Parkfairfax, Virginia

Parkfairfax Historic District
Preston Road entrance to Parkfairfax
Parkfairfax, Virginia is located in Alexandria
Parkfairfax, Virginia
LocationBounded by Quaker Ln., US 395, Beverley Dr., Wellington Rd., Gunston Rd., Valley Dr., Glebe Rd., and Four-mile Run, Alexandria, Virginia
Coordinates38°50′12″N 77°4′48″W / 38.83667°N 77.08000°W / 38.83667; -77.08000
Area132 acres (53 ha)
Built1941
ArchitectSchultz, Leonard and Associates; Clarke, G.D., and Rapuano, Michael
Architectural styleColonial Revival
NRHP reference No.99000146[1]
VLR No.100-0151
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 22, 1999
Designated VLRDecember 10, 1998[2]

Parkfairfax is a neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia, located in the northwestern part of the city near the boundary with Arlington County. Nearby thoroughfares are Interstate 395 (Shirley Highway), State Route 402 (Quaker Lane), and West Glebe Road.

The neighborhood consists of 1,684 townhouse-type condominium apartments in more than 200 buildings on 132 acres (53 ha) built in 1941 and 1942 by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York at the request of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to provide housing near the new Pentagon. Like the neighboring Arlington County neighborhood of Fairlington, Parkfairfax is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

The name is similar to those of other Metropolitan Life projects that use a local area name preceded by "park" (e.g., Parkchester, Parklabrea, and Parkmerced) despite the area not having been a part of Fairfax County since 1801.[3]

History

Parkfairfax in 2006

Parkfairfax was originally on 202 acres (82 ha) and was the only Metropolitan Life project of this type to have no high-rise buildings.

Former presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford both lived in Parkfairfax for a time when they were in the United States Congress. Secretary of State (under John F. Kennedy) Dean Rusk also lived in Parkfairfax.

In 1976, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła—the future Pope John Paul II—visited the Parkfairfax apartment of Polish-American journalist John M. Szostak and offered his blessing.[4]

From 1977 to 1979, Parkfairfax was renovated and sold as condominium apartments by The IDI Group Companies.[5]

Recreation and commerce

The Arlington County community of Shirlington provides restaurants, stores, bars, live theater, a cinema, and the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail trailhead within walking distance for Parkfairfax residents via a pedestrian walkway that crosses the Shirlington Circle interchange with I-395. Nearby shopping can be found at The Village at Shirlington.

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  3. ^ The area was part of Arlington County and its predecessors until it was annexed by the independent city of Alexandria in 1929.
  4. ^ The Pope's Condo in Alexandria, WETA, 9/21/2015
  5. ^ Bobeczko, Laura (Spring 1997). "A Study in Decentralized Living: Parkfairfax, Alexandria, Virginia" (PDF). Historic Alexandria Quarterly. III (6): 11–13. Retrieved July 11, 2017.