A Home for the Ages

Three months ago, found an envelope in her mailbox with her address penned in an unfamiliar script. 

The sender didn't know Walker's name and instead directed it simply to "The Folks."

Inside the envelope, Walker found two black and white photos of her house printed by Hicks Photo Finishers of Washington, D.C., and a letter from Fairfax resident Frances Campbell Haas. 

"I was born in this house 83 years ago and lived there until I married 63 years ago," Haas wrote. "As a child growing up, we had wonderful neighbors and a lot of kids to play with. There were woods behind the house and a hill to sleigh ride in winter. My favorite hiding place was in one of the deep closets in each bedroom. In the basement, there was a coal bin that held the coal that heated the house."

Haas' letter arrived when Walker was in the final stretch of an extensive home renovation that transformed her 1920 brick bungalow on W. Forrest Street. Walker expanded the house from two to three bedrooms and added an extra bathroom for a total of two and a half baths. She built a modern kitchen with an entrance from her wrap-around porch and an adjoining family room, and dug out the basement, among other improvements. 

The house as it stands now is obviously different than the one shown in the photos Haas ripped from a scrapbook to share with Walker, but it retains a real charm.

Protecting the character of the original house was Walker's chief objective.

"I didn't want to have something that didn't belong here," she said. "I felt like a sell out. I had nightmares about it. I was like, 'Oh my God, what am I doing?'"

"Hopefully, the house doesn't look huge from the outside," she said. 

Architect Jim Palmer designed the renovation and Kyle Blaylock of Blaylock Design Build did the work in lightning speed. His crew broke ground in February and Walker moved back in May 15.  

Walker said she was moved to tears by Haas' letter and plans to reach out to her soon to invite her to the house. Perhaps the two can sit on the quiet front porch and Haas can share the stories of Del Ray from the 1930s and 40s. 

"I have many fond memories of the house and thought you may enjoy seeing these old pictures," Haas wrote in the close of her letter. "I hope you are enjoying the house as much as I did."