Residential & Interior Designer in Arlington, VA

Bungalows, foursquares, and brick Colonials

Neighborhoods such as Lyon Village, Cherrydale, Maywood, Ashton Heights, and Westover grew with the streetcar lines and early automobile suburbs of the first half of the twentieth century. The houses are bungalows, American foursquares, Cape Cods, and Colonial Revival homes in brick and frame, many on narrow lots. Interiors tend to be small and well ordered: a center or side stair, a front living room, a dining room, and a compact kitchen at the rear. Many of these houses have already been altered once or twice, with a small kitchen bump-out or an enclosed porch, and part of the work is deciding which earlier changes to keep.

Growing within tight limits

On an Arlington lot, the zoning envelope often decides the design. The county’s single-family districts limit lot coverage and building footprint alongside setbacks and height, so a project may need to grow upward, through a second story or new dormers, rather than outward into the yard. A well-planned rear addition can still bring the kitchen and family room together, but every foot counts, and the transition from the original house to the new space has to be handled with care so the house still reads as one piece. Porches and front elevations matter here too, since they are what the neighborhood sees.

Arlington County permitting

Arlington has no separate incorporated towns, so residential work answers to a single authority: Arlington County, whose building permit and zoning offices sit within the Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development. Properties in a local historic district, such as Maywood, also require review by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board, and larger additions can trigger the county’s land disturbance and stormwater review. Talha sorts out these requirements early, so the design is drawn to fit the rules rather than revised to meet them.

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