Seeking a life makeover, the Lindons left their 10-acre farm in Virginia in 2016 and bought a 1904 World’s Fair showpiece house in the Central West End. “There are street parties, and it’s easy to get together with people for a glass of wine or walk over to a restaurant,” says Dr. Britt Lindon, of their neighborhood. “We have our annual Easter egg hunt that we all cook a lunch dish for. It’s extremely social and kid friendly.”
The home they chose was large enough to accomodate their family and had stunning original woodwork in the entryway. “We kept as much of the original woodworking as we could,” says Britt, a psychologist and owner of SENS Psychology. She was the designer and general contractor for their home’s renovation, which she calls a labor of love.
The family—Britt, her husband JP, and their kids—love to cook, be creative and do DIY projects, so Britt renovated the house with that in mind. “I usually find one or two pieces and that sparks the rest of the design process,” Britt says.
They combined two rooms to create a “long room,” to have a large entertainment space. Britt wanted a round piece of furniture in that room. She purchased a tree ring she’d seen at an outdoor store in Virginia and it fits perfectly, providing a unique place for seasonal displays, plants and seating during parties. JP also spent weeks redoing the room's floors in a Swedish wax-finish after they were unable to find someone locally who could do the technique. Additionally, they installed a swinging love seat by Serena and Lily. “It lets us see the garden in the back,” she says.
Britt designed the kitchen—the family’s hub—to have large display shelves to showcase art and dishware. In addition to the original butler’s pantry, they converted an old bathroom to add storage space. “It may not seem like the most practical for most people, but as a cooking-oriented family it is extremely functional and perfect for our everyday routine,” she says. She and her daughters create many of the items in the pantry, including herbs and teas dried from their garden.
Britt loves auctions and estate sales, and bid on a taxidermied sheep, now on display in the stairway landing, at an auction near their home. “I got outbid on all of the practical things that I set out to get and only came home with the sheep,” she says with a sheepish grin.
The prints on the stairway landing wall featuring birds are by French artist François-Nicolas Martinet and were obtained from online art auctions.
Britt sought out the whale-themed bathroom wallpaper after seeing it in a restaurant in New York City. She had plain black tile replaced with tiles depicting waves to tie in with the ocean theme.
In her psychotherapy practice, that she runs out of her home, as well as her offices in D.C., New York City and Palm Beach, Florida, Britt often guides high achieving clients through their own life makeovers, which can include using her design skills to help them update their spaces. She says her clients see that she has reimagined her life in a nontraditional way, and it gives them hope that they can change their own lives. “You can find ways to do something differently at any point in your career,” she says.
