Holmes Run Acres Historic District

Holmes Run Acres is a suburban neighborhood in Falls Church, Fairfax County, laid out on a 135-acre abandoned farm and built between 1951 and 1958. It holds more than three hundred single-family houses, the Woodburn School, a recreation center with pools, and Luria Park. The architects, Satterlee and Lethbridge, designed affordable, quickly built houses from modular standardized parts, with open plans, plywood panels, fixed glass and sliding windows. Four house types, named for their builders (one- and two-story Luria, Gaddy, and Bodor), mix wood and brick. At a time when colonial-style subdivisions were more common, the community took a different approach. Houses were staggered and angled on quarter-acre wooded lots to preserve privacy and fit the terrain, and streets curve with the land. Residents have long resisted sidewalks and streetlights to protect the natural setting. Although many buildings have been altered, the neighborhood keeps a high level of integrity and its modern suburban character.