Penrose Historic District

Penrose is a residential neighborhood in central Arlington County, Virginia, about three miles from Washington, D.C. It grew from twelve subdivisions platted between 1882 and 1943 on rural land once adjacent to the Arlington House property. The community began as the Butler-Holmes subdivision, founded by African American leaders William H. Butler and Henry Louis Holmes as a middle-class home for people displaced when Freedman's Village was disbanded. Early development was slow and modest, but demand for housing around the capital during the two World Wars brought more than 400 buildings between 1915 and 1954. The houses are mostly vernacular interpretations of Queen Anne, Italianate, Bungalow/Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Moderne styles, along with Cape Cod and American Foursquare forms. Among them are a circa 1880 Butler house and the circa 1890 house once belonging to Dr. Charles Drew. A church, two parks and commercial buildings along Columbia Pike complete the district, which retains its overall integrity despite some altered materials and later infill.