Subdivisions Impose Social Divide

Kaira Barry's Ashburn neighborhood has been transformed greatly in the five years since the photo she holds was taken. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)

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"I'm like, 'Yeah, pick your fairy tale,' " he said.

He tries to relate, he said, but it is difficult sometimes.

The new kids like to talk about the interiors of their houses because they all have similar floor plans.

"I'm like, 'This one time at the mill,' and they're like, 'This one time on my catwalk,' " he said.

But he likes his house, and when his friends come over, they seem to like it, too -- the plywood back porch with the colored lights strung all around, the screaming monkey head mounted on the wall, the treehouse he and his father built.

And although Ivan sees large-screen televisions instead of trees across the street, and the path to the old mill has been bisected by a cul-de-sac, he has made his peace with Brambleton.

Being a stranger there, he explores it like a new country, and in his own way, he has conquered it.

"I can go to their playgrounds because there's no one watching . . . but my favorite place of all is the man-made waterfall," he said, referring to the grand entrance, all landscaped with stone.

"I sit at the top," he said. "I just sit there. And sometimes I take off my socks and shoes and put my feet in. And you look there, and you can see one of the greatest views -- that's one of the few advantages. Well, it's not really an advantage, but it's one of the few things I'm okay with."

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