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Residents Handbook
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A BRIEF HISTORY
In the 18th century, much of what is now Fairlington belonged to Colonel John Carlyle, a prominent Alexandria citizen and owner of the celebrated Carlyle House. Around 1700, this friend of George Washington established a plantation and built on it a large white house, Morven, located at the end of what is now South 31st Street, north of King Street. In 1774 George Washington purchased land that included a small parcel in Fairlington near Abingdon School and South 28th Street. He frequently used Carlyle's gristmill, sending his grain upstream on Four Mile Run.
All of Fairlington north of South Columbus Street lies within the original "diamond" set-aside for the seat of the federal government authorized in the 1788 ratification of the Constitution. One of the surviving boundary stones is near the intersection of King Street and South Wakefield Street in Fairlington Mews, across from Fairlington Presbyterian Church.
After the death in 1831 of Carlyle's grandson, Carlyle Whiting, the estate was partitioned among the heirs. Whiting's son, Charles, inherited all of Fairlington. He owned the land throughout the Civil War, when two Union fortifications were built as part of the defense of Washington: Fort Reynolds, at the hill crest on the northern edge of Fairlington Villages, and Battery GareschÈ, a smaller artillery fortification at South Abingdon Street and 30th Road. As Washington's population mushroomed in the late 1930s, the area faced a severe housing shortage. President Franklin Roosevelt directed the War Department to build more housing. The department established the Defense Homes Corporation to finance housing for defense workers in areas facing inadequate private financing.
Nationally recognized architects Kenneth Franzheim and Alan B. Mills were retained to design Fairlington. (Franzheim and Mills collaborated on two other area DHC apartment projects, McLean Gardens and Naylor Gardens in the District. Mills designed the wings of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and what was originally the Museum of History and Technology).
Though wartime resources were scarce, the government made Fairlington's construction a priority, and builder Thompson-Starrett obtained quality materials. Construction began in 1942, and military and civilian families moved in beginning in May 1943. By the end of the year, 2,415 homes were available, and the total was more than 3,400 by 1945, when the project was completed at a cost of $35 million.
The Defense Homes Corporation managed Fairlington until 1947, when it sold the property to two Texas businessmen. Their firm, Fairmac, operated Fairlington as a rental community until 1968, when it first considered replacing the buildings with high-rise units and finally settled on conversion to condominiums. The five-year project was completed in 1978.
Fairmac's advertising for the renovated community began, Come to the rolling hills and gentle shade trees — an image perhaps evoking John Carlyle's Morven plantation.
Starting on the south side, Fairmac converted the community into seven legal entities under the Virginia Condominium Act. Six of the condominiums lie on the southeast side of Shirley Highway (I-395), joined to the opposite side by the Abingdon Street bridge. The north side, with a roughly equal number of units, is all one entity, formally Fairlington Villages, A Condominium Association. Many of us call our home North Fairlington.
Additional history is posted on the condominium website. See also the Fairlington-Shirlington Neighborhood Conservation Plan and Fairlington at 50 by Catherine D. Fellows.
THE NORTH FAIRLINGTON COMMUNITY
The condominium includes its resident and nonresident homeowners, each of whom has a vote in the activities of the Association. The Association invites tenants — non-owner residents — to participate as integral members of the community, though they do not have voting privileges. Fairlington Villages consists of 1,703 townhouse and apartment units on 93.3 acres in Arlington and Alexandria. It has six swimming pools, 13 tennis courts, a tot lot (playground), a community center, and a management office.
The Fairlington Citizens Association represents the residents of the seven Fairlington condominiums before Arlington and Alexandria on civic issues such as government services and neighborhood improvement. An all-volunteer organization, FCA works with neighboring communities on issues of mutual interest.
Our community sits amid a thriving area. Adjacent to the property is Abingdon Elementary School. Within walking distance are the Fairlington Community Center (in South Fairlington) and shopping areas east and west on King Street. Just down the hill is Shirlington, with its branch library, restaurants, movie theaters, and plans for Signature Theatre and other new housing and commercial development. Recreation includes the Four Mile Run bike path and Utah Field in South Fairlington, both of which have dog runs. Fire protection is within our borders.
Bus service to the Pentagon Metro station includes Route 7 A-E-F, serving 31st, Buchanan and 29th streets, and 22A, serving the intersection of Abingdon and 31st streets and South Fairlington.
HISTORIC DESIGNATION
Fairlington in its entirety was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1999. Listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register occurred December 1998. The listings recognize the community's significance as an example of community planning and publicly financed housing. The historic designations impose no restrictions on our use of the property. Our condominium controls all modifications to the land and building exteriors. The Virginia Landmarks Registry is honorary; it recognizes historic resources and "exhorts owners to care for them."
State officials characterized the designation as "unprecedented" because Fairlington was the first large-scale condominium and townhouse community to be considered for designation and the first campaign of its kind to be carried out almost exclusively by volunteers.
The volunteer effort began in early 1997. In July a review board determined Fairlington Villages was eligible for state and national designations. Fifty volunteers attended a September meeting to start the application process. The development and completion of the application was a major undertaking by dedicated volunteers who recognized the value of Fairlington's unique history. As one real estate agent said, "Fairlington's listing on the State and National Registers as a historic property would be a real asset."
Seventy volunteers surveyed and photographed North Fairlington's 442 buildings and 30 unit types, assembling an inventory of architectural elements — roofs, brick patterns, windows, porches and pillars. A similar effort took place in South Fairlington. Local businesses provided funding and supplied refreshments at meetings.
Historic preservation consultant Gail Baker drafted the narrative nomination document.
The designation ceremony took place in October 1999 in the North Fairlington Community Center. Local newspapers covered the unveiling of the twin historic markers. In The Washington Post, David Edwards, an architectural historian with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, highlighted our Colonial revival and Williamsburg architecture, quality construction, mature trees, and winding streets.
David Brinkley's 1988 history, Washington Goes to War, includes a passage on Fairlington. In noting one of the Defense Homes Corporation's most ambitious developments, Brinkley describes community life in the summer of 1943 — including its lack of shopping and public transportation and poor roads. "Fairlington at least had sturdy, well-designed housing (most of it still standing today and now expensive townhouses and condominiums)."
REGIONAL RECOGNITION
Fairlington Villages was named Community Association of the Year in 2004 by the Community Association Institute's Washington chapter. The award, for associations with at least 1,000 units, was based on factors including strategic planning, crime prevention initiatives, emergency preparedness, resolution of disputes between residents, and environmental protection. "The award-winning associations exemplify harmonious living and prosperity to those residing in community associations," CAI said. "They are the communities that 'work well' and will serve as models for others to draw ideas from and emulate."
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