One sure way to acquire a house that knows everything about your needs is to build it yourself. Or, more specifically, to team up with an architect-- who scrupulously observes to how you live, is versed in the relevant design and technical modalities, and can translate everything into a pleasing well-integrated whole.

Martha Strauss, who now occupies a spacious Craftsman-style residence in Vienna, met her dream weaver practically around the corner-- in the form of Susan Pierce, AIA,

a neighbor who operates Commonwealth Home Remodeling with her husband Kelvin.

“After we saw a few of Susan’s ideas, we almost immediately started looking for a suitable lot,” Strauss recalls.

Like many homeowners who build their dream house after years of production house exile, Strauss “wish list” was full paradox. The house needed to be wired, highly functional, energy efficient and with a post-modern “open” interior. On the other hand, it should be articulated in a warmly detailed early 20th century architectural style redolent with easy small town charm and a big front porch overlooking the street. The windows had to invite lots of natural light, and visual continuum—a reminder to Strauss of the “wide vistas” she enjoyed in her Texas girlhood.

Thinking back on the steps that led her family from a 4,800-square-foot residence in Oakton to the 4,800 square foot Craftsman-style home in Vienna, Martha Strauss concedes that the process taught her a great deal about herself and the changing possibilities of the emergent American household.

“I knew there was a movement away from compartmentalized floorplans,” Strauss said. “But it was a revelation to count up the number of rooms in our previous house that weren’t being used at all.”

Strauss’ room tally began in earnest when architect Pierce simply asked her to talk about the less functional aspects of the Oakton center hall Colonial home she was then occupying.

“The formal living room wasn’t even a part of our lives; the breakfast room didn’t serve us; many rooms were just transitional walk-throughs to spots where we actually spent time,” Strauss observes. “It was a breathtaking waste of space.”

So Pierce’s notion that a custom home could and should be driven by “design-for-use” presented Strauss with both a provocative set of considerations, and a bit of a quandary.

“You want a home that supports how you live,” she recalls her thinking at the time. “But you don’t want it to be impossible to resell.”

The starting point—defining the program—began with a candid assessment of how Martha, husband Marty and their two sons actually used the existing house. Strauss wanted well-defined gathering places, a convenient home office (that wouldn’t spill over into family areas), and a generous country-style kitchen that would meet a host of storage, serving and informal dining requirements.

For Pierce, the solutions were never about increasing available square footage so much as formulating a configuration of zones and circulation patterns that would support the ebb and flow of the family’s daily activities.

“A winning design can deviate from traditional floor plan expectations,” Pierce says, “so long as the floor plan is well-rationalized.”

On this score, the absence of a formal living room turned out to be a non-event. Graced with a four-course 12-foot-by-10-foot arch window that draws the eye the moment one enters the front door, the family room naturally beckons visitors forward in a comfortably well-appointed salon that features a stone fireplace, custom cabinetry and artfully arranged overhead halogens.

The 330-square-foot country style kitchen off to the left is both skillfully integrated into a suite of rear-of-the-house chambers and, with its centrally located granite topped serving and dining station, completely mainstream.

The dining room, to the left of the entry foyer, is separated from the kitchen by a walk-in pantry. The dining room also has a direct exit to the spacious front porch adorned with comfortable Adirondack chairs and a shady view of the tree-lined street.

Convenience being the whole point of design-for-use, Strauss’ 12-by-7-foot office with its custom-designed surfaces and storage cubbies is off the kitchen to the left, just behind a pocket door that keeps paperwork from spilling out into public view. A large east-facing window provides an enviable sunrise view; the room’s front door opens onto the porch, giving Strauss a pleasant perch for perusing the mail.

“This circulation plan is all about the flow of living,” Strauss says, acknowledging that the infectious convenience is a luxury to which one can quickly get accustomed.


By John Byrd