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A builder who lives in Cabin John bought the house across the street so he could make sure his view didn’t include an eyesore. See his fresh take on the neighborhood’s vintage architecture. BY JENNIFER BARGER | PHOTOS BY BOB NAROD
ith its shingled exterior, gabled roof and wraparound front porch, writer Joannie Fischer’s pale blue house in Cabin John seems like it’s been around for decades. It fits in amid this neighborhood of early 20th-century bungalows and foursquare houses. But the six-bedroom, 5½-bathroom home was actually built by Opal in 2024. It rose on the site of a Sears kit house across the street from Opal principal and owner Sean Ruppert’s home. The 1930s house was in rough shape, so Ruppert says he bought it and the lot it stood on in 2023 “to be sure that a terrible big-box home wasn’t built directly in my view. I didn’t want to be stuck staring at an ugly house.” Ruppert and his design/build firm— which specializes in new structures that riff on historic architecture and also on innovative historic renovations—decided to tear down the old house. Working with Colorado architect Gregory Sparhawk, a frequent collaborator, they created a new 5,200-squarefoot structure suited to modern needs
and the neighborhood’s retro vibe. “I did a lot of push and pull with perpendicular gables and a traditional steep roof pitch,” Sparhawk says. “Then the narrow front entrance and wide porch kind of forms a nook. It all gives the house a very human scale.” As Opal finished building and furnishing the house as a spec property in mid-2024, Fischer—whose primary residence is in Los Altos, California— heard about the project from friends who live in Cabin John. As a young journalist in the 1980s and ’90s, she lived on the same block and still belongs to the neighborhood book club. Since Fischer’s 23-year-old son, Noah, was working and living in the D.C. area, she decided to purchase the house and its contents. Fischer, now 58, took possession of the house in August 2024 and spends part of the year here. Noah, a programmer, lives in the house full time. “It’s an absolutely magical street,” she says. “You’ve got the Potomac River in your backyard and these adorable Sears kit houses. I always wanted to come back.”
126 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM
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