History of Broyhill Park
Broyhill Park was founded by Marvin T. Broyhill, Sr. (1888-1966) and planned, designed and created by the Broyhill Company. Information on the Broyhill family (originally spelled “Broughall”), including a detailed family tree chart, can be found at www.broyhill.org.
This history of Broyhill Park originally appeared in Broyhill Park Civic Association newsletters from September 2009 through March 2010. It has been consolidated below and revised as necessary.
General History
The section of Broyhill Park on the south side of Annandale Road comprised of Hickory Hill Road, Lee Park Court, and Slade Court was built first, beginning in 1950, and is known as “Old Broyhill Park.” Many of the homes in this section were built without basements. The washing machine was located in the kitchen. Eventually the neighborhood was expanded to include the rest of Broyhill Park, which was at that time a wooded tract. Homes were built in 34’, 38’, and 45’ lengths. Starting prices ranged from $14,000 to $18,000 with unfinished basements. The 2-story homes with foyer entryways were considered the most upscale and started at $20,000, which was a lot of money in the 1950s. For an extra fee you could get a garage, a walk-out basement, or a screened-in porch. Some of these porches are still in existence, but many of them have been converted into an extra bedroom or a sunroom. The original model homes of the development included the house on the northwest corner of Graham Road & Annandale Road, the 2-story house next to it, and the house across the street on the corner of Annandale Road and Brush Drive. The above information is courtesy of Mrs. Rita Brocato, an original owner who lived on Norfolk Lane.
The Northern Virginia area has thousands of Broyhill-built homes. In addition to Broyhill Park, the company also built Broyhill Crest, Broyhill-Langley Estates and Broyhill-McLean Estates in Fairfax County, Broyhill Forest and Broyhill Hills in Arlington County, and Sterling Park in Loudon County. On first glance most of the Broyhill homes look alike, but they can be distinguished by certain exterior features. Some homes have a floor-to-ceiling picture window adjacent to the front door,others have a double window, an elongated three-pane window, or a small three-pane window. The original windows were single-pane steel-framed casement windows. Most have been replaced by later homeowners with double-pane vinyl windows, a huge improvement in energy efficiency. Some homes have a decorative gable on one side of the roof, while others–mostly in the section known as Old Broyhill Park–have the gable in the middle with steps placed sideways to the front door. One variation has a covered entryway, but most homes were built with nothing more than the 2’ roof overhang as shelter over the front door. A very few homes don’t have a front door at all; instead they have the kitchen in the front and the main entryway on the side of the house. These unusual designs have been spotted on Sherry Court, Alice Court, and Graham Road. Many homes have an exterior façade of board-and-batten paneling, whose variously painted colors help to distinguish the homes from one another. The Broyhill homes are small but functional, and the basic structure has held up well over the years.
When the Broyhill homes were first built, they featured what was advertised as a “complete General Electric kitchen.” The dishwasher, garbage disposal, range, refrigerator, and even the metal kitchen cabinets were General Electric. Some Broyhill homes still retain the original metal cabinets, but many have been replaced with modern wood cabinetry. The metal cabinets came in white, yellow, pink, and turquoise blue. Cabinets that are still in good condition are much sought-after by retro kitchen enthusiasts and can be found for sale on the internet.
Leis Center (formerly Walnut Hill Elementary)
On April 10, 2003, the Fairfax County School Board renamed the Walnut Hill Administrative Center in honor of Dr. Alan E. Leis. (FCPS School History)
Broyhill Park Sign at Annandale Road
On August 30, 2020 a car crashed into the Broyhill Park Sign. The sign rebuild was completed in February 2021.
Broyhill Park Street Names
The following information about the Broyhill Company and the origin of the street names was provided in 2010 by Mr. Bill Howell, an original owner who lived in the court section of Holly Hill Drive for over 50 years, and Mr. Sid Dewberry of the Dewberry engineering firm. Mr. Howell worked as an engineer for the Broyhill Company when the neighborhood was founded in the early 1950s.
The Broyhill Company was founded by Marvin T. Broyhill, Sr. and originally had its own engineering and architectural departments. The architectural department did the actual designing of the homes. The engineering department consisted of 15 employees who were responsible for planning the layout of the neighborhood, which was constructed in sections. One of the duties of the engineering department was to name the streets. It turns out that most of the streets are actually named after these early Broyhill engineers and other employees.
According to Mr. Howell’s recollections, Alice Court and Carol Lane were named after secretaries who worked in the engineering department. According to Jean Broyhill, niece of Broyhill company founder Marvin T. Broyhill, Sherry Court may have been named after a cousin, and Brandy Court may have been named after a granddaughter.
Following are the rest of the streets in alphabetical order and how they were named.
Unknown streets are listed at the end.
Dye Drive was named after Everett Allen Dye, a Broyhill engineer. Mr. Dye moved out of the area in the early years of the development and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Camp Alger Avenue—named for Camp Alger, a training camp for soldiers in the Spanish-American War. According to a historical marker on Route 50, the camp was established in 1898 and was named after Secretary of War Russell A. Alger. The camp was on the site of a farm called Woodburn Manor and was dissolved later in 1898 after an outbreak of typhoid fever.
Hewitt Street may have been named after a Broyhill engineer named Bob Hewitt.
However, Mr. Hewitt came in later so there is some doubt as to whether this street was actually named after him or not.
Holly Hill Drive was named by Bill Howell for the numerous holly trees in that area, especially in the court section.
Jack’s Lane was named after Jack Monaghan, who worked for the Broyhill
company, eventually becoming head of the Computing Department. He later went to work for the Dewberry engineering firm (known at that time as Greenhorn, O’Mara, Dewberry and Nealon) where he became an associate. Mr. Monaghan lived on Camp Alger Avenue for a time, before moving out of the neighborhood. He died in the late 2000’s.
Kenney Drive was named after Bill Kenney, a draftsman for the Broyhill Company.
He lived on Kenney Drive (section 9, somewhere around 3217 or 3219). He died while only in his 40’s.
Korte Court was named after George Korte (pronounced “korty”), who was chief surveyor for both Broyhill and Dewberry, before starting his own surveying business.
He lived in the Hillwood Avenue area and is now deceased.
Marc Drive was named after Carl Gardner’s son Marc Gardner, who was a baby at the time the street was named for him. Carl Gardner was chief engineer for Broyhill before starting his own surveying and engineering business. Marc Gardner’s current whereabouts are unknown.
Nealon Drive was named after James Nealon, a partner in the firm of Greenhorn, O’Mara, Dewberry and Nealon, which eventually bought out the Broyhill engineering arm. Mr. Nealon passed away in 2000 at the age of 74.
Siron Street (pronounced “siren”) was named after Charlie Siron. Mr. Siron was a survey party chief for the Broyhill company. Later he worked for Carl Gardner. He died at a young age.
Street names of unknown origin:
Brush Drive – unknown, possibly named for the “brush” or woods in the area.
Hickory Hill Road – unknown, possibly because of hickory trees in the area.
Kenfig Street, Kenfig Place – unknown
Lee Park Court – unknown
Locker Street – unknown
Norfolk Lane – unknown, but probably named after the city of that name
Normandy Drive – unknown
Parkwood Terrace – unknown
Rollin Road, unknown, was extended out from the Westlawn neighborhood
Strathmore Street – unknown
Zenith Court – unknown
If anyone has any information on the streets of unknown origin, please send it to [email protected].
Interestingly, none of the streets in Broyhill Park are named after Broyhill family members. But across Annandale Road in the Broyhill Crest subdivision are Marvin, Joel, and Herbert Streets, named after the 3 sons of Marvin T. Broyhill, Sr.
Recollections of Broyhill Park received in 2010 from Original Owners
From Mrs. Matilda H. Winkel: “I live on Brandy Court and am an original owner of a Broyhill Park house. I was 29 years young and my husband Dale was 30 years when we bought our house in 1954. Houses were selling like hotcakes at the time. If you didn’t act soon enough, the house you wanted would be sold. Broyhill Park wasn’t even built yet. You had to contact the builder. You selected the price of house you wanted (there were 3 or 4 different models at different prices) and you would be shown what was available for the price you selected and where it would be located on the plat map. The roads were not yet built, so you had to trudge through the neighborhood—and the mud—to see the approximate place where your house would sit. We selected an $18,500 house and ordered several ‘extras,’ including larger windows throughout, a higher ceiling in the basement, and floor-to-ceiling brick surrounding the fireplace, which brought the cost to about $20,000. We also changed the location of the basement door to accommodate the bathroom plumbing. The day before we signed the contract I didn’t sleep all night; I was sure we would end up in the poorhouse owing all that money plus interest every month! But we never missed a payment and it surely was a great investment.”
From Mrs. Pat Gardner: “The evening we moved into Broyhill Park, my husband, son and I, it was February 14, 1951, cold, muddy, and damp. Our furniture etc. had to be bulldozed in to Lee Park Court, because the road had not been surfaced yet. We had to park our car on Annandale Road, since we were the first people to move to Lee Park. There were no street lights and no phone service; it was lonely. As people moved in the sidewalks came, but the first lady to have a baby in March of that year had to be helped across the yards to Annandale Road to get to her car, with two men carrying suitcases and helping her. There was no Graham Road; it was just woods there. My son’s first school was Annandale for one year, then he went to Wilston one year, then Sleepy Hollow, then Westlawn, then Walnut Hill, and that was just elementary school! We had one telephone at the corner of Lee Park Court and Hickory Hill Drive, so you often had to wait to use it. But that all-electric kitchen was the key to buying our house, and when summer came and all the neighbors got to know each other, it was a great place to be.”
Keith Brown
Hi my name is Keith Brown,
Like other posters, I have some fond memories of the area. Whenever I am back in the area, I drive through the neighborhood. After 50 years things have changed but the area seems quite nice and friendly, although Annandale Road has really gotten busy. My middle brother contributed to some of the reminiscences in this post.
Our family lived at 1502 (now the 7100 block) Carol Lane between Annandale Road and Camp Alger Avenue (Our house was at the top of the street) from 1958 to 1961. I had two other brothers, one who was about 17 months younger and one who was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital while we lived on Carol Lane. Mom was busy with our youngest brother, which freed us to be on our own, especially in the summer. I attended Grades 1 -3 at Walnut Hill Elementary. We either walked or rode our bikes to school. When we lived there, Carol Lane terminated at Annandale Road.
Many of the people on the street were folks who had been there for quite some time and also a lot of military. Word of mouth was that the area was family friendly and convenient to the Pentagon. My Dad was a Naval officer and pilot and was transferred to Rhode Island in 1961, but we stayed behind to finish out the school year. The neighbors across the street were Navy and also down the hill next door. The neighbors down the hill moved, but kept the house and rented it to three bachelor officers, which kind of spiced up the neighborhood.
One neighbor who was located at the bottom along Annandale Road, Mr. Hatch was a recipient of one of Chrysler Corporation’s gas turbine test vehicles. I remember that he allowed us to thoroughly check out the vehicle, even allowed me to sit the driver’s seat. What a great location! Our back yard seemed to go for miles as we had a meadow like yard (no fences between houses) and the woods in the back. Lots of poison ivy. Later this would be developed and houses built for Brandy Court.
My brother and I spent a lot of our summers exploring the area and hanging out in all of the wooded areas. From memory, my favorite entry and exit point was at the Creek at Camp Alger near Walnut Hill Elementary. I remember that there was this talk about an old man who was on the lookout for kids on his property and he would chase them off. I ran into this man once or twice and my memory was that he may have been gruff, but was not nasty.
You cannot see it from the picture, but we had a patio at the back of the house (not a porch), bridging the back of the garage with the back door. The patio had a “modern” shadowbox style privacy fence (my brothers and I think that our Dad built it) around two sides, and the fence was painted a brownish red stain, consistent with the exterior of the house.
Mom and Dad placed the picnic table out there, and Mom would serve us Kool-Aid from a dark brown ceramic pitcher and peanut butter and jelly or tuna sandwiches for lunch. And a few times, we ate watermelon as a dessert and learned to spit the seeds great distances (or squeeze them between our fingers to see how far they would fly).
We caught lightning bugs off the patio and down into the open (i.e., non-wooded) areas in the side and back yard. I built a very small treehouse perch along the back yard fence line. Across the street was houses with heavily wooded area that we built a real treehouse with the help of Frankie Thigpen’s Dad.
We little kids and the grown-up neighbors played badminton there in the back/side yard. I was always perplexed as to why the adults–who must have only been in their mid-30s–seemed so clumsy with the badminton rackets, and on reflection, I’ve concluded it was because back then very few people did any exercising (unless cutting the lawn counts). On the subject of lawn mowing, I badgered my Dad to let me mow the lawn which you can see from the picture is quite steep. I then became the family gardener.
The house was well constructed, but I remember that downstairs the pipes would freeze in winter, which ultimately was remedied by opening up the wall and circulating warm air.
We had little chipmunk who took up residence in the woodpile in the garage. He would come up to the sliding glass door at the dining room and we would hand him peanut butter crackers. As I recall, he generally would lick the peanut butter off the cracker, and then lay the cracker back down on the ground uneaten. He may have even handed the cracker back to us a few times.
During the winter, the sliding glass door in the living room allowed for sun to stream in and I remember reading the comics on Sunday all cozy and warm, especially when there was snow. It seemed to me that we had a lot of snow, which resulted in snow days. Our home was at the top of hill and was great for sledding. My parents would park the 55’ Ford Station Wagon down the hill when it snowed since it was too steep to climb.
My Mom used to send me to the market on Graham Road and Route 50 on my bicycle. My bike had two metal baskets on the rear wheel. Can you imagine even attempting to do that today as an 8 year old?
Like others, my Mom would kick us out of the house with a lunch and my brother and I were not to return until dinnertime or later.
My brothers and I attended the internment of our parents at Arlington National Cemetery in October of 2009. On Sunday morning, one of my brothers and I drove through Broyhill Park and reminisced about many of the things discussed in this note. On Friday, when our parents were interred, it was a rainy, cold day. Sunday morning was bright in Broyhill Park, which is how I remembered it.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience to live in Broyhill Park, a really unique and nice place.
Joseph Faunce
Hi, My name is Joseph Faunce,
From an infant to age 14 I lived in the “old Broyhill’ section of Broyhill Park on a corner lot, the then address was 1617 Hickory Hill Road. I even remember
the old telephone number, JE-43529! ( Don’t ask me how or why).
So the time period I am speaking of is from the early 50s to mid 60s. I read the article from Gary Owens on this website with much interest. My father George,
and Gary’s father Ben, both worked for M.T. Broyhill as carpenters during the construction of much of Broyhill Park, and not only that, Ben and George were
childhood friends from Southern Maryland. I think Dad and Ben both started out as apprentice carpenters on the GI bill after World War Two and worked their
ways up to be supervisors. It really is a small world!
Our house on 1617 Hickory Hill road was a typical brick rambler style home with a basement which my father finished with knotty pine walls. He also built another bed room downstairs, along with a bathroom, laundry shoot and even a built in bar. Dad even added on two big step additions on the back of the house. As a child the house and yard there seemed so huge and the wooden fence, planted with privet hedges along the sides and back of the yard gave our back yard a lot of privacy for being in a subdivision.
I would not trade my childhood memories of Broyhill Park for anything in this world! Any child back then in the neighborhood could walk anywhere or ride their bike with out any fear or worry. Bikes were king, they were the preferred method of transportation for a young boy, and I am talking about the now “classic bikes”, the real deals with real chrome battery powered head lights and chrome thumb bells on the handle bars, big framed heavy bikes with whitewall tires, actually probably better built than some modern day cars are. Seems like all of us kids would try to out do each other with how many playing cards we could fasten with clothes pins between the bike frame and the spokes of the wheels, the end result being to create the loudest and most clicks as you pedaled along. As I remember store bought skateboards were very scarce, really on the cutting edge of technology. Most of us boys made our own from a roller skate (usually stolen from a sister) and a piece of board.
Our house was located on a corner so I was lucky enough to have a haven for sports steps away from the house, Hickory Hill court. It seemed in the afternoons something was always going on in the court. Kick ball, dodge ball. soft ball, flag football, some of us creating rules as we went along often to our own benefit. During the winter when it snowed, and I really do remember bigger snow storms and more of them, the court was wonderful for sledding and snow ball fights.
I remember the white Sealtest dairy truck going through the neighborhood stopping at designated houses that had the insulated aluminum boxes on their porches and door steps. You could leave money and a note of what you wanted be it milk or orange juice etc. and he would leave you the product and the change. Also the Charles Chips truck with their metal tubs of fresh baked chips bought straight to your door. How about every parents summertime nightmare, The Good Humor Truck. I can still remember how my Mom looked when all 5 of us kids came around with our hands out every time he played his little tune.
Does anyone remember the street vendors? These guys who were usually ‘gypsey’ in appearance would walk through the neighborhood on spring and summer days with a fold down table on with they would have the latest in magic tricks and novelties, such as chinese handcuffs. handshake buzzers, fake candy cigarettes, and toy rings all for a quarter. Every time I would hand one of them a quarter for the pack of trinkets he would always ask with a distinct accent “Do you mother know you buy this?” I guess at some point somebody’s mother rolled him over her kids purchase!
Us kids would often walk up Slade Run Drive to the woods that went beyond it and then along a trail that would lead through the woods to a clearing where there was a circle with a bunch of old junked cars scattered around it. An old farm house and barn were perched up on a hill above this circle. We called it Cockatoo Farm although I don’t know if that was the correct name. It is in fact where Round Tree Park is now off of Annandale Road, before you get to the entrance to old Broyhill Park. I remember a few of us sneaking up into the barn one time and climbing into the loft where we found an old chest full of clippings of newspaper articles on different gangsters and crime stories. The creek below the farm I guess is Parrots creek on the other side of Annandale Road from where the old Walnut Hill Mansion was. We would often follow the creek downstream for what seemed like miles looking for frogs, snakes, turtles anything we could find to bring back home.
Back then Seven Corners shopping centers was THE place for a kid to shop around at. Remember there were No Malls. I remember just being amazed at how big the place was and how could there possibly be that many bricks in the world to build this place. My favorite place was the five and dime store there, Woolworths? I could look for hours at their toys and plastic models. Again when Mom and Dad didnt take us to Seven Corners we would sometimes hop on our bikes and ride there. There was so little traffic back then compared to now and you didn’t have to worry about anybody bothering or harming you,
Another kid hangout was the Drug Fair store off of I believe Graham Road. My brother and I would sometimes walk there or ride bikes and you could buy full size candy bars there for 5 cents apiece or 6 for a quarter. He would buy six and I would buy 6 different ones and when we got back home we would cut the candies in two giving us each 12 different types of candies with which we would proceed to get the ultimate sugar high. The Drug Fair was also a good place to kickback at the grill in back to have a Pepsi or a Cherry coke, and comic books abounded in the place!
I had great childhood friends as a child in Broyhill Park. Friends such as Mark Lawall, Jerry Clark, Mario Sarivia and others that I missed greatly after moving at age 14. And though I haven’t kept in touch with them I still keep in touch of the fond memories of the neighborhood of that era.
I now live on a isolated 57 acre farm in Louisa County but at times my mind fondly drifts back to the neat rows of red brick houses, with their grass fringed sidewalks. To me growing up there when I did was magical.
Mr. Faunce added later:
Hello again. I remember Mom telling me that the Walnut Hill mansion was originally built by an owner of a bus line, although I can’t remember the name of the bus line or the owners’ name. I recall one time as a kid sliding around on the frozen pond out front and a man riding a horse down the hill side and telling me to be careful of thin ice. I remember it was nothing at all to drive by the mansion and see lots of deer in the front yard. Other than that I can’t tell you any thing else about the mansion that you probably don’t already know.
I remember Dr. Neighgan our family Vets’ office across Annandale road and down aways from the mansion. Our family dentist was Dr. Good and our family doctor was Dr. Provansanta, all area Doctors. (Funny how I remember things in life that do me absolutely no good)!
Jefferson Theater at the intersection of Graham Road and Route 50 was a favorite movie theater for Broyhill Park kids back then. I can remember standing in a long line many a time waiting to see a movie. Concessions were a bit high but nothing like they are in a theater today. We walked to school from Hickory Hill road to Walnut Hill Elementary until bus service was provided when I was in the third grade. I am sure the distance was over a mile and there were “crossing guards” at every street corner from our house to the school. I went to Whittier Junior High for seventh grade which later became Falls Church Senior High.
I am sure the atmosphere of the neighborhood has changed dramatically in the last 40+ years, but I can tell you what a haven it was for kids during my youth! We didn’t sit in monotone for hours pressing buttons to a video game. We were outside most of the time playing with other neighborhood kids or seeing what sports were going on in the courts. Halloween was a favorite holiday, a time to be afraid of witches or vampires, not of other people, and we would walk for miles unescorted in the dark until our candy bags could hold no more.
With all the children have now days I can honestly say I was very lucky to grow up when I did in Broyhill Park “back then.”
Richard Padgett
I stumbled onto your website this week and found nostalgia in Gary Owens’ description of growing up in Broyhill Park. I too recall the early days of the development as my family moved to “New Broyhill” early in 1954 when I was 9 years old. The model homes for “New Broyhill” were at the entrance to Graham road at Annandale Road, which had but 2 lanes, and I remember our first trips to see the models and my parents looking over plans and specifications at the sales office. We purchased a house on a corner lot where my Mother still resides. I have vivid memories of our frequent trips to inspect the house as it emerged from the excavated hole in the ground and my Dad’s meticulous documentation of soon-to-be-hidden plumbing, wiring and other construction details. I recall the strong odor of wet plaster that persisted long after the walls appeared to have hardened. I watched lawn appear as the rolls of sod were laid. I remember my parents’ battle to eradicate the poison ivy that remained under the sod and on a large 4-trunk oak tree in the back yard that had escaped the ravages of home construction. I recall a significant population of black widow spiders that had also survived and my fascination with their beautiful black satin sheen, striking red markings and extraordinarily strong webs (my parents were much less enthusiastic). There was a creek behind our house that offered even more wildlife to observe (crayfish, frogs, wolf spiders, even the rarely seen mole cricket). For a kid who had lived in an apartment to that point, this was great stuff!
I first attended Westlawn elementary school until construction of Walnut Hill elementary was completed (’55 or ’56?). Either school was within walking distance (at least in good weather) but Walnut Hill was much closer. There was a certain appeal to being among the first to occupy a new school. There was no middle school at that time so when I finished 7th grade at Walnut Hill, I attended the old Falls Church High School on Cherry St. at Hillwood Ave. where I graduated in ’63. I sometimes walked home even from that location. In the ’50s, there was no drug problem in the schools and the playground equipment posed a far greater risk of injury than did your classmates.
“Parrot’s creek” was a popular area of exploration as Gary mentioned and we found many creatures to bring home, including some, such as my Brother’s injured copperhead in an open coffee can, that did not find favor with our parents. It was a great loss to us (kids) when the Raymondale homes were built between Camp Alger and Annandale road, eliminating much of “our” wilderness. The not yet developed wooded areas west of the first phases of “New Broyhill” were a source of young plants (dogwoods in particular) for my Parents’ early landscaping efforts and I remember helping to extract them from the woods and haul them home in our ’51 Plymouth.
The airfield was a natural attraction for young boys, no doubt to the consternation of airfield operators and our parents. I recall a couple of mishaps involving aircraft: in one, a plane on a westward landing approach snagged his landing gear on the utility primary conductor(s) that ran along the west side of Graham Road, crashed upside down (but in-tact) on the runway and interrupted power to the neighborhood. I don’t recall the fate of the pilot. In another, a plane landed (thankfully without injury or damage) on Mark drive. Obviously there were far fewer trees and cars then. In recent trips to the neighborhood, it has struck me that the number of cars has increased dramatically since the mid-fifties when cars were rarely parked on the street. After the airfield was closed it became a popular venue for RC plane hobbyists, which was also entertaining (by then, the empty fields east of Bailey’s Crossroads that had previously served that purpose were being developed). There were also a few abandoned aircraft carcasses and other cool stuff (junk) at the margins of the airfield that we could scavenge for treasures that only a young boy could appreciate.
It is difficult to imagine in the context of present development, but in ’54 my Parents had reservations about moving “that far out” of the city (our prior abode was on Glebe Road). The intersection of Graham Rd and Rt. 50 had only the Esso station on the N.E. corner and a small group of stores including a grocery, barbershop and hardware store to the West. The airfield occupied the SW quadrant and I think that the SE corner was vacant (a Cities Service station was later built there). The vacant areas on the corners were the annual locations for Christmas tree and fireworks stands. “7-corners” was just an intersection (no overpass or shopping center) and Merrifield was really out in the country (although the “gingerbread” body shop was probably there as it is today) and Fairfax was similarly isolated. Bailey’s crossroads was an intersection of 2-lane roads with a pony ride on one corner and a home diagonally opposite. Similarly, Tyson’s corner was just an intersection on Rt 29 and Herndon was a distant town in farmland and might have remained obscure if not for the Virginia Gentleman distillery. There was no Beltway, or Reston and I believe that even Springfield was yet to become significant in the residential archipelago. The only “mall” was the one designed by George Washington in DC. We had moved to the suburban frontier and I thought that the 10 miles to the city was a long way. I wish that I had but a 15-20min commute such as that today.
In 1954, an 1800sq-ft (including basement), 3-bedroom brick ranch in Broyhill Park could be yours for little more than $16,000. I recently saw one listed for $350,000! That’s nearly 31/2 times inflation-adjusted dollars, not a bad return on one’s housing cost. Apparently, Mr. Broyhill built sturdy homes that have withstood the test of time well and my Parents’ decision to build “far out” has proven to be a wise one.
Richard Padgett
Richmond, Virginia
Gary Owens
My name is Gary Owens,
I was born in 1953, in what is now known as “old Broyhill”, meaning the houses just east of Annandale Road, at the end of Graham Road. I remember little from there, as we moved to “new Broyhill” in 1956, and I spent the next 14 years there before going off to college. My mother, Betty Evely, still lives in the same house. My father was a carpenter, and he worked for M. T. Broyhill, the home builder for whom Broyhill Park was named. He actually worked on the home we moved into, and I remember thinking that he literally “built” all of Broyhill Park.
I went to Walnut Hill Elementary School, was bussed to Whittier Intermediate School, then finally, the current Falls Church High School. Some current residents of Broyhill Park may not know that the original Falls Church High School was actually located in the center of downtown Falls Church, on Cherry and (something) Street, what is now all town homes. I believe I was in the first freshman class of Falls Church High School in it’s present location, which would have been 1967. In addition, I believe Walnut Hill Elementary is now a school administrative office.
I have many great memories of growing up in Broyhill Park, and wanted to share a few of them. The most consistent theme is that there were lots of kids my age. This makes sense as it was a new development and many young families moved in. So, it just seemed like the most perfect place to be. First of all, I remember walking to Walnut Hill Elementary School, which was probably only about 1/2 mile, but to a six, or seven year old, it seemed like a long ways. The school was named after the Walnut Hill Mansion, which was on the “other side” of the woods that surrounded Parrots Creek., situated on the very top of a large lot, on Annandale Road, half way between Graham Road and Gallows Road. The mansion is now gone, replaced by very nice town homes. At that time, a young boy could spend all day on a Saturday in those woods, following Parrots creek from the entrance to the woods, just outside the safe harbor of Woodley Pool, all the way to the Walnut Hill Mansion. Again, for a young boy, who would stop to pick up every stone, sure it was an “arrow head” from the Native American Indians, tadpoles, and sticks, etc, it could take all day to navigate there and back. I haven’t traversed it as an adult, but I might guess it is no more than a mile or two, but in those days, it was a big, big adventure. The moniker to your friends who could not join that day, “we made it all the way to Walnut Hill Mansion and back!”. All things considered, it was very safe, as all one had to do was follow the creek there, and follow it back. As an adult, I read J.R. Tolkiens books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series. I think back to my early childhood, and those woods felt like the woods in Tolkiens books, huge, deep, and dark. The only difference was there was never a hint of danger, only fun and adventure.
Woodley Pool was the place to be in the summers. Every friend I had belonged to Woodley. Every day started and ended at the pool. I’d arrive when it opened, come home (maybe) for dinner, then head back till it closed. There was basketball, shuffle board, ping pong, of course swimming, and games in the pool, card games, and best of all was that every hour the pool was closed for 15 minutes for the “adults” only to swim, which meant 18 and older. This was the time for all of us “kids” to run to the concession stand to buy candy, or ice-cream. I think I spent all of my “grass cutting” money on these sugar breaks. Ah, it was idyllic. One summer, my brother had the concession stand contract, which meant, even though I was a squirt, I got to help him out, and therefore, I was the coolest kid around. I also remember the ping pong tournaments on the last day of the summer each year, which was traditionally Labor Day. Numerous times I won my age group, even entering and winning the adult category as a 13 year old. That and $3 will buy you a cup of Starbucks coffee today, but back then, that was big!
I remember big snows. Again, were they really that big, did we get a lot more snow in the 60’s than we do now, or did it just seem so because I was so small? Who knows, but I remember that there were many snow days, when school was closed, and that meant sledding on Carol Lane, from the top of the hill on Camp Alger Street down Carol Lane, toward Annandale Road. It was very steep, even hard to get back up. No one had plastic sleds back then, rather we all had Red Arrow’s, good ole wooden sleds, and there was an art to keeping the blades waxed, for maximum speed. I remember long “sled trains”, as well as the many attempts to capsize your friends in front of you if you could catch them on the way down.
I remember playing football in the “Triangle”, a small parcel of land just off Graham Road, where it bends north heading towards Loehmans Plaza, (which of course was a small airfield before it was a shopping center). The Triangle is still there, with the brick “Broyhill Park” sign still proudly displayed. At the time, it seemed like a perfectly legitimate football field, worthy of future Washington Redskins learning the game. Sometimes, as many as 10-15 of us would be playing there. When I look at it now, I don’t know how we did it, but again, at the time, it seemed big enough. I remember many summer nights playing “kick the can”, or flashlight tag”, until late at night, when Mom would force me to come in. I remember that Congressman Finley, who was in the House of Representatives for 22 years, representing the 10th District of Illinois, had a basketball court in his back yard, and he happened to live across the street from me. He was quite gracious, and allowed us kids to play whenever we wanted, without asking. That meant sometimes early, sometimes late, sometimes, for long periods of time. Looking back, I’m sure there were times that the bouncing of my basketball woke him up, or kept him awake (he even had an outside light). Yet, never did he make me aware of this, rather, whenever I saw him, he’d just smile and say something positive about “my game.”
Well, I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, Broyhill Park was (and hopefully still is) a tremendous place to grow up and live. I have nothing but fond memories of being there, and though I have not lived there since 1972, I visit my mother regularly, and everytime I come, I am full of warm thoughts from such memories as I have just shared with you.
Gary Owens
Downers Grove, Il.
