LAKESIDE
LUXURY
The living is easy in a million plus Virginia vacation house.
P HOTOGRA PH S BY CHRI STOPH ER WA LLE
■ BY BARBARA PASH
ho says money
can't buy every-
thing. It sure seems
to help in vacation
homes. For example, lakeside living
at its most luxurious is found in a
vacation home on which more than
one million dollars was spent — on
the interior decoration alone.
The vacation home is in a picture
perfect setting, nestled in the woods
and overlooking Lake Anna, located
southwest of Fredericksburg, Va. From
the spacious outdoor deck, steps
wind down to a two-slip boathouse.
The owner, a Washington, D.C. devel-
oper, wanted a place where he and
his two teenage children could relax
and casually entertain friends. He
chose the man-made Lake Anna,
which has become a popular resort
area for upscale D.C. residents, as the
Visible from the site for his vacation
house.
two-story great
Barbara Halsted,
room is the entry
an associate at the
foyer. A bridge
connects parts of local H. Chambers
Company, the in-
the house.
terior designer for
Furnishings are
sophisticated but the house, recalls
that originally, it
low key.
was going to have a
rustic, cabin-in-the-
woods look. But
plans change and
the interior became
formal,
"more
more sophisticated than that but still
comfortable," she says.
Designed by architect Sy Samaha,
of the Annadale, Va firm Strang and
Samaha, the 6,500-square foot con-
temporary house makes the most of
the tranquil setting. A sweeping two-
level 1,000-square foot deck wraps
around three sides, and almost every
room in the house has access to the
outdoors. The house is filled with
sunlight from the many windows,
skylights and glass doors. Skylight
shades and drapery rods operate by
remote control.
The contemporary house is organ-
ized around a three-story stairtower
with wings on either side. Each wing
has three levels but the levels are
staggered; thus, the house has six
levels altogether.
Made of cedar painted gray with
white trim, the house took two years
to design and build. Everything in it
is new, says Mrs. Halsted, who esti-
mates that $1.5 million was spent on
interior decoration, a figure that also
included such incidental architectural
features as the granite fireplace in the
living room.
"The idea was largely to make it a
fun place," she says. The client liked
the idea of having "surprises as you
went from room to room. So one
room is contemporary and another
is classical. Normally, I'd make a
house more homogeneous, but this
house is a mix of decorating styles."
The client didn't have any particular
requirements for the furnishings. Nor
was he concerned — naturally enough
— that the house be low maintenance.
But the amount of sunlight in the
rooms and the woodsy setting were
important considerations for Mrs.
Halsted in picking fabrics and colors.
"They are intended not to fight with
the view outside. I didn't want to
duplicate nature's colors — say, do a
room with 'fall colors' — but to com-
plement them," she explains.
The house contains a great room,
family room (with kitchenette), kitch-
en, billiard room, study, four bed-
rooms, and four full and two half-
baths. Many of the rooms open onto
each other.
The two story-high great room con-
sists of a living area, 25 feet by 28
feet, and a triangular-shaped dining
area, 14 by 18 by 11 feet. Walls are
white; the floor is three-foot squares
of travertine stone outlined with wal-
nut strips, the same floor as the ad-
jacent entry foyer.
A pale green Italian leather sec-
tional sofa and chrome-and-glass cof-
fee table sit atop a Jack Lenor Larsen
pastel-colored rug. The cinnamon-
colored granite fireplace is outlined
in brass. The dining area has an
octagon-shaped glass-and-rattan
table. Wall lights in the great room
have adjustable, pierced metal shades
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