LEED Platinum and Gold Remodels in Alexandria

On Sunday, as we were heading off to brunch in Old Town, Mary and I noticed an open house in the neighborhood, and drove by to take a look.

Turns out that one of the old two-family homes had been renovated and now is on the market. We went in for a look around at this now 3beds 3.5baths house - the developer was there and gave us a tour of the features.

Turns out that the firm, WMH Investments LLC, is specializing in "Green" renovations, and had achieved a gold rating on this home.



In an earlier project, they had completed the next door house to the platinum level. Here are two views.

We remembered both of these houses as having been in poor shape despite the housing boom that went through the neighborhood from 1998 to 2005. The results here are really an improvement.

In the case of the gold house, an elderly couple lived in the house and had consolidated themselves to the main floor. The upstairs had become unliveable - infested with raccoons, even. When the inevitable 9-1-1 call happened when the wife had a health concern, the EMT team reported the condition of the house as unsafe and it was condemned.

Family members from LA came out and took their parents back with them to southern California, and in the meantime, met up with WMH, then working on the gold-rated home next door. They made a deal and the renovation became WMH's next project.

On a tip from WMH, I've taken a look at the US Green Building Council (USGBC) website and checklist. I plan to do some future posts on the project checklist and some other examples. It is a hope of ours that some of the future work on the Hawksbill Cabin can be done using these methods and materials - we'd like to think that our selection of the standing seem roof, ceiling insulation, and other aspects of that big job met some criteria, but further research is needed.


The street where these two houses are located has had a number of renovations over the last five years or so, including this one, next door to the LEED Platinum house. The neighborhood is mostly kit homes on builder lots, constructed beginning around 1920 along a street car route.

One of the goals MWH outlined in the project is to complete their projects so that the renovated home is affordable by neighborhood standards. With the gold house, it seems they were successful - the house, less than a half mile from King Street Metro, is list at $895K.

Readers interested in more information about WMH should post a comment letting me know how to reply, and I will send contact info about the firm.