Comments At Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board, March 18, 2026.
It should come as no surprise that “HPP staff do not recommend the [Nellie Custis School] property for Local Historic District (LHD) designation [p.24],” Arlington never saw an historic property it didn’t want to demolish, just as it never saw a park it didn’t want to pave over.
Witness razing the Civil War era Rouse estate and its replacement with a stable of cookie cutter McMansions on Wilson Blvd. This abomination was done with the blessing of Arlington County Board in 2021, followed shortly thereafter by razing the Victorian era Fellows-McGrath “Memory” house on Washington Blvd. to make way for more cookie cutter McMansions.
Historic preservation staff argue that while Nellie Custis School meets 3 of the 7 criteria for historic designation, namely “integrity of location, setting, and feeling. . . its extensive alterations have compromised its architectural integrity to a degree that would render it ineligible for individual listing in the NRHP [pp.23-24].” By this criterion, the White House itself would be ineligible for historic designation, as it is undergoing extensive renovation as we speak.
Stacy Meyer, President of the Aurora Highlands CA, has a different take on Nellie Custis School. In a 2024 letter to HALRB, she described “Nellie Custis School [as] a notable central element anchoring the historic Aurora Highlands neighborhood. . . Yet, there is still much to learn about this building its history and role in the development of Arlington.” As an architect who contributed to the preservation of historic buildings elsewhere in Virginia and DC, Stacy’s opinion carries weight.
Furthermore there are better alternatives to the current Melwood site for a facility for the disabled in the form of space in one of the repurposed buildings on Crystal Drive. Such a facility would be fully Metro accessible and demonstrate the County’s commitment to its sustainability mantra: “reuse, repurpose, recycle.” Yet as with the Rouse estate, developers say jump, and the County asks how high? It is clear that the County’s embarrassing cultural deficit is exceeded only by its egregious bad faith.
Denial of the public’s right to preserve its heritage may hold sway in Arlington County, but there’s a revolt brewing in the hustings. The people of Gettysburg [who successfully opposed demolition of Confederate monuments on Seminary Ridge] didn’t want their heritage destroyed in the name of fake social justice. Someday when its own heritage has been completely obliterated, Arlington too will rise up.