Washington, DC, USA
Renowned architect I.M. Pei, famous for civic buildings, designed three private homes in the mid-20th-century U.S. The 3,030 sq ft Slayton House in Washington, DC’s Cleveland Park (1960) sits on a sloping 50×135 ft lot behind a brick-walled courtyard. Commissioned by Urban Renewal Commissioner William Slayton, whom Pei knew professionally, it features International Style triple barrel-vaulted concrete roofs on brick walls, with interiors of brick, plaster, and wood. From the street, it appears one-story; from the rear alley, two-story. Slayton lived there nearly 40 years until 1999; Pei gave his eulogy inside.
Slayton House Renovation and Addition by Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, received an 2025 International Architecture Honourable Mention from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
In the early 2000s, modernist architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen renovated for new owners. Changes included removing a bedroom wall to open the central volume, replacing carpet/vinyl with travertine (Pei’s original wish, budget-limited), and eliminating a bookcase and kitchen wall.
Current owners bought in 2009, did light updates in 2010, and undertook major restoration/renovation/addition. The house was stripped to framing, brick, and vaults; floors, insulation, roofing, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical were upgraded to code. They added 955 sq ft: 420 sq ft below the dining room and 535 sq ft below a new rear terrace.
Finishes honor Pei’s intent: Navona vein-cut travertine (dry-laid in Italy for pattern continuity from courtyard through house), walnut/white lacquered millwork, matched brick/mortar. Pei’s drawings guided exact restoration of windows, doors, and jambs.
A new two-story rear structure (garage below, office/bath above) on a brick plinth uses wood/glass with perforated metal screens for light modulation, reading as “non-building” background. Materials and paths unify it with the main house, terraces, gardens, and alley.
As stewards of this icon, owners, architect Maurice Walters, interior designer, landscape architect, and builder aimed for “museum” quality per Jacobsen’s mantra: “Do the right thing.” The goal: make it seem untouched.
Architects: Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, Architect
Design Team: Robert M. Gurney and Matt Stephens
General Contractor: Peterson and Collins Inc.
Landscape Architects: Campion Hruby Landscape Architects
Client: Private
Photographers: Anice Hoachlander
