The multiple levels and elevations of this week’s featured home in Potomac catch the eye of a visitor in unexpected ways.

The dining room perches over the living room with its 16-foot wall of windows that flood light into both spaces. The patio provides a secluded oasis while the rooftop terrace offers boundless tree-filled views.

Sam Pardoe built the house, taking the “Cliffs” floor plan of D.C. architect Errol Adels and adapting it to this four-level home in Avenel. Adels’s original design was for the townhomes that nest on a cliff above Chain Bridge Road.

Mortgage rates were mixed in reaction to reports on inflation and the housing construction market, according to the latest data released by Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to its six-week high, rising to 3.37 percent with an average 0.7 point. It was up from last week when it was 3.32 percent. Last year at this time, it was 3.91 percent. Still, the 30-year fixed rate has averaged less than 3.5 percent the past 13 weeks.

On the other hand, the 15-year fixed-rate average fell, dropping to 2.65 percent with an average 0.7 point. It was down from last week when it was 2.66 percent. A year ago, it was 3.21 percent.

Hybrid adjustable rate mortgages also were mixed. The five-year ARM edged up to 2.71 percent with an average 0.7 point. It was up from last week when it was 2.7 percent.

The one-year ARM fell to 2.52 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it was 2.53 percent.

Demolition work on the site of the future Cathedral Commons is nearly complete, signaling the end of a long-running battle to halt the large-scale mixed-use redevelopment project less than a half mile north of National Cathedral.

Demolition work is nearly complete on the site of the future Cathedral Commons development on Wisconsin Avenue. (Photo by Steven Harras) Workers are razing buildings — including a strip mall that once housed the 1950s era G.C. Murphy Co. department store — on the 178,236-square-foot property nearly one year after an appeals court rejected legal challenges by several neighborhood associations to stop the project.  

The development project encompasses two parcels. A two-story mixed-use building to be located at 3336 Wisconsin Ave. NW will contain a new 56,000-square-foot Giant supermarket (nearly three times larger than a previous store located on the site), 13 boutique apartments, eight townhomes, retail and two levels of below-grade parking.

A second building to be constructed at 3406 Wisconsin Ave. NW will include 124 upscale residences, street-level retail and 124 below-ground parking spaces.

While residential mobility rates nationwide have been on the decline, the rate of moving in the Washington region remains higher than most places. 

Over the 2008 to 2010 period, the average one-year mobility rate in the D.C. region was 14.2 percent, a full two percentage points higher than the U.S. rate.  The highest mobility rates in our area were in Arlington and Alexandria, where one out of every five households moved each year. 

The Washington area has been a particular draw for migrants recently because our region added jobs in the early part of the economic recovery when the rest of the country wasn’t.  According to American Community Survey data analyzed for a study conducted by the GMU Center for Regional Analysis and RBIntel, each year between 2008 and 2010 nearly 90,000 households moved into the Washington metro area from other places in the U.S. and around the world. Another 200,000 changed residences within the metro area. 

This is a commentary by Ronald D. Paul, president of EagleBank.

While Washingtonians are accustomed to seeing cranes and “open for business” signs abound in the downtown, Capitol Hill, West End, Dupont Circle and Columbia Heights neighborhoods, new business and housing activity in the Virginia suburbs from Alexandria to Reston have reached a crescendo of late. 

Indeed, young professionals and new parents are seeking enclaves such as Ballston, Courthouse and Clarendon like never before — and businesses and retail are responding.

For the foodie group, neighborhoods from Del Ray to Clarendon now boast such popular new eateries as Caffe Aficionado, Circa, Fuego Cocina, Pizzeria Paradiso, Tin Cup, Jaleo, Matchbox, Cava, Sweet Green  and Hank’s Oyster Bar.  MOM’s Organic Market has also planted a flag in Alexandria, Herndon and the Mosaic District, Northern Virginia’s most recent and extensive mixed use retail, office and housing development. 

As far west as Ashburn (near Dulles International Airport), new housing and retail are also thriving.  Jumbo Jungle, a new laser tag entertainment center for kids, teenagers and young adults just opened a store that is pulling in tech-savvy young people from across the area.  And Cross Fit Gym provides a state-of-the-art fitness resource for Fairfax residents. Youngsters seeking private school education in grades K-8 have a new option in the Edlin School in Reston, the newest entry into the area’s independent school ranks.