Oak Hill Rises From The Ashes of Foreclosure
Couple Drawn to Annandale Manor House By Love of History and a Real Estate Steal

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Hidden behind an enclave of 1970s-era colonials, split-levels and ranches at the end of an oyster-shell driveway lined with ancient, 20-foot boxwoods, the Oak Hill manor house in Annandale has fallen into disrepair.

Vacant for four years, struck sporadically by vandals and finally sold in foreclosure last month on Fairfax County's courthouse steps, Oak Hill's fate has proved that not even a 220-year-old historic gem is immune from the real estate market's downturn.

But unlike many properties touched by the rash of foreclosures spread across the nation this year, Oak Hill's fortunes might be turning. New owners moved into the stately, columned home on Wakefield Chapel Road last month.

For the first time this season, portions of the 2.6-acre parcel have been mowed. Ivy is being pulled off chimneys. The dramatic circular drive's shells have crunched under a stream of repair crews' trucks. And the creepers are slowly being untangled from dozens of mature azaleas, boxwoods, chestnuts and other flora that flank Oak Hill's brick paths, whitewashed walls, green lawns and wood fences.

"When we heard the house had been sold, we were just thrilled," said Janyce Hedetniemi, president of the Oak Hill Citizens Association. "It's kind of like our signature for our community."

Oak Hill is the oldest manor home (and the only survivor) of three houses built in the late 1790s by the wealthy, tobacco-growing Fitzhugh family. The Fitzhughs' 25,000-acre holding was known as the Ravensworth tract, the northern end of which encompassed all of what is now Annandale.

With a red, metal roof, a white-painted exterior and a south portico reminiscent of Mount Vernon's, Oak Hill began as a classic four-room plantation house, with two rooms on the first level and two on the second. It was expanded in the 1930s and again in the '70s to a total of 5,000 square feet, including a third floor, kitchen, guest quarters and garage. Its dining room reveals bare plaster and wood beams in the walls, as well as an unusual floor-to-ceiling bay window. Its foyer is graced by a library's arched doorway that was taken from the Riggs mansion in the District. Its boxwoods are so ancient and massive that they seem to form tunnels along the paths and drives.

Those details, and a general love of history, drew David and Amanda Scheetz to Oak Hill. David Scheetz, a structural engineer, noticed the house about 18 months ago when he was driving their daughter to dance practice at nearby Northern Virginia Community College. The Scheetzes had lived for 16 years in a suburban home in Springfield.

"He said, 'I saw this great house for $2.3 million,' " Amanda Scheetz, a stringed instrument teacher in the Fairfax public schools, said with a laugh during a tour of her new home, where boxes and stacks of paintings showed how recently they had moved in. "And I said, 'Oh, that's nice.' "

But when the price dropped below $2 million, and the property entered foreclosure, the Scheetzes realized they might be able to pull off the purchase. Ultimately, they bought Oak Hill for $1.15 million, a relative bargain, compared with the $1.75 million paid by the previous owner in 2004.

"David said, 'I really want to live in a historic home,' " Amanda Scheetz said. "And two hours after we had signed the papers, he was over here putting his collection of history books in the bookshelves."

The Scheetzes knew they were embarking on a potentially lifelong renovation project. Mechanical systems needed attention. Exterior paint was peeling. A tarp-covered swimming pool hadn't been used or cleaned in years. Grass had grown so high that the Scheetzes haven't cut it all, having broken two mowers and realizing they must buy a riding mower to do the job.

Amanda Scheetz said they plan to enlist experts from Mount Vernon to help care for the boxwoods.

"It's like a journey," she said. "You just go forward. David and I feel like we're caretakers of history. It's really cool. It's also very humbling."

What the Scheetzes probably didn't know was how much attention their efforts would receive from the community. Oak Hill's previous owner, Seville Homes, had planned four years ago to subdivide the property into three lots. The company planned to save the manor house but build two large homes next to it, which would have destroyed the boxwood hedges.

Those plans changed when the Oak Hill Citizens Association intervened and asked the county to persuade Seville Homes to place the property in a conservation easement, protecting the land from development. In 2004, the county paid Seville $730,000 for the easement, preventing future owners from subdividing the property and restricting them from altering the house.

The terms of the deal, celebrated with much fanfare by Supervisor Sharon S. Bulova (D-Braddock) and Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D), require owners of Oak Hill to open the property to the public four days a year.

"We were very grateful" to Seville Homes, Bulova said. "Once they realized how interested I and the community were in preserving not just the manor house but also the grounds, they voluntarily entered into the historic easement arrangement."

That victory was followed by years of slow decline. Seville Homes had no luck selling the house, and it and the property fell into disrepair. Finally, the company defaulted on its mortgage, and the property entered foreclosure.

"Our neighborhood watch would swing by there," Hedetniemi said. "A couple of times we had to chase people off the grounds, mostly teenagers. Once or twice, we'd find the door open. More recently it's been a problem because the grass has grown so high. It invited questions as to whether the house was occupied. We were worried about vandalism."

And so it was with much excitement, but also a bit of trepidation, that Bulova and Oak Hill neighbors have welcomed the Scheetzes. Excitement, because anything is better than an empty house. Trepidation, because they didn't know how receptive the owners would be to sharing their historic property.

"I realized that one of my first questions after meeting them was going to be, 'How would you like 300-some people to visit on the 4th of October,' " said Bulova, who hosted an Oak Hill community day on the property in the fall and said she hopes to continue the tradition.

Turns out, she had nothing to worry about. The Scheetzes said they are excited to open their property to the community. They are eager to learn what they can and can't do under the terms of the easement, such as expose a brick path that lies beneath dirt along a boxwood hedge. And they said they are grateful for the offers they have received for help with the weeding, boxwood care and other maintenance.

They are feeling no buyers' remorse, Amanda Scheetz said.

"Oh no, absolutely not," she said. "We're so excited to be here."