Spy Hill:
A Site With Quite a View

By Linda Wheeler
Washington Post Staff Writer
November 25, 1995

Monica Fleischmann lived in Arlington for more than 20 years and never knew about the neighborhood of Spy Hill. But when she found the community built on a ridge overlooking Washington, she knew she had found the right place.

"I found it by accident," the Federal Express Corp. global account saleswoman said. "I was driving around with a real estate agent and looking at various places and we kind of fell into it."

What Fleischmann found was a huge house built on a small lot in a neighborhood is made up almost entirely of three cul-de-sacs. In the late 1970s, when most of the Spy Hill houses were built, they were among the first in Arlington constructed on zero-lot lines, the concept that allows a builder to cram the largest number of houses onto each acre.

The houses mostly have four or five bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths with a large family room and smaller living room. Many have a single-car garage.

Most of the 52 colonials and Cape Cod models in Spy Hill were constructed of soft-colored materials in shades of pastel gold, red, rust and beige. The houses are built so close together that a car cannot be driven between them, but that is seen as an advantage by Fleischmann.

"We are only a breath away from being a row house," said Fleischmann, who bought her house 18 months ago. "But the houses are so well built that we don't hear the neighbors. The advantage of the small lot is there is very little lawn to care for."

For many years, what now is Spy Hill was a wooded hillside owned by members of the Reeves family who farmed land in the area. They had a working dairy until 1955. About 1970, they sold the land that would become Spy Hill. The neighborhood is made up of North First, North Second and North Liberty streets and four houses on North Nottingham Street. It is just off of Arlington Boulevard and about half a mile east of Seven Corners.

The name comes from the Civil War, when Confederate troops would sneak onto the land from the west to observe troop movements across the Potomac River. From a few vantage points, on a clear day, the hill provides a panoramic view that extends from the buildings in the Maryland suburbs to the Washington Monument to the towering George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Alexandria.

Some of those good views now are shared with a new neighborhood called Stone Ridge, recently built at the top of the hill.

Fleischmann's neighbors, Marie and George Fumich, were one of the first families to buy a lot and have a house built on Spy Hill. They didn't have far to go. For 17 years they lived two blocks from their present home.

"We're originally from West Virginia where they have hills and hollows," George Fumich said. "We liked the hill so we bought here in 1961. And we like this place because it's a combination of a large house and a small lot. I don't care much about cutting the grass. In the back we have all the privacy we could want with trees back there."

He said new houses have blocked his view of Georgetown but he can still see Baileys Crossroads in the winter when the trees are bare.

Marie Fumich, who is the office manager for her husband, who in turn works at home as an energy consultant, said she likes the closeness of neighboring houses because everyone looks out for each other.

"I feel safer having neighbors so close by," she said.

Over the years, neighbors have celebrated the Fourth of July and Christmas together, Marie Fumich said. On the Fourth, families gather in someone's driveway for a cookout. At Christmas, they spread a dinner between several houses with everyone contributing a dish.

The Fumiches raised their two children on Spy Hill. When the children each bought houses, they chose to live within a few blocks of their parents' home, Marie Fumich said.

There is a new generation of children growing up in Spy Hill as well. May Ohman, a Fairfax schoolteacher, said her two children ride their bikes in one of the cul-de-sacs after school. Many of the families have children, so the street is a busy place on a warm evening, she said.

"In the spring and summer, 5 p.m. is a magic hour," she said. "Everyone is outside and talking. People who are child-free are very tolerant."

Dogs seem to like the neighborhood as well, according to Fleischmann, the owner of a standard poodle named Jamie.

"My dog has two friends on the block that she visits on her own," she said. "She just goes on over and taps on the door and gets invited in."

There are only two houses on the market in Spy Hill, Century 21 Performance associate broker Sam Vaccaro said. One is priced at $340,000 and the other at $360,000. There are three houses for rent, which reflects a market where people bought at the high end and would rather rent than sell for less than their investment, he said.

He said houses sold for as much as $407,000 as recently as 1990, although prices have since dropped.

"Many of the people living there are the original owners," he said. "It's a very prestigious area and a lot of professional medical and legal people have bought there. Most like the idea of a small lot but a large house."

Fleischmann said she is still getting used to having so much space.

"All my life I have lived in miniature," she said. "This place has such a different feeling. I like coming home because I have so many places to roam around. I've found it's easier to live with lots of space."

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