Clover-College Park, VA Homes For Sale
Presenting a small town vibe in the heart of Alexandria City is Clover-College Park. Not only is this a friendly community with a lovely park and pleasantly upscale homes for sale that have resisted the trap of ostentatiousness, this is also a place that was once home to one of the country’s most affable and reassuringly normal U.S. presidents—Gerald R. Ford.
An unpretentious brick and clapboard Colonial built by Gerald and his wife Betty served as their home for 19 years. Ford was a congressman and then the Vice-President during that time. But when Richard Nixon resigned his office, Ford was called upon to step up as the new president and for the next 10 days, the residence on Crown Drive would serve as a temporary White House, until the Fords moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Clover-College Park Homes for Sale in Alexandria, VA
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The charming neighborhood can be found north of Duke Street and south of Janney’s Lane, and adjacent the popular Douglas MacArthur Elementary School. Other neighborhoods in this part of Alexandria include Braddock Road, Seminary Hill, Cameron Station and the Carlyle District.
Clover-College Park has a very long history, dating back to a 300-acre parcel of land known as Stump’s Hill, owned by tobacco agent, Josiah Watson. By the late 1790s, Watson filed bankruptcy and was forced to sell off the land, with 49 large lots auctioned off to a hodgepodge of Old Town “movers and shakers.”
A number of large antebellum mansions were built during the 1800s, including Woodleigh, Four Winds, Summerhill, Longview and a 57-acre estate with a huge turreted house, Malvern. Also in the area was a huge railroad shipping complex for the Fruit Growers Express Company. All those structures are gone now. Later in the century, a Confederate officer turned inventor named Eli Janney purchased a large swath of land. His original white frame house still stands.
By the 1930s, new homes were being built in the section known as College Park. Things continued at a leisurely pace until 1946, when a developer named Rozier Beech bought a 48-acre portion of the Woodleigh estate. Thus began the development of Clover. Beech had a fondness for different types of architecture, resulting in a great variety from one house to the next. Traditional styles like Colonials, Cape Cods, Ramblers and split-levels were typically given additional individual characteristics. Beech also happened to be an amateur botanist who was fond of including “orchid rooms” in many of the homes.
Eventually, Clover and College Park were combined. More builders continued to enter the picture as decades progressed, reflected in newer and larger homes for sale. You’ll also find some condos and townhouses in the area. Real Estate prices typically run from the mid-six figures to over a million dollars.
Despite all the years of evolvement, Clover-College Park has retained its sense of charm, local pride and community participation. Douglas MacArthur Elementary plays a key role with school-based events, and there’s also holiday traditions, parades and other neighborhood get-togethers. Angel Park has a children’s playground and athletic fields, while President Ford Park with its charming greenspace stands in the heart of the neighborhood at the corner of Janney’s Lane and North Quaker Lane.
To schedule a home tour, call District Partners at Compass, (202) 798-3600.
