ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The owners of a historic home in Old Town Alexandria won approval from the city to do a major renovation. Now, the owners and the city are being sued by the Historic Alexandria Foundation who want to stop the project.
The all brick home on South Lee street dates back to the late 1700s. The home is considered historic mostly because it was the longtime residence of United States Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black and his family. Black lived here after he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 until his death in 1971.
"He was the author of so many opinions that changed the face of this country. He was, obviously, on the Supreme Court that enacted Brown v. Board of Education," State Senator Chap Petersen said. Brown v. Board of Education struck down concept of separate but equal and mandated school desegregation across the United States.
Black had also been a KKK member but resigned in 1925 before he became a senator and said he completely disassociated himself from the organization.
Black also wrote the majority opinion in Korematsu v. United States in 1944, which upheld the Japanese-American internment during WWII.
The current owners of the Black home, Capital One Founder Nigel Morris and his wife Lori, want to made some major changes inside the home. Alexandria's Board of Architectural review approved those plans and the city council did as well. And some neighbors are fine with the project.
"It's not going to change the outward appearance at all. What we see now, I think, is going to be exactly the same," said Molly Kaiman, a neighbor. "Some of the changes that he's going to do are behind the brick wall that we don't even see. So I say, let him do whatever he wants."
The Historic Alexandria Foundation has the opposite view. It is suing the city and the owners, trying to stop the project. State senator Chap Peterson is their lawyer.
"It's worth preserving in his original form as lived in by Justice Black...Theoretically, you could add a hot tub to Monticello and it might make it more convenient for the folks that live there but bottom line is, a historic structure is a historic structure..." Peterson said. "This is not the fault of the applicants. They're exercising their right. It's the fault of the city for not safeguarding this architectural heritage."
We knocked on the door of the home and the person who lives there would not answer any questions.
The City of Alexandria responded to WUSA9 with this statement:
The proposed renovations were discussed at length at multiple meetings of the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) and City Council, including three public hearings. The City's Zoning Ordinance and resulting processes allow for appropriate modification, alterations and expansions within the standards set forth in the Zoning Ordinance. The role of the BAR and City Council in these cases is to strike a balance between preservation of the identified historic fabric and urban character, while managing appropriate growth and change in a vibrant, living city.