Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com online at www.connectionnewspapers.comLocal Media Connection LLC

Great FallsGreat Falls

HomeLifeStyleHomeLifeStyleHomeLifeStyleFall 2015Fall 2015

2 ❖ Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

HomeLifeStyle

By Joshua Baker

BOWA

Almost every luxury remodel startswith the same question “How canwe improve our family’s life athome?” But this answer varies as

our families grow, age and evolve. And thebest designs consider both current and fu-ture needs.

For young families, the focus is almostalways child-centric. Kitchens are designedwith low drawers for easy access to the mostimportant items, like sippy cups and nap-kins. Refrigerator drawers installed as bev-erage stations and below-the-counter mi-crowaves allow the “vertically challenged”to help themselves. Study areas are incor-porated into family spaces to allow for par-ent-child interaction at homework time.

Creative storage solutions and child-friendlyfinishes, like washable wall paint, chalk-board paint in play areas, and custom ce-ramic tiles featuring kids’ artwork in theirbath, all lend to a successful design.

In the teen years, the question asked mostoften is, “How do I create the house whereall the kids and their friends want to hangout?” For this age group, creative basementremodels with game areas are most popu-lar, and perhaps not surprisingly, basementbars are often minimized or omitted com-pletely. As opposed to the closed-off theatersof the past, media viewing rooms are nowopen and designed as multi-purpose spacesthat also facilitate informal gatherings andentertaining. For the ambitious, outdoorfeatures, such as pools, patios and fire pits,can create a neighborhood destination.(Though pools and water features are of-

Adapting your home so it tracks your family’sdevelopment over the years.

Remodeling Design in 2015: It’s all about the Family

Renovated home office by BOWA features space for the whole family.

BOWA kitchen renovation in Arlington features under-counter micro-wave and beverage center.

BOWA basement renovation includes space for arts & crafts, games andmedia.

ten delayed until kids are old enough to besafe around water.)

Teen-friendly designs often include a fam-ily foyer, an entrance from the garage withplenty of storage for sports equipment,coats, backpacks, etc. Other potential op-portunities for teens include creating small,fun spaces like lofts in bedrooms, themedbedrooms, and making sure that there areplenty of USB charging stations.

For empty nesters, remodeling typicallyinvolves “downsizing” within the home byplanning to use the space more efficiently.Often, one-level living is designed for con-venience and to reduce energy use. Heat-ing and cooling systems are zoned so onlythe inhabited areas are fully con-ditioned when in use. Apartment-style washer and dryers are rightsized for a couple. Smaller,drawer-style dishwashers are alsoavailable. And, perhaps now is thetime to discuss repurposing spacesthat were previously used as gamerooms or homework stations intoareas to accommodate hobbiesand interests.

Almost all design discussionsshould at least contemplate thepotential for boomerang kids(children coming home after col-lege), in-laws, or elderly familymembers who might join thehome. For those wanting moreindependence and privacy, in-lawsuites sometimes include privateentrances and even a small kitch-enette. Sometimes kids’ rooms aremoved to the basement to addmore privacy.

For all of us as we get older, ahouse that incorporates the prin-ciples of universal design, whichallow us to live comfortably andsafely in the homes we love, is acritical conversation. Design con-siderations include creating acces-sibility-friendly baths, kitchens,entrances and passageways and

perhaps reconfiguring to minimize steps.Often, a strategy that comes up is the con-sideration of the installation of an elevatorto facilitate long-time use.

The design priorities for each remodel areunique to the family, but thinking about allthe different phases of family life is criticalto long-term success.

Josh Baker is the founder and co-chairman ofBOWA, an award-winning design and constructioncompany specializing in luxury renovations,remodels and additions in the greater Washington,D.C. area. BOWA has more than 25 years ofexperience and has been honored with 170 localand national awards. Visit www.bowa.com or call703-734-9050.

Custom designed cabinetry in this reno-vated family foyer in Great Falls, VA keepsa busy family organized.

Photos by Bob Narod Photography and BOWA

4 ❖ Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 5www.ConnectionNewspapers.com www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Sterling21800 Town Center Plaza

Sterling, VA 20164703-450-5453

Leesburg1051 Edwards Ferry Road

Leesburg, VA 20176703-771-4688

www.sterlingappliance.com

HomeLifeStyle

By John Byrd

Starting in the late 1990s, Paul andLaurie Carter began transforming asimple production house into a per-sonal residence.

Collaborating closely with Sun DesignRemodeling, the Carters nursed their visionof an exceptional property with a stunningindoor-outdoor continuum.

This past September, the public was in-vited to see the results.

Paul and Laurie Carter purchased a newproduction house in a new neighborhood notfar from Mount Vernon. At 3,700 square feet,it was a perfect spot to settle down and raisetheir son. The schools nearby were excel-lent; the house was just a few miles fromOld Town Alexandria. But there were somethings about the property Carters thoughtthey might improve — if they were to stayin residence long enough.

Cramped master bathroom; no family playarea; dark rear rooms with no visual con-tinuum; cabinet-cluttered kitchen; builder-grade finishes … Just a few of the perceivedshortcomings.

But skip ahead almost two decades, andthe whole house remodel that the public wasinvited to see this past September demon-strates the kinds of improvements and up-grades that can occur when owners continueto occupy, modifying the environment to suitevolving interests.

In fact: it’s no longer merely a house. It’s

the Carter’s long-term residence.“The ideal of long term ownership is the

option to create a home that, over time, be-comes more supportive of favored activitiesand aesthetic preferences,” says BobGallagher, Sun Design Remodeling’s Execu-tive Vice President. “We are finding this kindof on-going commitment to personalizing aresidence much more frequently than indecades past.”

Gallagher was at the house Sept. 12 togreet neighbors who wanted to learn moreabout remodeling in phases. Sun Design hadguided the Carters throughout nearly everyrevision over the past decade.

The Carters are quick to acknowledge thattheir periodic home remodeling efforts havebeen a logical and sequential response tofamily needs — beginning with an 18-foot-by- 36-foot swimming pool installed on theirquarter acre lot in 2006.

“We wanted a place where Paul, our son,Austin, and I could enjoy pleasant summerstogether as a family,” recalls Laurie. “Ourremodeling changes reflect the differentstages of our lives, and the lifestyle optionswe wanted to pursue in day-to-day living.”

As Austin’s circle of friends expanded, forinstance, the Carters hired Sun Design Re-modeling to convert the home’s unfinishedlower level into a spacious family room andfitness center complete with a billiards tableand TV viewing area suitable for guests ofall generations.

During this same time period, Paul andLaurie, both workingprofessionals, soughtimprovements to thesecond floor mastersuite, introducing asizable master bathwith a walk-in showerand changing vesti-bule. The plan wasdesigned so that onepartner could shower,dress and slip off towork without rousingthe other partner,who might be stillsleeping.

“The new mastersuite made life morecomfortable for bothof us,” Laurie says,“and it still worksbeautifully today.”

More recently,when Austin left forcollege, the Carters,now empty nesters,began consideringways to better inte-grate the home’s rear

suite of rooms with its lovely poolside set-ting.

The landscaping and mature trees confera lot of backyard privacy, so the Carters werelooking for graceful ideas to better integrateindoor and outdoor horizons. “It made nosense not to have a better view and morenatural light from the back of the house,”she said. “Also, we didn’t have a comfort-able outdoor dining zone.”

Unchanged since the late 1990s, the threerooms on the west-facing rear elevation con-sisted of a central kitchen flanked by a for-mal dining room to the right and a familyroom to the left.

The dining room was sequestered from thekitchen by a floor-to-ceiling wall festoonedwith builder-grade cabinets. There was onesmall window above the kitchen sink whichwas, likewise, bordered by cabinets on twosides. To the left, one entered the familyroom, which provided an exit to a rear ve-randa partially covered by a shed roof.

“We had talked about a more open floorplan,” Laurie recalls, “But how do you teardown the walls that are holding up the cabi-nets you use every day?”

As it turned out, this was a good questionfor Sun Design’s Jeremy Fleming, who su-pervised the Carter’s most recent remodel-ing. “Once the Carters were satisfied thatthe wall between the kitchen and diningroom could come down,” he adds, “it wasclear that innovative storage solutions wouldmake it possible to further develop a specialvisual continuum from inside the house.”

To improve natural light, the small kitchenwindow has been replaced with a three-partglazing solution consisting of a 45-inch pic-ture window flanked by two double hung

windows.To provide for outdoor dining, Fleming

extended the rear shed roof over the previ-ously sun exposed decking. The former out-door dining niche now becomes a viewingarea adjacent to a recently installed flatscreen TV. With the addition of two over-head rotating fans, the new outdoor spaceis both intimately connected to the houseand visually linked to the pool and well-land-scaped setting.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with howwell the house has evolved over the years,”says Laurie. “We look forward to living herelong into the future.”

John Byrd has been writing about homeimprovement topics for 30 years. See more storiesat www.HomeFrontsNews.com.

Evolution of aFamily Home

A sizable master bath with a walk-in shower andchanging vestibule was designed so that one partnercould shower, dress and slip off to work withoutrousing the other still-sleeping partner..

The Carters purchased the original production house in 1998 and have steadily made focused im-provements and upgrades.

Sun Design’s Jeremy Flemingextended the shed roof for shade.Rotating fans make the new out-door space comfortable.

6 ❖ Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

703-759-7820

Members: FreeNon-Members:

$20 (Drop-in)Welcome

Conveniently located at10123 Colvin Run Road • Great Falls, VA

GlideFit

Core isconstantlyengaged!

Improvesbalance!

BARREImproves Posture,Core, Flexibility,Strength & Slims

Your Body

PilatesBand increases

the effectivenessof workout!

PiYo

HomeLifeStyleis produced by

Connection Newspapers

www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Local Media Connection LLC

For more information,

call 703-778-9431 or email

sales@connectionnewspapers.com

Great Falls

“We wanted the aestheticsof a newly finished home.The look we were going forwas nice, but not elaborateor pretentious.”

— Brad Powell

HomeLifeStyle

By Marilyn Campbell

The Connection

Tonia and Brad Powell felt thatsome of the spaces in theirVienna home were crampedand over utilized while other

areas of their home were barely used atall. They wanted make maximum use ofevery inch to accommodate their family offive, including children ages 9, 7 and 4.

“[We’re] preparing for the comingteenager invasion,” said Brad. “In the not

too distant future, [our kids] will be 17,15, 12. We want our home to accommo-date our family well.”

Additionally, the Powells felt their 33-year-old home looked dated and theywanted to modernize, particularly in thekitchen and bathrooms.

“We wanted the aesthetics of a newlyfinished home,” said Brad. “The look wewere going for was nice, but not elaborateor pretentious.”

The couple hired Michael Winn, ofWINN Design and Build to give theirhome an overhaul. “One challenge was

[the Powells’] desire to have theproject completed before theirannual holiday party,” said Winn.“This was an aggressive goal. …Besides, our team was invited tothe event so the spotlight wouldbe on us.”

The design team, which in-cluded an architect, a kitchen andbath designer and an interiordesigner, worked together toreconcile the project’s budget andscope with the Powells’ expecta-tions. The renovation plan in-cluded gutting the home’s exteriorand creating an open floor plan.

Contractors removed existingwalls to create a chef’s kitchenand open up that kitchen to thedining room. The kitchen ispainted with Benjamin Moore’sManchester Tan. The whiteperimeter cabinetry is maple andthe countertops are granite. Thekitchen also features an islandwith Wellborn Premier cabinets incherry-sienna charcoal by HenlowSquare.

Walls came down in the familyroom to create a larger space andnew built-in bookcases increasedstorage. The master and hallbathrooms were renovated as

A new addition and some smart storagechoices mean this Vienna home can keep upwith a busy family of five.

Maximizing Space

Photos by Greg Hadley

The kitchen in Brad and Tonia Powell’s Vienna home is painted withBenjamin Moore’s Manchester Tan. White perimeter cabinetry is mapleand the counter tops are granite.

well. The home’s exterior space alsoreceived a makeover, with new flag-stones and two new decks.

“Our main special request was thatwe wanted a mudroom in our home,”said Brad. “We went through manydifferent designs trying to solve thisproblem.” Ultimately, a small additioncreated space for a new powder room,mudroom, laundry room and pantry.

Maximizing the home’s space has“allowed us to live more comfortablyand do the things we want to do in thehouse without falling all over each other,”said Brad. “The mudroom … has had anincredible positive impact on our state ofmind. All of the stuff – books, backpacks,sports equipment and cleats – that comes

in our house now has a placewithout constantly being in sight allof the time. It’s kind of funny toconsider that we did a huge remodelfor a mudroom, but that’s exactlywhat we did.”

WINN Design + Build built a small addi-tion onto Brad and Tonia Powell’s Viennahome to allow for a mudroom to storethe family’s belongings.

For a free digital subscription to one orall of the 15 Connection Newspapers,go to www.connectionnewspapers.com/subscribe

Be the first to know – get your paperbefore it hits the press.

Complete digital replica ofthe print edition, includingphotos and ads, deliveredweekly to your e-mail box.

Questions? E-mail:goinggreen@connectionnewspapers.com

Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 7www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

• Non-SurgicalBody Contouring

• Cellulite Reduction

• Wrinkle Reduction

• CircumferencialReduction

• Skin Tightening

• Stretch MarkReduction

Patients Love DermaPen!

BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER

• Minimal Downtime • Minimal Discomfort• Affordable • Safe for All Skin Types• Acne Scars, Photoaging, Fine Lines, Stretch Marks

BEFORE AFTER

Great Falls Center9889 Georgetown Pike • Great Falls, VA 22066

703-677-8700Open 7 Days A Week! 9 am-9 pm!

GREAT FALLS MEDSPA

Look Your Best All Year Round

Other Services:Facial, Chemical Peels, Massage, MicroPen,

Venus Freeze, Venus Legacy, B-12 Shots,Kybella, Sclerotherapy, Whitening,

Invisalign, Botox and FillersFREEZE

TIMEREVERSE

AGINGThrough

Thermal MagneticRejuvenation for

Face, Neckand Body

BEFORE AFTER

HomeLifeStyle

By Marilyn Campbell

The Connection

When the owner of a Great Falls, Va.,home wanted to update the Tudor-style abode’s exterior without compromising its architectural integrity,

he sought guidance from Michael Winn, principal atWINN Design + Build.

Replacing the existing, drafty wooden windowswith energy-efficient Pella Architect Series windowswas the first order of business.

“It was important to the owner that the new win-dows retained the architectural details like propersite-lines and true-divided light grilles,” said Winn.

The design team also replaced the home’s rottenwood trim and water-damaged stucco with fiber ce-ment siding and PVC trim. A neutral and contempo-rary coat of paint replaced the brown color that’soften seen on Tudor-style homes. They extended theroof to create a soffit, which improved the home’saesthetics and function. “The deeper eaves create a

shadow line which are both more attractive and ex-tends the drip line, keeping water away from thefoundation,” said Winn.

Other ways to improve a home’s curb appeal, saysWinn, are upgrading the roof, adding landscape light-ing and updating and freshening the paint. “One ofthe simplest and most economical things you canmake to improve the curb-appeal of your home is tofreshen up the paint,” he said. “Replacing an out-dated color scheme with something a little morelively will make an instant improvement and notbreak the bank.”

Paying attention to small details, investing in asolid, well-made front door and adding low-mainte-nance finishes like composite siding and trim canboost the aesthetic appeal of a home’s exterior. “Com-posite … materials look just like their traditionalwood counterparts, but without the ... maintenance,”Winn explained.

Paint, new windows andother details can add up toa major facelift.

Adding CurbAppeal

Photo by Greg Hadley

WINN Design + Build was able to maintainthe architectural integrity of this GreatFalls, Virginia, home while adding modernupdates like energy-efficient windows andnew siding.

8 ❖ Great Falls Connection ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

HomeLifeStyle

By Andrea Worker

The Connection

Vienna-based realtor Craig Lillywith Long and Foster agreedwith how Ken Harney, the mod-erator for the 2015 Northern Vir-

ginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) Eco-nomic Summit, described the current year’smarket trends at the gathering earlier thismonth at the Fairview Park Marriott.

“His assessment of 2015 is on target withwhat I am experiencing,” said Lilly. “So far,so good.”

Harney, a nationally-syndicated colum-nist, categorized 2013 as the “rebound year”when sales and house prices seemed to beback on a roll after years of post-recessiondoldrums. Then 2014 started out impres-sively strong as well, but mid-year the mar-ket became more “restrained.”

“Last Spring things were rocking,” saidLilly. “I think that caused some sellers toprice too aggressively too quickly in a mar-ket that was changing. That certainly hadan effect on the slowdown we saw for therest of the year.”

The data for 2015 is on Harney’s side.Home sales have increased, particularly inFairfax County, which saw a 22 percentuptick in sales. Figures just released by RealEstate Business Intelligence report the sec-ond-highest level of August sales since2006, with inventories remaining fairlyhealthy and time-on-the-market aboutequal with the same period last year. TheAugust report also showed the average salesprice of single-family homes down slightly(.02 percent), while the average price ofattached homes and condominiums roseslightly.

But even those positive numbers didn’tkeep the summit’s panellists from makingpresentations that leaned decidedly towardsthe cautionary, for both short-term real es-tate transactions, and the future economichealth of the region.

LOOMING ON THE HORIZON is thespectre of another potential governmentshutdown if Congress fails to pass even atemporary budget by the end of the month.Describing the region as a “company town,”and as such, somewhat “vulnerable” to Con-gressional activity, panellist Dr. TerryClower, director of George MasonUniversity’s Center for Regional Analysis,said he wouldn’t discount the possibility ofa shutdown, despite the insistence of oth-ers that neither political party would toler-ate that turn of events. Additional seques-tration during a Presidential election yearis also possible, he said. With a laughing

acknowledgement of his “slight accent – Iam from Texas,” Clower reminded the au-dience that for a “good lump of the rest ofthe country, a government shutdown is notseen as a such a bad thing.”

But for a region where almost 40 percentof the economy is directly related to fed-eral wages and salaries, procurement andother federal activity, Clower’s analogy ofthe “company town’s” vulnerability seemsright on target.

The seemingly endless “Federal ReserveWatch” for interest rate hikes was also dis-cussed by Clower, and by Dr. Lawrence Yun,chief economist with the National Associa-tion of Realtors.

“A rate increase is coming, probablysooner rather than later, before the end ofthe year,” predicted Yun, but he also believesthat any increase will not have an immedi-ate impact on mortgage rates.

That’s an opinion that Weichert RealtorsFair Oaks managing director Lorraine Arora

shares. “People will still be buying and sell-ing. I think the current situation continuesto make people a bit cautious, as Yun sug-gests, but I agree that we probably won’tsee much impact on mortgage rates, at least

for awhile,” said Arora.Lilly was more struck by Yun’s

powerpoints showing homeownership at a50-year low combined with rental vacan-cies at a 30-year low and rents at a seven-year high. “There’s some things to be think-ing about as a Realtor, and really as anyoneliving and working in this area,” he added.

In Yun’s research, millennials - who cur-rently represent a large portion of the rent-ers - are actually the most confident aboutthe housing situation, and despite the manyobstacles to their entering the market, themajority want to eventually becomehomeowners. Their achievement of thatgoal is crucial, according to Yun, who notedthat the net worth of homeowners tends toexceed that of renters.

One positive note on real estate trendsby Yun that the Realtor attendees appreci-ated was his belief that the “trade-up” mar-ket would probably see an improvement,with potential buyers having more cash-in-hand from their current homes’ sales withwhich to make the move. The figures showthat many homes that had fallen below theiroriginal purchase price have at the leastreturned to parity, and in many cases evenseen a modest increase in value.

Back on the subject of the “companytown” dependency, Clower and Yun bothargued that diversification of job sectors iscritical to the region’s future economic suc-cess, requiring greater regional cooperation.

SPEAKING OF ROBOTS, drones, artifi-cial intelligence, virtual reality and the “WeWork” models of sharing work, living spacesand resources, Jonathan Aberman, chair-man of TandemNSI, focused on technologi-cal trends and how they would affect ourdaily lives. Aberman said that any regionthat doesn’t prepare for these changes withan emphasis on affordably “educatingpeople on how to think, rather than just howto do” will be quickly left behind.

Aberman said that more effort is neededto keep the federal dollars spent on tech-nology and related research here at home.“We need to be encouraging our next gen-eration of ‘gazelles,’ what we call our fast-growth companies and entrepreneurs. Andwe need to consider that these people willbe more interested in data-ways than high-ways when considering their work options.”

To Aberman, that includes rethinking thenumber of “trophy offices” under construc-tion and in the pipeline. He worries aboutover-building in commercial properties thatsit empty for so long that they cease to beClass A buildings. Before they can be occu-pied, many are already not up to par forthe next wave of change, either technologi-cally, or culturally speaking, he said.

Lorraine Arora tends to agree withAberman’s concerns. “Look at the commer-cial vacancy rates in Arlington, as just oneexample,” she said. She was also fascinatedby Aberman’s predictions on technology’sinfluence on society in the very near future.

“It’s a little concerning,” she said. Tech-nology is good, but I hope we don’t get tothe point where people just don’t leave theirhomes.”

Home sales haveincreased, particularlyin Fairfax County,which saw a 22 percentuptick.

Diversification Could Help Real Estate Market

From left — Jonathan Aberman of TandemNSI, Jill Landsman, NVAR VPof Communications, and summit moderator Ken Harney at the 19th

Northern Virginia Association of Realtors Economic Summit.

Dr. Terry Clower, director of George Mason University’s Center for Re-gional Analysis, provided detailed data on area employment figures,income, job sector changes and more during the Economic Summit.There was considerable note taking during his presentation.

Rob Whitfield, a member of severalregional transportation citizens’groups including the Dulles Corri-dor Users Group, asks a questionof the panellists.

Photos by Andrea Worker/The Connection