Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com online at www.connectionnewspapers.comLocal Media Connection LLC

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HomeLifeStyleHomeLifeStyleHomeLifeStyleFall 2015Fall 2015

2 ❖ Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

HomeLifeStyle

By Marilyn Campbell

The Connection

A retired couple is feeling liberatedafter selling their Old Town Al-exandria home and buying aWinnebago. Cathy and Mick

Hanratty, who’d been living in theirWinnebago at Fort Belvoir, left town earlierthis week to see the country.

“We have three greyhounds so we had tohave our dogs with us when we travel,” saidCathy, a retired nurse. “With the RV, we cango anywhere we want to go and take ourdogs with us. … We don’t have to worryabout finding a hotel when we travel thataccepts animals.”

The couple lived in Old Town for 16 years.While they enjoyed the community, theyfound the winter weather too brutal fortheir liking. “When winter came, I hated it,”said Cathy. “Now we’ll be in Florida in win-ter.”

The Hanrattys say the transition wasn’tas difficult for them as it might be for somebecause of their backgrounds. “We are bothArmy brats so we’ve been doing this all ourlives,” said Mick, a retired Army colonel.“It’s not like someone who lived in the sameplace all our lives to all of a sudden moveto an RV. We’re used to a transient manner.”

The Hanrattys say their Winnebago iscomfortable. It boasts a living room with alarge-screen television, recessed lightingand an electric fireplace. The kitchen isequipped with a convection-microwaveoven, an apartment-sized refrigerator instainless steel and a propane stove. Thereis a king-size bed in the bedroom and wood-work in a cherry finish.

“One thing that impressed us was all thestorage,” said Mick. “There’s even a lot ofoverhead storage.”

Porcelain flooring throughout “makes itmuch easier to clean,” said Cathy.

The Hanrattys, who have been marriedfor 42 years, say their new lifestyle offers

them flexibility. “It’s much more relaxing,”said Cathy. “If we go someplace we don’tlike, we can pick up and go somewhere else.When you own a house in Old Town, youcan’t just leave if you decide you don’t likeit.”

Their Old Town Alexandria home, whichwas located in Old Town Village, actuallysold before it went on the market. “It’s a

really popular area,” said Lisa Groover, ofMcEnearney Associates, the couple’s realestate agent. “People are always looking forhomes there.”

“I was thrilled to have an opportunity towork with friends and neighbors,” saidGroover. “They were open to ideas and sug-gestions about marketing.”

Although the couple have yet to de-

cide on their final destination, they’reoptimistic.

“We’re anxious to travel around the coun-try and to find a place where we feel com-fortable enough to settle down,” said Mick.“We have to find a place that affords us a homebase where we can park our RV. We’re think-ing about a house with an RV garage, prob-ably in Georgia, Florida or South Carolina.”

Two retirees swap Old Town Alexandriadigs for an RVTrading Spaces

Cathy and Mick Hanratty sold their Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, home and bought a Winnebago.

The living room of Cathy and Mick Hanratty’s Winnebago has an electricfireplace and large-screen television.

Cathy and Mick Hanratty’s Winnebago has a king-sized bed and anabundance of storage.

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4 ❖ Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 5www.ConnectionNewspapers.com www.ConnectionNewspapers.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. Many guestsseem surprised at the project’s top-to-bot-tom scope.

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 of

all 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 considering ways to better integratethe home’s rear suite of rooms with its lovelypoolside setting.

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.”

Not surprisingly, the core problem was thehome’s original floor plan.

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.

“Something as simple as custom-designedcabinets can inspire a completely new, andmuch more functional, floor plan,” Flemingsays.

“Once the Carters were satisfied that thewall between the kitchen and dining room

could come down,” he adds, “it was clearthat innovative storage solutions wouldmake it possible to further develop a specialvisual continuum from inside the house.”

A counter surface with a gas-fueledcooktop range between the kitchen and theformal dining area, thus, provides storagefor both the best family china (accessed fromthe dining room) and everyday cooking ne-cessities (retrievable from the kitchen). Areach-in pantry next to the refrigerator of-fers supplemental storage. Though the eye-level cabinet clutter has been deleted,Fleming says there’s actually been a 35 per-cent increase in storage capacity.

To improve natural light, the small kitchen

window has been replaced with athree-part glazing solution consist-ing of a 45-inch picture windowflanked by two double hung win-dows.

Better yet, with its biancoromano granite surfaces, squareflat cabinet facings and bright, re-flective wall coloring, the newspace has acquired a design el-egance that was never previouslyin evidence.

“An open plan that segues to afree-flowing indoor/outdoor com-ponent is the very essence of a tran-sitional-style interior design solu-

tion,” says Fleming. “The formal el-ements provide definition and bal-ance, yet the clean lines allow alively visual continuum.”

To provide for outdoor dining,Fleming extended the rear shedroof over the previously sun ex-posed decking. The former outdoordining niche now becomes a view-ing area adjacent to a recently in-stalled flat screen TV.

With the addition of two over-head rotating fans, the new out-door space is both intimately con-nected to the house and visuallylinked to the pool and well-land-scaped setting.

“We couldn’t be more pleasedwith how well the house hasevolved over the years,” saysLaurie. “We look forward to livinghere long into the future.”

John Byrd has been writing abouthome improvement topics for 30 years.See more stories atwww.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 improve-ments and upgrades.

The home’s unfinished lower-level was converted into aspacious family room and fitness center complete witha billiards table and media viewing area.

Sun Design’s Jeremy Fleming ex-tended the shed roof to cover sun-exposed decking. Two overheadrotating fans add comfort.

Eliminating walls initiallyseemed impossible, butcustom cabinets by SunDesign’s Jeremy Flemingcreated the opportunity fora different floorplan.

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6 ❖ Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 www.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 in 2015: All about 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 keeps abusy family organized.

Photos by Bob Narod Photography and BOWA

Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 ❖ 7www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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NotesMary Bayat, owner of Bayat

Realty Inc. in Alexandria, was in-stalled as the 2015 chair of theBoard of Northern Virginia Asso-ciation of Realtors. As a directorfor the National Association ofRealtors, Bayat has supported theimplementation of core standardsfor local associations to ensure in-dustry professionalism. Bayat hasalso been involved with the North-ern Virginia Association of RealtorsGlobal Forum.

Harry Braswell, Inc., of Alex-andria, which has served theNorthern Virginia area for morethan 30 years, is introducing Con-cierge Home Services forhomeowners in Northern Virginia.The members-only services in-clude home maintenance plans,snow removal, off-site storage andà la carte consultation.

The headquarters of the Trans-portation Security Adminis-tration (TSA) will relocate to theVictory Center in Alexandria witha 15-year lease.

Weichert, Realtors’ Alexan-dria/Old Town Office was rec-ognized for outstanding perfor-mance in May. The office led boththe company and the region,which is comprised of officesthroughout Fairfax, Loudoun,Fauquier and Delaware counties,for resale dollar volume.

Ruppert Landscape pro-moted Joshua Araujo and MikeLopes in its Alexandria LandscapeManagement Branch. Araujo hasbeen promoted to area manager.Lopes has been promoted to en-hancement manager.

Morgan Price has joined theAlexandria office of BB&T Scott &Stringfellow as vice president andfinancial advisor. Price has morethan seven years of experience inthe financial services industry,most recently with SunTrust In-vestment Services.

Managing Director at Speck-Caudron Investment Group ofWells Fargo Advisors, DavidSpeck, was recognized in the2015 edition of the FinancialTimes 400 Top Advisers in theUnited States.

Michael Ormonde has beennamed the new area president forWell Fargo’s South Potomac Re-gion. Ormonde has worked forWells Fargo since 1998 when hebecame a teller at a San Franciscobranch. Most recently he served asa district manager. Ormonde re-places Ravi Chandra, named re-gional president for Western Vir-ginia.

8 ❖ Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ HomeLifeStyle Fall 2015 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Address .............................. BR FB HB ... Postal City .. Sold Price .... Type ....... Lot AC . PostalCode ....... Subdivision ......... Date Sold

1 410 PRINCE ST ..................... 4 .. 3 . 1 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $2,495,000 .... Townhouse .. 0.07 ........ 22314 .............. OLD TOWN ............. 07/02/15

2 212 ROYAL ST S ................... 3 .. 3 . 0 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,515,000 .... Townhouse .. 0.06 ........ 22314 .............. OLD TOWN ............. 07/30/15

3 208 WOLFE ST ..................... 3 .. 2 . 1 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,317,000 .... Townhouse .. 0.06 ........ 22314 .............. OLD TOWN ............. 07/17/15

4 3309 RUSSELL RD ................ 5 .. 4 . 1 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,280,000 .... Detached ..... 0.23 ........ 22305 ............. MOUNT IDA ............. 07/31/15

5 331 MANSION DR ................ 4 .. 2 . 2 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,278,000 .... Detached ..... 0.23 ........ 22302 .......... JEFFERSON PARK ......... 07/30/15

6 2710 FARM RD ..................... 5 .. 5 . 0 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,249,500 .... Detached ..... 0.20 ........ 22302 ....... BRADDOCK HEIGHTS ...... 07/28/15

7 319 KENTUCKY AVE .............. 4 .. 4 . 1 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,202,500 .... Detached ..... 0.21 ........ 22305 ........... BEVERLY HILLS .......... 07/10/15

8 106 WOLFE ST ..................... 4 .. 3 . 1 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,165,000 .... Townhouse .. 0.06 ........ 22314 .............. OLD TOWN ............. 07/17/15

9 4875 MAURY LN ................... 3 .. 3 . 0 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,150,000 .... Detached ..... 1.79 ........ 22304 ...... MOORE HILL ESTATES ..... 07/24/15

10 325 PITT ST N ...................... 4 .. 3 . 1 ..... ALEXANDRIA .. $1,145,000 .... Townhouse .. 0.03 ........ 22314 .............. PITT MEWS ............. 07/08/15

Copyright 2015 RealEstate Business Intelligence. Source: MRIS as of August 14, 2015.

Photos by Hal Vernon/The Connection

1 410 PrinceStreet —

$2,495,000

2 212 RoyalStreet South —$1,515,000

3 208 Wolfe Street —$1,317,000

8 106 Wolfe Street —$1,165,000

10 325 Pitt Street North— $1,145,000

In July 2015, 236 Alexandria homes sold

between $2,495,000-$120,000.

In July 2015, 236 Alexandria homes sold

between $2,495,000-$120,000.

July, 2015 Top SalesJuly, 2015 Top SalesAlexandria REAL ESTATEAlexandria REAL ESTATE