Derecho

So we had been in discussions to buy the old house on Maple Avenue. We put an offer in on the property on June 18th and were working with the sellers to agree on a price. On the morning of June 29th we had submitted our latest counter-offer to the sellers, who wanted to think about it over the weekend.

And then on the night of June 29th a surprise derecho storm rolled through Virginia and wreaked total havoc. Fallen trees blacked out power and cell phone service all the way to Front Royal. This scene of Great Falls Street at Virginia Avenue was the backdrop for one of the national TV news broadcasts.

Just a couple of weeks beforehand we had toured the Maple Avenue property with our parents. My mother looked at the mushrooms growing near the roots of the ancient black cherry tree in the backyard - the one with the kid-friendly tree swing hanging out of it - and said something about rotting in the roots, likelihood of falling down and some other mystic incantations. We moved on.

Before



Bigger than it looks!

The derecho took the mushroom-festooned trunk of the tree and split it at the base, several thousand pounds of black cherry tree subsequently landing on the roof of the old house. In an entertaining coincidence, the morning this picture was taken happened to be our 12th wedding anniversary.

Perhaps this should have been a deterrent to considering the purchase of a property in this condition, but it still seemed like a good opportunity, especially given that we were thinking of a major renovation anyway. We pressed on.

Rainforest Decor was Big in the 1800s

Idea

We really weren't looking.

Having lived in our Park Avenue townhouse in Falls Church for the past 6 years, we had a great situation. Good amount of space, detached garage, and walking distance from 10 restaurants. We had the ability to retrieve a growler full of craft beer from Mad Fox and be back home in roughly 7-8 minutes. We had no yard work to speak of, even after unknowingly ripping out a decent quantity of poison ivy in the summer of 2006. Without gloves, of course.

In the spring, we had gotten exposed to the handiwork of Thoughtful Development, a local Falls Church design/build firm who we had heard specialized in custom and older homes. Specifically, we had the opportunity to see the inside of their home during the FCEPTA Home & Garden Tour, which they had redone as their primary residence. As it turns out, they were the firm also working on Lawton House, a historic property owned by some friends of ours.

Garner Cottage

While we really liked our current situation, we figured at some point we might want to have a yard and a little more space, especially with an open floor plan for the kitchen/family room area. Those thoughts, and the viewing of Steve and Claudine's Garner Cottage, prompted us to write them an open-ended email on May 31st about meeting them informally to hear about their work. To make that discussion useful we jotted down 10-15 bullets that constituted our wish list.

The basics included things like an open floor plan, an extra bedroom, and finishes you might find in a custom home like additional trimwork and ceiling treatments, solid wood doors and other features that make a house feel less mass produced. We didn't want a super-large house stuffed onto a lot, which seems to be what you get from most builders these days.

Finally, we wanted to stay in Falls Church, which is a small city with a limited number of properties to choose from. We love the schools, the kids have their friends, and we have gotten involved with PTA and other volunteer activities. We've been in the city for 12 years, and have gotten to know it and our neighbors better each year.

Anyway, we were surprised to get a note saying, "There is this really great old house that you should look at...". After meeting with Steve and Claudine, and walking through the property, two things became clear: 1) the house needed to be gutted and expanded, but that 2) we were pretty much hooked on the idea of doing exactly that.