Rill is a fifth-generation Marylander and has been a residential architect in the D.C. area for 25 years.
What was D.C. architecture like 10 years ago?
D.C. architecture was very stale, traditional, more Colonial — bastardized Colonials. And today what we’ve been able to pull into the market is things that haven’t been done that people didn’t know that people could have, more picturesque-style homes.
Can you describe today’s architecture?
When you get into custom designs, more into the crafted styles, the more shingled styles, the more picturesque homes, stones, woods, different shapes.
Is there a group still clinging to the past?
Mostly builders and developers, they feel like you should build a house for every 2.5 children, you know 3.5 baths, straight Colonials with a garage that pushes forward. You don’t need that.
Where would you like to see D.C. 10 years from now?
I’d like to see the District more educated as to what the styles are, as to what the designs are. There are more craftsmen that understand that you shouldn’t have a master bedroom that looks out into someone’s front porch. It really should define the house.
Any pioneer cities in architecture?
If you go down to Florida, Seaside is a community that is very architecturally correct and drawn. It has spurned a virus that has gone up and down the coast, it’s just spread a rash of these beautiful homes. … I would like to see that.
By changing D.C. architecture, do you take away the charm of the city?
Not at all because we build on the farmhouse, which is more related to the craftsman style, shingle-style, than the Georgian Colonial from Georgetown. To take these Colonials and pretend that they are on flat sites with formal settings is ridiculous. Using the hillsides, taking your cues from the trees, the wind, is what really you should be doing when you do architecture.
– Tara Palmeri
