This aerial photograph of Westgrove was taken by Fairfax County in 1953. You can see the George Washington Parkway on the right, and about two thirds of the way down, the interchange we know today as Tulane Drive can be seen. Westgrove Boulevard at the bottom of the photo has been built and connects with Fort Hunt Road seen on the lower left of the photo. The remaining roads have been cleared of trees and roughed-in.
Once the roads were built and all utilities installed and stubbed behind the curbs, the Gosnell Firm posted the ad in The Evening Star, October 3rd 1954 offering 14 lots for sale in Westgrove. This ad was followed later that month by another ad that included a photograph taken at the top of Westgrove Boulevard, looking down towards the river. Now, 21 lots are offered for sale ranging from $5,500 - $8,000 and more detail is provided about the infrastructure in place. It is assumed that 8 lots were sold, since there are 8 custom built homes in Westgrove as noted in the Fairfax County Real Estate Assessment.
The Evening Star ad, 23 October 1954
Building Permits
The first article describing approved building permits for Westgrove can be seen on the left in The Evening Star, July 3, 1954.
Another article published in The Evening Star on August 7 th 1954 stated the Gosnell firm was issued a building permit for a dwelling at 406 Tulane Dr. at a cost of $16,500. We believe this is the building permit for 1203 Tulane Dr. All Westgrove homes had three numbers when originally built. In 1965, Fairfax County implemented a new home numbering system to enable emergency services work.(See the link for more information.)
In The Evening Star on March 12, 1955, an article reveals that a building permit was issued to French Wampler for a $31,000 dwelling with Sterling Construction Company as the builder. Over the next couple of years, the publication of approved building permits for Westgrove dwellings was a regular feature until 135 homes were built by 1958. The last custom home built was in 1968 at 6908 Park Terrace Drive.
