With its abundance of historic charm—leafy, walkable streets and a tight-knit feeling —Chevy Chase Village, a Maryland community on the edge of Washington, DC, provided the perfect setting for Jennifer Skalka Tullumello and her husband, Drew, to plant roots with their family. When it came time to look for a new home, the couple, a writer and a lawyer, respectively, wanted something reflective of history but that would also eschew traditional Washingtonian design. Their newly purchased Queen Anne–style home, with a handsome white frame, wraparound porch, and Craftsman-style windows, offered just that.
The structure, built in 1905, had belonged to only a small handful of families prior, and had a warm, happy feel that suggested it would be the ideal place for their young children, ages 7 and 11, to grow up. “We wanted a house that had a lot of love in it,” explains Tullumello, “somewhere our children could build happy childhood memories.”
To bring the home into its next chapter, the family worked closely with AD PRO Directory designer Nina Farmer, whose firm specializes in restoring and renovating historic residences. “Nina has this incredibly strong sense of how to bring a historic home into the modern era, especially for young families,” notes Tullumello. “She really understands how to use color and texture and period pieces from across decades to let the home’s natural charm shine through.” Nina Farmer Interiors also worked with architecture firm Wouter Boer and construction company Zantzinger on the project.
