NBM Hosts Program on Chloethiel Woodard Smith

To celebrate Women’s History Month, the National Building Museum is hosting an online program on Wednesday March 17 about Chloethiel Woodard Smith, FAIA (1910–1992). Smith was an American modernist architect and urban planner who was an architectural powerhouse here in Washington.
Smith was known for her planning and residences in Southwest DC, office buildings and homes in the suburbs including Pine Spring, Reston and custom homes like my past listing in Somerset.
“She was the sixth woman inaugurated into the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, and at the peak of her practice led the country’s largest woman-owned architecture firm,” the museum says.
Neil Flanagan, architectural designer and writer, Peter Sefton, independent architectural historian, and Catherine Zipf, architectural historian and author, discuss the career and legacy of Chloethiel Woodard Smith, whose work in the District a study of new uses for the Pension Building, now the National Building Museum. The program is moderated by Susan Piedmont-Palladino, director, Washington Alexandria Architecture Center and consulting curator, National Building Museum.
You can also take a virtual walk of Smith’s work here.

Washingtonian Magazine Top Agent Recognition

I am honored to be recognized once again as a Washingtonian Magazine Top Agent. Thank you to all of my clients, family and friends who have supported Modern Capital for the past 14 years. Please reach out if you are thinking of buying or selling a mid-century modern home. Happy to meet and discuss today’s modern real estate market.

Furnishing a Mid-Century Modern Home: Inspiration & Sourcing

A guest post on sourcing mid-century modern furniture from our partner, ATTIC.
Nothing completes a beautiful mid-century home like furniture and decor drawn from the same aesthetic. The simple, sleek lines of MCM furniture pair up perfectly with the modern, open and airy feel that make mid-century homes the gems that they are. The following post provides some inspiration, whether you’re just starting or continuing to furnish your home. We’ll focus on two spaces: dining rooms and living rooms.

We’re also going to introduce you to ATTIC, a one-of-kind resource that will help you find the best mid-century furniture from stores of the DC and Baltimore regions. After all, who wants to buy a “forever” piece of furniture without ever seeing or touching it? ATTIC makes that process so much easier. ATTIC is now available in cities throughout the country, but is owned and operated by a small team based right here in Washington, D.C. Its mission is simple — to make it easier for consumers to shop from small, local businesses.

Dinner is Served, In Style
Whether it’s with family or friends, the importance of meal time transcends culture. As such, dining rooms and breakfast nooks are often visual focal points in modern homes. And with pieces like those pictured here, it’s no wonder why. Rectangular, round, “boat-shaped”…small, grand, or expandable…mid-century dining tables come in a vast array of options. Likewise, some of the most famous furniture designs in history are those for mid-century dining chairs.

Rosewood Dining Table
Modern Mobler

Walnut Dining Set
Peg Leg Vintage

Teak Read More >

Two Homes Just Listed in Pine Spring

Here are two homes just listed in Pine Spring in Falls Church. The 121-home community was built by the Luria brothers, who also developed most of nearby Holmes Run Acres. The homes in Pine Spring were designed by Arthur Keyes, Francis Donald Lethbridge, Chloethiel Woodard Smith and Nicholas Satterlee.

The Post Remembers Francis D. Lethbridge

Francis Donald Lethbridge, one of D.C. leading modernist architect during the 1950s and ’60s who helped design Cardeorck Springs, Holmes Run Acres, Pine Spring among other contemporary neighborhoods, died last week at the age of 87. The Washington Post ran a lenghty obituary today on the contributions to local architecture scene Lethbridge made during his career here in D.C.
Here’s a great quote from Lethbridge:
“The whole idea of contemporary design was so new in Washington that Nick [Satterlee] and I had to write the ads and the brochure to explain what we were trying to do,” Mr. Lethbridge said in 1974. “I guess we succeeded, because the printer of the brochure went out the next day after setting it and bought a house in Holmes Run.”

Pine Spring Falls Church VA