June, 2023 - Bohl Architects

June 27, 2023

Quote from Van Morrison

“Every performance is different. That is the beauty of it.” – Van Morrison

An artist may be playing the exact same set list as the night before, but the performance is completely different because it’s a new audience, a new venue, a new moment in time. If every performance was the same, life would be quite mundane – for both the performer and the audience. Just like a concert, designing a home is a performance. The architecture performance is a bit longer (by a couple months or even years…) but nonetheless a performance. It’s the process of taking a client’s vision in their mind and bringing it into the physical; ideally in a way that exceeds their expectations. Working with a variety of residential clients who have their own unique property and vision for their space – THAT is the beauty of it. We can even think of life as a performance. Each day different. Each day a new opportunity to create. Think about the performances in your life – the daily ones and the bigger performances that may take months or years. It’s all a process and we can choose to find beauty along the way.

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CJ Howard

July 24, 2023

CJ Howard is an architect and teaches as an Assistant Professor at the Catholic University...

Celia Pearson

July 11, 2023

Celia Pearson has photographed many buildings designed by Bohl Architects...

June 27, 2023

The Modern Beach House

The beach is the ever-changing boundary of land and ocean, offering a mesmerizing view across the waves to the distant horizon.

From the time the first settlers arrived on the shores of the New World’s Atlantic Ocean, coastal homeowners have tried to tame nature’s elements. Water that varies from still to stormy, tides that erode the dunes and the aftereffects of hurricanes that destroy homes in its path.

Still, the lure of the sea is irresistible, and we continue to dream of owning a Modern Beach House. Continue reading to discover the key elements and design features of a modern beach house that seamlessly blend with its coastal surroundings and provide a comfortable, yet sophisticated living space.

Modern Beach House Views

Views of the water vary from morning fog to the sparkling surface created by the high noon sun as it dances over the water, to the still night’s dark blanket of water illuminated by a full moon. Next to the tranquil view of the endless horizon, who can resist the sound of waves breaking and rolling onto the beach? The soothing sound instills a sense of calm, and the wave break freshens the air as it sends cooling breezes. It is no surprise that insomniacs love recordings of ocean sounds, no matter how far they live from the coast.

Choosing a Knowledgeable Team to Build a Modern Beach House

Before embarking on the journey of building a modern beach house, the homeowner mustn’t look over the complexities of building along the water. To make sure the process goes smoothly, you must have a knowledgeable team that has experience navigating the intricacies of the shoreline.

When working on a waterfront property, an architect is required to design more in-depth site plans and submit for distinct grading and building permits. During the contractor selection process, it’s key to make sure that the engineers and builders are aware of additional site work that may be necessary before construction, as well as how to deal with any foreseeable complications. While choosing a solid team applies to every building, it’s especially important for those on the beach.

Modern Beach House Exterior Challenges

Modern Beach Houses come with unique challenges. Many sites are long and narrow, to maximize the number of ocean front lots, so providing every room with ocean views and balanced sunlight is not easy. Plus, window placement is critical for privacy from close neighbors.

Corrosive salt air requires careful consideration of a beach house’s exterior materials and hardware that resist mildew, rot, termites, and high winds. Materials such as concrete, cementitious siding, anodized, powder coated (available in many colors) or pultruded aluminum door and window frames, marine grade stainless steel door hardware, and metal roofing are all appropriate choices. The latter also has the additional benefit of reflecting the sun, which could lower AC cost, if light colors are selected.

Modern Beach House Design

Modern Beach House design is a blend of the clean lines and sleek minimalism of modern architecture with informal interiors inspired by the beach setting. Imagine light, airy volumes framed by white walls to reflect the sunlight and sisal or gray-washed engineered wood flooring, walls of windows that combine large picture windows and operable units to maximize the sights of the ocean and the sound of waves breaking over the sand.

Think casual furnishings, easy care fabrics of lightweight cotton and linen, natural materials, splashes of all shades of blue in furnishings and pillows, accessories of mirrors framed in seashells and accents of found beach treasures such as shells and driftwood.

When you step through the front door of your Modern Beach House, you can’t help but exhale and leave the work week behind as you toss off your city shoes and slip into clogs for a walk on the beach.

Chesapeake Bay Modern Beach House Design by Bohl Architects

Our team at Bohl Architects carefully considered these factors above for Bembe Beach. The special microclimate of a gently sloping site with a sandy beach along the Chesapeake Bay. The Owners are avid sailors with young children who sought a beachfront lot to launch their boat for weeklong sojourns on the Bay.

The Owner, Elina Donaldson, is an Interior Designer of Simplicity by Elina and is known for creating bright functional spaces with a strong connection with nature. Bohl Architects incorporated her preference for clean lines, natural elements and shapes in the materials and products for the house. Full height sliding doors and window planes make the open plan living-dining-kitchen a seamless indoor outdoor space.

In response to the coastal site’s challenging environment, Bohl Architects selected a rain screen exterior cladding system with monolithic fiber cement panels to withstand salt spray, sun exposure, high humidity and airborne debris and hurricane force winds. The house’s rectangular footprint is offset with one side of the front elevation clad in gray fiber cement panels, and the other side clad in horizontal teak boards that will weather over time. The reveals to the black rainscreen membrane create a grid onto the two wall planes that are joined together like interlocking puzzle pieces. At the front elevation, windows and doors are thoughtfully set into the wall grid.

At the dramatic waterside rear elevation, the grid changes to three stories of structural framing infilled with large panes of glass. Projections of decks with glass rails at the second floor and the third floor’s sunroom with floor to ceiling glass walls reach out to the Bay. At twilight, when the house is illuminated from within, the walls become prisms of glass.

The compact floor plan evokes the Maryland historic center hall plan with the circulation element of stairs that rise along the side wall of the first floor to become a bedroom “bridge” to the second floor‘s three bedrooms. The staircase then changes to two separate single runs, one up to the box bay sunroom and another up to the top bridge between the third floor office and family room.

With the “service” areas at the front and the primary rooms at the rear, each level of the plan is organized for views of the Bay that range from a flat plane of still water to stormy top caps.

Simplicity by Elina evokes the beach setting with the stained concrete floor finish on the main floor, the blue waves of the rug, and the sleek modern bar stools paired with the Scandinavian dining table and chairs. The kitchen cabinetry is a modern grid of stone blue panels and wood open shelving.

Bohl Architects has over 47 years of experience designing beach homes in styles ranging from modern to Craftsman. Our team is grateful to work on spectacular waterfront projects with amazing clients, and Bembe Beach is one of them. Now that summer is here, contact us to fulfill your dream of a house on the beach!

featured Eyebrow Arched Window to Treehouse

June 14, 2023

From Eyebrow Arched Window to Treehouse

One of Bohl Architects’ favorite window styles is an arched design, whether the windows are shaped like a low eyebrow or a wide-open eyebrow with a gracefully curved header. Eyebrow windows originated during medieval times on cottages with thatched roofs as a way to break up the expanse of steep roof planes. The most famous ones appeared in the city of Sibiu in Transylvania in the 15th century.

Word spread among the townspeople that the sinister windows, which resembled eyes, were designed to frighten passers-by. Their actual purpose was far less nefarious, for they had an important purpose to provide both sunlight and ventilation for the attics under the steeply pitched roofs. Today, the eyebrow windows are one of Sibiu’s greatest tourist attractions.

The heavy lidded look of the Romanian windows later became “eyes wide open” windows featured in houses during the English Arts & Crafts movement and also in the mid-19th century by Architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the father of the American Shingle Style.

These distinctive window shapes were featured in the Craftsman bungalows and English cottages that were popular architectural styles in the United States in the 1920’s and 1930’s. During this period, Architect William Draper Brinkloe incorporated this design element in several cottages that were built on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

From the interior, the graceful curvature of the window’s dormer roof over the multi-paned triple window enhances this sitting area off a primary suite.

Eyebrow or arched topped windows are not limited to residences-who doesn’t wish they had a tree house like the Swiss Family Robinson, of Disney fame? Bohl Architects channeled this memory from childhood in our design of a tree house that incorporates a French casement double unit window with an arched dormer.

Throughout history, a folly was built on estates for decoration or for aesthetic pleasure in the landscape-think the folly in the remake of “Pride and Prejudice” when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett were caught in the rain and sought shelter in a folly. The “folly” treehouse Bohl Architects designed is part of a project for which we have been both architect and steward for two consecutive clients over the last twenty years. The property is a magnificent working farm containing a century old main house and multiple outbuildings. The Corsica River runs along the length of the farm and the architecture, with all its various pieces and parts, is seamlessly integrated into the landscape.

Our clients were fearless in their trust in our direction and asked us to create a tree house in honor of the arrival of their first grandchild. Bohl Architects design nestles intimately in a mature walnut tree that was strategically chosen for its distance far enough away from the main house to encourage feelings of adventure or retreat. The design is a simple platform accessed by a ladder and a hatch up to two spaces, separated by a French casement that has a dual function as window and door. The spaces are topped by a thatch roof, which helps camouflage its placement in the tree and reflects the Anglo/Craftsman roots of the surrounding buildings. The design offers just enough shelter to not feel enclosed or stifled by the humid environment of Maryland summers and elevated enough to catch the cooling breezes to encourage hours of imagination in an idyllic escape to the outdoors for a beloved grandchild.

Check out the 3-D video below for a sneak preview to see how this design has evolved and stay tuned to see the finished tree house that will delight the Owners’ grandchildren and children of all ages!

June 13, 2023

The Biltmore Estate

This “little mountain escape” and it’s 8,000 acres of land, was founded at the start of the Gilded Age by George Washington Vanderbilt II, who was the grandson of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, a famous industrialist and philanthropist.

With the help of architect Richard Morris Hunt, George began the journey of building his summer home in 1889 and it was complete in 1895. At 175,000 square feet, the Biltmore Estate is deemed America’s Largest Home. 175,000 square feet? That’s more than four acres of floor space! The home has 250 rooms and 65 fireplaces. Bohl Architects has designed some large, luxurious homes, but the Biltmore Estate is next level…props to you, Richard. And props to landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The thoughtful landscape design and the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains makes for an extremely peaceful stay.

At first the estate was just for the family, but in 1996 the Vanderbilt’s opened it up to the public so tourists could enjoy the beauty. Over the years, the estate has grown to include an inn and hotel accommodations for overnight stays, a winery, plenty of restaurants, event spaces and more. Although the property has evolved, the mission of preservation and sustainability has remained. It almost feels as if the estate was always a part of the landscape – which is something we greatly appreciate in architecture.

Want to Keep Reading?

CJ Howard

July 24, 2023

CJ Howard is an architect and teaches as an Assistant Professor at the Catholic University...

Celia Pearson

July 11, 2023

Celia Pearson has photographed many buildings designed by Bohl Architects...

June 13, 2023

What It Feels Like To Be A Building by Forrest Wilson

featured What It Feels Like To Be A Building Image

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a building? To observe the monumental and mundane moments in the lives of different inhabitants over the years, or to experience different seasons and the weather each one brings. Come to think of it, buildings and people have quite a bit in common. Both experience the load of life.

It’s easy to take a building for granted or to grow frustrated at the broken elements. It’s just as easy to appreciate the structure for all it does and express gratitude for the shelter it provides. When we look at buildings the same way we see people, we begin to appreciate the little things. We start to see a story in those broken elements, and we question the best way to repair them and preserve a space, rather than destroy it.

The book “What It Feels Like To Be A Building” by Forrest Wilson provided us with thought. Forrest Wilson studied architectural sculpture at the California School of Fine Arts and went on to become professor emeritus of The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., a visiting professor at The Catholic University and the University of Maryland.

Teigen found this book when she was going through her family’s old belongings and decided to bring it to the office. Turns out, Forrest Wilson was Angela’s professor at Catholic. She said he was a very dynamic and captivating professor, with an incredible sense of humor. Sounds like our kinda guy.

Wilson did a lot in his lifetime and has written plenty books for children and adults on architecture, design, and building. This is one of our favorites.

Want to Keep Reading?

CJ Howard

July 24, 2023

CJ Howard is an architect and teaches as an Assistant Professor at the Catholic University...

Celia Pearson

July 11, 2023

Celia Pearson has photographed many buildings designed by Bohl Architects...

Quote from Van Morrison

Want to Keep Reading?

CJ Howard

Celia Pearson

The Modern Beach House

Modern Beach House Views

Choosing a Knowledgeable Team to Build a Modern Beach House

Modern Beach House Exterior Challenges

Modern Beach House Design

Chesapeake Bay Modern Beach House Design by Bohl Architects

From Eyebrow Arched Window to Treehouse

The Biltmore Estate

Want to Keep Reading?

CJ Howard

Celia Pearson

What It Feels Like To Be A Building by Forrest Wilson

Want to Keep Reading?

CJ Howard

Celia Pearson

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