A New Mural at Rust Construction
October 15, 2026
We are painting a giant (20×80-foot) mural on the outside of our shop. We commissioned local artist, Patrick Kirwin, to come up with the plan and do the work.
We are painting a giant (20×80-foot) mural on the outside of our shop. We commissioned local artist, Patrick Kirwin, to come up with the plan and do the work.
Rust Construction has been a design-build firm since 1956. That year Robert Rust and his brother Gordon Rust, AIA, an architect, took over the family business from their father and relaunched it as a design-build company. Not long ago we renovated a house using Rust Construction blueprints from the 1950s to check existing conditions.
Where rainwater goes matters as much as how much falls. Explore how gutters, downspouts, and sustainable drainage solutions can help protect your DC-area home, and why stormwater planning belongs in your renovation from the start.
Your kitchen feels cut off from the rest of the house. Your bathrooms are small. You have a front porch you never use. Your basement walls are stone. Your ceilings are nine feet on the first floor and seven on the second.
Whether you’re restoring a historic Old Town rowhouse or designing a sleek contemporary kitchen, understanding the difference between inset, overlay, custom, semi‑custom and stock cabinets will help you make informed choices.
Brick construction is everywhere in the Washington, DC region. Walk almost any block in Old Town Alexandria and you’re surrounded by it. That proliferation is a story in wealth, design aesthetic, and local resources. A home built of solid brick or stone walls was built to stand the test of time. It was also a signifier of refinement, quality, and expense.
At Rust Construction, we work with homeowners in Alexandria and Arlington to design and build kitchens and bathrooms. Countertop selection matters more than most people expect. Counters are not just for looks, but for how your kitchen functions every day. A material that looks great in a showroom can frustrate you for years if it does not fit the way you actually live.
Walk Old Town’s historic streets long enough, and you start to notice things. A fanlight over a front door. A deep cornice with decorative brackets. A bay window projecting from an otherwise flat façade. One house feels formal while another feels more expressive.
I still remember my first serious brick restoration project as a teenager, working alongside my cousin, John Rust, on a historic home renovation in Alexandria.