Family Agrees to Preserve Oakton Trolley Station

Adrienne Stefan didn’t want to move. Her husband thought their place in D.C. was too small, but she stubbornly refused, sending him out to look at houses alone.

He came back from one house hunt raving about a porch. More curious than convinced, Adrienne agreed to take a trip into Oakton.

It was love at first sight.

The porch wrapped around two sides of the Gray Street house, which nestled seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Even in 1992, when the Stefans bought what used to be the Oakton Trolley Station, Adrienne had tired of suburban sprawl. She loved that no one else could be found for about 12 acres from her new home, but had the convenience of Route 123 just around the corner. Even more, she loved that her house had many stories to tell.

Around the turn of the 20^th century, the Oakton Trolley Station was a stop along the Fairfax Electric Railway, which ran from Washington, D.C. to the Fairfax Courthouse. At one point, a post office was housed inside the structure and it was later turned into apartments. Later, the building fell into disrepair. 

Then along came Ralph and Pat Hughes, who bought the property and worked to make it habitable again. The Hugheses started the process of having the property recognized as a historic site, but had to move from the home sooner than they had planned. So the Stefans picked up where they left off and have succeeded in getting it listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Virginia Registry of Historic Places, and the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites. 

On July 14, the Stefans entered into a voluntary preservation agreement with the aid of Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, based in Annandale. 

Through the agreement, the Stefans give up basic homeowner rights, such as being able to construct an addition or renovate the home, often at the expense of the value of the home. The homeowners can receive tax benefits. 

"Even though it was on the National Register, the state register and the county inventory, none of those actually protect the property from someone going in and tearing it down," said Whit Field, NVCT vice president. 

Stefan has always had a penchant for history, which she studied at the College of William & Mary before beginning her long career in the Foreign Service. She fondly remembers visiting her grandmother in her old Victorian home, which boasted antiques throughout the rooms. 

When she and her family moved into the home, she knew what the Hughes had told her. But she could not have predicted she'd learn more of its history because of drop-in visitors throughout the years. 

She learned about the post office through a neighbor, and about the layout of the building when it was used as an apartment building from two strangers who stopped by for an unexpected visit.

"These two ladies came to the door and said, 'If it’s OK with you, our grandmother lived here and we’re interested in seeing the place,'" Stefan said. "And it turned out she lived there the late 50s and early 60s, which was an era of time I didn’t know about in regards to the house. They came in and they’re the ones who told me some of the differences since it has been renovated."

Then there are the discoveries she, her husband and her two sons have made throughout the years, which have ranged from small items found on the property — like a silver spoon, old syrup bottle, a ring — to remnants of the railroad tracks in her backyard that had been buried under dirt, grass and leaves.

"I just couldn't believe it when we found the tracks. We had lived here for years before coming across it," Stefan said. 

The Stefans have lived in the home for 20 years and don't see that changing any time soon.

"Do I plan to stay here until I'm dragged out? Yes, absolutely," Stefan said.