Of all the adjectives that might be applied to this house near Virginia Beach, “improbable” is the first that comes to mind. The road leading to the property winds through a Santa’s village of cookie-cutter spec houses — an improbable setting for a project of distinction. Then there is the unlikely pairing of architect and interior designer: William McDonough, champion of environmentally sensitive architecture, and William Sofield, high priest of unapologetic luxury and glamour. Finally, there is the house itself, which somehow deftly reconciles grand scale and volumetric bravura with intimacy and functionalism.