when you plan At a wedding, you’ll usually visit vendors to try cakes or explore celebration sites. It’s a similar deal, in normal times, when you’re choosing appliances, paint, and tiles for a new home. But Andy Karillas and Lauren Nalo Karelas, who married last June, weren’t coping with normal times when they took on both jobs amid COVID-19 restrictions last year. “There were a lot of things we couldn’t see physically, from furniture and fixtures to wedding decorations,” Andy says. “We had to rely on a Michigan wedding planner as well as shop online for a lot of things.”
The couple met on dating app Hinge in the spring of 2019. “He’s Greek, and I’m Middle Eastern, so we hooked up on this,” says Lauren. “Both cultures are really grounded in family and food.” On one of their first dates, they went for a walk and discovered a mutual passion for exercise and the outdoors.
By March 2020, Lauren had moved from the cottage she owned in DC’s Shaw neighborhood to Andy’s home on Capitol Hill. “We just started living together, and then all of a sudden, you were going to be quarantined,” says Lauren, 36, a cybersecurity expert.
All this forced teamwork went well. On a cold May day, the couple engaged for an indoor picnic by the fireplace, a homage to one of their oldest dates, an outdoor meal at the National Arboretum. “I was in tears of joy because I said yes,” says Lauren. Andy also pre-scheduled a Zoom call with our families and close friends shortly after to share the great news.
The couple knew that they eventually wanted to have children, as well as more space to host their large extended families. So they started looking for a bigger home in a good school district. “We love the walks and proximity to downtown, so we started looking for homes in Cleveland Park and Upper Northwest DC,” says Andy, 41, who runs a nonprofit focused on international development.
In the pandemic-fueled real estate boom, the couple continued to see older homes costing the same as new ones. “Plus, there was no inventory, but the builders were building new homes like wildfire,” says Lauren. “That was when we started looking for companies that had land for sale near metro stations.” The search for a home during a global health crisis came with challenges. “Everything is hidden, only the date, and you can’t touch anything,” Andy says.
Lauren and Andy at last The focus was on a modern five-bedroom, 5-bath farmhouse from Douglas Construction Group and Studio Z Design Concepts that was about to be built in Chevy Chase.
They loved the relaxed and welcoming vibe of the proposed home, with its craft-inspired dormer windows, large first-floor windows and a stone front porch—the last one made from salvaged Stoneyhurst rocks from the mid-century Cape Cod that once stood on the site. Additionally, the house was rising in a prime area just a few blocks from the Bethesda Row shopping and dining area.
They saw the home site for the first time on the Internet. “He emailed us and called constantly, because it was exactly where we wanted to be,” Andy says. They set up a meeting with Doug Munsen, founder of the Douglas Construction Group, who gave them specifications for the house, then signed the paperwork to purchase it in advance.
“We build about 12 homes a year. Usually four or five of them start out as meditative concepts like these,” says Monsen. “We make it available in advance before the building starts, and depending on when the customer comes in, they can do a great deal of customization.”
The couple purchased a four-story 4,525-square-foot plank of wood and stone in October 2020, and construction began two months later. By purchasing the property before a single shingle or drywall length was as high, Andy and Lauren were able to put their own touches on the floor plan and interior.
The biggest changes to the architect and builder’s original vision were to open the kitchen to a large room and dining room, and to add a white laminated oak ceiling to the great room. The dramatic roof was covered with a stone fireplace built from more rock salvaged from the destroyed home.
Lauren and Andy also requested other modifications to the plan, including a mudroom dog door for their Lab-husky mix, Mia, and converting a first-floor bedroom into Lauren’s home office. “As the pandemic dragged on, it was important for us to have ample spaces to work in separate from other living spaces,” says Lauren. Andy has an office on the third floor of the house.
“As cliched as it may sound, it was a real collaboration,” Munsen says. To help with that, he gave the couple “homework” in the form of a cover full of options for everything from door hinges to kitchen cabinet styles to rugs. “We put pictures, comments, etc., sort of like a spoon that feeds us with information,” he says. “It helped that Lauren and Andy knew what they wanted and they engaged interior designer, Judy Berger, to reassure them about their choices.”
The couple did not agree on every option. Lauren originally wanted a marble countertop in the kitchen. “I love the look of natural stone,” she says, “I wasn’t sure we’d find a quartz of similar beauty.” In the end, concerns about chipping or tarnishing the marble didn’t fit the family-friendly couple’s vision, so Berger helped them find gray-streaked white quartz that mimics marble but is more durable.
Green building options abound on the project, from Energy Star kitchen and laundry room appliances to multiple ceiling fans that make it easy to run thermostats a few degrees warmer in summer.
“A big part of making a home eco-friendly is the insulation and how well it seals,” Munsen says. “Forty percent of the energy loss typically occurs with heating and air conditioning, and what we call a hermetic thermosphere in this home means that this home doesn’t leak air and has a lower carbon footprint.”
Berger, of JLA Designs in the Potomac, took the couple to local showrooms for help with flooring and other finishes. “They wanted a kid-friendly home for their future families, and that meant lots of sinks in the bathrooms, neutral finishes and durable materials,” Berger says.
In the kitchen, the trio opted for chic white cabinetry and a French blue island topped with snow-white quartzite with marble-like grains. A custom fireplace hood with white oak trim (to match the 4-inch-wide faded wood floors throughout the first level) and a mix of brass and black hardware completes the modern farmhouse feel. Berger directed Lauren and Andy to paint all of their window frames (inside and out) black for a clean, refined look.
Chefs-worthy appliances — including dual ovens, a six-burner Wolf stove and a Sub-Zero refrigerator concealed with panels that fit across cabinets — help make the kitchen “somewhere you want to hang out and cook,” says Lauren. “We are foodies, so we needed a big island and plenty of space. I am excited to prepare Greek food or homemade ice cream here.”
Berger also helped her clients outfit the home’s five full bathrooms and single powder room. For the bathrooms on the second floor, the designer suggested a mix of gray to match the white tiles in both hexagonal and rectangular shapes, changing fixtures from room to room. “It’s like tradition with a touch of stealing,” Berger says.
The master bathroom has a dark blue countertop and marble look porcelain tiles. It includes a walk-in shower and a jetted bathtub. A sliding barn door at the entrance provides privacy and style.
The walls of the first-floor powder room are covered in solid Phillip Jeffries wallpaper in a blue and copper chess pattern. “It has shades of blue that really flatter the kitchen island,” Berger says. “I used vinyl because it’s washable and great if you have kids around.”
“We watched a lot of HGTV to get inspired by the colors and finishes,” Andy says. “We’ll end up doing a lot of pausing and rewinding.”
Besides his and her family’s home offices, the couple put other details in mind with the pandemic in mind. A home gym in the spacious basement features wood-like vinyl laminate flooring. The pair keep a peloton and hand weights in space. And on the covered back porch, fireplaces and fans – all mounted to the ceiling – enable three-season entertainment. “I’ve been asked to do a lot of covered or covered porches since COVID happened,” says Monsen. The slender yard, with enough grass for a dog to run, features a stone courtyard.
Andy and Lauren got She got married in June of this year in Lake Country Bride, Michigan. “I’m from the Detroit area, and we’ve been vacationing up north as kids,” Lauren says. “The wedding weekend was the atmosphere of a family holiday.” In keeping with the couple’s modern farmhouse style, the reception was held in a restored log barn with vaulted ceilings. Wreaths were hung from chandeliers, and light was filtered through open barn slats.
Returning to Chevy Chase, Monsen and his crew finished the house in August. Pandemic supply chain issues mean that some end items — doors, door handles, and furniture — are still in demand. Andy and Lauren combine furnishings they already own with new purchases like the Mango Wood Dining Table, Crate, and Barrel.
“We actually had our families in for the weekend, and there was a lot of flow between the kitchen and the other rooms,” says Lauren. “My mother made peas, a traditional Iraqi-Assyrian sweet pea broth with beef and rice.”
Jennifer Barger is a local design and travel writer. Follow her on Instagram @dcjnell.