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Photo by Ansel Olson
Built to Last
The 8,700 square-foot Mooreland Landing home
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Parlor
Tommy and Maria Thompson built their Mooreland Landing home to suit modern living. A small parlor takes the place of a large, formal living room, freeing up square footage for a dining room that can accommodate large groups for celebratory dinners and holidays.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Office
Maria Thompson’s home office is ingeniously tucked behind the fireplace in the parlor, keeping it out of sight while maximizing the function of the small space.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Kitchen
The large kitchen combines Old World charm with modern conveniences. The custom cabinets by Elmwood are finished in a rich blue-gray hue and are topped with durable leathered Carrara marble. The man-made stone range hood weighs 1,700 pounds and took a feat of engineering to install, Thompson says.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Pantry Detail
Byron Pennington of Small Axe Forge fabricated the custom metal screen that adds architectural interest to the pantry door.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Dining Room
The dining room is the most formal room in the home and features a custom-made handcrafted Tibetan rug from Tamarian and a large formal table by Councill Craftsman.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Open Concept
The home was designed with “rear house living” in mind, with an open-concept kitchen, informal dining area and family room opening to a large outdoor living space.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Open Concept, Cont.
The home was designed with “rear house living” in mind, with an open-concept kitchen, informal dining area and family room opening to a large outdoor living space.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Powder Room
With pretty floral wallpaper, a custom vanity by Elmwood and a branch motif mirror by Curry and Co., the powder room is Maria’s ode to femininity.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Family Foyer
Every family needs a place to shed its shoes and coats. This custom built-in by Dura Supreme Cabinetry provides ample storage.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Master Bedroom
A vaulted ceiling accented with wooden beams and large windows gives the master bedroom an open, airy feel. Natural light is an important element throughout the home.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Master Bath
The serene master bath retreat features a Victoria + Albert soaking tub that maximizes the view into the woods.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Closet
The large his-and-hers master closet was designed by NVS Kitchen and Bath in Manassas, a vendor Thompson has worked with for years.
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Photo by Ansel Olson
Family
The Thompsons gather in the informal family room that flows seamlessly into the large kitchen. Pictured are Noland, Maria, Kenneth and Tommy Thompson. The couple also has two other sons, Tyler and Matthew.
The morning sun spills into the open living space spanning the rear of builder Tommy Thompson’s Mooreland Landing home. Thompson built his 8,700-square-foot residence last year with “rear house living” in mind. The elongated expanse runs almost the full length of the home and features a large family room, spacious kitchen and informal dining area, and an inviting outdoor living space that overlooks acres of wooded land. “It’s all about entertaining family and friends,” says Thompson, a custom builder. “When we have a party, everyone gathers in the kitchen and the living space outside.”
His functional design addresses two family-related goals. The first: building a home that he and his wife, Maria, can be comfortable in for the rest of their lives. “We knew we would become empty nesters one day, and I designed the house with that in mind,” he says. The home even includes a series of closets that can be converted into an elevator if necessary. He also wanted a home that not only would accommodate gatherings of family and friends, but also would be able to house any of the couple’s four sons, if they ever needed to move back home.
With that possibility in mind, the house includes two master suites, the second with a sitting area and bath. The two suites correspond with the multi-generational design trend that is gaining popularity with today’s homeowners. “We are seeing more convertible rooms that can be an office or bedroom, some type of alternative living space,” Thompson says.
The home also has a full basement that serves as a recreation/exercise area and office for Thompson, an oversized dining room and a parlor that backs into a small office hidden behind the central fireplace.
“Family is important,” he says. “People don’t want large living rooms anymore. In most of my designs, I build a parlor so they can have a sitting area, but I put that extra square footage in the dining room so everybody can be together.”
A third-generation builder, Thompson, who owns Benchmark Homes, and his family relocated to Henrico County from Northern Virginia in 2010. They moved into their Mooreland Landing home in 2013. “We came to Richmond for the quality of life,” he says, noting that he grew up in McLean when it was a small town. “It’s no longer small. As I got into the business, things started to change. Development came in. We visited Richmond, and it reminded me of my old hometown.”
While some of the Northern Virginia homes he built were up to 14,000 square feet, he is seeing a trend toward more compact homes in the 3,800- to 4,700-square-foot range with high-end features. “They are not as big, but the level of quality will withstand 40 to 60 years,” he says. “I build houses with good bones because I believe what’s behind the wall is just as important as what’s on the face of the wall.”
Though his own home is modern in every respect, it has a comfortable, aged feel. “The Thompsons wanted a home with a strong visual sense of place rooted in historical precedent,” explains their architect, Mark Spangler. “Their new home is heavily influenced by traditional English and French architecture, dismissing formal and stuffy for inviting and relaxed. Every design detail, no matter how small, was always considered when we discussed interior and exterior details and their potential finishes.”
To make the house look older, Thompson used reclaimed lumber from old Virginia tobacco barns for exterior columns as well as for the fireplace mantel in the outside living area. The outside ceiling is bead board and the stone on the outdoor fireplace is accentuated by old-style rectangular and square stonework.
The exterior of the home is faced with painted tumbled brick because of its intricate “imperfections,” Thompson says. “When you paint it, you can see the detail. We knew we were going to do stone and painted brick on the exterior. That was part of the architecture theme of the house. We had started doing painted brick in McLean because it adds warmth and sets the tone.”
The design incorporates exposed beams in the family room and the main upstairs master suite. Man-made stone was used for the family-room fireplace mantel and an impressive kitchen hood. “We used the man-made product so we could design the hood,” he says. “It weighs about 1,700 pounds. It wasn’t easy to install.”
Thompson likes to incorporate real stone into all of his homes, a trend that started in the early 1990s in Northern Virginia because “Mother Nature has a lot of beautiful products,” he says. Outside, he uses wrought-iron railings instead of wood, so as not to obstruct the view of the fields and woods behind the house.
With his own home finished, Thompson plans to build two-story spec homes in the Richmond area using his rear-living design. His two oldest sons, Tyler, 25, and Kenneth, 27, work with him and will be involved in those projects. “Each house that I build, even on spec, is tweaked as we go,” he says. “We make changes so our spec homes are still semi-custom homes. We let [buyers] modify some things as well. I leave out as much as I can so the buyer can make choices.”
Thompson has a fresh and “informed approach to home design,” architect Spangler says. “He thinks outside the ‘colonial’ box that many spec builders can get locked into, or the transitional design of gable on gable on gable, which is not a formal architectural style. Tommy wants to build speculative homes that have a custom feel … homes that set him apart from other builders with respect to his unique approach.”
Trends in New Construction
Tommy Thompson has been building custom homes for more than 30 years. Here are some trends he has recently observed in the market:
HOT
- Smaller 3,500- to 4,500-square-foot homes
- Rear entrance “family foyers” and drop zones
- Outdoor living — covered porches, outdoor fireplaces and patios
- Custom details, such as wainscoting, elaborate trims and thoughtful storage
- Traditional 9-foot ceilings
- Finished basements
- Butler’s pantries
NOT
- Excessively large “McMansions”
- Large formal living rooms
- Decks and full outdoor kitchens
- Cookie-cutter, builder-grade homes
- 12- to 14-foot ceilings
- Media rooms
- Wine cellars
