The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-01)

3

EZ

THE

WASHINGTON

POST

.

SATURDAY,

AUGUST

1, 2020

WhereWeLiveJefferson Manorin FairfaxCounty

BYJESSICAWOLFROM

In JeffersonManor, asmall sub-
divisionjustsouthof Old Town
Alexandriain Fairfax County, resi-
dentssharemorethantheirwalls.
This neighborhoodof around 550
semidetached duplex homes
comeswiththe communitybuilt-
in.
“Whenyoumovein,youbecome
partofthefamily,” saidDavidAllen,
who’s livedin JeffersonManor for
morethan adecade.
Newresidentsaregreetedwitha
“welcomewagon”brimmingwith
basketsofcookies,coupons,bird-
seed,the neighborhood’s bimonth-
ly newsletter —printedin English
and Spanishto be inclusiveof the
manySpanish-speakingresidents
—and awarminvitation to the
Facebookgroup,whichhas been
especiallyactive duringthe coro-
naviruspandemic.
“I’ve seen the neighborhood
cometogether even stronger,” said
Allen,referringto thepandemic.
“If you walkaroundthe communi-
ty,you’llsee messages paintedon
stones,chalkwritingondriveways,
notes on windows encouraging
folkstostaystrong.We’reinthis
together.”
Political yard signs are also
prominentlyon displayhere. On
EdgehillDrive,acrimsonTrump
flag flutters closeto acluster of
Bidensignsstaked firmlyin the
grass next door.
Developedin the postwar era
between1947and1949byClarence
C. Gosnell,JeffersonManor was
advertisedas amoderately priced
“moderncommunity.” At the time,
TheWashington Post remarkedat
the speedin whichthe neighbor-
hoodwas beingconstructed, using
prefabricated designs.
Before it became asuburbande-
velopment, Jefferson Manorwas
hometoPeyton Ballenger,ashoe
manufacturer whose family
farmedtheland.AccordingtoDon-
ald Hakenson, an author and local
Civil Warhistorian, twoofBalleng-
er’s sons died fighting in the Con-
federatearmy, leaving Ballenger to
watchasFortLyonandotherUnion
forts mushroomed across hisprop-
ertytoprotectthe nation’s capital.
After the CivilWar,the area was
left to farmersuntil development

The walls

are close,

and so are

the people

Duplexsubdivisionhas

close-knit, inclusive feel

—and even a‘beerfairy’

thataimstoimproveaccessto

transportation along the Rich-

mondHighway.

Changes are happeninginside

the neighborhood,too. Many hom-

eownershavemodified the origi-

nalfootprintofthesetinyhomesto

suit changingneeds.

“Thesehousesare not spring

chickens,”said Rickert. “Theyare

over70 yearsold and requireup-

keep, so maintenanceis abig topic

beganinearnestafterWorldWarII.

The1980sbroughtMetro’s Hun-

tington station to the areaalong

the Yellow Line.But by the 1990s,

JeffersonManor had falleninto

disrepair.Manyofthe neighbor-

hood’s windingone-way streets

were cracked. Roofswererotting,

foundationscrumbling.

“I boughtmy firsthousein Jef-

ferson Manorin1990 for

$105,000,”said TomRickert,aresi-

dentand real estate agent with

ColdwellBanker’s Alexandriaof-

fice. “Franklythe neighborhood

wasprettyrun-downbackthen,

but it was all Icouldafford,and I

knewitwas agreat location.”

JeffersonManorisafive-minute

walkfromthe Huntington Metro

station, witheasyaccessto Old

Town Alexandria,downtown D.C.,

theBeltwayandtheMount Vernon

Trail.

Theneighborhood formed a

commissionin 1991 to addressthe

blightedhomesand streets, and

today, developmentaroundJeffer-

son Manor is alsobeginning to

boom.

Bethesda-based architecture

firmSK+Iisdesigningamultifami-

ly buildingnearthe Huntington

Metro station. SK+Ihas also de-

signedmixed-useand residential

projects throughoutthe D.C.area,

includingthe Apolloon HStreet

NE, and the Moderaand Avalon

buildingsin Fairfax’s Mosaic Dis-

trict. And lastMarch, the Fairfax

CountyBoard of Supervisorsap-

provedasweepingland-useplan

ofdiscussionontheJeffersonMan-

or Facebookpage.”

But he said,“JeffersonManor is

oneofthosespecialneighborhoods

wherejustabouteverydollaryou

put into thesehousescan add to its

currentvalue.”

Anothervalue add: free beer.

“I thinkwe’reprobablythe only

communityinthe metro D.C.area

with abeer fairy,”said Allen.

The“beer fairy,”whosenameis

DanielWatkins,worksfor alocal

breweryand often has asurplusof

beer samplesthathedrops offon

doorsteps.Naturally,there’s await-

ing list, but Watkinshas quickly

becomeone of the mostpopular

Manorites.

Thecitizens association also

puts on an annualgardentour,

blockparty andcommunityyard

sales,and otherevents thatkeep

residentsclosely connected. The

citizensassociation,run by volun-

teers,is active withinthe commu-

nityand collects annualmember-

ship duesof $20 per household—

$10 for seniors—tosupportits

events.Theblock party “includes

everythingfromalive band,face

painter,abig buffetoffood and

drinks,papergoods, games,and

grab-bagsfilled withkids’toys,”

said Alexis Glenn,the association’s

president.

Livingthere:JeffersonManoris

boundedby Farmington Driveand

JeffersonDriveto the north, Vir-

ginia Route 241onthe east,

Fairhaven Avenueto the south,

EdgehillDriveto the southwest

and VirginiaRoute611 (Telegraph

Road)to the west, accordingto the

citizens association. It hastwo

apartmentbuildingsand four sin-

gle-familyhomeswithinitsbound-

aries.Accordingto FairfaxCounty

taxrecords,ofthe556propertiesin

JeffersonManor,374 are “owner

occupied”and 182 are “non-owner

occupied.”

Three homesare for sale in Jef-

fersonManor.The highest-priced

is athree-bedroom,two-bathroom

semi-detached duplexlisted for

$530,000.The lowest-pricedis a

two-bedroom,two-bathroomdu-

plexlisted for $440,000.

In 2019, homesalesrangedfrom

atwo-bedroom,one-bathroomCo-

lonialfor $370,000 to an updated

three-bedroom, three-bathroom

semidetachedhousefor $647,000.

Theaverage priceof homessold

lastyear was $464,681.

Schools:MountEagleElemen-

tary, Twain Middle and Edison

High.

Transit: Jefferson Manor is

served by multiplebus linesand

the RichmondHighwayExpress.

TheHuntington Metro station on

the Yellow Lineis adjacentto the

northeastpartofthe neighbor-

hood. Route 241connects the

neighborhood to the CapitalBelt-

wayand Route1.

[email protected]

BONNIEJO MOUNT/THEWASHINGTONPOST

JeffersonManor’sduplex homes werebuiltstartingin1947, but by 1990 theneighborhood had fallen intodisrepair.Residents formeda

commission in 1991 to address blighted homesand streets,and now development around JeffersonManorisbeginningtoboom.

Jefferson

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Source: Maps4News/HERE

MEGHANKELLYFOR THE WASHINGTONPOST

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MD.

FAIR.

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P.G.

CO.

D.C.

ARLINGTON

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ALEX.ALEX.

Detail

To see morephotosof Jefferson

Manor,gotowashingtonpost.com/

realestate.