Deborah and Curtin Winsor’s renovation of David and Evangeline Bruce’s former residence pays homage to the past while providing easy living space for a modern family.
By Christopher Boutlier
Photography by Joseph Allen
Dominated by an ornately framed portrait of Czar Alexander II and featuring a velvet folding screen once owned by the late Katharine Graham, this former ballroom is now a perfect space for contemporary entertaining.
There is bound to be tension between competing interests in historic preservation and the needs of modern life when one lives in a home that dates from the early 19th century. Proper balance must reflect both individual preferences and the structure’s importance to a community’s history.
Georgetown’s “Ambassador Bruce House” is a treasure that any city would want to protect from assault by a construction crew. It is one of the grandest and oldest private residences in the capital and one with a storied past filled with Washington intrigue and culture.
How fortunate that care of this landmark has fallen to Washingtonians Curtin and Deborah Winsor, who have resuscitated the grandeur of the past while adding their own unique sense of style.
