• Published: Architectural Digest

    A famous address—Washington DC’s Watergate Complex—is known more for political intrigues of the past than for its architecture. Yet the complex remains, to this day, a prime residence for notable Washingtonians and one of the few notable modern architectural landmarks in the District, albeit one whose physical reality has been marred by unsympathetically out-of-character modifications and an identity confused by Washington DC’s uneasy relationship with modernist design.

    This combined apartment, occupying a prime perch on one of the Watergate’s top floors, rewrites the recent design history of the complex. Stripping away both an awkward layout of tiny rooms as well as the faux-colonial moldings and builder-grade finishes accreted in the intervening years, we reimagined this apartment from top to bottom, rationalizing the plan around axially-arranged spaces sized for entertaining, and stylistically embracing the over-the-top glamour of late twentieth century design in lushly layered, atmospheric tones and patterns.

    A collaboration with world-class craftspeople and ateliers—gilders, metalworkers, stonefitters, cabinetmakers—this apartment is a showcase of bespoke design and intentionally sourced, heirloom-quality materials befitting its famous address, complemented by new and vintage 1960s-70s furnishings that straddle the line between the ‘monumental modernism’ era of the late twentieth century and contemporary comfort.

    • Location: Washington, DC,

    • Type: Complete Apartment Renovation

    • Services: Architecture, Interior Design

    • Contractor: BOWA

    • Sources: ABC Worldwide Stone, AK Metals, Ferris Custom Cabinetry, Lenore Winters Studio, Nakashima Woodworkers, Nanz, Nicholas Hall Art, PE Guerin, Studio TwentySeven, The Future Perfect

    • Photographer: Chris Mottalini

    • Stylist: Tessa Watson

A retro-luxe living room in the Watergate designed by Nicholas Potts, featuring blush leather armchairs, a sculptural travertine coffee table, a plush gold carpet, and a dramatic onyx feature wall
A sunlit living room the Watergate redesigned by Nicholas Potts, featuring a dramatic book matched okoume wall, a plush ecru corduroy sofa, and blush pink leather armchairs around a sculptural travertine coffee table, on a plush gold carpet.
A richly detailed hallway in an apartment in the Watergate designed by Nicolas Potts featuring curved okoume paneling over a recessed bronze base and a floor of lilac marble roundels set in travertine, leading to a gallery with an abstract sculpture
A sunny photo of the living room in a Watergate apartment designed by Architect Nicholas Potts featuring sculptural modern furniture, and an monumental 18th century capriccio painting by Giovanni Paolo Panini
A jewel box powder room in a Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring fully gold leafed walls and ceilings, a cylindrical marble sink, and a sculptural custom sconce and a vintage brass ceiling fixture
A vignette in the Watergate redesigned by the architect Nicholas Potts featuring a sculptural walnut credenza and a richly framed 1730 Capriccio of Roman Ruins with Figures by Giovanni Paolo Panini
A sitting nook in a Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring olive velvet fringed armchairs, a monumental bronze grille, and the building's iconic concrete railings overlooking the Potomac River at sunset
A glamorous dining room in the Watergate designed by architect Nicholas Potts, featuring an oven travertine table surrounded by vintage sheepskin chairs on a plush gold rug. A 1960s Viennese chandelier and curved okuoume cabinets complete the view.
A bedroom in a Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring an Okoume wall, a matching floating nightstand with a marquetry front, and a green 'Palm' sconce by Blue Green Works
A kitchen in the Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring a curved island and cabinets in book matched okoume veneers, a vibrant onyx backsplash, and a domed ceiling with a vintage Gaetano Scolari light fixture
A kitchen vignette in the Watergate Apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring dramatically book matched okoume veneer cabinets and sculptural bronze cabinet pulls designed by Potts
An entry foyer in the Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring a curved bench with integral shelves and an Anagama kiln vessel in front of a curving okoume veneer wall
A bathtub alcove in the Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring lilac reale marble, elemental brass fixtures, and a patterned lilac real and travertine floor ringed in Verde Antigua banding
A bespoke vanity in the Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring a floating white lacquer curved vanity, Verde Antigua marble walls, custom bronze wall sconces and a vintage Gaetano Scolari light fixture reflected in the mirror
A view to the dressing area in the Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts showing lit accessory shelves in a color-drenched seafood hue, framed by the vanity room with aqua marble walls and a vintage light fixture
An office in the Watergate apartment designed by Nicholas Potts featuring a vintage desk and chair overlooking the Potomac River at sunset
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