Inside Homes - September 2016

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Cupcakes, Comfort and a Closet To Die For Georgetown Cupcake’s Katherine Kallinis Berman and lawyer Ben Berman have built a home that accommodates family and their lifestyle.

By Virginia Coyne Photographs by tony brown

home life | Inside homes

f you were to guess that the Bethesda kitchen of Georgetown Cupcake co-founder Katherine Kallinis Berman is the most used room in the house, you’d be correct. “We do eat cupcakes here – A LOT,” Katherine jokes, “and we’re always baking with my daughter and my mom.”

The kitchen also doubles as a remote office for Kallinis Berman and her sister and business partner, Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne. Even though the duo has a test kitchen in Georgetown, this is where they’ve come up with some of their most popular recipes, including Butterscotch Waffle Cone, Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip and the soon-to-be released Gluten-Free Vanilla, which they promise is absolutely delicious.

Just like when they starred in their TLC reality show, “DC Cupcakes,” the sisters are inseparable — working, shopping and attending charity events as a pair.

LaMontagne admits she is a permanent fixture in her sibling’s house, where their mother, Elaine Kallinis, also lives to be “Granny-Nanny” to the Bermans’ three-yearold daughter, Isa. “We do spend a lot of time together. Either we’re in the shops, or I come here,” LaMontagne says. “I don’t have a child yet, so I try to make it a little easier for Katherine by coming here.”

As a result of their busy schedules, the second most utilized space is the “glam room” — a makeup space off the master bedroom that resembles one found in many television studios. It features a mirrored wall, bright lights, a counter brimming with family photos, and neatly organized high-end cosmetics and hair products. In one corner there’s even a salon-quality hair washing station.

The room is a necessary luxury for the “Cupcake Sisters” who say they need to be camera-ready every time they leave the house because they are often asked to pose for

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2016

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PREVIOUS PAGE (clockwise from top left): Kallinis Berman, her husband Ben Berman and their daughter Isa, age 3, sit in the family room beneath a limited-edition print of Charlie Brown and Snoopy

by Tom Everhart, the only artist licensed to use “Peanuts” characters in his work; the spacious kitchen features marble counters, double ovens, two dishwashers, pendant lights from Restoration Hardware and white Dura Supreme cabinetry; a large dining table seats ten. Kallinis Berman has china patterns for every season; a stunning Hydro Systems “Picasso” bathtub in the master bathroom; the “Cupcake Sisters” often test recipes together in the kitchen.

THIS PAGE (clockwise from top left); The “glam room” on the second floor features white swivel chairs and a mirrored wall; an Hermès blanket covers the bed in the master bedroom; Kallinis Berman’s closet is a fashionista’s dream; Hermès throw pillows warm up a sofa in the family room. A second “Peanuts” print by Tom Everhart is on the wall; her home office was decorated almost exclusively with items found online at One King’s Lane, with the exception of the lamps, which were purchased at Chequers of Aspen, and the Hermès blanket draped over a chair.

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photos with fans.

Kallinis Berman credits builder Carol Sherman of Bethesda Too LLC for creating customizable spaces like the makeup room. She says that the many womanimagined nooks and crannies designed by Sherman were a draw when buying the house, which the Bermans purchased when half-built.

“My husband,” she laughs, “would probably kill me if I had all that makeup and hair stuff in our bathroom.”

In the marble-enhanced master bathroom Sherman added his-and-her water closets for privacy and the Bermans chose the architecturally striking “Picasso” bathtub by Hydro Systems.

Kallinis Berman’s enviable walk-in closet is every woman’s dream. Anyone who has seen her around town knows she is always impeccably dressed and often sporting coordinating candy-colored Hermès handbags, which she collects. Several of them are displayed on a counter in the center of the closet alongside Judith Lieber cupcake minaudières. A shoe wall features sky-high Louboutins and Jimmy Choos. Signature orange Hermès boxes line the closet’s shelves.

She also collects Hermès blankets and pillows, and they are scattered throughout the home — on beds, on a chair in her office and on couches in the family room.

The couple decorated the house without the help of a designer, relying on custom pieces from Urban Country in Bethesda for the family room (where an enormous leather ottoman is the centerpiece) and late night online shopping sprees on sites like One King’s Lane for simple, classic and un-fussy pieces of furniture.

“Our goal was to create spaces that would be accessible, comfortable and casual,” Ben Berman says.

“Whether it is just us, or when we’re entertaining, we wanted to create a relaxed home environment.”

| september

2016

| washingtonlife.com

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OPENING PAGE: Katherine Kallinis Berman and her daughter Isa play dress-up in an enviable walk-in closet.

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