An affordable housing complex on Columbia Pike has been added to the Virginia Landmarks Register, setting the stage for possibly achieving historic status.
The Barcroft Apartments community, located near the corner of S. George Mason Drive and S. Four Mile Run Drive, was one of eight properties added to the Virginia Landmarks Register by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources on Dec. 11.
The designation paves the way for eventual inclusion of the apartment complex on the National Register of Historic Places, but neither designation will impose any new preservation requirements on the property.
Designed by architects William Harris and Albert Leuders and constructed by DeLashmutt Bros Inc. in two phases from 1941-53, the community consists of 57 Colonial Revival garden-style residential buildings plus two commercial buildings in a landscaped setting.
It is located on 58 acres and contains more than 1,300 apartment units, plus about 34,000 square feet of retail space.
According to the Virginia Board of Historic Resources:
“Like many other such complexes, the Barcroft Apartments were built to meet the growing housing needs from a massive influx of workers to the nation’s capital, with Arlington County — the fastest-growing county in the nation at the time — serving as a testing ground for new building programs initiated by the federal government.”
In 2002, the apartment complex was among those added to the Virginia Landmarks Register as part of a broader grouping of Arlington apartments constructed from the 1930s to 1950s. A year later, that grouping was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2021, the county government and the Amazon Housing Equity Fund loaned $150 million and $160 million, respectively, to developer Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners to purchase the compound and preserve it as committed-affordable housing.
It was acquired from the DeLashmutt family, which had owned the property since its construction.
Also selected for inclusion on the Virginia Landmarks Register on Dec. 11 were:
- The 30-acre Laurel Hill Farm in Loudoun County, whose original buildings date to the 1700s
- The Petersburg Gas Company building in the city of Petersburg, which was constructed in 1851 and survived damage in the Civil War
- Wachapreague Historic District, including the waterfront town of Wachapreague in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore
- Ingalls Field in Bath County, consisting of a small air-terminal building and a pair of grass-covered runways constructed in the 1930s by the Virginia Hot Springs Company, developer of The Homestead resort
- Shockeysville Church and Cemetery in northern Frederick County, with its origins dating to the 19th century
- Mount Jackson Colored Cemetery, which served as a burial ground for the African-American community in the Shenandoah County town of Mount Jackson starting in the late 19th century
- Motley’s Mill Dam and Mill Pond complex in central Pittsylvania County, which served as a social and recreational amenity for the local community from the early to mid-20th century and traces its roots to the original dam developed in the 1780s
The Department of Historic Resources will forward the documentation for the newly listed sites to the National Park Service for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
“Designating a property to the state or national registers — either individually or as a contributing building in a historic district — provides an owner the opportunity to pursue historic-rehabilitation tax credit improvements,” state officials said.
