Modern Rebuild Above Kalorama:
Robert Gurney’s Complete Reimagining of a Historic DC Cooperative Apartment
Some homes aim for ornament. Others aim for openness. Floating above Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC, Apartment 24 does something more intentional: it reframes how a historic cooperative can hold modern life.
Originally conceived within one of Kalorama’s most recognizable full-service cooperatives, the residence had all the advantages of a storied address: generous scale, distinguished masonry, and the traditional architectural character for which the neighborhood is known. But inside, decades of layered renovations had obscured the home’s potential. Partitioned rooms, heavy finishes, and inconsistent sightlines hid the inherent strength of its structure and the extraordinary light waiting just beyond the windows.
Returning to Structure
Robert Gurney Architect, working alongside Added Dimensions, approached the project with a simple but radical premise: remove everything that was not essential, then let clarity guide the rebuild. What followed was a complete reorganization, not just cosmetic but spatial.
The apartment was taken back to its columns and beams, revealing the raw framework around which a new sequence of spaces could be formed. From the entry gallery, the apartment now opens in a clean, continuous sweep. Living, dining, kitchen, and private zones are aligned through deliberate geometry, open passages, and carefully framed views that carry daylight from one end of the home to the other.
Materiality as the Quiet Organizer
Materiality plays the starring role. Stained white oak, zebrawood cabinetry, aluminum accents, and clear glass partitions establish a refined yet natural palette. The materials do not compete; they connect. Under Gurney’s architectural philosophy, richness emerges from restraint, expressed in the warmth of wood, the disciplined lines of millwork, and transitions that feel almost invisible. Even the smallest details follow a minimal vocabulary that reinforces cohesion throughout the home
A Dialogue Between Old and New
Most striking is the contrast between this interior clarity and the ornate character of the cooperative itself. You step from a marble lobby rooted in early twentieth-century craftsmanship into a residence shaped by modernism’s most elegant principles. The juxtaposition enhances both: the building offers permanence and presence, while the apartment offers openness, lightness, and a calm contemporary rhythm.
A Modern Retreat Above the City
Living here feels less like occupying an apartment and more like inhabiting a thoughtful piece of architecture, a place where the city’s energy stays outside the walls, softened by height and silence, while the interior becomes a retreat defined by order and intention.
Apartment 24 stands as a testament to what becomes possible when a home is returned to its structure, reimagined with purpose, and rebuilt for clarity. In a neighborhood defined by heritage, it presents modern living without compromise, a precise, warm, and beautifully restrained vision of life above Kalorama.
