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When two former Russian scientists, who established their own chemical business in the US 13 years ago, outgrew their apartment and decided to buy a larger one in Chevy Chase, MD, they turned to Deborah Kalkstein to design the renovation of their new home from conception to completion.

“I showed Deborah this apartment in September or October [2005], even though my settlement wasn’t until January [2006], and said, ‘Would you take the project as a whole?’ She’s the only one I can trust completely. She took control of every detail,” says Irene Roth, 52, reached by phone in Kiev, Ukraine, where she and her husband, Alfred, 57, were working at press time. Kalkstein dramatically transformed the Roths’ apartment into a clean-lined, minimalist space with neutral colors, intriguing textures, contemporary furnishings, and art.

“This was the job from heaven. Irene said, ‘You pick, and I’ll go and see,’ ” Kalkstein says.

“Deborah selected 99 percent of what I would have picked if I’d been the architect doing the project. It’s absolutely magic, it’s a perfect match,” Irene says.

Kalkstein, 44, who is Peruvian, practiced with Marcos Kalkstein Architect, her uncle’s firm, after earning her degree in architecture from the Universidad Ricardo Palma in Lima. “I always adored my uncle, who was and still is one of the top contemporary architects in Lima. I used to love to go to his office, sit at his drawing tables, and go with him to construction sites. I was always drawn to interiors,” says Kalkstein, reached in Lima, Peru, where she was visiting her family. “Here, what an architect does is different from in the States. In addition to designing the house, you design everything else, too – the kitchen, closets, and furniture. You design a sofa and have it made for you.”

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