David and Virginia had always dreamed of owning a single family home on a wooded lot for many years. Their first home, a quaint townhome, backing to a lake was nice but a bit small for hosting large parties and comfortably accommodating out of town guests especially their family who lived in Venezuela.

In 1986 they came across a builder that had what they felt was the perfect fit. They were so impressed by Fairfield Builder, in particular the Durham floor plan, that they took Cornelius “Clark” and Margot (Virginia’s parents) to visit their model homes in South Run.

On January 18, 1988, Cornelius died during a visit to David and Virginia. He is buried under a Magnolia, Mississippi’s state tree at Fairfax Memorial. It was happenstance that in March that very year (Keep in mind there was NO internet) David and Virginia discover a new neighborhood called Crosspointe. Both entrances were lined with newly planted Magnolia trees and Fairfield had wooded lots for sale! In April, we started construction and moved in at the end of October. A Magnolia was planted in Cornelius’s honor and the house was duly named.

There have been many changes throughout the years, a plethora of parties, multiple guests and so many memories!! A few that come to mind:

• Hostessing an Open House on Christmas Day and our guests would tell us how they were stopped on Silverbrook Road and vehicles searched by police looking from escaped inmates from the Lorton Prison. Fairfax County Parkway had not been built.
• Adriana Sanchez living with us for a year 1993-1994 as an exchange student studying at Hayfield High School.
• Craft parties, making paper mâché carolers in our unfinished basement.
• Bringing C. W. Clark home in 1995 and raising him in this very home.
• Large parties of 300+ with live bands and a caricature artist and having the police come because of a noise complaint.  And we thought we had invited ALL the neighbors!
• Lots of Thanksgivings. Though it wasn’t until 1998 when we hosted our very first! Now Thanksgiving celebrations seem to have taken on a life of their own! They have become a week-long affair, a far cry from our very first Thanksgiving dinner when all of us fit in the dining room.