The Brief

A Home That Supports Both Living and Working

KLPOA was approached by a client considering the purchase of a historic townhouse in a prime Capitol Hill location. The challenge was twofold: transform a neglected fixer-upper into a beautiful, serene home while creating a professional therapy space that felt welcoming, calm, and completely separate from the private residence above.

With three floors to work with, the design adopted a classic live/work approach. The lower level accommodates therapy rooms for the client's counseling practice. The upper floors create a personal retreat filled with warm materials and natural light that the original building entirely lacked.

The central design challenge was one shared by nearly every rowhouse in the city: how do you bring light and fresh air into the heart of a building surrounded on both sides? The answer became the defining move of the project.

Where We Started

The Existing Conditions

The townhome was well-situated but clearly a fixer-upper with significant deferred maintenance. Its potential was difficult to imagine in its existing state — precisely the kind of project where architectural thinking adds the most value.

Street view and existing interior conditions prior to renovation.

The Central Design Move

Introducing the Light Funnel

The solution to the rowhouse's endemic darkness was a three-story light funnel: a vertical cut through the center of the building that pulls natural light and fresh air from a rooftop monitor all the way down to the basement level.

The funnel does more than solve a lighting problem. It organizes the entire floor plan, creates a sense of vertical connection between floors, and introduces the kind of ever-changing, circadian-responsive daylight that most rowhouses simply cannot achieve.

On the reverse side of the funnel on each floor, hidden storage spaces are tucked neatly away — solving the everyday clutter challenge of urban living without sacrificing a square foot of living space.

The central funnel brings light from the rooftop monitor deep into the space, flooding even the interior staircase with soft, warm light throughout the day. And despite being on the basement floor, the counseling room receives soft, gentle natural light and a view to a private winter garden.

Three-story light funnel connecting all levels with natural light and fresh air.

Design Process

How the Light Funnel Works

The Problem

A typical rowhouse has buildings on both sides. Natural light can only enter from the front and rear, leaving the center permanently dark and poorly ventilated.

Adding the Funnel

By dropping a light funnel from roof to basement, a vertical courtyard is created that delivers natural light and fresh air to the center of every floor.

Smart Storage

The reverse face of the funnel on each level becomes elegant hidden storage, tailored to the specific needs of each room without consuming floor area.

The Therapy Suite

A Sanctuary Below Grade

Despite sitting on the lower level, the counseling room is bathed in soft, gentle natural light filtered down through the light funnel. A view to a private winter garden replaces what would otherwise be a blank foundation wall.

The room was designed around the specific psychological needs of a therapy space: warm materials, soft acoustics, indirect light, and a sense of calm enclosure. Dark wood slat panels absorb sound while adding warmth. The winter garden beyond the glass provides a calming visual anchor that puts clients immediately at ease.

The Primary Bedroom

Light That Moves With You

In the primary bedroom, the light funnel opens generously to bring soft, warm morning light into the most intimate space in the home. Floor-to-ceiling sheer curtains diffuse the light beautifully, creating a constantly shifting quality of illumination throughout the day.

A sliding wood door can close the funnel opening for complete privacy — or slide open to reveal a hidden bookshelf built into the funnel wall behind it.

Kitchen and Dining

Where the Home Comes Alive

The kitchen and dining area occupies the primary living floor. The dining room opens onto a rear terrace and is visible from the private garden below through a glass wall. Warm wood cabinetry, natural stone, and herringbone floors create a space for both daily nourishment and meaningful gathering.

The dining room viewed from the private garden through a glass facade.

Dining room interior with warm wood shelving and herringbone floors.

The kitchen: natural stone backsplash, integrated wood cabinetry, and materials selected for both beauty and health performance.

The Exterior

Historic Character, Refined

The facade was carefully designed to respect the historic character of the Capitol Hill streetscape. The original Victorian brickwork and bay windows are preserved and celebrated. The rooftop monitor — the terminus of the light funnel — reads as a confident contemporary addition without being intrusive.

The Plan

Three Floors, One Idea

The therapy suite occupies the lower level with its own discreet entrance. The main living floor holds the kitchen, dining, and living room. The upper floor is entirely private — a bedroom suite with views to the light funnel and the city beyond.

Level B1 · Therapy Suite