We're thrilled to share that the Petersburg Pair is featured in Dwell's Before & After series. Once a historic duplex slated for demolition, the property became one of our most ambitious projects — transforming a neglected building into two colorful, character-filled homes.
The article explores how we gave this Petersburg property a new life as two distinct apartments, each with its own personality. From contrasting color palettes and sculptural kitchen portals to inventive millwork and thoughtfully preserved historic details, the project reflects our love of expressive design and our belief that beautiful, thoughtfully designed spaces should be accessible to more people.
Writer Melissa Dalton takes readers behind the scenes of the renovation, from salvaging original materials and rebuilding the home's deteriorating structure to the hands-on work and creative problem-solving that shaped the finished spaces. As designers, developers, and builders on this project, we had the rare opportunity to be involved in every detail, making the finished result especially meaningful to us.
“Studio Howlett’s renovation of a duplex in Petersburg, Virginia, started with a question: What if long-term rentals were designed as thoughtfully as your own home?”
EXPLORE MOREWe're grateful to Melissa and the team at Dwell for sharing the story. Below, we've gathered a few excerpts and images from the feature.
Read the Full Article on Dwell
The full article is available to Dwell+ subscribers. Selected excerpts and images from the feature are shared below.
WRITTEN BY MELISSA DALTON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMANDA ARCHIBALD“When Rachel and Owen Howlett went to visit a 1920 house in Petersburg, Virginia, for the first time in 2023, Rachel stayed in the car. Owen carefully toured the place as much as he was able, picking around missing floor boards, evaluating the droop of the window sills, and squinting into missing chunks of ceiling.
When he rejoined her, she had questions, the first being: ‘Does it have floors? Or, do you fall through?”‘ Owen’s reply answered both: ‘In some parts.’”
“Studio Howlett wanted to take a project from start to finish on their own terms. It’s the idea that even people of modest means should have nice things and a nice place to live.”
