A History of Montebello
Montebello stands on thirty-five acres of land on the west side of the Potomac River and just south of Great Hunting Creek and the city of Alexandria, Virginia. Its location, high on a ridge with beautiful views, is part of a parcel of land rich in history.
Centuries ago, the beauty and growth potential of the area were recognized by settlers and land speculators. In 1654, Mistress Margaret Brent was the first English person to acquire a “patent” for land that later became Alexandria. During the 1600’s and 1700’s, owners of portions of that land included a sea captain, an English earl, and, in 1789 Bryan, the Eighth Lord Fairfax.
The Mount Eagle Estate 1789 to 1979
Bryan Fairfax was also a deacon in the Episcopal Church of Virginia and a good friend of George Washington. In 1790 he wrote to Washington asking for help in naming his recently acquired property. The mansion Bryan Fairfax built and the fifty-plus acres surrounding it became known as “Mount Eagle”. Today, the road leading to Montebello retains that historic name.
Mount Eagle was in close proximity to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. Washington visited Bryan Fairfax on several occasions and dined at Mount Eagle at least once as recorded in his diaries. Bryan Lord Fairfax and his wife, Lady Jane Fairfax, were guests at the last dinner party George Washington gave at Mount Vernon in 1799.
By 1825, Mount Eagle had another prominent owner---George Mason VI---the grandson of George Mason IV the writer of Virginia’s first Constitution and Declaration of Rights. Two decades later, Mount Eagle was sold to Court Johnson a “Yankee farmer from New York” who came to this area in the years before the Civil war seeking a milder climate and a longer growing season. Mount Eagle remained in the Johnson family for more than 60 years.
During the Civil War, the Union army built Fort Lyon and other forts on the property within sight of the Mount Eagle mansion. The forts were part of a ring of defenses around the Federal District of Washington. In June of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln visited Fort Lyon.
After 1912 the property passed through many hands. Mount Eagle was used as a country club in the 1930’s. In the 1940’s it became the home of Dr. Carson Lee Fifer, a surgeon at Alexandria Hospital, and his family. War intruded on the property again when the army built an anti-aircraft barrier there in 1942 during World War II.
Loss and Renewal
By 1968 Mount Eagle was owned by a development corporation. The mansion had fallen into disrepair and the fire department was ordered to burn it down. For many in Alexandria, the demise of the Mount Eagle mansion represented the loss of a visible and sentimental symbol of their roots.
In 1970 twenty acres of the Mount Eagle property became the Huntington Metro Station. In 1979 International Developers, Inc. purchased the remaining thirty-five acres of the historic site and began constructing a multi-building luxury condominium residence. The complex became known as “Montebello” meaning beautiful mountain, named by the developer in a tribute to his Italian heritage. The first residents signed a contract on a condominium in Building I in September of 1980.
The History Remains
Past and present residents of this beautiful location are part of the fascinating history of the old Mount Eagle estate…
- Former home of Bryan Lord Fairfax
- Home to George Mason VI, grandson of the writer of Virginia’s Constitution
- Part of the defense of Washington during the Civil War
- And visited by two of our greatest presidents---Washington and Lincoln.
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