What initially attracted Karen Sowell to this 1935 house in Arlington, Va., was not its Tudor exterior or its ample entertaining spaces. It was that the prior owners had raised a daughter here. Sowell committed to doing the same.She said she was helped by youth programs offered through a Country Club Hills neighborhood association, a group — “less formal than some of the others in town” — that is also involved in adult education.
“It has a very charming, old style,” she said. “So we wanted to modernize and open it up and brighten , keeping with that style.”The back of the house was rebuilt to include a large pantry or closet on the first floor. She reduced the amount of wall to connect the kitchen to the family room, and redecorated every room in the house with Andrew Law, a longtime D.C.-area interior designer.
The lower level has a laundry and a bathroom, as well as a recreation room with a wet bar and a gas fireplace. This level also connects to a two-car garage.