Women as Builders

By: Melissa Daniel

Francisca Villarroel Alonso – Building Something Better

About the Author Gordon J. Bernhardt, CPA, PFS, CFP®, AIF®

About the Publication Profiles In Success

By Merlisa Lawrence Corbett
Special to The Washington Examiner

Francisca Alonso enlarged the foyer of her McLean home, put in a porch and enhanced the curb appeal, all by adding just a 60-square-foot bump-out. The once-traditional Colonial now has a Craftsman-style facade and a grander entrance. “Now we have a covered porch to enjoy, a larger foyer, and great views of the front yard and landscaping,” said Alonso, co-owner of AV Architects and Builders. “Everyone loves it.” Alonso said she, like many of her clients, had family and guests who avoided the front door and entered the house from the side or garage entrance. She wanted the front entrance to become a focal point and “not just a hole in the wall.” Restricted by a front setback requirement that allowed only a 9-foot expansion and second-floor windows, Alonso sought to update the exterior without having it clash with the home’s Colonial style. “You don’t want the new portion to stick out like it just landed there from Mars,” she said. “We chose the materials with that objective in mind.” Although the porch’s metal roof differs from the architectural shingles of the rest of the home, the colors match. The stone on the porch is similar in shape, size and color to the existing brick. The finish on the new front door matches the stain on the existing windows. Also, the stone of the porch flooring ties in with the stone used on the walkway to the driveway. “The pattern used is the Versailles Pattern, and that is what we have in the kitchen and breakfast room in the house,” Alonso said. “The indoor and outdoor tiles flow nicely.”

Alonso brought in landscape designer David Marciniak, owner of Revolutionary Gardens, to integrate the new exterior with the front yard. “We wanted the landscape to feel scattered and unorganized, however, orchestrated,” Alonso said. “I remember telling Dave that I wanted a garden to seem random and organized at the same time. He understood perfectly what I meant,and that is what he designed.” To create that feeling of thoughtful randomness, Marciniak designed a walkway in a “hopscotch”pattern with Tennessee Flagstone that is not a curve and not a straight line. “It’s very important to consider the landscape design at the same time as an exterior renovation,” Marciniak said. “While I didn’t see a need to recommend changes to Francisca’s design, the fact that I was brought in before they broke ground meant I could have pointed out opportunities to make the house and the landscape work better together.” A couple of Japanese maples and a Hinoki cypress highlight the front yard garden, with a layered planting scheme that allows the perennials and azaleas to really stand out. “As you walk from the driveway to the porch, you really experience the colors and shapes of the front walk,” Marciniak said. “The flow of the lines of the plantings, and the end result is that you really want to spend time on the beautiful front porch.”

To see before/after photos of this project, check out our blog at: http://www.avarchitectsbuild.com/blog/

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View of Sitting Area from Private Entry

 

Five years ago, empty nesters Rick and Elsa Stoner moved from their single-family home in McLean to a two-bedroom high-rise condo in Tysons Corner.

They loved the convenience but longed for more space. So they purchased the condo next door. Then they hired AV Architects + Builders, who combined the condos to create a Manhattan-style penthouse.

“The biggest challenge was how to design it so that it didn’t feel like there was two of everything,” said Francisca Alonso, managing principal for AV Architects + Builders. “Because there was — two of everything.”

An active couple, the Stoners travel frequently. They recently returned from the Summer Olympics in London. They enjoy having extra space to host friends, their three adult children and a grandson.

View of Kitchen from new Dining Room Area

Until moving into the condo, they had always owned a single-family home. They were so apprehensive about their lifestyle change that they kept the single-family house just in case they changed their minds.

“We are not apartment dwellers, so we had to make sure we could live in a condo” said Elsa Stoner. “So we tried it with the two-bedroom to see if we liked the community or the restrictions you sometimes have.”

After two-plus years, they decided the pluses, including being able to “lock up and leave,” outweighed the minuses.

The high-rise, built in the late 1970s, was a typical no-frills unit with low ceilings, soffits and boxy rooms. The corner condo was the larger of the two, but “you basically came in and you had a wall in front of you and a wall to your right. So you were forced to go to the left,” Alonso said. “You had to enter every room to experience each room because they were all divided by walls. It made the space look smaller and less conducive to entertaining.”

The smaller condo had a better floor plan but its kitchen had no window, so they decided to make the other kitchen the focal point.

“The decision was easy, because the other kitchen had a main window in the core of the larger condo,” Alonso said. “Out of that grew the entire floor plan.”

View of Kitchen from Main Entry

The new space is divided into public and private areas. Public areas includes the new, open kitchen, a breakfast area, a large dining room, a powder room and two guest rooms, one with two full-size beds and a private bath, set up like a hotel suite.

This allows guests to have their private area too. “They can come to visit, but they are not on top of you,” Elsa Stoner said.

The private area includes a media room, den, the smaller kitchen, the master bedroom and a private entrance that used to be the entrance to the second condo.

When the Stoners throw parities, they use the private kitchen to prepare the food and the larger one remains clean.

Cherry wood cabinets with a suede finish on full overlay doors were used in the kitchen, eating area and private den. In the kitchen, granite counters in shivakashi gold complement the warm golden wood floors and amber-toned glass backsplash.

The Stoners chose a cherry finish to go with the dining room table, a Stoner family heirloom. The table seats 12 and, unlike in the old space, can be used with the leaves extended.

Recessed lights were installed beneath soffits throughout the condo so the Stoners could showcase their extensive art collection, much of it from Elsa Stoner’s native Ethiopia.

“When we first moved in, he kept calling it our hotel, because that’s what it felt like,” Elsa Stoner said. “Now he’s starting to call it home.”

I always find myself asking these questions and sometimes it keeps me up at night.  How do you express the value of design to your clients?  How do you handle clients that want “cheaper” less effective design?  Do you educate them or let them move along?

Design is undervalued in a lot of organizations because it can be difficult to measure its impact.  Naturally, companies know through sales when a product or service is successful, but how much analysis is done to measure the extent to which these results can be attributed to design.

The term “design” is often misunderstood because it includes disciplines ranging from architecture, engineering, interiors, product and industrial design to fashion and textiles, graphics, and exhibitions. What is common to all these types of design is that they involve creating concepts, plans and instructions, usually in response to a brief provided by a firm or client that enables a two or three dimensional object that did not exist previously to be made.  Everything from a building to wallpaper has to be designed and the design of the object is the specific configuration of elements, materials and components that give it its particular attributes of function, looks etc. and determine how it is to be made.

Investing 10 % in design to ensure that the other 90% is a success is a small price to pay.  This requires a shift in thinking from regarding design as a soft service function to a cornerstone of business strategy. Cost-of ownership studies agree that the first cost only accounts for around 10 percent of all costs a building owner will spend over the life of the building.  The other 90 percent comes in the form of operation and maintenance.

Finally, design is an excellent channel for risk taking and for rapidly pushing the barriers of an organization.  Failure can occur quickly in the design stage, but in most cases the designers (s) will “fail forward” – the mistake leads to learning, which allows the team to succeed sooner.  One of the most powerful components of design is that people form fast relationships and responses to it, positive and negative.  It is amazing how quickly cross-departmental teams can discard a design because it isn’t quite working.  This in turn enables them to move the ball forward and close the gap between the idea and the successful product/service.  Design should therefore be viewed as a fast prototyping method that simultaneously raises the level of innovation within an organization and helps create a culture that achieves success quickly.

 McLean, Virginia — March 20, 2012 – AV Architects, PLLC of McLean, Virginia has been awarded “Best Of Remodeling” 2012 by Houzz, the leading online platform for residential remodeling and design.  This 10-year old    design-build firm was chosen by the more than 1.2 million registered members of the Houzz community.

The Houzz “Best Of Remodeling” award for 2012 is given in two categories: Customer Satisfaction and Design. Customer Satisfaction award winners are based on homeowner members who rated their experience working with remodeling professionals in 12 categories ranging from architects, and interior designers to contractors and other residential remodeling professionals.  Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the 1.2 million members, also known as “Houzzers,” who saved more than 16.5 million professional images to their personal ideabooks via the Houzz site and iPad/iPhone app.

“With 3.5 million monthly unique users and 80 million monthly page views, Houzz has rapidly become the largest community of active remodelers, providing homeowners and design enthusiasts with first-hand advice from Houzzers who have been through the renovating and decorating process,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of marketing for Houzz. “This is a real stamp of approval for AV Architects and Builders from the Houzz community and we’re thrilled to welcome them to this elite group of ‘Best Of’ winners.” As the Founder and Chief Operation Officer, Mrs. Alonso states, “Our goal is to utilize our creativity and discover our clients’ lifestyle needs to make their dreams a reality.”

With Houzz, homeowners can identify not only the top-rated professionals like AV Architects and Builders, but also those whose work visually aligns with their own design goals. Homeowners can also evaluate professionals by contacting them directly on the Houzz platform, asking questions about their work and evaluating their responses to questions from others in the Houzz community.

About AV Architects + Builders (www.avarchitectsbuild.com)

AV Architects is in the business of helping you build a unique lifestyle through the design of your home. We specialize in understanding our clients’ vision and incorporating it into their environment. We create unique designs to meet our clients’ unique lifestyles. We have been helping families and homeowners just like you for over 12 years transform their houses into homes with a relaxed and casual style.

About Houzz

Houzz (www.houzz.com) is the leading online platform for home remodeling, providing inspiration, information, advice and support for homeowners and home improvement professionals through its website and mobile applications. Houzz features the largest residential design database in the world, articles written by design experts, product recommendations, a vibrant community powered by social tools, and information on more than 1.2 million remodeling and design professionals worldwide who can help turn ideas into reality.

Francisca V. Alonso

As the managing principal of an architect-led design-build company, Francisca Alonso is passionate about the advantages of working with the same company for both the concept and construction phases of your next project. It is a model that has been proven over time.

Since the time of the Pyramids until the mid 20th Century, every architect was a master-builder. He did not hand off his drawings to a contractor and simply trust that the plan would be followed. As the designer and construction manager, he owned the vision until the final nail was set.

“Our company helps homeowners love and enjoy their homes thru renovating and transforming their house to fit their desired lifestyle. I love architecture and construction and am thrilled that I can use that passion to help others enjoy their homes.”

Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in southern Spain, Francisca comes from a family of architects and builders. Her father was the internationally acclaimed Spanish architect Melvin Villarroel Roldan, designer of luxury resorts and hotels on the Mediterranean coast and all over the world, including the award winning Puente Romano Hotel and the remodeling of the Marbella Club in Marbella, Spain. Francisca’s brothers and sister, all architects, carry on their father’s vision at the Estudio Melvin Villarroel in Costa del Sol, Spain.

She received her architecture degree from the Catholic University of America, which is also where she met her husband, Antonio Alonso, a fellow architecture student. They began their careers at different companies but things changed after they starting their family.

“When my husband and I decided to start our family we both were working for different companies. Once we had our first child and I could not take the baby to the office any more, we decided I could stay home and raise him. “However, I figured, if I am going to be home might as well be very busy and one child was not going to cut it; we had 3 more in less than 5 years. At that point we had 4 kids under the age of five. People say you make your best decisions under stress…well, that is when I decided to start my own business, when our youngest was 6 months old!”

Tony and Francisca founded AV Architects in 2001 with a vision to provide a full range of architectural services to homeowners in the Metropolitan DC Area. Dissatisfied with the idea of leaving the drawings in the hands of someone else for the construction phase, AV Builders was launched one year later.

“In the master-builder approach,” Francisca stated, “you are establishing a relationship from the very beginning with the one person who will walk you through both the design and build processes. You really get to know them. More importantly, they get to know you! They learn your tastes, your preferences, your likes and your dislikes. They will also have a good grasp of your budget.

“During both the design and build processes, the same person will be your point of contact. Project control is in a single source – a person with whom you have already developed a level of confidence where communication is shared and understood. This is also the best way of controlling costs for a project and you end up with very few surprises.”

One thing Francisca really enjoys about her work is what she calls the WOW effect. This takes place when a client looks at a before photo of the space being renovated and then views the finished product.

Francisca and Tony have worked hard over the years to maintain a balanced life between family and business. This is something that takes a lot of work but is worth it.“10 years later we have managed to grow our business and not completely loose our sanity by keeping the strong family values as our number one priority at all times.” This commitment to family also is a strong influence in the way Francisca works with her clients.

“I want my clients to know that I understand how important their homes are to them and how they feel when they are at home. I want my clients to feel as if their homes is their sanctuary or their retreat – it should feel like a retreat and not just a ‘roof over their heads.’”

When she’s not enjoying time with her family or caring for her clients, Francisca appreciates those opportunities she and her husband get for traveling, sight-seeing, the opera and entertaining.

She also is heavily involved in networking through Business Networking International (BNI), Success in the City, Sterling Women and many other organizations. In fact, one of the secrets of her success is a high commitment to providing business referrals to others in order for their businesses to prosper. Living out the BNI motto “Givers Gain,” Francisca was presented with the “Notable Networker” award early in her tenure as a BNI member two years in a row.

She has also been a loyal customer of Tom and his team of professionals at Tysons Auto Specialties for three years. Why? “I know I can trust their service,” she explains.

“I get honest and trustworthy service with a smile. They do what’s best for their clients and not what’s most convenient for them – since I do the same for my clients, I value having someone with the same values take care of my cars in my family and business.”

To learn more about Francisca Alonso and AV Architects + Builders, you can visit their website at www.avarchitectsbuild.com. Do you have a project in mind? You can contact her at Francisca@AVArchitectsBuild.com to set up a complimentary design consultation.

Special To The Examiner

When Michelle Kansky’s friends see the renovated kitchen in her Great Falls home, they want to know where the extra space came from.” They think we extended the house or something,” Kansky said. Amazed by the transformation, friends are shocked when they learn the new kitchen, which appears more than twice the size, as the same square footage of the old one. “The footprint of the room is the same,” said Francisca Alonso, co-owner of AV Architects and AV Builders, designers of the new space.

The previous kitchen had granite counters, upgraded cabinetry and a large angular island; all the attributes of a gourmet kitchen. “It just wasn’t working,” said Kansky, who shares the home with husband Bill and two kids, ages 11 and 9.

“Basically anytime you wanted to prepare a meal, you went through the main path, which goes from the garage entrance to the living room,” Alonso said. “The classic mistakes were here. You see this in many large homes. There was a lot of empty space. Everything was far apart. The refrigerator, the main sink and the dishwasher were too far apart. In order to get to anything, you had to cross circulation.”

The remedy: Alonso created a family zone and a chef zone. The family zone includes a prep sink on one side of the island, the refrigerator, a hidden pantry, a butler’s pantry and microwave. Alonso said it is important to place a refrigerator in the family zone, away from the cooking area.

“People have to access the refrigerator all the time. You don’t want that interfering with your cooking,” she said. “The refrigerator is like a candy stand. Everybody wants to go there and they don’t just open it, they stand there and stare, like something’s going on sale.”

The chef zone includes a 36-inch Wolf cooktop with six burners. Alonso removed the existing double oven, realigned the wall behind the desk area, and tucked the new double oven near a window and away from all traffic. “When you are opening an oven, you don’t want people walking behind you,” Alonso said.Alonso also repositioned the dishwasher and main sink away from the flow of traffic and in the same area near the cooktop and ovens. This allows Kansky to cook, prep and bake without interruption. “I love it,” Kansky said. “It’s my domain.”

The new island is massive. Made of deep cherry, it is 9 by 9 feet with storage on all four sides. The previous island, backed with drywall, had storage only on one side. The deep cherry island contrasts with the creamy antique-style Bertch custom cabinetry with inset doors and exposed hinges. Crown molding tops the cabinetry, creating an Old World feel.

Kansky chose Arctic Cream granite counters with an ogee edge. “I had to find granite that worked with the backsplash,” said Kansky, who fell in love with the glass backsplash design behind the cooktop before she selected the granite. The backsplash, from Lansdowne Tile, combines a white travertine Roman pattern with a gallery design glass tile. The glass tile is framed by an arched pencil border above the range and under a Dacor hood with custom hood insert to match the cream cabinetry. The handles, knobs and exposed hinges are finished in an oil-rubbed bronze.

The floor in the kitchen matches the exotic dark Brazilian cherry, which existed throughout the first floor. Two of Kansky’s favorite features are the hidden pullout pantry near the refrigerator and two pullout spice racks that flank the cooktop. Kansky now has more storage than she can use. “I still have spaces that are empty,” she added.

“It’s better storage and easier to access,” Alonso said. “It’s the same space, just a better design.”

Read more at the Washington Examiner: Click here to follow link

Lauren and Chris Barton were convinced they needed an addition to their Great Falls home to meet the needs of their active family, which includes girls ages 10, 7 and 5. A call to Francisca and Antonio Alonso, the owners of AV Architects and AV Builders, changed their minds — and changed their thinking from remodel to redesign. “They didn’t need more space, they needed better space,” said Francisca Alonso, whose firm redid the master suite, powder room, kitchen and sitting room.

Whether hosting a bunch of children or a dinner party, the Bar- tons love to entertain and wanted a kitchen built for parties. The Alonsos delivered with soothing shades of beige, cream and brown in a luxurious British Colonial-style kitchen. Birchwood cabinets in a brown-glazed eggshell finish cover everything, including a double refrigerator and a pair of refrigerator drawers and base cabinets that contain snacks for the kids.

On the first visit to the home, the Alonsos asked Lauren Barton to identify her favorite spot in the house: an archway that connected the kitchen to a large sunroom over- looking a tree-lined backyard filled with swing sets, a trampoline, a playhouse and a vegetable garden. “The problem was there was nothing in that spot,” Alonso said. The flaw was in the layout. Most of the cabinets, appliances and work space were stacked in one corner of the large, centralized kitchen. Empty walls and a standard built-in desk filled the rest. Although walls of tall windows flooded the sunroom with light, it was barely visible from the primary cooking area.

Now a bar with Red Dragon granite counters is built into the archway, with seating on both sides, allowing Lauren to enjoy her view and guests. “We wanted to celebrate that space,” Alonso said. Volga Blue granite counters cover the rest of the kitchen, with the exception of the end of a peninsula, which is topped with Jatoba wood. “I wanted the kitchen to feel cozy, despite the size,” Barton said. Breaking up the space with different countertops creates the cozy feel. “We had a party here and had about 80 people over, and 40 were in the kitchen,” she added.

The kitchen is a cook’s dream, with a stainless steel Wolf 48-inch gas range top equipped with six burners and a griddle. A stainless steel Dacor hood hovers over the range top and a charming mosaic of 1-by-2-inch tiles. Porcelain tile in a Versailles pattern covers the kitchen floors and transitions to Tosca Amber tiles in the sunroom, echoing the warmer tone in the Red Dragon granite counter.

A powder room holds a round Vessel sink atop a custom pedestal encased in mother of pearl mosaic tile. Wrought-iron fixtures and glitzy gold leaf-painted walls are reflected in a mirror embedded in mosaic of 2-by-2-inch limestone tiles behind the pedestal sink.

In the master bath, the Bartons ditched their garden tub for a 5-by- 5-foot dream shower with multiple wall-mounted jets. Heated floors in Pietre del Sole laid on the diagonal generate a spalike atmosphere. Custom-built closets in a honey fin- ish flank the doorless entry from the master bedroom to the master bath. “There were so many doors. You don’t need all these doors in a private area,” Alonso said.

What used to be a built-in desk in the kitchen was relocated to the couple’s sitting area in the master bedroom suite, to the delight of Bar- ton, who prefers sorting personal papers in private. “Who needs a sitting room? Nobody sits in this house,” she said.

Mediterranean Homes

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AV Architects and Builders can develop that perfect Mediterranean house, that makes you feel like you are on vacation everyday of your life. Pick and choose the exact Mosaic tiles that embody the beauty of the Mediterranean style. Develop and build the designs and floor plan that are conducive to your living style. Using the highest quality wood floor or a kitchen backsplash tiles imported from Italy or Spain. Use the craftsmanship of hundred year old of fine Spanish and Italian artisans to plaster the walls with your own unique color pallet. Using multiple custom designed colors and layers of paint and glaze which are hand-rubbed by dedicated craftsman. Imagine an aesthetic beauty of plaster or sand-textured walls that add to the visual depth and historic authenticity to the house.