Lyon Village | |
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 Birdseye view of Lyon Village | |
 Interactive map of Lyon Village | |
| Country |  United States of America |
| State |  Virginia |
| County |  Arlington |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 22201 |
| Area code | 703 |
Lyon Village Historic District | |
| Location | Roughly bounded by Langston Blvd, N. Veitch St., N. Franklin Rd., N. Highland St., N. Fillmore St., and N. Kirkwood Rd.,Arlington County, Virginia |
| Coordinates | 38°53′29″N77°5′42″W / 38.89139°N 77.09500°W /38.89139; -77.09500 |
| Area | 191 acres (77 ha) |
| Built | 1846-1950 |
| Architect | Lyon, Frank; et al. |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Art Deco, Other |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000512[1] |
| VLR No. | 000-7822 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 10, 2002[2] |
| Designated VLR | December 5, 2001[2] |
Lyon Village is a neighborhood inArlington County, Virginia. It is roughly bounded by Langston Boulevard, North Veitch Street, North Franklin Road, North Highland Street, North Fillmore Street, and North Kirkwood Road, and is positioned next to the urbanizedRosslyn-Ballston corridor.
Lyon Village was established in 1923 after real estate developerFrank Lyon purchased farmland from the Cruit family directly north of the growingClarendon community, which had been platted in 1900. It was built as amiddle andupper-middle classsuburb of nearbyWashington, D.C., and was located along Virginia'sinterurban trolley lines. Lyon's real estate company, Lyon & Fitch, split the development into 9 sections that incorporated preexisting homes from the Clarendon and Aurora Heights subdivisions. The neighborhood was mostly complete by the early 1950s, and contains many examples ofColonial Revival,Craftsman,Spanish Mission Revival,Tudor Revival, andClassical Revival architecture. Lyon Village was listed on the National Register for Historic Places in 2002 as a well preserved community built during Arlington's early 20th century suburbanization. Despite its proximity to the higher-density Clarendon,Court House, andVirginia Square neighborhoods, it has generally retained its low-density character and landscaping.
During thecolonial era, present-day Lyon Village was part of the largerNorthern Neck land grant. William Struttfield ofWestmoreland County, Virginia purchased 500 acres of this property in 1709 fromThomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.[3] The land passed through a series of owners during the 18th and 19th centuries, includingGeorge Mason and his sonJohn.[4] One of them, Robert Cruit, a butter merchant from Washington who bought the property from Robert and Mary Witticomb in July 1846, used it as a summer retreat anddairy farm. Cruit and his family ran the farm withenslaved labor between 1847 and the earlyCivil War.[5][6] The Cruit's farmhouse, which still stands today on North Highland Street, was used as a hospital during the war for 6 months by the3rd and8th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiments.[7]
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The Cruit family maintained ownership over their farmland until 1912, when Robert Cruit's granddaughters began subdividing it for prospective residential development.[7]Frank Lyon, a newspaper publisher and land developer fromPetersburg, Virginia, purchased 165 acres of the Cruit's property in 1923 for $185,000, intending to develop it into his planned Lyon Village subdivision.[7] Lyon had earlier developed neighboringLyon Park in 1922.[8] He and his partners envisioned Lyon Village as a more upper-middle class development informed by the tenants and aesthetics of theCity Beautiful movement.[9]
Advertising for Lyon Village emphasized its proximity to planned infrastructure like theArlington Memorial Bridge and easy commutes into Washington by car as well as trolley.[9] This reflected the broader movement towards car-based transit and away from the trains and trolley lines that had served as the dominant forms of transportation in Arlington.[9] Also highlighted in Lyon Village's promotional materials was itsracial segregation that only permittedwhite buyers to purchase property.[10]Racially restrictive covenants, which are known to have existed in Lyon Village and were common inJim Crow era Arlington County, preventedAfrican Americans and other minority groups from owning homes.[10][11] This persisted until the passing of theCivil Rights Act of 1968, which officially abolishedde jure housing segregation throughout the United States.[12]
The first section of Lyon Village, which consisted of 148 acres of the original parcel, were platted for the neighborhood by Lyon & Fitch, Lyon's development company, in 1923. William F. Sunderland, who served as Lyon Village's landscape architect, divided the property into 9 sections.[13] Parts of the adjacent Clarendon community, platted in 1900, and Aurora Heights, which was partially developed starting in 1906, were incorporated into Lyon Village.[14][15] Most of the lots were sold during the 1920s, with demand driven by the growth in theFederal workforce. Around 134 buildings were completed to the east of North Highland Street by 1929, and the old Aurora Heights section contained over 135 buildings, including stores and a school.[14] Development slowed during theGreat Depression, but increased again after the economic recovery. By 1950, Lyon Village was mostly developed with over 800 buildings.[14] Further additions and lots continued to be built into the mid-1960s.[16]
Provisions promised by Lyon's firm to Lyon Village residents included a trust fund retaining 10% of the purchase price of each lot, which was used for regular maintenance of neighborhood infrastructure. This was to be kept under Lyon's firm until 75% of the lots were sold.[14] The Lyon Village Citizens Association, aneighborhood association established in 1926, sought to claim this fund for the construction of a community center, a public park, and other amenities in 1940. Lyon Incorporated, renamed after Frank Lyon's partner C. Walton Fitch left the firm, refused to provide the funds. The Association sued Lyon and ultimately prevailed at theSupreme Court of Virginia, reaching an agreement in October 1944 that Lyon would provide $20,000 and 8 lots for the community center and park facilities.[17] The community house, a 1-story Colonial Revival building completed in December 1949, was designed by Lyon Village resident Eimer Cappelmann.
Lyon Village was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register on December 5, 2001 and the National Register of Historic Places on May 10, 2002. At the time of designation, non-contributing properties included infill development from the 1990s.[18] Lyon Village's historic designations do not mandate architectural restrictions,[19] which has enabled property owners to substantially renovate or demolish historic homes.[20]
While currently undersingle-family zoning, Lyon Village has faced development pressures given its proximity to Clarendon, which has urbanized since the 2000s, and the Orange and Silver lines. This has in part taken the form ofaffordable housing projects pursued by its religious communities, including the First Baptist Church, which demolished most of their sanctuary to construct a 10-story low-income apartment building in 2011.[21] The Clarendon Presbyterian Church on North Jackson Street tried to implement a similar 6-story affordable housing project forLGBTQ community seniors in the early 2020s.[22] This was challenged by neighborhood groups as undermining Lyon Village's character, infrastructure, and the County's General Land Use Plan.[22] The church later canceled the project, citing rising construction costs resulting from theTrump Administration'stariff policies.[23] These developments have occurred during a County-wide controversy overmissing middle housing policies pursued by the County Board.[24]
Within its boundaries, Lyon Village contains buildings that were constructed before its platting in 1923. The oldest of these is the Cruit farmhouse on North Highland Street, a wood-frame home Robert Cruit built in 1846 as a summer retreat. It has been extensively modified since the Cruit family's ownership, including renovations by Frank Lyon that added the current gabledportico with Classical columns, and later modifications that encased the exterior invinyl siding.[18] Other pre-1923 buildings include dwellings built as a part of the earlier Clarendon and Aurora Heights communities. These structures, which range from the 1880s to the 1920s, are built in theQueen Anne and Craftsman styles with varying levels ofornamentation; those of the latter style exhibitbungalow andAmerican Foursquare layouts.[25]
Homes that were part of Lyon Village's first section east of North Highland Street are mostly wood-frame, brick-faced structures built in the Colonial Revival, Craftsman, Spanish Mission Revival, Tudor Revival, and Classical Revival styles.[26] Many of them represent more standardized, diluted forms designed for mass suburbanization;[27] the neighborhood contains numerous examples ofSearskit houses.[28][29] Houses of this period are set on lots of less than an acre along tree-lined, curvilinear streets.[30]
Buildings constructed after the first phase of development between 1930 and 1950 includeCape Cod style cottages, larger Colonial Revival homes, and severalgarden apartment complexes that haveArt Deco and Classical Revival elements.[28][31] These properties are arranged in a more grid-like street pattern.[30] The Lyon Village Citizen's Association was particularly insistent on advocating for the Colonial Revival style during Lyon Village's initial development. Hence, over 60% of houses in the neighborhood contain Colonial Revival elements.[32]
Lyon Village also has 3 churches that were all established in the first quarter of the 20th century. The church buildings, which were constructed in the Colonial Revival andGothic Revival styles, generally date between 1929 and 1950.[33][34]
Lyon Village is located in northern Arlington County and is bounded by Langston Boulevard, North Veitch Street, North Franklin Road, North Highland Street, North Fillmore Street, and North Kirkwood Road. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Clarendon, Court House,Colonial Village, Virginia Square,Cherrydale, andMaywood.[35] Lyon Village is low-density and primarily consists of single-family dwellings situated on lots of less than an acre. Streets follow curvilinear and grid patterns and are landscaped with trees, medians, and traffic circles.[36] The higher-density Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, which follows the Silver and Orange Metro lines, is located directly to Lyon Village's south.[37]
Colonial Village is adjacent to Langston Boulevard, which is a component highway ofU.S. Route 29, andInterstate 66. Wilson Boulevard runs to the south of the neighborhood. TheCustis Trail, ashared-use path, is accessible through N Veitch Street.[38]
6Capital Bikeshare stations are located near Lyon Village on N Kirkwood Road, Langston Boulevard, Wilson Boulevard, and N Veitch Street.[39] TheClarendon andCourt House Metro stations along the Orange and Silver Metrorail lines are to Lyon Village's south and southeast in the adjacent Clarendon and Court House neighborhoods, as well as the followingMetrobus andArlington Transitbus routes:[40][41]
Lyon Village has two parks. Lyon Village Park, a 2-acre park located on North Highland Street, has a playground, tennis and basketball courts, and asprayground open betweenMemorial Day andLabor Day.[42] James Hunter Park, which is named for former Arlington County Board member James B. Hunter III, is located on North Hartford Street and contains green space and adog park.[43] The Lyon Village Citizens' Association organizes a variety of annual neighborhood gatherings, including anIndependence Day parade, andEaster egg hunt, and December holiday party.[44] The neighborhood's community house has a hall with a stage for hosting meetings, classes, and other social events.[45]
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