Homestead Motel (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the motel once stood. Today, no visible remains exist.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from Chris Barbuschak's presentation, "The History of Motels on Route 1 in Fairfax County" on behalf of the Mount Vernon Regional Historical Society:

When the MVRHS first asked me to talk about motels, I thought there's probably 20 tops on Route 1. Boy was I wrong, there are 62! So, a little context about hotels and motels on Richmond Highway. Route 1 is over 2,400 miles long. It's known as America's first main street and it stretches from Maine to Florida and its chock full of mom and pop shacks and businesses, diners, fortune tellers, truck stops and motels. U.S. Route 1 between Washington and Fredericksburg more or less followed the Potomac Path, which was a Native American route along the Potomac River. And when the Europeans came and settled it, they chose the shortest route along the bank of the Potomac as well.

In 1918, the state designated State Route One, which is part of the old Jefferson Davis Highway, and it was called SR1 in 1923. It became State Route 30 in 1926. In less than a year by 1927, the entire stretch of roadway was paved and motels practically popped up overnight. From the 1920s and 1930s, there were tourist ports which were individual cabins that you could stay in. They were arranged in a horseshoe fashion, usually around an office or a picnic area or a restaurant. Then in the 1940s and 1950s, you get into the low slung ranch style motels. And then in the 1960s and 1970s we get a couple of chain motels that come in.

So, Route 1 was the main north and south artery for many years, almost 50 years until Interstate Highway 95 opened up. That connected to Fredericksburg in 1964 and almost overnight all the businesses in the Richmond Highway corridor went downhill and continued to do so. Route 1 kind of had this "no tell" motel vibe to it. Ever since the 1960s, the county tried to get those motels to close and one by one they did. As of today, only nine of those original motels still exist. A couple of them are already on the chopping block.

So buckle up, and lets look at them all:

HOMESTEAD MOTEL -- 6821 RICHMOND HIGHWAY
This one I also could not find a postcard for. This was called the Homestead Motel. Charles E. Furlough opened it up in 1934 as a tourist home and called it the Homestead. It's kind of this cute colonial revival looking building and the Furloughs were still running it well into the 1960s. At some point, it became a property management office and then home to the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce. They moved out in 2018 and any day now it is slated to be demolished. The demolition permit was already filed for.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the "Mount Vernon on the Move" online blog:

Long-standing Richmond Highway building to be demolished
By Erika Christ ● News ● May 13, 2024

The property at 6821 Richmond Highway — at the intersection with Memorial Drive — is described in Fairfax County documents as a two-story Colonial Revival commercial building of domestic origin that was built in 1934. The distinctive brick building with green shutters has hardwood floors on the inside and a brick garage and parking lot in the rear.

Back in 1977, local realtor Ed Pagett purchased the property, county records show, and for many years, a sign for “Pagett Property Management” appeared on the front of the building.

In 2013, the Mount Vernon-Lee (now Mount Vernon-Springfield) Chamber of Commerce became a tenant at the building, and the signage on its façade changed to “Chamber of Commerce Building.” The chamber remained there for five years before moving to its current location at Mount Vernon Plaza.

Office space at the Groveton building also was leased in the past by several small businesses and the Fairfax County Democratic Party.

County records show that Pagett sold the 3,487-square-foot property with total land area of 14,742 square feet on May 1 of this year to the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County.

In recent weeks, a Pagett Property Management “SOLD” sign appeared in front of the building, and within just the past week, most of the structure’s windows and doors were boarded up. Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck’s development and land use liaison Nick Rinehart confirmed the property is slated to be demolished.

“Exact timeline is TBD, but it’s reasonable to expect activity there in a few months,” he said.