Open house Friday in Annandale at house built by teens

A brand-new house for sale in Annandale is really special – it was built by teens from the Phillips School.

The community is invited to come see it at an open house Friday, May 14, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., at 6459 Holyoke Drive. The house will be priced in the low $800,000s.

Phillips students Michael Coxson (left) and Brandon Franzmann helped build a house on Holyoke Drive.

The house has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a finished basement, large closets, front porch, deck, and garage.  

The Phillips School, on Braddock Road in Annandale, serves teens with behavioral and learning issues. 

Students in the school’s Building Futures program spend one day a week working on the house and the rest of the week taking high school classes.

“They get a chance to learn about residential construction, from framing to power tools,” says Robert Jackson, the vocational education coordinator at Phillips, who supervises the students on site. 

Building Futures also motivates students to finish high school, be more independent and responsible, and take pride in their work.

The house still needs a few finishing touches.

Michael Coxson of Montgomery County, Md., says he had been planning to drop out of high school before his parents enrolled him in the Phillips School. He learned marketable skills in the Building Futures program and already has a job lined up after he graduates in June.

A professional architect designed the house, and contractors built the foundation, roof, and trusses and installed the HVAC and electrical systems, Jackson says.

Students worked on the framing, siding, subfloor, windows, tiling, drywall, deck, and windows, and roughed in the plumbing and water lines. 

The Phillips School will use the proceeds from the sale of the house to buy another lot and building supplies for the next student-built house.

Phillips students work on the deck with supervision from their teachers.

This is the second house built by Phillips students. The first one, at 6430 Holyoke Drive, was completed in 2016.

Holyoke Drive is part of the oldest Black neighborhood in Annandale, Jackson says. A few of the homes – and homeowners from those times – remain, although many of the old houses have been replaced by larger, modern ones.