In Arlington, architects offer a free historic house — but only to go

Another buyer might not have flinched at the idea of demolishing the tiny 1920s house in Lyon Park, with its two bedrooms, single bathroom and basement built for dwarves.

Far larger houses are routinely torn down across Arlington to make way for six-bedroom, five-bathroom abodes that are four or five times the size.

But the new homeowner and her architects, Paola Lugli and Paola Amodeo, could not bear to tear down the house, a Sears kit home built in 1926, as part of the original subdivision. It was well cared for, with the original door frames and wooden shingles. The house, with about 960 square feet of living space, just wasnt big enough for the new owner and her two children.

There was space in the yard to build up and out. But the architects wanted to avoid the sort of oversized additions that have become commonplace in Arlington County, where, Lugli said, it looks like the house ate the house.

So she and Amodeo came up with another idea: give the Sears house away to someone who is willing to preserve it and move it to a new location.

We need someone with an adventurous spirit, Amodeo said. Someone who can appreciate the project.

But giving away a house, it turns out, is not as easy as it sounds. This one comes with strings attached hauling away the nearly 88-year-old home could run as much as $50,000, Lugli estimated.

The fact the owner is willing to pursue alternatives is great, said Cynthia Liccese-Torres, the countys preservation program coordinator. But I I dont know if they will succeed.

Moving a house is quite a project. Utilities have to be disconnected. The front and back porches need to be removed. Only then can the house be hoisted from its foundations and placed on a truck that can take it to its new location. The new site has to be prepared, too, with a basement, a foundation and utilities in place, ready to go.

Even with those costs, the Lyon Park house still might be a bargain in pricey Arlington, where buyers regularly shell out upward of $600,000 just to buy a house they plan to tear down and replace.

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In Arlington, architects offer a free historic house — but only to go