Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Dogwoods Mansion




It was early 2001, and mansions were springing up all over Northern Virginia. I worked doing renderings for some luxury builders, who would construct these palaces in fancy locations and market them for many millions. This one, named "The Dogwoods," was just a few minutes from the CIA. The builders included all sorts of amenities a master spy or "consultant" would need, including a secret room which was accessed by turning around a wall panel, just like in the movies. I designed the grand front stairway and the landscaping, and when it came time to build, they built it just the way I had drawn it.

By the end of 2001, no one with big bucks wanted to buy a property near the CIA, or the Pentagon. The house remained unsold for a long time, and now may once again stand empty, a sign of an era which won't come back for quite a while. 

The rendering is in watercolor and ink, about 24" x 20", and was done in January of 2001.

1 comment:

Tristan Alexander said...

Wow! Your buildings are SO good! And even if it didn't sell and was a big expensive thing to be built, having something you drew/painted be built and look like what you drew/painted is just amazing!!