Georgetown Cupcake’s Katherine Kallinis Berman and lawyer Ben Berman have built a home that accommodates family and their busy lifestyle.
Katherine Kallinis Berman, husband Ben Berman and daughter Isa. All photos by Tony Brown.
If you were to guess that the Bethesda kitchen of Georgetown Cupcake co-founder Katherine Kallinis Berman is the most used room in the house, you’d be correct. “We do eat cupcakes here – A LOT,” she says, “and we’re always baking with my daughter and my mom.”
The spacious kitchen features marble counters, double ovens, two dishwashers, pendant lights from Restoration Hardware and white Dura Supreme cabinetry.
The kitchen also doubles as a remote office for Kallinis Berman and her sister and business partner, Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne. Even though the duo has a test kitchen in Georgetown, this is where they’ve come up with some of their most popular recipes, including Butterscotch Waffle Cone, Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip and the soon-to-be released Gluten-Free Vanilla, which they promise is absolutely delicious.
Sisters and Georgetown Cupcake co-founders Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne often work together in Berman’s kitchen.
Just like when they starred in their TLC reality show, “DC Cupcakes,” the sisters are inseparable — working, shopping and attending charity events as a pair. LaMontagne admits she is a permanent fixture in her sibling’s house, where their mother, Elaine Kallinis, also lives to be “Granny-Nanny” to the Bermans’ three-year-old daughter, Isa.
“We do spend a lot of time together. Either we’re in the shops, or I come here,” LaMontagne says. “I don’t have a child yet, so I try to make it a little easier for Katherine by coming here.”
The “glam room” on the second floor features white swivel chairs and a wall of mirrors.
As a result, the second most utilized space is the “glam room” — a makeup space off the master bedroom that resembles one found in many television studios. It features a mirrored wall, bright lights, a counter brimming with family photos, and neatly organized high-end cosmetics and hair products. In one corner there’s even a salon- quality hair washing station. The space is a necessary luxury for the “Cupcake Sisters” who say they need to be camera-ready every time they leave the house because they are often asked to pose for photos with fans.
Kallinis Berman credits builder Carol Sherman of Bethesda Too LLC for creating customizable spaces like the makeup room. She says that the many woman- imagined nooks and crannies designed by Sherman were a draw when buying the house, which the Bermans purchased when half-built.
“My husband,” she jokes,“would probably kill me if I had all that makeup and hair stuff in our bathroom.”
In the marble-enhanced master bathroom Sherman added his-and-her water closets for privacy and the Bermans chose the architecturally striking “Picasso” bathtub by Hydro Systems.
Kallinis Berman’s closet is a fashionista’s dream.
Kallinis Berman’s enviable walk-in closet is every woman’s dream. Anyone who has seen her around town knows she is always impeccably dressed and often sporting coordinating candy-colored Hermès handbags, which she collects. Several of them are displayed on a counter in the center of the closet alongside Judith Lieber cupcake minaudieres. A shoe wall features sky-high Louboutins and Jimmy Choos. Signature orange Hermès boxes line the closet’s shelves.
She also collects Hermès blankets and pillows, and they are scattered throughout the home — on beds, on a chair in her office and on couches in the family room.
A huge leather ottoman from Urban Country occupies the center of the family room.
The couple decorated the house without the help of a designer, relying on custom pieces from Urban Country in Bethesda for the family room (where an enormous leather ottoman is the centerpiece) and late night online shopping sprees on sites like One King’s Lane for simple, classic and un-fussy pieces of furniture.
“Our goal was to create spaces that would be accessible, comfortable and casual,” Ben Berman says. “Whether it is just us, or when we’re entertaining, we wanted to create a relaxed home environment.”
See more photos in the September 2016 issue of Washington Life.
