Hollin Hills is a historic district and neighborhood approximately 10 miles south of Alexandria, Virginia. Though mailing addresses in Hollin Hills are listed as being in Alexandria, it is actually in an unincorporated part of southeastern Fairfax County. It is located primarily in the Fort Hunt area of the county with some portions remaining in the Hybla Valley and Groveton areas since a shift for census purposes prior to 2010. The community contains more than of parkland across seven distinct parks, a pool and swim club, a bocce court, and a pickleball and tennis club, operated and maintained by the Civic Association of Hollin Hills (CAHH).
Principally designed by Charles M. Goodman and developed by Robert C. Davenport in the 1940s, it was one of the Washington, D.C. area's first post-war modernist architecture developments, combined with natural landscape designs between 1949 and 1971. Davenport purchased the original of hilly, undeveloped land for $550/acre (present value:$/acre). As home sales and national acclaim grew, he then acquired another in 1956, and constructed more homes until the "New Hollin Hills" was completed in 1971. In all, roughly 450 houses with contemporary construction techniques and landscape plans were established in northern Virginia, offsetting the area's more common Colonial Revival homes. Today, the neighborhood is known primarily for its mid-century modern architecture homes, each is uniquely oriented on its lot to maximize its privacy and landscape view, with sight lines intentionally chosen to enhance the common space shared by each structure. These design tenets have remained very cohesive because of a long-standing design review committee that advises on building or modification of existing houses, and starting in 2022, its designation as the Hollin Hills Historic Overlay District (HOD), which requires modifications and additions to be reviewed by Fairfax County Architectural Review Board.
The Hollin Hills Historic District is a residential neighborhood encompassing 468 contributing buildings, five contributing sites, and three contributing structures for its 2013 designation in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The boundaries of Hollin Hills reflect the initial purchase of the 225 acres in 1946 as the site for a residential suburb and the neighborhood's 1956 expansion by Robert Davenport that added 101 acres to the southwest of the original section. The historic district encompasses all of the present of Hollin Hills, composed of single-family dwellings, parks, and recreational areas.
Residents have Alexandria mailing addresses with ZIP codes 22306 or 22307.
History Early history Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron appointed land agents who lived on the Northern Neck to sell parcels from what became known as the Fairfax Grant. The land agents for the proprietor included Philip Ludwell, George Brent, and William Fitzhugh. They processed the paperwork for Northern Neck grants (i.e., land sales) rather than the Secretary and Governor in Jamestown/Williamsburg. Based on pre-1742 maps of the Patents and Northern Neck Grants of Fairfax County, the land of present-day Hollin Hills sat on land once owned by land agent, George Brent.
Based on an 1862 Union engineer map (VREF 975.52 U 1862 DC.), known as the “McDowell map”, Hollin Hills sat near Sparrow Hill, which later formed Popkins Farm.
1949 to present
When Davenport acquired the original tract, he intended the name "Hollin Hills" as a variation of the 18th-century Hollin Hall Plantation, originally owned by George Mason, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights." General Mason named his lands after an English estate of his mother's family. Some of the Hollin Hall plantation buildings still stand on Sherwood Hall Lane.
Modernist architecture Davenport hired D.C.-based architect Charles M. Goodman (who also designed the Washington National Airport) to design the community; Goodman hired landscape architect Lou "Barney" Voigt to his firm in 1950. Together, the trio of builder/developer, architect and landscape architect chose to design each home with lots no smaller than one-third of an acre. Between 1949 and 1961, Charles Goodman designed eight modern unit types with variations in square footage and interior amenities, comprising 15 different combinations for Hollin Hills. During construction, many trees were retained to block sight lines, and houses were built at angles to ensure privacy. The popularity of the homes, which feature huge expanses of glass, established Goodman as a nationally acclaimed guru of modern architecture. Davenport named some streets to complement the community name, while others were named after family members: Martha's Road for his mother and Rebecca Drive for his daughter. Elba Road was named after one of his prize bulls.
Throughout the community, several custom designs, additions and modifications were constructed beyond the unit types creating an “architectural laboratory” for modern home design. In 1957, Goodman was appointed to design Alcoa Care-free Homes across the United States using more than of aluminum per home. Only 23 were ever built, including one in Hollin Hills, which has since been restored. This Elba Road-home is one of the district's NRHP contributing properties and is listed separately within the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ ‘’Notable Modern Architecture in Virginia, ca. 1940-1990’’ listing.
Environment In 1950, Goodman employed Harvard-trained landscape designer Lou "Barney" Voight to develop landscape plans for homes that optimized their home-sitting, the rolling hills and natural wood setting. After his untimely death at age 37 in 1953, he was followed by Daniel Urban Kiley and Eric Paepcke who focused on more geometric designs. Each provided property owners with landscaping plans intended to harmonize the contours of the land and highlight each building's individual design and siting. Depending on the address and date of construction, residents of today may obtain copies of their original landscape plans from the Library of Congress, Harvard's Frances Loeb Library, or George Mason University's Fenwick Library.
Stormwater throughout Hollin Hills is part of the Little Hunting Creek watershed that flows to the Potomac River and onto the Chesapeake Bay. Starting in April 2021 after months of debate, Fairfax County closed access to the parks and began stream restoration projects designed to restore and stabilize the dangerously eroded perennial streambeds in Goodman and Brickelmaier Parks and restore the parks to safety, ecological health, and natural beauty, which was heavily debated by residents, ecological experts and the county. The two parks were reopened in November 2022.
Infrastructure Transportation Motor vehicles are the most common form of transportation to and from Hollin Hills via its 11 ingress/egress points. Most houses do not feature garages, and instead include carports that may have been part of Goodman's plans or added via additions by Goodman associate Eason Cross Jr., and other architects throughout the years. Many homes in the original 225-acre tract have gravel parking pads at the edge of the street, in addition to driveways. County restrictions prohibit the parking of watercraft, motor homes, campers, trailers, and other large vehicles on public streets, as the community is within the Mount Vernon Community Parking District.
Virtually all public roads (interstate, primary and secondary) in Fairfax County are maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The county's public bus service, Fairfax Connector, has nearby connections via Route 101 (Fort Hunt–Mt. Vernon) and Route 152 (Groveton–Fort Hunt) routes, located near the intersection of Fort Hunt Rd and Paul Spring Rd, near the Hollin Hills Pool and community entrance. The Huntington station serves as the nearest rapid transit terminal of the Washington Metro (WMATA) system. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), located approximately 8 miles north, is the closest airport for residents.
Utilities Trash and recycling collection throughout Fairfax County is performed either by the county or private collection company. The entirety of Hollin Hills is located within the County Collection service area.
Dominion Energy is the primary supplier of electricity to area residents. Homes with natural gas are supplied Washington Gas. The Fairfax County Water Authority (or simply, Fairfax Water) is the primary water company for potable water supply to homes and fire hydrants.
Regulated wireline telephone service (aka, land line), digital/cable TV service, and residential Internet service is available with Comcast, Cox and Verizon.
Government For elections, the majority of Hollin Hills is located within the Kirkside (608) voting precinct and the Hollin Meadows Elementary School is the polling place. For others, residents are served by the Bucknell (604) voting precinct and its Bryant Center polling place.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, residents are represented by Virginia's 8th congressional district. For representation in the Virginia General Assembly, the community rests inside Virginia's 44th House of Delegates district and Virginia's 36th Senate district, for State Delegate and State Senator, respectively. At the county (or district) level, citizens are served by the Mount Vernon Magisterial District of Fairfax County for representation amongst the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and other district representatives on a variety of boards and commissions within the county. Mount Vernon Station No. 9, located in Sherwood Hall Lane, is the nearest response unit for emergency services from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD). Of the eight police stations of the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD), Mount Vernon District Police Station is nearest the community. At the community level, the Civic Association of Hollin Hills (CAHH) is a member association of the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens’ Associations, which was formed to represent and promote the interests of its member associations and to further the common good and general welfare of the residents of the Mount Vernon Magisterial District.
Education Within the community's first five years, construction began on Hollin Hills Elementary School, located adjacent to the community entrance along Fort Hunt Road, immediately north of the intersection with Paul Spring Road. The school was built at a cost of $275,964 (present value: $) and opened its doors to students from Hollin Hills and other neighborhoods on September 6, 1955. In 1956, after some delay, Groveton High School opened. In 1960, William C. Bryant Intermediate School opened, one of the county's first racially integrated schools, taking grades from local elementary schools and Groveton High School. The originally all-white Hollin Hills Elementary School was desegregated in 1964. In 1965, Hollin Meadows Elementary School was built on Nordock Place, directly adjoining the neighborhood near its southern end.