Fairlington Memories

Michelle's post about her stay in Alexandria, VA reminded me of the year I lived in that area.

That year--November of 1968-November 1969--was the first year of my first marriage, and this was our first home: Fairlington apartments, on the border of Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria, VA. The complex was built to house defense workers during the war, but when I lived there the buildings were owned by a private company. Imagine paying $93 a month for rent, with all utilities included, and only 2 1/2 miles from the Pentagon!

Here is how Fairlington looked when it was first built:

From the WETA blog

By the time I lived there, all the units--and there were many of them!--were surrounded by large, full-grown trees, mostly oaks as I recall. Our building at 2943 South Dinwiddie Street, perched on the side of a hill; from our dining area and kitchen windows I could look far down at the road winding its way up to our street. My little dog Gidget (a Jack Russell) and I would watch at the window for my husband's red Volkswagen beetle to come up the hill. She always knew before I did as she could hear the car and would begin whining.

Here is a recent photo of our building. We lived on the second floor, to the right, apartment B-2, if I remember right. Across the hall from us was a lady named Ah How Ching. I remember her well. She and I watched the moon landing together on her TV as I nursed my newborn son. The basement had laundry facilities, and while we were living there several women in other buildings were raped. The rapist was caught--he was one of the trashmen. I didn't know about the rapes until months afterward. I always felt so safe here among the big trees and nice neighbors, but I was only 17 and so naive.

Photo from Redfin Realty

The apartments would be of an enviable size today. Ours had a large living room with a dining nook and the cutest kitchen, about 8 feet square and today would be considered so vintage with its big sink, window and old cabinets. The kitchen floor was ceramic tile, and the bathroom was tile as well. There was a huge bedroom with a big closet. The rest of the floors were hardwood, and the windows were quite large, with nice wood trim. The walls were plaster. Today this would be considered upscale! 

I didn't really know the history of the place when we lived there; I just liked its old-fashionedness, if that makes sense. In many ways it was like the old house I grew up in. I didn't drive at the time I lived there, but I would often take my son and little dog on walks along the tree-lined streets. In some ways, it was an idyllic year--the blush of first love, my first baby, the comfortable apartment, learning to cook and keep house. We bought our first house when I found I was expecting another baby--the apartment had only one bedroom--and I was glad to get out into the country and away from the noise of the city, but I will always remember my year at Fairlington with fondness.

Fairlington was turned into condos in the early 1970's and remains standing today. A historical marker was placed some years ago when the complex was placed on the National Historic Register. 

"Designed in the Colonial Revival style by Kenneth Franzheim and Alan B. Mills and constructed between 1942 and 1944, Fairlington is an early example of successful community planning and large-scale, publicly financed rental housing built for defense workers and their families during World War II. With 3,439 garden apartments, Fairlington was the largest project financed by Defense Homes Corporation (a component of the National Housing Agency) and the nation’s largest apartment complex at that time. The units were renovated and sold as condominiums between 1972 and 1977. The name Fairlington combines Fairfax and Arlington, the counties in which the project was located."

You can read more about Fairlington on Wikipedia.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.