House Hunting in DC

In late February we began the house hunting process in DC. Joe was TDY to the DC area for his job and stayed the weekend to begin looking at house (or so we thought). While looking around with a buyer's agent, they stumbled across some home being built in the Ashburn area [technically Brambleton] which is out by Dulles Airport.

Joe really liked the place, and thanks to a wicked snow storm shutting down Dulles - he had an extra day to go back and look again. The following weekend the family drove out so that Jen could take a look at some houses as well as see the area and type of house being built. Big surprise - Jen liked it also. So, we put in an offer and are now on contract. To make things even more exciting, Jen flew back to DC one day later so she could pick out all of the house fixings (kitchen cabinets, bathroom tile & cabinets, flooring, kitchen appliances, shower heads, etc...).

If all goes according to plan, the house will be done in the middle of May and we will close the end of May. Just in time to move our stuff out from graduation on 14 June. We alternate between the excitement of owning our first house [and a new one at that] and sheer terror of the financial commitment we are about to make. Below are a series of pictures showing the house.

First set of pictures - taken on Monday 26 February:


That isn't our house - that will be our neighbors house. Look closely at the foundation in the ground - that will be our house. However, our house is the same style (called a "Morgan") as the one you see here. We will have a detached, 2 story garage also.



Our neighbors house, along with our foundation to the right. Even 30 miles outside of DC, space is still a premium.

An up-close view of our foundation. Notice the trees that our front yard opens up to.

Yet another picture of our foundation - this time from the front looking toward the back. It is hard to tell with all the dirt & snow, but in the front is our porch.

Second set of pictures - taken on Sunday 4 March:

Standing in the back of the house. The structure in view is the 2 story detached garage. You can see how close we are to our neighbors.

Family picture on our future porch. You can see where the two front windows and front door will eventually end up.

Third set of pictures - taken on Monday 12 March (thanks to Mel & Scott):

Seems like they are moving quickly with the house. You can see the location for the windows for the half bath (by the front of the house), in the stairway, and by the family room (the two narrow windows toward the rear of the house).

The front of the house is coming along nicely too. The two front windows will be for the den (as we converted the living room into a den).

And the garage.

Fourth set of pictures - taken on 19 March (thanks Dave & Heather, especially Dave for crawling into all the nooks & crannies):

Side by side with the neighbors (who have moved in already).

Closer view of the front.

Looking in as you enter the front door.

View from the dining room into the future den.

On the left is part of the kitchen, to the right will be the breakfast room.





Looking into the master bedroom (or as Alex likes to say, "my room").








Looking out from the master bedroom into the other rooms upstairs.

And the garage.