We were hired in 1999 by our neighbor to work with them to come up with a master plan to help them to develop their property in the Haycock neighborhood of Falls Church. With a large lot and a steady foundation provided by a 1940s rambler, we had a blank slate to work with.

The first phase was to finish the basement, with nice trim, drywall, lighting, storage areas, and better insulation. This was done in 2003.

The second phase was to renovate the existing bathrooms and to re-trim the bedrooms of the main level, giving some style to the house while waiting for a larger renovation. This was done in 2004.

In 2008 we built a large porch across the front of the house -- see some of the photos with just the porch.

In 2014, we finished the largest part of the master plan and added a left-side addition, a rear addition, renovated the existing living room, dining room, and kitchen, and one of the bedrooms, plus raised the roof with an all-new top-level.

We still have a rear patio to do, but otherwise, are complete with the master plan.

This project is a great example of using proper planning to break down a project into phases that can be afforded.

Though the neighborhood was just ramblers, we have paved the way with a number of projects including Seth Ballard's own house and the builders are now following, with 6 teardowns on the block. We of course still prefer our own way of doing things, as we keep the trees.

The latest project was built by Ali Rouhani and his construction company AR Design Group. He is also the owner of Ideal Tile of Falls Church, a long-time design store on Broad Street. They did an excellent job.