Competition Overview & Objectives

Overview:

The All American House is a project of MADE: In America, a non-profit educational organization based in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with historic Woodlawn, the first National Trust for Historic Preservation property.

The All American House student design competition was developed to provide students an unprecedented educational opportunity. Participants will have access to leading subject matter authorities who will help them apply their theoretical design knowledge to create rooms in one of America’s most historical and architecturally significant properties. Students will be provided access to a network of leaders in the interior design community; furniture and textile executives; curators, archivists and scholars involved in historic preservation; shelter media executives and leading showroom professionals. The show house will be widely publicized and prominent figures from across the Nation invited to a series of special events and programs. Participating students will benefit from a level of publicity enjoyed by only the few most noted designers in the United States. It is also an ideal platform for participating schools to showcase their interior design programs.   

Woodlawn is a gracious 126-acre estate that was originally part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. The main Federal-style house was designed by the architect of the U.S. Capitol, Dr. William Thornton, and constructed between 1800 and 1805 for Washington’s nephew Major Lawrence Lewis and his bride, Eleanor “Nelly” Custis Lewis. Mrs. Lewis was Martha Washington’s granddaughter, raised at Mount Vernon by the Washingtons.During the Lewis’ years in residence, Woodlawn comprised over 2,000 acres.

In 1846, the Lewis’s son sold the property to two families from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Troths and the Gillinghams. By the turn of the 20th century, Woodlawn was sadly deteriorated and, in 1896, severely damaged by a hurricane. In 1901, the playwright Paul Kester moved in — with his mother, brother and 60 cats — and began “restoring” the house to livable conditions. In 1905, Kester moved on to nearby Gunston Hall, and sold Woodlawn to Miss Elizabeth Sharpe, a Pennsylvania coal heiress who spent two decades lovingly rehabilitating Woodlawn. Woodlawn’s final private owners were Senator and Mrs. Oscar Underwood. Following Mrs. Underwood’s death, it was purchased by a private organization to ensure its preservation. In 1952, Woodlawn became the first historic site operated by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Objectives:

American designers of the 21^st century will be incorporating a far wider range of cultural traditions in their work than their predecessors. The initiative is intended to encourage the fusion of these varied traditions into a modern aesthetic that builds upon and enhances the elements of classic American design.

The Student Design House will be a three dimensional, hands-on interpretive program that reflects the evolution of the American interior design field. Working with award winning manufacturers and veteran designers, students will create contemporary rooms that respect and enhance Woodlawn’s traditional architectural details appropriate to modern living. Companies and pieces selected to for each of the rooms will represent the finest in their product categories.

The All American House is the first of its kind competition in the Nation. Students, individually and/or in teams will be tasked with transforming a National Trust property into a modern American home. A home that will ignite interest in American design and products, and one that will serve as a template for engaging visitors to historic properties nationwide.

The goal of the project is to cultivate in the next generation an appreciation of our architectural heritage and to inspire young designers to create a distinctly American interior design aesthetic.