houses - that Is,
houses that architects design 1or
themselves-are usually interest
ing because they represent mucnI
of the best in design that an
architect has to offer. Freed OF
clients requirements, an archl-
tect can let himself go and turn
out a home that is relatively Tree
from compromises.
No Perfect Lot.
But even architects who build
for themselves must compromise,
to some extent. There IS no Sucn
thing, for example, as the per1ect
lot-nor is there any architect
in the world who has enough
money to afford everything in
house that he might want. Yet
for inherent interest, architects
houses often stand out over the
general run of residential archl-
lecture. i
For that reason. architects
houses deserve close attention. as
a source of ideas, Of trends ana
of original thinking.
This house is an architects own
house-designed for his own family
and largely free of compromises
and interferences. While not ex-
tremely elaborate, it is good
sized house with considerable at
tention to detail evident even on
casual inspection.
The architect, j. P. Trouchaud,
was his own contractor and gave
the job almost daily supervision.
The house is located at 297OI
Chain Bridge road NV, on lot
95 by 110 feet. Dimensions are
81 by 54 feet. 1t is entered from
the street on the living room level.
Walk six steps up from the living
room level and you reach the bed
room level. Walk eight steps down
from the living room level and you
reach the studio level, where the
architect has his Office and work.
room. Six steps below that level
is the utility and storage level. |
Step Savers.
Each of the levels thus can be
reached by only about half the
number of steps needed between
floors in the average house.
To give the house privacy, the
architect used a number of devices.
The front lawn was kept level,
though the street in front OF it
slopes down hill.
Second, the living room was
sunk IA inches below the level
of the lawn. This not only helps
screen the living rooms occupants
from a view of the street but also
provides almost the Illusion when
sitting in a chair, of being seated
on the lawn. The reason is that
one whole side of the living room
is of glass and as you look out
onto the lawn the grass seems only
Just below eye level.
A third device for complete pri-
vacy consisted of a retaining wall
projecting only two feet above the
lawn on the street side. The fact
that the living room floor was sunk
IA inches below the level OF the
lawn made it possible to keep this
wall low and yet have it completely
screen off the view of the street.
L-Shaped Living Room.
The living room is L-shaped,
with maximum dimensions of 40
by 80 feet, including a dining area.
The kitchen is adjacent to the
dining area and also to a terrace
porch accessible from the living
room. permitting convenient out
door dining.
One of the features of the liv-I
ing room is a copper-h hooded fire.
place, whose hearth consists of
a projecting concrete slab that
extends around a fourth of the
living room on level with the
lawn and adjacent to the glass
wall of the living room.
This concrete slab extends out
beyond the glass wall about two
feet. Into it. on both sides of 1
the glass window, wall flower pots |
are recessed, permitting easy ex-
change of plants.
The inventory of space is as
follows, by functional levels:
On the top level, the house has
a large bedroom, with dressing