With renovated basement, Bethesda couple digs in to open up a homes potential

Many homeowners spruce up their basements by installing game rooms, wine cellars, home bars, offices, workout rooms or media centers.

But retired architect Bob Schwartz and his wife, Carol, took basement renovation to a new level, excavating the bottom floor of their Bethesda home to create an extra foot of head room and dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows to illuminate what had been a dark, damp, dreary space.

While they kept the living room on the main level, they relocated the kitchen and dining room to the basement. To connect the public areas of the house, they had a section of the first floor removed, fencing off the opening with a decorative and functional wooden border creating a small-scale, residential atrium.

When they first toured it seven years ago, Carol, 71, dubbed the 2,700-square-foot rectangle house a wreck. It had a leaky basement, along with an ill-conceived and poorly executed addition off the back. Moreover, it was 1,000 square feet smaller than the house in the District where they were living.

We wanted a house that we could fix up, says Bob, 72. Another couple was looking at the same house in Bethesda on the same day, and we overheard them saying they wanted a fixer-upper but nothing this bad.

Yet Bob said he saw potential.

The house without the addition was about the right size, and the brick exterior shell was in good shape, he says. The couple also liked the neighborhood and the location, which backs up to the Capital Crescent Trail. We can walk to things in Bethesda, not use our cars and the view out the back looks to the southeast, so we could use some passive solar techniques, says Bob.

The design goals for the renovation included a main-level master suite complete with adequate, customized storage and a moon gate, inspired by trips to Asia, a circular opening that Bob adapted into a window seat and storage solution.

Guest quarters for the couples visiting children would be configured on the upper level. When guests arent present, the second floor doubles as Bobs home office. The previous addition to the house was scavenged for usable materials, then demolished.

To bring natural light into the basement, the Schwartzes instructed the contractors to excavate around the front and rear of the lower level, add larger windows and regrade the land so the exterior doors open to a landscaped back yard. Large windows on the back of the house provide a source of light and heat in the winter. The designer took advantage of using the earth as insulation by leaving the sides of the basement partially buried.

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With renovated basement, Bethesda couple digs in to open up a homes potential