Clark
House
Falls Church, Virginia
#NC-06120-HM - Notecards
A
reminder of the rural landscape once characteristic of Fairfax
County, this house is the surviving architectural remnant of a
dairy farm that once occupied more than 200 acres in Annandale.
Willie Lee Clark paid local builder Henry Manchester two dollars
a day plus dinner to construct the house.
The
structure, excluding porches, forms a perfect square with four
equal walls. This "four-square" vernacular architecture
was common at the turn of the century.
Four
generations of the Clark family occupied the house. Originally,
the Clarks shared their home with hired farm help, who occupied
the third floor. After selling the bulk of the property to a developer
in the 1950s, the family ran a firewood and top soil business
on the remaining six acres.
The
Clark House was moved to Barcroft Mews Drive at Columbia Pike
in 1990. The Fairfax County Park Authority has restored the exterior
to its original appearance. While keeping the interior's original
woodwork, the county has added air conditioning, heating and a
full commercial kitchen to make the Clark House more suitable
for community, private and corporate use. Registered on the inventory
of Fairfax County Historic Sites, the building accommodates up
to 65 people.
Text
© 1999 Dianne Harrah, Drawing © 1999 Bill Harrah
.
. . HISTORIC HOMES . . . (Click on an image to
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