Proposed changes for Woodlawn property to go before Board of Supervisors
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing and vote on Tuesday on a plan to overhaul the Woodlawn property.
The National Trust for the Historic Preservation, who owns the nearly 126-acre property, wants to transform it into a cultural center complete with an event space, a restaurant, a “nano brewery,” educational facilities and a trail system. Fairfax County’s Department of Planning and Zoning staff, as well as the Fairfax County Planning Commission, have recommended approval of the plan.
“It’s a plan that’s going to ensure the long-term sustainability of this site,” a lawyer representing the National Trust said at the Planning Commission hearing earlier this month. “But also [it will] create a more active site that going to bring in the public and make into even more of a community amenity that it already is.”
The National Trust envisions adding a number of new structures to the historic property, which is home to Woodlawn Mansion, the Pope Leighey House — each on the National Register of Historic Places — and the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture. The changes and new uses would transform the property into the Woodlawn Historic Site and Cultural Center.
According to the county’s staff report on the proposal, the primary additions to the site would include:
- An Interpretive Center (Orients visitors to the property, its history and what they’ll find during their visit)
- An Interpretive Trail System
- An Outdoor Teaching Kitchen and Dining area (Seasonal restaurant consisting of an outdoor dining area, reception/bar area, kitchen and storage space)
- Amphitheater (For entertainment purposes, including live theater, dance performances, musical concerts, cinema and lectures.
- A Greenhouse
- A Permaculture site (farming use)
Other additions considered secondary to those listed above would include:
- A Produce Stand (Located at Sharpe Barn Complex)
- A Farm Café (Restaurant located at Sharpe Barn Complex)
- A Retail Space
- Tasting Rooms (Located at Sharpe Barn Complex, for food and beverage produced on site or regionally)
- NanoBrewery/Beer House and Garden (Will offer limited number of products not for wholesale and a made on-site in small batches incorporating regionally sourced ingredients. Located at Sharpe Barn Complex)
- Special Event and Program Lodging (Overnight accommodations for participants in site events, and for those who have rented property for special event)
A number of trees are currently planned to be cut down in order to restore the mansion’s historic view of Dogue Creek. In its staff report, the county says the National Trust will need to work with it to minimize the number of trees removed. The National Trust will also be required to replace the removed trees with grass or native plantings.
There will be 189 parking spots, including the more than 100 that currently exist, throughout the property.
“As proposed, the Cultural Center use would support and enhance the historic and agricultural character of Woodlawn,” county staff say in their report.
Woodlawn was built between 1800-1805 on land that was previously part of George Washington’s Dogue Run farm. The first president gave the land to his nephew Lawrence Lewis and his wife, Eleanor “Nelly” Custis Lewis. The mansion is believed to have been designed by William Thornton, who was the first architect of the U.S. Capitol.
Quakers purchased the property in the mid-19th century, using it for a timber operation that was significant for its choice to use free labor — rather than slaves — in pre-Civil War Virginia. Other structures that still remain were added to the site during that era, including the Otis Mason House (1854) and Grandview (1859).
The mansion became a museum in 1949 and has been operated by the National Trust since 1951 — the first site owned and operated by the nonprofit preservation group. The Pope Leighey House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1940, was moved to the Woodlawn property in 1964 to avoid demolition due to the upcoming construction of Interstate 66.
The Woodlawn Stables leased a 56-acre portion portion of the property for more than three decades before closing in 2014.
Will the Pope-Leighey property be affected, and will the Pope-Leighey property be able to utilize the new infra-structure?
Do not trust that this is good. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is nothing of the sort in this location. Mount Vernon area residents know better.
Agree with s hall. But I do like that brewery thingy?
I do not see the Pope- Leighey house located among the multiple buildings. What is its future? It is a very important building.
Your article is misleading. In 2014, the government’s imminent domain take over of the property leased by Woodlawn Stables forced the business from the property and to close. Your article implies Woodlawn Stable elected to close. In addition, Arcadia was already on the Trust’s land in 2014 and merely continues to expand.
For shame. National Trust, my rear end.
The way the National Trust has backdoor dealt this property has made myself and many residents of the Mount Vernon area disgusted and distrustful of any future National Trust endeavors. They so clearly have taken a path NOT supported by the local residents; who wanted to keep a thriving community based horse farm on a portion of the property; a true Historical use. One the original land owners Always saw and wanted the land to encompass – they Trusted the National Trust to uphold.
And to what end? Which plan served the community more? Who is benefiting from the current use? Not the National Trust and not the community; yet the National Trust “sold” this property in a backdoor deal. I will never support this abhorrent “stewardship”.
I agree the tourist location sucks. You should close it and make it a trade school to educate mount Vernon young and poor . These historic trusts are just fund raising places for politicians. support america buy a congressman…
The N(d)THP again is no longer a suitable steward for this property. Much damage has already been done. Assets (read: items in house museum) dispersed, land misused, historical aspects disregarded, under-the-table deals made over many years in pursuit of this end. Shame, shame. Beloved Woodlawn, and its surrounding property, used to further commercial interests.
But wait, there’s more… how about the fate of the historic Otis Tufton Mason house, moved from its original site on the Woodlawn property? Added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in September 2018, now see https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=127914. Currently languishing unrestored on Fort Belvoir property, I believe.
While there’s always room for improvement I see this proposal as moving in a positive direction for the greater community.
What do they have against trees? Just leave it wooded and maybe add a trail.