Virginia Rambler: All Aboard!--Cinder Bed Road

**DRAFT--Please visit again to see the finished article.

One day, my husband and I decided to explore Cinder Bed Road, a road we'd seen on maps. It appeared to parallel the CSX train tracks and run from Alexandria to Newington, like so:

We went to the northern terminus, which is near the Franconia Springfield Metro (see top red arrow on map). We turned left onto a gravel road, thinking we were on the ever-so-rustic Cinder Bed Road. Very quickly we realized we were, in fact, on an access road used for railroad maintenance. It was not even remotely paved. It was so pitted that I feared our subcompact car would bottom out. The road was about as wide as our car, so turning around was out of the question. We rattled on, down the road, wondering what we'd do if we encountered a vehicle traveling toward us. Finally we found a place where it was wide enough--barely--to turn around, and we clattered back to the start of the road. I think a few of my fillings came loose that day, and I don't even want to think about what happened to my brain cells.

So, okay, two mistakes here: (1) That wasn't Cinder Bed; and (2) Even if we'd correctly driven onto Cinder Bed, we would have had to stop soon when woods overtook the road. That nice, solid white line on the map is a lie.

It's possible to walk the length of this road, although you have to cross Long Branch Creek en route. Here's a view of the "road" just past where you can't drive any further:

But we were still curious, and so we drove to the southern terminus of the road (see bottom red arrow on map). The southern end of Cinder Bed is a mix of industrial sites and a few old houses.

All of the houses are on lots that appear to now be zoned as commercial, not residential. At least one parcel of vacant land formerly had a log cabin on it, as recently as 2000. The presence of homes in the midst of industrial compounds is a bit of a mystery until you look at pictures of the area from 50 years ago, when this was a rural area.... but more about that later.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

7801 Cinder Bed Rd.
Appears to be owned by a family trust.
2,176 SF GFA (gross floor area). According to the Fairfax County property tax records, it was built in 1900 (most likely incorrect). Previous sale was in 1978 for $39,000. Assessed value is $427,480 in 2015. The land area is 49,602 square feet.

The house is large , and the exterior appears to be in good condition. But the best part of this property is behind the house: There's an honest-to-goodness barn! In this picture, we're standing behind the barn, looking toward the house:

Someone has planted trees on part of the land behind the house. In the distance, you can see houses in the Landsdowne community. (They are much closer than they appear here.)

Just look at this beautiful barn. What a surprise to find this on an industrial road in a very developed part of the county. Its nearest neighbors are the very expensive houses in the upscale Landsdowne subdivision.)

Ceiling of the barn.

View of the "big house" from the interior of the barn.

It looks like the barn was most recently used as a garage and workshop.

Tell me this next photo doesn't remind you of the color palette and textures of Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World." (Please click on this one to see the larger version--it's worth it.)

7813 Cinder Bed Road
Last sold for 3.6 million in 2015; on a 2-acre lot; owner listed in tax records is Iglesia Penecostal Bethel Inc. It sold for much more than its assessed value, which is
$739,480 for 2015. Tax records say it was built in 1900 (most likely incorrect). "Improved land with dilapidated structure," according to tax records.

A small house on a large lot. The opposite of the "McMansions" (large houses on small lots) that are becoming entirely too prevalent in northern Virginia. The house is unoccupied, but the grounds of this house are beautifully cared for.

Note the "door" in the ground just beyond the For Sale sign. Where does it lead?

A garage that appears to also have living quarters (note the ornate doors on the right).

7819 Cinder Bed Road
County tax records describe this one as "improved land with dilapidated structure." 1404 sq. ft. Year built listed as 1900 (most likely incorrect). Land area is 43,599 SF. GFA is 1,404. Last sold in 2005 (amount not listed). Owner is BAM Properties LLC, in Lorton.

You could easily miss this house, which is set back from the road and well-camouflaged by greenery.

There's ivy on the side of the house and moss on the roof.

The tall green shoots are evidence that someone once cared for this property and landscaped it.

[To come: more photos of the rustic and charming house at 7819 Cinder Bed Road, plus pictures of the environs and narrative about Cinder Bed Road. Also, photos and text about the "other end" of Cinder Bed Road, starting at the Franconia-Springfield Metro.]

Context: By 2002, this stretch of Cinder Bed was in atrocious condition. There were junkyards, chop shops, and squatter. The county launched a massive cleanup. Here's a screenshot from HistoricAerials.com, taken in 2002:

Sources

• Fairfax County Historic Marker (Newington), http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/histcomm/historicmarkers/newington.htm
• County Cleans Up An Old Road," Alexandria Gazette Packet, http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2003/aug/05/county-cleans-up-an-old-road/
• Cinder Bed Road Bus Garage (developer's site), http://www.turnerconstruction.com/experience/project/2AC8/cinder-bed-road-bus-garage
• "WMATA Breaks Ground on Cinder Bed Road Metrobus Facility, Greater Alexandria Patch, http://patch.com/virginia/greateralexandria/wmata-breaks-ground-on-cinder-bed-metrobus-facility-in-lorton
• http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7813-Cinder-Bed-Rd-Lorton-VA-22079/51971091_zpid
• Fairfax Co. Dept. of Tax Administration's Real Estate Assessment Information Site,  http://icare.fairfaxcounty.gov/ffxcare/Main/Home.aspx
• HistoricAerials.com

Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

Virginia Rambler: Mount Air

Northern Virginia is blessed to have some lovely historic homes--Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, and Woodlawn Plantation among them. Other beautiful stately homes have been lost. Among those lost are the Belvoir Plantation (on the grounds that are now Fort Belvoir) and Mount Air in Lorton.

Mount Air was a large, working plantation. The land grant for the land it occupied was issued to Dennis McCarty in 1727, and by 1742 a mansion and a working farm and outbuildings were standing. The mansion survived a fire, as well as occupation by troops during the Civil War and World War II, but sadly, it burned to the ground in 1992, just weeks after the last owner died. The ruins and outbuildings have been preserved. For several years I've wanted to visit, and on a mild January day, Mark and I finally got there.

Click on any photo to get a larger version.

Interpretive signs show the remaining buildings and the grounds.

Below, we're looking at the right side of the mansion. County archaeologists tuckpointed the bricks in the basement walls and filled in the basement to preserve it. They swept all the rubble from the fire into the basement and then covered it with the stones you see here.

Below, we're standing in front of the right side of the mansion, looking at the left-side wall. Just to the left of the chimney you can see a set of stairs leading down to the basement.

The chimney below is the tallest remnant of the mansion.

There are two cabins on the property, in poor repair (below); they're relatively close to the mansion. According to oral history, they were slave cabins. (Mount Air was a tobacco plantation, and before the Civil War, the owners had approx. 50 slaves there.) The second photo below shows the slate roof tiles.

Below is the corn crib. You can't tell here, but it's on stilts.

Much of the property is wooded. On the edge of the woods, we found a blanket of snow drops.

Parts of the original formal gardens remain. This is from the boxwood alley.

Behind the greenhouse (also in poor condition), I saw this old gas can, with "Transportation" stenciled on the side. It was a spooky thing to see, since the mansion had burned to the ground. The cause of the fire is unknown, and not likely to be related to this gas can--the surveyors and preservationists would surely have noticed the can--but it's eerie nonetheless.

Preservationists think there were several additional buildings they haven't yet found. Here's a stone step, or lintel, or something, that's not on the map.

And here's another remnant of a structure; this one is very near the left rear corner of the mansion ruins. This was the well house for the original well, which was in use until the 1960s. It drew on water from streams that ran under the plantation land.

Below is the barn (right side). It was designed in Greek Revival style, to match the mansion.

The caretaker's cottage (below) was a 20th-century addition. The preservationists recommend that it be torn down because it's not "historically significant."

Near the mansion is a native Virginia meadow. While the Army Corps of Engineers was building nearby Camp Humphreys, they camped in this meadow. Another interesting detail: somewhere in this meadow are the graves of the several members of the McCarty family, the original owners of Mount Air. It's said that a later owner found it depressing to look at the graves (in view of the verandah of the mansion), so the headstones--but not the bodies--were relocated to Cedar Grove, a family property elsewhere.

We left Mount Air at sunset and promised ourselves we'd return in the spring, when the remnants of the formal gardens would be in bloom.

Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.