Neighbors have gone to war over the likely construction of a big house that would overshadow former President Gerald R. Ford’s Alexandria, Va., house, a national historic landmark and the temporary White House for 10 days after Richard M. Nixon resigned in disgrace.
“This is the only ordinary residence apart from Mt. Vernon to have been the White House in America’s entire history,” said current homeowner Helen Lloyd, arguing against the development.
Ford’s daughter Susan Ford Bales also argued against the proposal. “I’m concerned that the proposed development would have negative and irreparable effects on the historic Crown View neighborhood,” she wrote in a note provided by Lloyd. “My family has fond memories of our many years living at 514 Crown View Drive. Those memories of the neighborhood remained strong, including after our move to the White House in 1974,” she added.
Gerald R. Ford House, April 1955. National Historic Landmark. National Park Service
At issue is a proposal, OK’d by the Alexandria City Planning Commission, to let neighbors Stephen and Mary Hales subdivide their lot adjoining the former Ford property where it’s expected a house will be built.
In some towns, future construction would be considered but the city doesn’t allow that, forcing the commission’s hand.
“You cannot consider what might be built on this lot,” warned the lawyer for the Hales, Mary Catherine Gibbs, wife of Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s first press secretary.
She also told the commission that neighbors can’t complain about losing views that would be snuffed out by a big house. “We are not entitled to our views,” she said.
President Ford at home in the kitchen. National Historic Landmark. National Park Service
The hearing took place May 5 and a video has been posted on the commission’s website. The Alexandria Times posted a story on the fight this week and noted that owner Lloyd plans to appeal the commission’s decision.
While some neighbors sent in letters of support, many opposed said it would hurt their values and undermine the integrity of the area highlighted by the historic landmark.
The Ford home is notable for several reasons. Ford, from Michigan, was in his study when he learned he would replace Spiro Agnew as vice president. He lived at his home as vice president, the last to do so, with the rest living at Observatory Circle.
He was also there when he learned of Nixon’s resignation and he stayed at his Alexandria house for 10 days as the Nixon’s moved out.
On its webpage for the Ford house, the National Park Service notes:
“Gerald R. Ford became president on August 9, 1974, the day President Nixon’s resignation took effect. The Fords stayed in Alexandria for 10 days to allow the Nixons time to move out of the White House. Betty Ford remembered her husband’s first morning as president, ‘At 7 A.M., the President of the United States, in baby-blue short pajamas, appears on his doorstep looking for the morning paper, then goes back inside to fix his orange juice and English muffin.'”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
