Thomas Charuhas was at a work conference in San Francisco when his wife, Katarina, saw this house in the Palisades neighborhood of Northwest Washington in 2015. She knew they had to buy it. "I was literally across the country," he said. "But she was so excited. She convinced the builder to hold off because there were other offers. So, yeah, so I flew all the way back across the country because of this house." The house, with Nantucket-style cedar shake siding, had been completed recently, replacing one built in 1955 that was torn down to make room for it. The Charuhas family was the first to occupy the new dwelling. They were initially drawn to the property's ample size - more than half an acre - and its location on a cul-de-sac, Charuhas said. "With three kids, it was amazing," Charuhas said. "I'm a huge fan of [the location] because there's never through traffic, and there's lots of families on the street so the kids could run out and feel very safe. You see them running around between the different yards and having fun, and then coming back for dinner." Charuhas said he often hosted neighborhood dinners in his yard, in part because of its distinctive features. The culinary enthusiast installed an outdoor kitchen with a rotisserie and smokers. There's also a pizza oven imported from Naples that he and Belgian chef Claudio Pirollo of the nearby Et Voila restaurant used to cook together. The experience inspired the chef's latest project, an Italian restaurant called Claudio's Table, Charuhas said.
Thomas Charuhas was at a work conference in San Francisco when his wife, Katarina, saw this house in the Palisades neighborhood of Northwest Washington in 2015. She knew they had to buy it. "I was literally across the country," he said. "But she was so excited. She convinced the builder to hold off because there were other offers. So, yeah, so I flew all the way back across the country because of this house." The house, with Nantucket-style cedar shake siding, had been completed recently, replacing one built in 1955 that was torn down to make room for it. The Charuhas family was the first to occupy the new dwelling. They were initially drawn to the property's ample size - more than half an acre - and its location on a cul-de-sac, Charuhas said. "With three kids, it was amazing," Charuhas said. "I'm a huge fan of [the location] because there's never through traffic, and there's lots of families on the street so the kids could run out and feel very safe. You see them running around between the different yards and having fun, and then coming back for dinner." Charuhas said he often hosted neighborhood dinners in his yard, in part because of its distinctive features. The culinary enthusiast installed an outdoor kitchen with a rotisserie and smokers. There's also a pizza oven imported from Naples that he and Belgian chef Claudio Pirollo of the nearby Et Voila restaurant used to cook together. The experience inspired the chef's latest project, an Italian restaurant called Claudio's Table, Charuhas said.
