Almost four years before Del Ray was founded, the Northwest Alexandria Improvement Company began selling lots in their new development, which became Braddock Heights. The company advertised the splendid views of Washington, Alexandria and the Potomac River. They also highlighted that the planned road from Washington to Mount Vernon was surveyed to pass through the new subdivision, and they anticipated the new electric railway to run through or near the area.1 Two years later in 1892, the Washington, Alexandria and

Mount Vernon Electric Railroad opened, passing through the Eastern side of the new settlement along the path of modern day Commonwealth Avenue. It had two stations within the subdivision to pick up passengers traveling to Washington or Alexandria2, which made the area an easy commute to jobs in the city. Despite these conveniences, the lack of utilities such as indoor plumbing cause slow sales, and the company was selling off lots for years.

At the end of June 1906, a judge appointed Mr. George Peverill as one of three trustees of the Free Methodist Church in Alexandria.3 Mr. Peverill was a rather infamous local character who was known for preaching on the streets about the coming judgment day, the damnation of frivolous people, and the blasphemy of Masonic orders, which landed him in court more than once.4 A few months later in November 1906, Mr. Peverill purchased two lots right next to the electric trolley line, lots 19 and 20 of Block 6 in Northwest Alexandria, as an investment.5 A year later, he sold Lot 19 to his son-in-law, Mr. Moses Hayden6 who took out a mortgage for $1000 to build a house.7

8

The original design of the house was common around northern Alexandria in the first decade of the 20th century. Built before the first Sears kit home was sold, variations on the general shape and layout are repeated enough to suggest a local builder or lumber yard was working from a standard design. The two story houses featured two or three bedrooms plus a small sewing room upstairs with the stairwell and hall to one side. The sewing room was typically converted to a bathroom when indoor plumbing was added in the 1920s. The downstairs mirrored the upstairs in room size and layout. The facade was normally 18 feet wide and the house was normally 30-45 feet deep, divided into roughly 15 foot sections. The houses usually included a front porch and often a back porch. Below is the probably original layout of the house at 3 E. Nelson Ave.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the Haydens shortly after starting construction when their four year old son died in November of that year.9 Whether it was because memories of the tragedy or the financial burden of the mortgage proved too much, Mr. Hayden elected to sell his home in 1909, and rented a house in Old Town for his wife, five daughters and himself. In a somewhat complex deal, Hayden sold his house along with lot 20, which belonged to Peverill, to James A. Haislip.

James Andrew Haislip was part of the large Haislip family of Mason Neck, who had been farmers there for at least a century. His father, John Haislip, and his uncle, Andrew Haislip, owned large farms near Gunston Hall, just north of Mason Neck State Park, part of which has been developed into the Belmont Park Estates10. James married his cousin Kezia E. Haislip, and they had three sons and two daughters11. At age 54, James' youngest son was turning 18. James decided to give up his farm on Mason Neck and purchase a home in Northwest Alexandria. On May 27, 1909, he bought Mr. Hayden's house and the adjoining lot at the corner of [what was then] Linden Avenue and the electric railroad.12 At that time, James and Kezia had all five children living with them.13 He took a job as a night watchman in Rosemont14 and was probably looking forward to enjoying an easier life after giving up the farm. His enjoyment was limited though as he caught Typhoid Fever and passed away on August 21, 1912.15

With Kezia now a widow, her middle son Cassius stayed at home; her eldest daughter, Mary Ester Huntington, bought the house next door; and her youngest son Julian rented the next house down the street. By 1930, Cassius had moved out and William and Esther Huntington had moved to Detroit where he was a foreman in an automobile plant. Her daughter Eleanor and son-in-law James M. Tennesson had moved into the house at 3 E Linden Ave. with her, and Julian Haislip had purchased a home around the corner on Alexandria Ave.16 The Tennessons continued to live with Kezia until her death on October 16, 1945.17 Less than a year later, James Tennesson also passed away on June 13, 194618, leaving Eleanor a widow. Eleanor sold the house in 1954 to Everett Garwig and passed away on October 15, 1969.

The Northwest Alexandria development and surrounding neighborhoods like Rosemont and Del Ray were originally a part of Arlington County. After several unsuccessful efforts, the City of Alexandria finally annexed these neighborhoods effective January 1, 1930. In the course of the annexation, records were not accurately transferred to the city, and many properties in northern Alexandria have incorrect records as to their year of construction. The city now also had the dilemma of multiple streets with the same names, as many streets in Arlington carried the same name as those in Old Town. After much debate, the duplicate street names in former Arlington County areas were changed around 1940. Linden Avenue was actually duplicated in Northwest Alexandria and Rosemont; therefore, it was changed to Nelson Avenue at this time. Unlike parts of Del Ray, the street numbers did not change in Braddock Heights, so 3 E. Linden Ave. became 3 E. Nelson Ave.

On May 11, 1954, Everett Vincent Garwig and his wife Martha Myrtle Garwig purchased the house at 3 E. Nelson Ave.19 Sometime prior to the end of their ownership (probably around 196320), a one story addition was added to back of the house with a small screened in porch by the original back door. By this time, the original front porch had been replaced by a small stoop with an awning. The Garwigs sold the property in 1972 to Wilbur E. and Diana Anderson.21 The Andersons used the property as a rental property with A.A. Potteiger as their tenant from 1972-74. The house remained vacant after that until the Andersons sold it in 1978.22 They changed the character of the property permanently by selling off the associated vacant Lot 20 separately from the house. Since the time when Mr. Haislip had bought the property in 1909, the house had enjoyed a large yard fronting on Commonwealth Ave. The Andersons sold the house to Richard and Dorothy Louise Daniels in July 197823, and a year later finalized the sale of the vacant lot to the developers James and Cecil Sills.24 Dorothy Daniels gave power of attorney to Sarah Elizabeth Rogers in September 198525, which she used to sell the house to Robert P. Romero in November 1988.26 Romero enclosed the screened rear porch and added a second story to the addition, creating a master bath off of the southwest bedroom. He also altered the west facade of the house slightly, adding a bay shape to the side door entrance.27 Meanwhile, the Sills obtained the Planning Commission's approval to build a house on Lot 2028, but they never built the house. Instead, they sold the property to Robert's father, Gonzalo Romero, in February 1989.29 Gonzalo Romero transferred Lot 20 to Our Development Company in 199230, and the company built the house at 1 E. Nelson Ave, eliminating the large, open yard west of the house at 3 E. Nelson Ave. The company sold the new house to Michael O'Flaherty in early 199531, and after 17 years, he sold the property to it's current owners in October 2012. Shortly after Lot 20 was transferred to the development company, Robert Romero defaulted on his mortgage, and Home Savings of America took possession of the property in January 1993.32

The current owners bought the repossessed property in December 1993. These owners expanded the rear addition around 1996, adding a family room, master bedroom, rear staircase and rear porch. The en suite bathroom added by Romero was changed to a hallway accessible bath at this time as well. The yard was then landscaped over the next ten years culminating in a new garage and patio around 2006.33

The property was featured in the first Del Ray House and Garden Tour. In 1999, the house won the Alexandria Beautification Award.34 It was featured on Old Homes Restoration in 2001.35 The same episode also featured the stained glass artisan, owner & resident artist, Jim Sawyer from Six Dimension Design, Buffalo, New York. Sawyer made all of the new stained glass in the house. His works include the red rose door between the dining and living rooms, a remake of Tiffany's Oyster Bay in the master bath, a Tiffany-like Flower Lattice at the rear staircase, a Wright-like Prairie in the turret windows, and a heart transom stained glass that sits above the front door, which he gifted to the current owners as a wedding present.36

1The Washington Post, April 13, 1891, p.7.

21921 Sanborn Insurance Map of Alexandria, VA, p.29

3The Washington Post, July 1, 1906, p. 13

4The Washington Post, July 19, 1909, p.3; June 28, 1909, p.9; June 28, 1881, p.1

5Arlington County deed book 115, p.32, dated Nov1906.

6Arlington County deed book 115,p.285, dated 1907.

7Arlington County deed book 114, p.416, dated 1907.

8Picture courtesy of Barbara Hymas

9The Washington Post, November 3, 1907, p.15

10Mt. Vernon Dist. No. 3 map of Fairfax Co. 1878; http://www.belmontbayassc.com/belmont

11http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/james-andrew-haislip_13959728

12Arlington County deed book 120 p.365, dated May 27, 1909

131910 Census data

14http://www.rosemontcitizensassoc.org/history/history-1910s/

15The Washington Post, Aug 23, 1912, p.4

161930 Census data

17Alexandria Gazette, Oct 17, 1945 p.7

18Alexandria Gazette, Jun 14, 1946, p.8

19Alexandria City deed book 377, p.451, dated May 11, 1954

20The tax assessment records from the 1970s list the effective age as 1963 per property record card 14704500.

21Alexandria City deed book 750, p.15, dated Decemberr 13, 1972

22Hill's Alexandria City Directory for 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978.

23Alexandria City deed book 905, p.346, dated July 18, 1978

24Alexandria City deed book 959, p. 856, dated August 23, 1979

25Alexandria City deed book 1159, p.327, dated September 20, 1985

26Alexandria City deed book 1257, p.425, dated November 1, 1988

27Oral history from owner in 2015.

28The Washington Post, November 22, 1984, p.184

29Alexandria City deed book 1264, p.354, dated February 1, 1989

30Alexandria City deed book 1375, p.1765, dated June 17, 1992

31Alexandria City deed book 1523, p.1646, dated February 27, 1995

32Alexandria City deed book 1405, p.4, dated January 21, 1993

33Oral history from owner in 2015.

34Oral history from owner in 2015.

35HGTV: Old Homes Restoration, episode OHR-212, March 20, 2001.

36Oral history from owner in 2015.