$12,500. In fact, one of the ads that we found show the houses for sale for $15,000. Generally, the original homes all had the same floor plan, but as time went on, and different builders got involved, the floor plans and layout changed. McPherson further described how there were three builders that oversaw the construction of the Hollin Hall homes. McPherson recalled that Eugene Cannon did the construction for most of the houses, as well as a person named Mr. Zimmerman, but he couldn’t recall the name of the third builder. The senior McPherson, who wasn’t personally a farmer or developer, started in the brick manufacturing business in Washington, DC before developing Hollin Hall. While he helped manufacture new bricks, old bricks were popular because of how they look and their shapes and size, McPherson explained, as his dad set out to develop Hollin Hall. Some houses were built with bricks, some were with wood and some with siding. Many of the houses were built with used bricks that came from Baltimore, Maryland. McPherson noted that they went to Baltimore where workers were tearing down old houses and buildings, and they got the workers to clean the mortar off the bricks so that they could reuse them. “Old bricks were very valuable and popular because of how they look and the shapes and odd sizes,” he explained. We would agree. Because of the location, the accessibility to neighborhood shops and proximity to the city, these strong and sturdy houses have served as homes for hundreds, if not thousands, of families over the years and, in fact, many families have retained ownership of their homes through several generations.
1943–2018 ♦ Hollin Hall Village | 17