In the home designed by the architect of the U.S. Capitol building, William Thornton, Woodlawn is the site of The All American House, a collaboration between MADE: in America and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Woodlawn was originally part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. Upon the wedding of his step-granddaughter Eleanor Parke Custis and Col. Lawrence Lewis, Washington commissioned the home to be built for the newlyweds. The home was completed in 1805.
The All American House features the talents of interior architecture students from George Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro along with Corcoran College of Art + Design. The Corcoran College of Art + Design students worked on displays of a virtual make-over of the adjacent Frank Lloyd Wright designed Pope-Leighy House. The exhibit and events run through June 16.
This showcase is “a reinterpretation of Woodlawn for a 21st century family.” Interior architecture students from UNCG mentored by Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll, professor of interior architecture at UNCG, were tasked in creating designs for six of the rooms at Woodlawn. Two students from George Washington University worked on two main rooms in the home, the music parlor and the dining room. The designs and executions were juried as a design competition to create the inaugural show house. The jury included members of the Congressional Club and officials from the National Trust and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). The judges announced on April 18 the UNCG students came in first for the family parlor and third place for the center passage. George Washington University students won second place for the music parlor and the dining room. The Corcoran School of Art + Design student Monica N. Mesa brought home best in show in her virtual make over of the Frank Lloyd Wright Pope-Leighy House.
The goal of the project is to provide young designers with a major platform to articulate their vision of a new American interior design aesthetic and to make historic homes vibrant cultural centers for exploring the history and future of design in America.
“The All American House certainly offers young designers a historic setting within which to demonstrate an inspired design, but it also reflects the work of National Trust Historic Sites to re-imagine, innovate, and open up the doors and windows to the possibilities of inspiring creativity, raising consciousness and fostering community,” said Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez senior vice president of historic sites at the National Trust.
The All American House featured products of MADE: In America from award-winning furniture companies including: Bielecky Brothers; Century; Duralee; Edward Ferrell / Lewis Mittman; Hickory Chair; Keith Fritz, Kindel, Kittinger; Niermann-Weeks, and Paul Montgomery Studios.
A variety of on-site activities is listed in the calendar of events on the Historic Woodlawn web-site: http://woodlawn1805.org/events. For more information about the All American House visit the MADE: In America web-site: http://www.madeinamerica-usa.org.