CASUAL COMFORT ON G STREET:
An 1830s home retains its country charm through many changes

The frame house located across the street from Christ Church at 627 G St., SE, has had its fair share of renovations and changes since being built in 1830. For starters, the home's address was originally 397 G St., reflecting a numbering system used until 1870 that ran from the Potomac river on the west to the Anacostia river on the east. Then there's the story of one former owner who received a permit to move the home seven feet north and eight feet east to facilitate the sale of his adjacent property.

A photograph taken in 1949 sits in the home's foyer, showing the front as originally constructed with a front door and a porch. During a renovation which occurred in the late 1960s to early 1970s, the door was moved to the back of the house between the dining area and the entry of the kitchen. Other additions include chimneys and the stucco covering the sides of the home. The chimneys are additions as is the stucco that now covers the sides of the home.

In the late 1970s Senator Patrick Moynihan called 627 G St. home, and it is suspected that during his stay, the parking space was added to the front yard.

Current owners Faye and Alan Hegburg have done extensive renovations on the home and its gardens since purchasing it in 2000. They have replaced the windows and siding, added new lighting, installed bookcases, and created a guest suite on the third floor. The home's furnishings reflect the Hegburgs' international careers and travel.

The overall feel of the home is that of comfort; so when designing the gardens, the Hegburgs wanted to maintain that sense of casual comfort while addressing the need for a revamped walk to their wonderfully private rear entrance.

The front garden contained several large Azaleas, a mature Southern Magnolia, Ivy and assorted ground cover plantings, but it had no beginning or end. There was a stark emptiness along the front of the house where plants had died or had never been placed to soften the transition from home to garden. There was also an erosion problem on the border of the garden and brick parking area.

The side yard leading to the main entry had been done in brick and had settled very unevenly. Whenever it rained or snowed, the journey from front gate to inside the home became messy and precarious. The Hegburgs wanted to improve the overall flow of the gardens and upgrade the walk while maintaining the casual feel of the gardens.

The winning design left most of the original plants in the front garden. A snapped edge field stone border was added - through the gated pathway and along the new walk on both sides to the entry - to address the erosion from the garden to the brick driveway. The flow of the front garden was improved by adding large, natural field stone steppers set in a pea gravel bed. This has created a natural path through the natural “woodland" front garden. The beds are filled with Camellias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas. A bed has been added against the front of the house. Two trees have been added, a Dogwood and Redbud, for springtime blooms. There are Hosta, native ferns, and Coral Bells. The Astilbe add color to the late spring garden while the Oak Leaved Hydrangeas add texture and color during the heat of June. The front garden is reminiscent of a stroll through the flowing pathways of Brookside gardens in Wheaton not of a Capitol Hill front yard.

The redesign of the walkway called for removal of all of the brick. Stone dust was added and 2 foot by 3 foot flag stone pavers were installed. During the removal of the bricks a major obstacle was encountered. About three inches below the bricks lay asphalt paving that at one time probably served as the walkway. This explained all the water settlement problems that had been experienced with the brick walk.

This discovery drastically altered the considerations for setting the flagstone. Special allowances had to be made to ensure that proper drainage would be accomplished to address the asphalt that would remain below the new walk. Raised beds were added on either side of the new walk. The new Azaleas and Nandina had to be planted in very shallow beds due to the asphalt. Sky pencil holly and Dwarf Nandina along with up lighting was added to the left side against the neighboring home. The existing mature Crape myrtle is now the perfect backdrop to the formal yet relaxed entry walk.

The rear of the home, also an addition, is scheduled to begin renovation later this year. The brick patio that now extends from the new walk to the adjacent building, once a mattress factory, is a wonderful enclosed area that moves you back to a time that was slower, a lot less contrived, and simply casual. The Hegburgs will continue working with their landscape design firm to take the best attributes of their back patio space and make it flow seamlessly with the planned renovations for the rear of the home.

During the renovations that have been done thus far, the Hegburgs have decided that this is the home where they would like to spend their future. Many of the renovations have added to the casual feel that flows from home to furnishings to gardens.

The renovated front garden and the new walk has taken the Hegburgs out of the mud and water of the old garden and walkway and is now a tribute to a home that has endured the many renovations, moves and changes of previous owners. A home and garden that is rightly historic and truly a tribute to a time when Capitol Hill was a little more country casual, and a lot more relaxed.