To the Editor:
I have fond memories of growing up in an historic home with a lovely garden on South Lee Street. My mother loved the large garden with its beautiful magnolia tree and the birds that frequented her feeders.
For more than 40 years, my parents took great pains to behave as stewards of the property, which was built in the early 1800s on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River. They even went so far as to create an easement that is supposed to protect in perpetuity the historic façade of the home, as well as the unique open space that surrounds the property. They saw the easement as a way to help preserve the historic character of Old Town.
But a successful easement requires two things: an owner that respects the easement, and an easement holder that monitors and enforces it.
In this case, the current owner appears to have violated the conditions of the easement. He has torn down the front wall and iron fence, and he is now asking the city to approve this violation of the easement, after the fact. It should be noted that the easement provides substantial property tax relief to the property owner.
Last week the Board of Architectural Review for the Old and Historic Alexandria District refused to grant him after-the-fact approval of the demolition of the front wall and fence. That’s a good first step, but the easement holder, the Alexandria Historic Preservation and Restoration Commission, should enforce all the conditions of the easement, through legal means if necessary.
This should include forcing the property owner to replace the wall and fence, and requiring that he restore the garden to its pre-construction appearance. Doing anything less makes a mockery of the easement that was created to protect this beautiful home.
Andrew Macdonald
Alexandria