Ashton Heights Walkabout
Download Walkabout Map (289k PDF)
Description: A walk of roughly 1.75 miles through a quiet residential community in the very heart of Arlington. Flat and easy to navigate, the eclectic architecture is one of the main attractions of Ashton Heights, similar to Lyon Park next door. In fact, this walk connects to the Roar through Lyon Park walkabout to the east, and the Roll through Virginia Square to the west. Take the Orange Line to the Virginia Square stop, and you are just one short block from the tour's starting point. Limited parking is also available at the Arlington Arts Center.
Note: the downloadable map contains some interesting background information on the Ashton Heights community.
Hi! I'm Jay Fisette, Chairman of the Arlington County Board, and I'm going to lead you through a "walkabout" of my own neighborhood, Ashton Heights. We do a lot in Arlington to ensure that walking is safe; that there are lots of destinations for people to walk to, and that the infrastructure is in place to make walking safe, interesting and easy. We'll stop at some points of interest in the neighborhood; it's the kind of walk you might like to do, and I'm sure there's one of similar interest in your own neighborhood. With that, let's get started!
1. Arlington Arts Center (former Maury School)
Right behind me now is the Arlington Arts Center, the first and last stop of our tour. The Arts Center is a fabulous visual arts organization that just reopened after three years of renovation. The Center was home first to the Clarendon Elementary School (1910) and later the Maury Elementary School- Maury closed in 1975, and in 1977 opened as the Arlington Arts Center.
2. North Lincoln Street Neighborhood Conservation Projects
Now I'd like to show you one of the projects that was completed by our own Neighborhood Conservation Program. Virtually every neighborhood in the County has experienced one or several of these projects, and right here is a perfect example. This strip of Lincoln got streetlamps, sidewalk, curb and gutter - all needed for a long time. The NC program is unique in the country! We put aside a good chunk of money for the neighborhoods to work among themselves to prioritize projects that meet their own defined criteria and enhance the neighborhood. It has so many positive values - it gets everyone engaged - and beautifies and enhances the neighborhood as well. It's a win-win.
3. My home -- 311 North Jackson Street
We bought this house in 1987; it's a fairly common variety in Ashton Heights - English Cape - built in 1930. We've done a lot of work to it; it was sort of the haunted house in the neighborhood when we got here, but 3 renovations and a lot of sweat equity later. One of the renovations off to the left side off the front: we created a master bathroom and walk in closet where there was once a patio. It was designed to match the rest of the house.
I also want to show you the side yard - one of my pride and joys - water feature, pond and rock garden. Last year I also had it certified as a wildlife habitat - its a program of the national wildlife federation - there are a lot in Arlington. You have to show food, water, a place to raise young, and cover are all available. In fact, Arlington is the first county in the state of Virginia to be designated a Community Wildlife Habitat! Think about it - your house probably qualifies, and it's a lot of fun to try and get there. (Also check out the Washington Post article on this subject!)
4. Woman's Club of Ashton Heights -- 413 North Irving Street
And now we are at the Ashton Heights Woman's Club. You know, I've driven by this for 18 years but had never been inside until the other day. As I've recently learned, the Ashton Heights Woman's Club was formed in 1924 with 35 members from the community. The women talked to Ashton Jones who owned a lot of this property and was about to create a subdivision, into setting this aside and giving them a chance to get a loan and create this property known as the wc. It continued to function for many years as a service organization for Arlington women. Very recently, the last remaining women involved with the club decided to sell it off and donate the proceeds to the Arlington Community Foundation to support non-profits that do work for the homeless in Arlington. Pretty nice gesture, I'd say!
Before we arrive at our next destination, I just want to share a few things with you about what you'll see as you walk. Like speed humps - several of them placed along Irving Street to make the cars slow down and make things safer for pedestrians. Secondly, Ashton Heights used to be an old oak forest, and we're trying to protect every one of those oaks if we can. And wherever they get in the potential path of a sidewalk, we will work around it - as you can see here at the corner of Irving and 6th. Then there's the narrowed crossing distance thanks to the nubs, and a nice imprinted sidewalk that raises its visibility and improves the safety of people crossing.
And did you notice the Four Square-style house and Clarendon United Methodist Church from the Lyon Park tour? Here they are again - right across the street.
5. Four Square House - 651 North Jackson Street
So now we are walking once again on a typical Ashton Heights street - Jackson Street - the other end from where I live. Notice the variety of homes here - no two alike; many having undergone tasteful renovations, adding to the character of the neighborhood. The next stop on the tour is the recently-renovated home of Joanne and Kevin Sweeney - and it is also a Four Square style building., built in 1910. In 2005 it won a Preservation Design Award from the Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board in the Residential Major Addition category. It's gorgeous; take a look!
The Sweeney's two main goals were to preserve the beautiful, mature trees and to create an addition that blended in with the neighborhood. Before even beginning the project, the Sweeney's consulted with an arborist. As a result, the large rear addition was constructed without a basement on concrete piers. IT was a lot of effort but Joanne and Kevin are betting on it paying off in the long run. All of the project participants did an exceptional job of preserving the historic and architectural character of the original house.
6. Herselle Milliken Park
The next-to-last stop on our tour is Herselle Milliken Park, This is one of many of Arlington's pocket parks nestled inside all our neighborhoods. The park is pretty tiny - but pretty pleasant, named after one of Arlington's renowned, long-time civic activists. You may also have her of Herselle Millikens' son John who served on the Arlington County Board and later as Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
End - Return to Arlington Art Center
We're back where we started at the Arlington Arts Center. where you are going to meet Executive Director Claire Huschle. The Art Center was closed in fall of 2001 for extensive renovations and just reopened in January, 2005. The renovations doubled exhibition space; increased the number of studio spaces for local artists to 13, and brought to its south side a set of three authentic Tiffany windows moved from a nearby mausoleum that was being removed. The Center prides itself on showing a wonderful array of artists from the entire mid-Atlantic region and several times a year features work by Arlington artits as well. Exhibitions rotate every six weeks or so. The Tiffany gallery, by the way, is available for rentals - and the Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 5.
For a full-blown tour of the Art Center and other stops on this walkabout, I invite you to click on the link to the video, above. And don't forget to download the map and take it into the field with you for your own live walkabout through Ashton Heights!
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Jay Fisette, Arlington County Board Chair during 2001 and 2005, has been a resident of Arlington since 1983 and a member of the Board since 1998. Mr. Fisette's is a strong advocate of initiatives aimed at refining and implementing the vision of Arlington as a collection of urban villages. He promotes smart growth principles, such as the importance of linking land use and transportation, sound urban design and open spaces, and pedestrian safety. He is an avid environmentalist as well as a strong voice for human rights and increasing regionalism both within Northern Virginia and the greater Washington, DC region.
Mr. Fisette is an active member and officer of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors, the Regional Emergency Preparedness Council and the Virginia Municipal League, among other organizations.
Mr. Fisette is also a member of the Ashton Heights Civic Association, Unitarian-Universalist Church of Arlington, Arlington Committee of 100, Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, and Leadership Greater Washington. From 1990 to 1998, Fisette served as the director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic of Northern Virginia.
For Mr. Fisette's complete bio, click here.
Special Thanks To:
The Ashton Heights Civic Association
Ashton Heights Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee representative Jim Feaster
Claire Huschle of the Arlington Arts Center
Trudy Ensign of the Ashton Heights Woman's Club
Joanne Sweeney
