Resuming the Search

After a cold, a vacation, and, OK, quite a bit of foot-dragging, I am back on the trail of the 20th Century custom home.

First stop, the closest library branch. They referred me to the Virginia Room at Fairfax County's main library. I should have thought of that myself. The Virginia Room specializes in local history.

The main library recently moved into a spacious, inviting building (with ample parking). The Virginia Room has its own floor, above the echoes of crying babies and parents helping older children look for books. I spot someone at the information desk and explain what I'm looking for.

She is clearly intrigued with the subject matter. She's already familiar with National Homes, the company that manufactured the house. She also tells me that in 1965, streets were renumbered throughout Fairfax County. This may make it difficult to find an exact location for the house in question, which I'll now refer to as the Customliner.

Undaunted, she brings in two other librarians to assist in carrying out the mission. Before long, I am loaded down with reference books to review, websites to look at, and associations to contact.

I spent two hours flipping through the various books and getting lost in the past. In a dissertation on housing in the D.C. suburbs between 1946 and 1960, I found that the Customliner - the first of its kind, at least in this area - was reconstructed on its Herndon Woods site within 48 hours. Its arrival in Herndon Woods was greeted "with much fanfare."

Much to my disappointment, that was the end of the Customliner discussion. However, there's more information to be had in the February, 1955 issue of Home Builder's Monthly ... if I can find it.

Source:

Tract-House Modern: A Study of Housing Design and Consumption in the Washington Suburbs, 1946-1960 by Christopher T. Martin. Pages 259-260.