Unique Spaces: A Modern Hilltop Retreat

• May 12, 2010

by Jennifer Sergent

When Nick Perez’s parents were building their house in McLean’s Chain Bridge Forest more than a decade ago, he couldn’t help but notice another home going up just across the Arlington border.

The property, designed by the original owners, stood out in the neighborhood for its curves, sharp angles and its strikingly modern design. When it went on the market in 2006, Perez and his wife had just started thinking about a move to the suburbs from their three-story loft in DC. As a lover of contemporary architecture, it didn’t take long for Perez to decide that the four-bedroom was for him.

Exterior

“I was always intrigued by the house,” Perez, who owns the floral design company Multiflor told UrbanTurf. “We also love modern architecture.”

The Perezes and their two children, ages 5 and 7, love the openness and curves of the home, and because the house does not have very many walls, there are a number of wide open spaces.

“[The kids] love the fact they’ve got these big, cavernous rooms they can play in,” Nick said.

Master Bedroom

Everyone’s favorite feature, though, is the floor-to-ceiling glass across the rooms that look out the back of the house to the Arlingwood forest.

“It’s seamless with the outside,” Perez says of the home, adding that there are tons of trails through the forest, and they can leave on bikes and get on the C&O Canal tow path to go fishing or down to Fletcher’s Boat House in Georgetown. Every room on the top floor also has its own deck, and as a result, the children have regular sightings of deer, foxes, owls (both the brown and snowy white varieties), hawks, and even the occasional bald eagle.

Back deck looking into forest

Nick told UrbanTurf that the Arlingwood neighborhood has a fairly eclectic mix of architecture, ranging from 1970s contemporary to Arts and Crafts. This is evidenced by two other houses for sale in the area: A log cabin built in 1921 just around the corner and a traditional-style farmhouse, once owned by NBC weatherman Willard Scott, just two doors down.

“People like [the neighborhood] because it’s so hidden,” says John Eric, the Washington Fine Properties agent who is listing Scott’s former home. “The houses are perched on a hill overlooking George Washington Parkway and the Potomac River. If you didn’t know where the street is, your GPS would send you the wrong way.”

So, why are the Perez’s moving from a home that they love?

“Every few years we just kind of get ants in our pants,” he says. “We’d love to now have a back yard and a garage.”

• 4100 40th St. North, Arlington, VA (map)
• On the market for $1.595 million
• Listing Courtesy of Linda Rogers, Susan Koehler, Jeanne Shaw, and Ruffin Maddox, Washington Fine Properties

UrbanTurf contributor Jennifer Sergent is the brains behind the DC By Design blog. She was most recently the senior editor at Washington Spaces magazine.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/unique_spaces_a_modern_hilltop_retreat/2064