Congressman Ford in Alexandria
1521 Mount Eagle Place, 1951 - 1955 | 514 Crown View Drive, 1955 - 1973
1521 Mount Eagle Place, 1951 - 1955
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The Fords at Parkfairfax, 1952. Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library. |
Congressman Gerald R. Ford and his family moved to Parkfairfax in Alexandria in 1951, during his second term. Parkfairfax, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was a rental community of apartments and two-level townhouses built in 1942. A number of other members of Congress rented homes in Parkfairfax over the years, including future President Richard M. Nixon.
The Fords moved to Alexandria with their young son Michael. Their second son, Jack, was born in 1952. In 1953, while the Fords were living at Parkfairfax, construction began on their future home on Crown View Drive.
514 Crown View Drive, 1955 – 1973
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514 Crown View Drive, 2006 Courtesy of Joan Dixon & McEnearney Associates |
Crown View Drive, 1970s |
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The Ford family at home, 1959. Courtesy Gerald Ford Library |
Gerald R. Ford (R-Michigan) and his family moved into their newly completed four-bedroom, two bath Colonial house at 514 Crown View Drive in 1955, during his fourth term in Congress. Built on a quarter-acre lot, the brick and wood-siding house had four bedrooms, a finished recroom in the basement, and a two-car garage. The Fords later added a backyard pool.
The Fords moved to the Clover neighborhood from Parkfairfax, along with their two oldest children, when Michael was five years old and John (Jack) was three. Steven was born in 1956, and Susan in 1957. The family also had pets, including a dog, Brown Sugar, who enjoyed swimming in the pool.
The neighbors remember Ford as a good neighbor and an involved parent. They heard the splash each fine morning as he swam in the pool. And they saw him playing with the children and mowing the lawn.
The three boys attended Alexandria’s T. C. Williams High School, and were active in sports. Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille attended T. C. Williams High School along with the two oldest Ford boys, Mike and Jack, from 1965 to 1968. Euille and Mike Ford both served as senior class officers. The children walked to school and rode their bikes through the neighborhood. Susan attended Holton Arms, a private school in Maryland, and babysat for neighborhood children.
Betty devoted time to her children’s activities, including Cub Scouts, Brownies, baseball and football. She was also active in the Alexandria Cancer Fund. Soon after leaving Alexandria for the White House, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and helped to bring this disease to the attention of the American public.
