My private exclusive mid-century modern listing in Moyaone Reserve sold before going on the market. The 1958 mid-century modern with A-frame studio on six acres was designed by local architect Casper Neer, a long time resident of Hollin Hills who graduated from Harvard’s School of Design during the time that Marcel Breuer and I.M. Pei. It sold for $585,000. (Photos by Jaren Drew.)

When my client bought it several years ago, it was in need of major repair and updating. Her aim was to save the house and she did: from replacing all the glass to the high-end kitchen with Italian Pedini cabinets. The seller redid bathrooms, created a full guest suite downstairs and redid the entire entrance patio area.

The 4 bedroom/3 full bathroom house with full guest suite was originally designed for the Lawless family.  Ben Lawless, an artist at the Smithsonian, hired Neer who was a close friend of Charles Wagner, a modernist architect who did many homes in Moyaone Reserve. Neer’s original design was for a smaller split level with three bedrooms and one bath. His addition, with larger public spaces, including the 45-foot living room with the window walls and many glass sliding doors to the decks, was built in 1965. It also has a separate four-car garage.

The Moyaone Reserve is a community of 180 homes situated along the Potomac River contiguous to Piscataway National Park, home of the National Colonial Farm, and to The Hard Bargain Farm, an environmental education center. The homes in Moyaone Reserve were first built after World War II by the likes of architects Wagner and Goodman. Most of the lots in the community are five acres or more and are protected by federal scenic easements to protect the view shed from Mt. Vernon, just across the Potomac River. Moyaone Reserve, which offers a community pool and garden, is approximately a 20-minute drive south of Alexandria, Virginia, from Capital Beltway off Indian Head Highway.