ASPIREDESIGNAND H O M E . C O M 89 As their title implies, “spec” homes are based on speculation about what buyers will need and want, depending on the demographics of a region. Generally, this gives them a bad rap. People tend to think of them as plain vanilla, cookie-cutter residences devoid of character. But a so-called spec home that sprawls over 11,000 square feet, accommodates five bedrooms and nine and a half baths, and sits on a verdant acre of prized McClean, Virginia land just a stone’s throw from the nation’s capital? Well, the term necessarily experiences a kind of apotheosis that shatters conventional thinking. This extraordinary exemplar was a project of custom luxury home builders Artisan Builders, who brought in designer Kristin Harrison early on to make sure its interiors equaled the high quality of the structure, a stone-and-wood manse capped by a standing- seam metal roof that gives it the visually rustic character of vernacular farm buildings without sparing a single expense. How does one approach designing a home without a specific client for whom to design? “It’s hard because you’re kind of in the dark,” concedes Harrison. But she and the folks at Artisan created a working client profile to guide them. “We landed on a younger family who was either from the area or moving here,” she explains. “In D.C., there are lots of events and dinner parties, so we assumed it would be a house for entertaining, probably purchased by an entrepreneur or big corporate executive. D.C. is a transient place. People come here to work for the government or sports teams and leave after a few years.” (Or a change of administrations.) TEXT JORGE S. ARANGO PHOTOGRAPHY PEAK VISUALS INTERIOR DESIGN KRISTIN HARRISON OF GEORGIA & HUNT DESIGN HOUSE HOME BUILDER ARTISAN BUILDERS WHEN IS A SPEC HOME NOT JUST A SPEC HOME? ARTISAN BUILDERS AND DESIGNER KRISTIN HARRISON OFFER THIS REMARKABLE ANSWER SPEC- TACULAR