The countertrend is understatement, "Thirty-foot ceilings are for a chateau,"smiffs Paige Rense, editor -in-chief of Architectural Digest. The upscale Washington, D.C. suburb of Potomac, Md., boasts more than the expected number of houses notable for sheer off-the-charts grandiosity and breathtakingly high ceilings. But the ceiling of the great room Gary and Susan Hess added during the 10-month , $700,000 renovation of a 1974 center hall Colonial peaks one at only 11 1/2 feet. While the Hesses' home now measures 10,000 to 11,000 square feet - equal to five average new houses - their redo shows how a large and opulent house can be a comfortable nest. Their priority, says Susan Hess, was "to create a human-scale setting," filled with large features and small touches that resonate for them. The couple is onto something. "I do hear more about soul now, says Askins. "People don't use that word, but that's what they mean. They want a house that embraces you, a house that says, "Come on in."

The Hesses' new kitchen, with two sinks, six-burner commercial stove, two low-noise dishwashers, and granite counter tops, is lavish but open on all sides. It's a social place, and it's already getting a workout because the couple love to entertain. A $4,700 wood-burning pizza oven outside the house was inspired by trips to Italy and admiration for the quality of the indigenous pies. "When we saw an ad for a traditional pizza oven in a magazine, I said, 'Hey, we've got to have that,'" says Gary Hess. They knew where to draw the line too. One upscale amenity that decided to forgo was a media room. "When I relax I like to read books, says Gary. "We're not TV or movie people."