Close-in, small, high end house - Does it exsit?

[Anonymous]

OP my parents couldn't find such a house. They decided to go with a great two story that had a master bedroom on first floor and they just don't go upstairs or use the upstairs. Kind of a waste, but all of the smaller homes had small kitchens, small bedrooms, small bathrooms, no laundry, etc.

[Anonymous]

The shortage of these types of SFH's is why we ended up in a townhome. Honestly, a lot of the housing in DC metro is just awful.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:DH and I will be retiring in the next few years and want to move back to the DC area (left in 2001) to be closer to grandkids who are now 4 and 2. We want a smaller (<2,000 sq ft) home but with new and high end finishes. Think professional remodels on Houzz.com. We want to be within .5 mile of locally owned shops and restaurants and easy access into DC. We garden extensively and want at least some yard (maybe not more than a 10,000 sq ft lot) so that rules out a condo, row house on Capitol Hill or townhouse.

Grandkids are in Fair Oaks area and while we will not be babysitting on a daily basis as they will probably be in school FT once we move there, we will do Sunday family dinners, weekend date night and take care of sick kids.


No split levels or center hall colonials....

Budget <$1.5M

How difficult is it to find such a house or will we have to tear down and build from the ground up or remodel extensively?

If you are not familiar with the area, the drive time between fair oaks and DC is very long.

You will need to balance proximity to your kids vs how much you want to be in DC.

Areas that have town centers or local shops starting from closest to Fair Oaks to DC

Fairfax Towne Center
Town of Vienna
Tysons Silver Line Development Areas
City of Falls Church
North Arlington Areas
I would not recommend anywhere outside of those because it will severely impact travel times.

Although Old Town / Del Ray Alexandria would be great for you the travel time would be extreme.

I forgot one area

Fairfax Towne Center
Town of Vienna
Tysons Silver Line Development Areas
Mosaic District
City of Falls Church
North Arlington Areas

Are there SFHs with room to garden in Mosaic District?

Agree to also look in Town of Vienna and Falls Church City.

This. Vienna or FCC seem like the best bet. Arlington also has what you're looking for, but it's a pretty young, urban professional demographic ... far fewer retirees and a generally faster pace of life.

Disregard the Pimmit Hills comment. You will not find an attractive small home there. It is all large new builds or tiny original low income housing.

Actually the house being proposed on Cherri is a small new build.

Since when are all the original house owners "low income".

People who pay 4-500k are not considered "low income"

The original homes were built as low(er) income housing. That the market has soared in DC and even formerly low-income areas are now expensive (relatively) is irrelevant. "Original low income housing" is completely apt - that is most decidedly what those houses are. Sorry to offend you with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I will be retiring in the next few years and want to move back to the DC area (left in 2001) to be closer to grandkids who are now 4 and 2. We want a smaller (<2,000 sq ft) home but with new and high end finishes. Think professional remodels on Houzz.com. We want to be within .5 mile of locally owned shops and restaurants and easy access into DC. We garden extensively and want at least some yard (maybe not more than a 10,000 sq ft lot) so that rules out a condo, row house on Capitol Hill or townhouse.

Grandkids are in Fair Oaks area and while we will not be babysitting on a daily basis as they will probably be in school FT once we move there, we will do Sunday family dinners, weekend date night and take care of sick kids.


No split levels or center hall colonials....

Budget <$1.5M

How difficult is it to find such a house or will we have to tear down and build from the ground up or remodel extensively?

If you are not familiar with the area, the drive time between fair oaks and DC is very long.

You will need to balance proximity to your kids vs how much you want to be in DC.

Areas that have town centers or local shops starting from closest to Fair Oaks to DC

Fairfax Towne Center
Town of Vienna
Tysons Silver Line Development Areas
City of Falls Church
North Arlington Areas
I would not recommend anywhere outside of those because it will severely impact travel times.

Although Old Town / Del Ray Alexandria would be great for you the travel time would be extreme.

I forgot one area

Fairfax Towne Center
Town of Vienna
Tysons Silver Line Development Areas
Mosaic District
City of Falls Church
North Arlington Areas

Are there SFHs with room to garden in Mosaic District?

Agree to also look in Town of Vienna and Falls Church City.

This. Vienna or FCC seem like the best bet. Arlington also has what you're looking for, but it's a pretty young, urban professional demographic ... far fewer retirees and a generally faster pace of life.

Disregard the Pimmit Hills comment. You will not find an attractive small home there. It is all large new builds or tiny original low income housing.

Actually the house being proposed on Cherri is a small new build.

Since when are all the original house owners "low income".

People who pay 4-500k are not considered "low income"

The original homes were built as low(er) income housing. That the market has soared in DC and even formerly low-income areas are now expensive (relatively) is irrelevant. "Original low income housing" is completely apt - that is most decidedly what those houses are. Sorry to offend you with reality.

The original homes built for most of the DC area were like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:City of Fairfax - good idea. Close to Fair Oaks.

+1. Look around 123/236 intersection near the court house.

[Anonymous]

Parts of the Mantua area between 50 and 236 (zip code 22031, east of Pickett Road, west of Prosperity Avenue) would work as well and have plenty of gardening space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parts of the Mantua area between 50 and 236 (zip code 22031, east of Pickett Road, west of Prosperity Avenue) would work as well and have plenty of gardening space.

Are they near shops and restaurants?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I will be retiring in the next few years and want to move back to the DC area (left in 2001) to be closer to grandkids who are now 4 and 2. We want a smaller (<2,000 sq ft) home but with new and high end finishes. Think professional remodels on Houzz.com. We want to be within .5 mile of locally owned shops and restaurants and easy access into DC. We garden extensively and want at least some yard (maybe not more than a 10,000 sq ft lot) so that rules out a condo, row house on Capitol Hill or townhouse.

Grandkids are in Fair Oaks area and while we will not be babysitting on a daily basis as they will probably be in school FT once we move there, we will do Sunday family dinners, weekend date night and take care of sick kids.


No split levels or center hall colonials....

Budget <$1.5M

How difficult is it to find such a house or will we have to tear down and build from the ground up or remodel extensively?

If you are not familiar with the area, the drive time between fair oaks and DC is very long.

You will need to balance proximity to your kids vs how much you want to be in DC.

Areas that have town centers or local shops starting from closest to Fair Oaks to DC

Fairfax Towne Center
Town of Vienna
Tysons Silver Line Development Areas
City of Falls Church
North Arlington Areas
I would not recommend anywhere outside of those because it will severely impact travel times.

Although Old Town / Del Ray Alexandria would be great for you the travel time would be extreme.

I forgot one area

Fairfax Towne Center
Town of Vienna
Tysons Silver Line Development Areas
Mosaic District
City of Falls Church
North Arlington Areas

Are there SFHs with room to garden in Mosaic District?

Agree to also look in Town of Vienna and Falls Church City.

This. Vienna or FCC seem like the best bet. Arlington also has what you're looking for, but it's a pretty young, urban professional demographic ... far fewer retirees and a generally faster pace of life.

Disregard the Pimmit Hills comment. You will not find an attractive small home there. It is all large new builds or tiny original low income housing.

Actually the house being proposed on Cherri is a small new build.

Since when are all the original house owners "low income".

People who pay 4-500k are not considered "low income"

The original homes were built as low(er) income housing. That the market has soared in DC and even formerly low-income areas are now expensive (relatively) is irrelevant. "Original low income housing" is completely apt - that is most decidedly what those houses are. Sorry to offend you with reality.

But it wasn't built as "low(er) income housing" - it was regular-old, accessible-to-the-middle class housing. Just because it slid doesn't mean it was poor to begin with.

[Anonymous]

I live in Merrifield and I would check City of Fairfax if you do want some proximity to the grands. As much as I would personally prefer to live closer to DC, if you're planning on being out there in Fair Oaks once to several times a week, 66 is irritating-to-nightmarish, both directions.

[Anonymous]

I AM SO SICK OF PIMMIT HILLS BASHING! I never even want to hear about that neighborhood again in my life. Just stop posting about it on every single thread!

[Anonymous]

It was built for returning veterans, some were low income, others were middle income. Definitely it never considered upscale, then or now.

[Anonymous]

You're going to have a hard time finding the smaller size, high end updates, gardening area, plus walkable location. We looked for that, and consistently found 3 of the 4 in some combination, but not all. We ended up with a smaller place with a garden area and walking distance to restaurants, etc, and will probably renovate eventually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was built for returning veterans, some were low income, others were middle income. Definitely it never considered upscale, then or now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was built for returning veterans, some were low income, others were middle income. Definitely it never considered upscale, then or now.

Although my neighborhood in McLean is considered expensive it used to not be a high end area and things were torn down to build new homes. I still don't consider it upscale whatever that means.

This change in neighborhood SES happens and has happened everywhere including McLean, North Arlington and Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Look at Vienna- close to Church Street/Maple Ave, there are sidewalks all over, you can walk to plenty of shops, restaurants, grocers, etc. Many older homes are being renovated or remodeled and you can find something nice for under $1.5M. Also, you'll have access to the W&O bike trail. The grand kids can come do the Vienna town events: 4th of July Fireworks, Halloween Parade, Christmas Stroll, etc... Easy access to toll road, 66 and metro.