Ashburn Magazine | March/April 2022 by InsideNoVa

GATO R B I T E S • L I T T L E L I B R A R I E S • M OV I E E X T R A

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Ashburn

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 PUBLISHER

Bruce Potter publisher@ashburnmagazine.com 571-333-1538 EDITOR

Chris Wadsworth editor@ashburnmagazine.com ADVERTISING

Account Executives: Judy Harbin jharbin@ashburnmagazine.com Michelle Nelms mnelms@ashburnmagazine.com ART DIRECTOR

Kara Thorpe

PHOTO BY ASTRI WEE

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CONTRIBUTORS

Glenda C. Booth • Jill Devine Jim Lenahan • Anya Sczerzenie Astri Wee PUBLISHED BY

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Carina Wheat cwheat@insidenova.com ON THE WEB www.ashburnmagazine.com

Facebook and Twitter: @ashburnmagazine Ashburn Magazine is published every other month and distributed to over 13,000 selected addresses. While reasonable care is taken with all material submitted to Ashburn Magazine, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to any such material. Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors. While ensuring that all published information is accurate, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any mistakes or omissions. Reproduction in whole or part of any of the text, illustrations or photographs is strictly forbidden. ©2022 Rappahannock Media LLC. 4 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

FROM THE PUBLISHER SIGNS OF SPRING

t’s as sure a rite of spring as any you will find around Ashburn. Head out on a Saturday morning this time of year, and you’ll notice that virtually every field at every school and park is full of boys and girls playing soccer. My favorites are the youngest children, who gather around the ball like a herd of sheep and chase it around the field in a seemingly random pattern while parents cheer them on from the sidelines. There are so many soccer players on so many fields every Saturday that it seems impossible that Loudoun County – let alone the United States – has never won a men’s World Cup. But our country’s women’s teams do quite well, and one young woman who got her start kicking the ball around on the fields of Ashburn as a 4-year-old is helping that cause.

In our cover story this month, starting on Page 20, you’ll meet this young woman, Emily Fox, a Stone Bridge High School grad who was the top choice in last year’s National Women’s Soccer League draft and has made a number of appearances with the U.S. Women’s National Team. Fox’s modesty and dedication are impressive, and if her career continues on its current trajectory, there’s a good chance we’ll see her at the women’s World Cup next year in Australia. Elsewhere in this issue, in our Wine & Dine feature on Page 28, editor Chris Wadsworth introduces us to a new delicacy that’s arrived in Ashburn – alligator meat. Does it taste like chicken? You’ll have to check it out for yourself. Starting on Page 34, Jill Devine digs into the story behind those Little Free Libraries you see around our community. A group of young girls who are doing their part to make the Beaverdam Reservoir safer are featured as our Amazing Kids in this issue, starting on Page 8. And what’s up with that old barn in Brambleton? Find out in the Time Travel feature on Page 58. We’re also excited about our third annual Best of Ashburn voting, recognizing your favorite local businesses, organizations and people in over 100 categories. With a week left in the balloting, we had received over 53,000 votes from over 10,000 individual voters, a record. Look for the winners to be announced in our May issue. And our most dedicated readers (namely, my wife and my mom) will notice that as we begin our fourth year of Ashburn Magazine, we decided it was about time to update the photo that graces this page. Thanks to Astri Wee, who shoots images for many of our features, for making me look about as good as it gets. Happy spring!

BRUCE POTTER, PUBLISHER PUBLISHER@ASHBURNMAGAZINE.COM

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contents 48

08 amazing kids GIRL POWER Two local scouts try to prevent future injuries — and worse BY CHRIS WADSWORTH

12 more amazing kids Highlighting local kids doing great things

14 business boom BEAUTIFUL BATIK Ashburn artist creates colorful and functional pieces BY ANYA SCZERZENIE

18 more business boom Updates from the Ashburn business community

20 cover story THE FANTASTIC MISS FOX Local soccer star soars to new heights

28 wine & dine feature GATOR BITES A new restaurant creates excitement by serving up alligator BY CHRIS WADSWORTH

34 feature story TAKE A BOOK, SHARE A BOOK Little Free Libraries abound around Ashburn BY JILL DEVINE

42 time of our lives feature LIGHTS, CAMERA, EXTRA! Brambleton man has spent decades on TV and movie sets BY CHRIS WADSWORTH

local adventures feature ON THE TRAIL OF AN ASSASSIN History buffs can follow the very path that John Wilkes Booth fled

BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

56 real estate round-up The latest facts and figures about home sales in Ashburn

58 time travel BRAMBLETON’S BARN Local landmark has a bright future BY CHRIS WADSWORTH

62 the burn The latest restaurant, retail, and other cool news

ON THE COVER Stone Bridge High School graduate Emily Fox of the United

States dribbles during a game between Australia and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team at Stadium Australia on November 26, 2021, in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Brad Smith/isiphotos.com

BY JIM LENAHAN

6 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

amazing kids

Girl Power

Two local scouts work to prevent future injuries — or worse BY C H R I S WADSWO RT H

ometimes in tragedy, a new purpose can be found, a desire to try to prevent other tragedies. That’s the unfortunate, but inspiring, truth behind two new water safety signs installed near the Beaverdam Reservoir along Ashburn’s Belmont Ridge Road. The signs were the work of two local Girl Scouts — Samantha Owens, 15, and Alyssa Heese, 14. It was part of their Silver Project, one of the highest-level projects in scouting, which requires identifying an issue, developing a long-lasting solution, educating the community, fundraising and more. When Samantha and Alyssa heard about a drowning at the reservoir, they couldn’t get it out of their thoughts. The bicycle safety project on which they had been working suddenly grew in scope and complexity as they added water safety. This meant working with Loudoun Water and other agencies on a project that wound up taking most of their middle school years to complete. Ashburn Magazine interviewed the girls — now freshmen at Briar Woods High School — about the project. Here are excerpts from our conversation. ASHBURN MAGAZINE: THE PROJECT STARTED FOCUSING ON BIKE HELMETS, CORRECT? SAMANTHA: “The original plan … was to make signs to bring awareness of helmet safety. After we started middle school, we noticed that there was a lot of peer pressure that kept kids from wearing helmets. More and more kids were riding bikes to school without helmets.” SO HOW DID THAT FOCUS CHANGE TO WATER SAFETY AS WELL? SAMANTHA: “On the night of Oct. 8 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

15, 2020, my family was hanging out in our backyard, and we could hear sirens coming from the reservoir. We knew something bad had happened because it went on for a very long time and there were helicopters flying overhead and searchlights. We later found out that a lady had drowned.” (Editor’s note: 38-year-old Leilani Laufiso Funaki drowned while paddleboarding at the reservoir. She was not wearing a life vest.) SO, YOU WENT TO THE RESERVOIR TO CHECK OUT WHAT SIGNS THEY HAD? ALYSSA: “We took a trip over to the reservoir to see if they had what we were thinking of. We could not find a sign that had color and an image, with a simple message. We wanted something obvious, with a picture, that even a child could understand.” SAMANTHA: “There was a sign, but it was an official sign and [it] contained a

lot of other information [so] you actually have to take a few minutes to read [it] to realize that you are expected to wear a life vest on the reservoir. We decided to add life vest signs to our project, and it ended up becoming the bigger focus.” HOW DID YOU COORDINATE WITH THE AGENCIES THAT MANAGE THE RESERVOIR? SAMANTHA: “We had a Zoom meeting. We explained that while there technically [was] a sign, that people just don’t read it. We suggested a sign that is hard to miss and gets right to the most important point — to be safe and wear your life vest. They were very helpful and spent a lot of time helping us create our project.” ALYSSA: “We took notes and combined our thoughts with theirs. They were friendly to work with.”

AMAZING KIDS Alyssa Heese (left) and Samantha Owens (right) stand next to one of the water safety signs they designed, had fabricated and installed at Ashburn’s Beaverdam Reservoir.

WHO DID YOU WORK WITH TO CREATE THE ACTUAL SIGNS? SAMANTHA: “Local sign maker Clay Downing helped us create our signs, but he was very careful not to give his opinion. He suggested that if this was our project, it shouldn’t look like it was designed by a professional. In fact, [he suggested] that [our ages] might help us develop a sign that [was] more engaging and eye-catching to the public.” HOW DID YOU PAY FOR THE SIGNS? SAMANTHA: “Mr. Downing only charged us for the materials. Loudoun Water made a generous donation, and we raised money to cover the remaining cost by pet-sitting and babysitting.” HOW DID YOU GET THE SIGNS INSTALLED? SAMANTHA: “Dustin Betthauser [Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority

(far left) The two scouts help with the life vest sign installation at the Beaverdam Reservoir; (right) the girls pose next to one of their bike helmet safety signs they installed at Eagle Ridge Middle School. manager at the Beaverdam Reservoir] helped us install the signs at the reservoir. We installed the helmet safety signs at Eagle Ridge Middle School with our dads. We dug a hole, poured in cement, stabilized the post, and attached the sign — it was a lot of work.” HOW DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO SEE YOUR SIGNS POSTED AND KNOW THIS LONG PROJECT WAS COMPLETE? SAMANTHA: “We really couldn’t believe it after we put up the signs. We had worked so long and hard on the project, and it was incredible to see the signs in the ground.” ALYSSA: “We were proud that our

design came out looking good so it would catch people’s eyes and we were very glad to be done. It was a lot of work and a long process [especially] during a pandemic.” ULTIMATELY, WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HOPE THE SIGNS WILL SEND? SAMANTHA: “An accident can happen in an instant. Head injuries or drowning can usually be avoided by wearing a helmet or life vest. It’s sad that people are seriously injured or die because they just got too comfortable and think it won’t happen to them. Even strong swimmers can drown. Even good bike riders can crash. Please protect yourself.” A ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 9

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amazing kids

OK, we know all kids are amazing, but if you know of a kid who’s so amazing that he or she should be featured on this page, please email information to editor@ashburnmagazine.com.

LOCAL TEENS COMPETE IN SYNCHRONIZED ICE SKATING IN SWITZERLAND A Northern Virginia-based synchronized ice-skating team was recently honored to represent the United States at a competition in Switzerland. Among the skaters were at least four young women from the Ashburn area. Brianna Trocki, Callie Drozd and Chloe Combs are all seniors at Riverside High School, and Charlotte Ong is a junior at Riverside. They are members of the skating team known as the D.C. Edge. They train up to 14 hours a week as a team with other skaters from around the region, including on the ice as well as off-ice training and even ballet. They also skate

anywhere from five to eight hours a week individually. In February, the team competed for the Neuchatel Trophy in Switzerland. They had a strong short program and were second heading into the free skate, but some unfortunate falls meant they were a little short in the end. Nevertheless, the team had a great time and is already looking ahead. “We’ve worked really hard this season to improve our skating skills and interpretation and hope to make our mark at the U.S. National Championships in March,” said Jenny Bacon, the director of D.C. Edge.

DYNAMIC DUO SIBLINGS DESIGN SMARTPHONE APP TO PREDICT SUBSTANCE ABUSE Abhinav Potineni, a junior at Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, and his sister, Cheluvi, an eighth-grader at Stone Hill Middle, designed an app that uses artificial intelligence to predict substance abuse risks based on social media behavior. The app won third place in the 2021 Congressional App Challenge for Virginia’s 10th District. U.S. Rep Jennifer Wexton presided over a virtual awards ceremony in January. “Given that this is one of the first significant competitions that we’ve won, coupled with the intense competition from other talented students, it meant a lot for Cheluvi and me,” Abhinav said. “The issue of substance abuse mitigation is crucial to us, so it feels great that we can help publicize it and offer a solution.” The app scans social media posts for keywords related to substance abuse and flags them. The app also has a link to up to five trusted contacts that can act as a support network to someone who may be struggling with substance abuse. Abhinav and Cheluvi have partnered with two nonprofit organizations to help design the app and make it available to the more than 20 million people they serve. A 12 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

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business boom

Beautiful Batik Ashburn artist creates colorful and functional pieces BY A N YA SCZ E R ZENI E

hen it comes to her artistic process, Khadija Sareshwala doesn’t do a lot of planning. Instead, the Ashburn-based textile artist goes wherever her vision takes her. “I’ll just do what immediately comes to mind – everything I do is very spontaneous,” Sareshwala said. “The color schemes are [chosen] on the spot. It’s on a whim.” But those whims make some amazing pieces of art – art that is also often functional, including scarves, wraps, coat hooks and handbags. Sareshwala, who grew up in India and the United Kingdom, moved to the United States four years ago. Today, she lives in the Farmwell Hunt neighborhood with her husband and 2-year-old daughter. After working at nonprofits for years, she decided to return to her passion – the art she had studied in college. She started a hand-painted textile business and hasn’t looked back. It’s simply called Khadija Brand. Sareshwala said her lifetime of moving between countries, not to mention many trips to places around the world, has influenced her work – which is often based on the sights around her. “Whenever I go out, I’m always

observing. [Even] when I go to someone’s house, I’m seeing the aesthetics.” Sareshwala combines block-printing techniques with painting and tie-dye – drawing inspiration from a traditional kind of Southeast Asian dyeing called batik – to create her textiles. She shows her art at festivals around the Washington area and beyond. She also sells her work online. A typical piece from Khadija Brand sells for $150 to $200 online. She prefers selling her pieces in person because interaction with customers 

14 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

Artist Khadija Sareshwala (above, in grey) is surrounded by photos of various colorful textiles that she has created.

BUSINESS BOOM

ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 15

BUSINESS BOOM

is the best part of the festival scene. Fellow artisan Thureiyya Rodriguez met Sareshwala at the Chelsea Market in New York City and was so intrigued by her work that she bought a piece for herself – and has since bought several more. “She was selling in the booth next to me, and I could see the racks of scarves and there was one I really liked. She told me it was one-of-a-kind, so I bought the scarf from her,” Rodriguez said. “She does amazing work, I can tell you that.” In 2020, just when Khadija Brand was just beginning to take off, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of in-person festivals where Sareshwala could sell her art. Fortunately, she says, circumstances have improved, and 2021 was her busiest year. “I did more than nine shows,” Sareshwala said. “I just had wonderful clients who wanted to buy my work.” Until now, Sareshwala hasn’t taken orders for custom-made pieces, but it’s something she is considering. “I was a bit hesitant initially because what somebody has in mind and what you produce as an artist will be a bit different,” she said. “But now I’m open to it because art has no boundaries. It’ll definitely be different, but I just have to communicate that with people.” The Crossroads Art Center in Richmond recently invited Sareshwala to display some of her work at its gallery. It’s her first public exhibition, and she has 13 pieces on display. Owner Jenni Kirby said the center doesn’t have anyone else creating batiks and textiles the way Sareshwala does. “The reaction to Khadija’s art so far has been, ‘Wow, this is really different.’” As for the future of Khadija Brand, Sareshwala says she dreams of eventually opening an art cafe, which would show off work from other local artists just getting started. “I want to be able to support local artists who are from different countries – who may not have an outlet to put their work out,” she said. “You would have your coffee … your snacks and then you could come into the [art] space. That is something I would love to do.” A Anya Sczerzenie is a freelance writer based in Leesburg who has contributed articles to Ashburn Magazine and InsideNoVa.com.

You can see Sareshwala’s art and learn more about her company at the Khadija Brand website: www.khadijabrand.com.

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WOOFIE’S SOLD TO REGIONAL HOME SERVICES COMPANY Woofie’s, the Loudoun-based pet grooming and pet care company, has been acquired by Authority Brands, a regional company that has many home service brands under its umbrella. Founded in Ashburn in 2004 by Amy Reed and Leslie Barron, Woofie’s began franchising in 2018 and currently has four locations in Virginia. They will join brands such as Mosquito Squad, Mister Sparky, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, DoodyCalls and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in the Authority Brands family. “Woofie’s is a great addition to the Authority Brands’ portfolio as Amy and Leslie have built a strong brand with a passionate following,” said Rob Weddle, CEO at Authority Brands. “Additionally, we’re excited to leverage our extensive home services experience to fuel Woofie’s expansion.”

ASHBURN AUTHOR WRITES CHILDREN’S BOOK ON DIVERSITY “Make New Friends” is the title of a new children’s book written by two Loudoun-based authors. Alyssa Samuel is an Ashburn resident, and she co-wrote the book with her mother, Beverly Samuel. The book is aimed at elementary age students. In the story, the character of Ava starts her first day at a new school and begins making friends with a fun and diverse group of fellow students. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are implied and represented throughout the book,” according to an announcement about the book’s publication. “It is important in schools because students can appreciate people of different backgrounds and cultures. This can help reduce bullying, prejudices, and discrimination.” The book is available through online retailers.

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eslie Fox still remembers that time when another mom made a snarky comment about her daughter. Parents don’t forget such things. It was at a youth soccer camp – well, not just any camp, but the Olympic Development Program. Even at 11 or 12 years old, Emily Fox was being eyed as world-class material. Parents were watching the action on the field when one piped up. “It was just an offered statement. It wasn’t even that we were in a conversation,” Leslie said. “It was just kind of out of the blue.” That unsolicited opinion: “Well, Emily’s Virginia good.” Virginia good. What does that even mean? The woman went on to say that local competition was one thing for young Emily, but “we’ll see how good she is outside Virginia.” We’ve now seen it. In last year’s player draft for the National Women’s Soccer League, the first name called was … Emily Fox of Ashburn, Virginia. This followed Fox’s standout collegiate career at the powerhouse University of North Carolina and eight appearances with the U.S. women’s national team for international competitions heading into this year (although not the Olympics or World Cup – yet – but we’ll get to that). In January, Fox was invited to participate in another national team training camp and made the roster for the SheBelieves Cup, a four-team international tournament held in late February in California and Texas. She was one of five players to start in all three matches as the U.S. tied 0-0 with Czech Republic, then routed New Zealand and Iceland, 5-0 each. Meanwhile, she has been living in Kentucky and training for her upcoming second season with her pro team, Racing Louisville. Her selection at the top of the 2021 draft was historic. Because Racing Louisville is an expansion team of the growing NWSL, Emily will forever be known as the first player picked for that franchise. In her first season, Emily led the NWSL in interceptions with 115 and finished second in voting for Rookie of the Year to Trinity Rodman of the Washington Spirit. So yeah, Virginia good is more than good enough.

commitments took her away from school often. Now 23, Emily can focus all her energy – her considerable energy, from the way others talk about her – on the sport she loves. “It is fun being a pro,” she said. “It's hard to explain sometimes because I think on paper it’s like, ‘Wow, like, you only work like 8 to 2 or 8 to 3 every day.’ But I feel like it’s a 24-hour job. Your sleeping, your eating, what you're doing off the field — it all does affect what you’re doing on the field. And so, I feel like last year, I learned a lot about how to be a pro and how to manage myself so that I can have a long career and I can stay healthy, and all those things.” “But I will say: I love it. It’s great.” There’s not a whole lot else that Emily will say. Despite more than a decade of experience as an “elite athlete,” she is still young, with a laser focus on what she needs to do today to make the next step in her career and with a belief that that next step will lead to the one after that and the one after that. Ask her to reflect on her achievements so far or to gaze upon her potential for future national and international stardom, and you get a lot of comments like “I have an opportunity to prove myself ” and “I have to earn every bit.” But to the people who know her, this is not some rehearsed athlete patter. This is just Emily. Driven and reserved. Ask her coach from her former travel team, FC Virginia: “She’s very quiet. She’s not the most outgoing person,” Terry Foley said. “But sometimes, that’s a good 

THE PRESENT

IMAGE COURTESY ISI PHOTOS

Reached by phone at her Louisville apartment, Emily reflected on her first year in the NWSL. This is her job now, playing soccer. No more juggling academics and athletics. No more tutors and virtual classes while away from school. She had done that for years, not only at UNC, but also going back to Stone Bridge High School, where her travel soccer team

IMAGE COURTESY UNC ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS/JEFFREY CAMARATI

she would go to a fitness trainer and train,” he said. “And I think that, you know, that’s just an inner desire that she has. She’s got a tremendous inner drive.” All of this translates to “confidence” to the expert eye. Former U.S. national team player Aly Wagner (who has played in two World Cups and two Olympics) has watched Emily’s play as a broadcaster for CBS and Fox Sports. What struck her most is how comfortable Emily is on the pitch, important to her position as a defender. “You almost don't even appreciate the subtlety and the calmness with which she can play out of pressure and beat that first line.” (OK, a little bit of tactical soccer talk there. Translated for the layman: that’s good.)

THE PAST

(Clockwise from above) Emily Fox, playing soccer as a child; Emily training at the University of North Carolina; Emily playing on the Stone Bridge High School soccer team.

How To Watch Emily Fox Finding Racing Louisville matches on TV is pretty easy. Most National Women’s Soccer League matches are streamed on the Paramount Plus service, with some other games on CBS Sports Network cable channel and the Twitch streaming service. If you want to see Emily play in person, you’ll get one chance this year in the Ashburn area. The Washington Spirit will host Racing Louisville once this season, either at Audi Field in Washington or at Segra Field in Leesburg. But at press time, the NWSL had not yet released its 2022 regular season schedule, so the date of that matchup was unknown.

thing because she’s very humble.” Ask her friend and former FC Virginia teammate: “Two things stick out,” said Meaghan Nally, now a defender with the NWSL’s Portland Thorns. “Definitely, her work ethic. Like people talk about work ethic, but hers is evident every single day. She was there to get the most out of training and was 110% focused the entire time. And then the second thing is her humility. You know, she was already going into [national team] camps and everything, but like she never talked about it. Never got too big for her britches at all.” Ask her mother: “Emily is pretty introverted and she’s pretty private. She’s very humble, and her play kind of speaks for itself. She's not one for a lot of attention.” Nally and Fox text each other from time to time, and when Louisville and Portland play each other, they’ll find time to go out for coffee (an Emily passion — her favorite is an iced oat milk latte). “Once she opens up, she’s fun,” Nally said. But on the field is a different matter. Nally remembers showing up early for FC Virginia training. “Usually, when you come early to practice, you catch up on your day and everything,” Nally said. Emily preferred to get right to work on a drill. “She was just completely locked in. We did it in pretty much silence.” Foley also saw that Emily work ethic. “I can tell you every time she went to a national camp, she would train on her own with me outside of team training. She would then go to another trainer and train, and then

22 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

So where did this drive come from? Emily Fox started in standard local youth soccer in kindergarten, just like seemingly every kid in Ashburn. It’s an ideal sport for the little ones with boundless energy – have them chase a ball around a field for an hour. What everyone noticed about Fox early on, though – this kid was fast. That might be enough for most, to have that raw athletic ability, to instantly be seen as better than the other kids in games. But as Fox got a little bit older, she saw it a different way. “What do they think, I’m just fast? And I’m not good?” That’s what Leslie Fox remembers her daughter saying. “It really used to make her mad. People would say, ‘Well, you’re just fast.’ I think that really kind of started up her fire.” Fox focused on her technical soccer skills, to prove that she was more than God-given talent. Although that was apparent in the myriad other sports in which she also excelled – gymnastics, basketball, running, swimming, even football at recess with the schoolyard boys. By the time she was in seventh grade, she had to pick one. She was good enough to get involved in elite development programs, but that required a large time commitment. And so, soccer became her obsession. Foley remembers a young Fox, 13 or 14 years old, telling him her goals – to play for a top college soccer program, to play in the U-20 (under 20) World Cup, to play for the women’s national team. This was not a surprise to Foley. “Working with youth players for a number of years, everyone has lofty goals.” But this also was not much of a surprise to Foley: “She achieved all of them.” Although Fox was a star player at Stone Bridge High School, she played for the school team only one season – her freshman year, when she played varsity and the team went to the state title game. After that, her time was consumed by her travel club team and national camps and international tournaments. Her play took her across the country and around the world, to France, Italy and even Papua New Guinea. “She sacrificed a lot,” Leslie said, about those high school years. The Foxes – Leslie, a school librarian, her husband, Alex, a computer engineer, and 

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She doesn’t get many opportunities to visit Ashburn now, too busy with pro and national team duties, but when she does, she mostly stays at home, decompressing. “She loves to read. She loves to paint,” Leslie said – and playing with her dog, Harley, a rambunctious brown Vizsla mix. In Louisville, she mostly hangs out with teammates. They go out for coffee – the baristas know Fox’s name, and she theirs – and play a lot of cards. “Every time I come back to Louisville, there's like a new card game,” Fox said. “I don't even remember the names. I just hear the rules and then we start playing.”

Emily Fox, on the pitch, while playing for the University of North Carolina.

their three children – lived close enough for Emily to walk to Stone Bridge, and yet she was often elsewhere. She kept up with her studies by taking online courses and summer school and she graduated one semester early so that she could start training at UNC as soon as possible. Mom made sure to fly her back to Ashburn that spring for prom, though, “because you should go to your senior prom.” When the covid pandemic struck, Fox spent her first extended period of time at home in years. The Foxes set up training equipment in the basement and a “soccer wall” in the garage.

THE FUTURE

The next World Cup is in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. Qualifying matches will begin in Mexico in July. Will Emily Fox of Ashburn be on that World Cup roster? Ask her former FC Virginia coach: “I hope so,” Foley said. “She just missed out on the last one, so I would assume so. She seems to be getting an extended run on the [national] team right now.” Ask her friend: “I sure hope so,” Nally said. “I mean, her work ethic and humility will take her very far.” Ask the sports commentator: “Yeah,” Wagner said. “Outside back is definitely a position that the 

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Emily Fox (right) and her parents and siblings; Emily and her dog, Harley.

United States is in need of depth. So big opportunity, big upside for her there. And she’s got the talent as long as she continues to develop and progress.” Ask her mom: “She won’t even let us talk about that,” said Leslie Fox. “She is just like, ‘I just have to make this next camp,’ like ‘I have to keep working hard; I have to do more; I have to prove myself,’ and things like that.” Ask Fox: “It's definitely a goal of mine, but I know that I have to work for it, and I have to earn every bit just because of how good the team is and how competitive every position is.” But she still thinks about it, right? “Yes, I do think about it,” Emily said. “I do picture it.” Remember that snarky comment about Emily being Virginia good? Turns out maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing after all. “At first I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really mean,’” Leslie Fox said. “But I have never forgotten it because it really was a good statement. I mean, you have to go and do these things. Luckily, Emily was able to have these opportunities to prove herself in a national way, or in a not Virginia way.” Star collegian. National team player. No. 1 draft pick. Virginia good? Virginia great. A Jim Lenahan is a long-time journalist who lives in Ashburn Farm. He has also written for USA Today, USA Weekend, AARP, and the Louisville Courier-Journal.

26 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

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wine & dine feature

Bourbon Bayou Kitchen executive chef Jazz West and restaurant owner Art Safarian show off their popular alligator appetizers.

O T A G TE I B

R S A new restaurant is causing a stir with its alligator appetizers BY C HRIS WADSWORTH PHOTOS BY ASTRI WEE OF ASTRI WEE PHOTO GR A P HY

ichael Warren lives in Brambleton, more than a thousand miles from many of his kinfolk in southern Louisiana. But it was there that he acquired a taste for – of all things – alligator meat. “I just remember always eating strange things at family reunions,” Warren said. “Alligator, frogs, and crawfish were always on the menu. The Cajun cooking I grew up with is still a favorite of mine.” So, when Bourbon Bayou Kitchen, a new Cajun restaurant, recently opened in Ashburn, Warren and his wife, Tina, made a beeline there and they promptly ordered up the Fried Alligator appetizer – small chunks of flaky, white gator meat bathed in buttermilk, deep fried and served with a side of Cajun remoulade. “It is very good,” was Warren’s succinct review. “The sauce it was paired with really made it perfect.” 

Yes, gator meat has made its way to Ashburn. It may not be the first time. Gator sometimes pops up as a unique and special offering on restaurant menus. But alligator is now a daily item at Bourbon Bayou Kitchen. Besides the Fried Alligator, the restaurant also serves Alligator Nachos. “It’s a ground alligator sausage that we use MICHAEL AND TINA WARREN on the nachos. It has a lot more color and a lot more flavor,” said Jazz West, the executive chef at the restaurant. “It’s already spiced, already seasoned, so it just makes the dish pop.” The gators served at Bourbon Bayou are raised on commercial alligator farms. From there, they go to a place called Big Pops near Shreveport, La. That’s where the meat is harvested, processed and shipped to Ashburn and other markets across the country. Alligator is one of the highest protein dishes you can find. A 3.5-ounce piece of gator meat has about 46 grams of protein. Compare that to about 27 grams in a similar sized piece of chicken and 26 grams in beef. Gator meat is also low in fat. Jazz West, the executive But the big question – always – is what does chef at Bourbon Bayou it taste like? Some people immediately say it Kitchen, poses with an “tastes like chicken.” But maybe not quite. alligator figurine that is “The taste profile is very similar to chicken,” said Ashburn-based food blogger an unofficial mascot at Chantal Bannayan. She shares recipes as  the restaurant. 30 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

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well as featuring local restaurants on her @cookwithchan Instagram page. She dined at Bourbon Bayou recently and also had an alligator app. “It’s not the exact same [as chicken], but it is very tender, juicy and flavorful.” Warren goes further, comparing the flavor of gator to seafood more than chicken. “I think most people would be surprised to find that it has a very clean, non-gamey, non-fishy taste,” he said. “I think most expect it to be tough or chewy, [but] I find it light and quite capable of adapting to many cooking styles.” So how do newbies react to seeing alligator on the menu, much less having a waiter place it on the table in front of them? “Some people are trying it for the first time and [make] very funny facial expressions,” said Art Safarian, the restaurant’s owner. “Most people are eager to try it, but we have had a few that are afraid to try it. We have had a few not wanting to try it. But when we give them [a sample], they love it.” Exotic meat isn’t new to Ashburn. Burger joint Fuddruckers has an elk burger on its menu. The Wine’ing Butcher offers up quail, rabbit and wild boar. The new Himalayan Wild Yak restaurant has – wait for it – yak meat on the menu. And just down the road, D.C. Prime once served kangaroo at a special dinner. Nevertheless, alligator seems to be a bit of a novelty, especially for wary diners who steel their nerves and give it a try. And there will probably be more opportunities to taste-test gator because the team at Bourbon Bayou says they are only getting started. “We do have plans of having alligator sliders for happy hour at the bar,” Safarian said. “We will also have an alligator po’ boy [sandwich] in the future. Once we get to brunch sometime in the summer, we will have fried alligator and waffles.” A

ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 33

Take aBook, Share a Book Little Free Libraries abound around Ashburn BY JI L L DE V IN E

aureen Cura remembers exactly when and where she was the first time she saw a Little Free Library. It was 2016 and she was attending the National Book Festival in Washington when she spotted a dollhouse-sized wooden box built with the sole purpose of sharing books and spreading a love of reading. “I thought it was a fabulous idea,” said Cura, who knows a thing or two about books. She’s the school librarian at Sanders Corner Elementary in Ashburn Farm. You’ve probably spotted one of these charming book cupboards sitting atop wooden posts yourself – there are 12 officially registered Little Free Libraries in the immediate Ashburn area, and dozens more in neighboring communities. Tucked along paths and near parks and community buildings, each box is as unique as the person who created it, but all embrace the slogan – “Take a Book. Share a Book.” Founded in 2012, Little Free Library is a Wisconsin-based nonprofit devoted to building community, inspiring readers and expanding book access. It has a professional staff of a dozen or so 

Andreas Schmidt (left) and Devin Chicas (right) stand with their sons next to the Little Free Library outside the Belmont Station Elementary School in Ashburn.

PHOTO BY ASTRI WEE OF ASTRI WEE PHOTOGRAPHY

A Little Free Library on Thistledown Terrace in the Broadlands.

The little libraries often have a mix of children’s books, books for grown-ups, and sometimes even the occasional DVD.

employees plus a worldwide network of more than 130,000 volunteers. Individuals who put these little libraries in their community are called stewards. Through its website, the organization guides the stewards through the process of building or purchasing a library and registering it for inclusion on the online map. Although each little library is unique, collectively they form the largest book-sharing network in the world, with at least 138,000 registered libraries covering all seven continents, 112 countries and every U.S. state. The organization estimates that more than 250 million books have been shared through its registered libraries. There’s even a Little Free Library at the South Pole, inside the National Science Foundation’s Atmospheric Research Observatory in Antarctica, which helps scientific staffers better cope with the long, dark winters. On a recent winter afternoon, Andreas Schmidt and Devin Chicas were standing in front of Belmont Station Elementary as the dismissal bell rang. They were waiting for their two sons, ages 7 and 9, in a grassy area near the sidewalk. Next to them was a recently installed Little Free Library, brimming 36 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

You never know what you’ll find inside. — MARGRET ALDRICH

with titles from kids’ series such as “The Hardy Boys,” “Dr. Seuss” and “Arthur.” “This is great,” Chicas said. “Kids go through books so quickly, and they don’t need to keep them as they progress. This lets others have a chance to read them when done, and it’s so convenient having it near where the kids walk to and from school.” Cura, the Sanders Corner librarian, was smitten with the idea of a little library and knew it could benefit her students and the surrounding community. She used funds from the school’s usedbook fair to buy an unfinished Amish-built library from the Little Free Libraries website store. The site offers plans and instructions for constructing a library from scratch, ready-to-build kits and even fully finished units that just need to be installed. The Sanders Corner Library was installed in a space memorializing former principal Kathleen Hwang, who died in an accident in 2012. “Kathleen was an advocate for reading,” Cura said. “She had a program where students could come to her office, pick a book off the shelf, read it with her and then take it home.” Cura says the Sanders Corner library is 

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constantly used. “It makes me smile to see parents or kids stopping to check out what’s inside,” she said. “It especially made a difference during the pandemic where – at any time of day – kids could get a book when the [public] libraries were closed.” Nearby, Ashburn Farm resident Paul Nagele said he was inspired to build the little library in front of his house on Wintergrove Drive after noticing other free libraries in the community. “So many people walk this sidewalk every day, especially high school students, so I knew it would get a lot of exposure,” Nagele said. He installed the library, with HOA approval, in 2020 and said the neighborhood response has been great, with a constant turnover of books. “I wish I had bought the larger box, with two shelves, because we have books in front of books,” Nagele said. “We have a good range of titles from preschool board books to adult business books and even some DVDs. I never remove a book, unless it’s damaged, because if someone thought enough of the book to leave it here, it’s worth sharing.” Anyone who builds or installs a miniature neighborhood library is encouraged to register it with the Little Free Libraries organization. This gets the library placed on the organization’s map, and stewards are informed about opportunities to receive free books as well as literacy programs to help underserved communities. “We would love all Little Free Libraries to 

38 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

(Above) Paul Nagele stands next to the Little Free Library he installed in front of his Ashburn Farm home; a plaque showing a little library is officially registered. This one includes the organization’s motto in Spanish.

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(Above) Megan Helge poses with the library she built and installed in Ashburn when she was a fifth grader; (right) Margret Aldrich, the director of communications for the Little Free Library organization.

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be registered, but anyone who puts up a generic community book-sharing box is still doing a good thing,” said Margret Aldrich, the organization’s director of communications. Back in 2015, Megan Helge installed a little library near the leasing office at the Acclaim at Ashburn apartments in response to a school assignment. “During fifth grade at Cedar Lane [Elementary], we had a project called, ‘Yo, There’s a Problem, and I’ll Solve It,’ so I decided to help kids who didn’t have their own books or easy access to books,” said Megan, now a 16-year-old junior at Stone Bridge High School. After receiving approval from management, and with help from her father, Wayne Helge, she built the library from scratch and then registered it with Little Free Libraries. “The grass around the library is always matted down, so it definitely gets a lot of use,” Megan said. “It’s fun to see that the community is still sharing and benefitting from this one little thing I did.” That sense of sharing a good book and having new titles at your fingertips makes the Little Free Library movement so successful, said Aldrich. “Little Free Libraries are irresistible,” she added. “It’s like opening a present, and you never know what you’ll find inside.” A Jill Devine is a freelance writer and former magazine editor from Loudoun County who writes for a variety of Virginia publications.

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time of our lives feature

LIGHTS, CAMERA, EXTRA!

Brambleton man has spent decades on TV and movie sets BY C HRIS WADSWORTH f you were to pass Fred Shwaery walking down a street in Ashburn, you could be forgiven for doing a double take. He has a face you just might recognize. Certainly not from his 26 years working at the Internal Revenue Service and probably not from his eight years at the Federal Highway Administration either. Instead, you might know Shwaery from his more than 100 appearances in movies and television shows over four decades. “I read an article in the Washington Post that the new Goldie Hawn movie ‘Protocol’ was being filmed in Washington and they 

IMAGES COURTESY FRED SHWAERY

(Clockwise from top) Extra actor Fred Shwaery passed by in the background in a scene from the television show “The West Wing”; Fred, wearing a kaffiyeh head scarf, in a scene from the movie “The Meteor Man”; Fred next to actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a scene from the TV show “Veep”; Fred with actress Goldie Hawn on the set of the movie “Protocol”; a photo Fred snapped of Hawn outside her trailer on the “Protocol” set with her young daughter, Kate Hudson.

were having difficulties getting Middle Eastern-looking extras,” Shwaery recalled about the 1984 film. “Being of Lebanese descent, I thought I would be perfect for the job.” He put in a call to Central Casting, a company that specializes in extras, body doubles and stand-ins. They invited him to come in, took his picture and – 48 hours later – he was standing next to Hawn on the steps at the National Archives in Washington. Shwaery, who lives in the Birchwood at Brambleton neighborhood with his wife, Cathy, eventually joined the Screen Actors Guild, which led to many more parts in TV and movies – sometimes more parts than he could take. “It was often difficult to try and balance my ‘real’ job with my ‘fun’ job and consequently, I had to turn down some extra work,” Shwaery said. Ashburn Magazine asked this local movie star to share stories from some of the productions he’s participated in. “VEEP” I was called for the first day of shooting for the HBO series “Veep.” The set designer

44 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

3-2022 Ashburn Magazine 1-4 Page ad_Template 2/21/22 9:12 AM Page 1

(Left) Some of the movie posters from films that Fred Shwaery has been an extra in; (above) Fred as a child and already an amateur showman.

had turned the inside of this non-descript warehouse in a Baltimore suburb into an exact replica of the actual vice president’s office. I had been by the actual office of the vice president, and I was very impressed at how precise the set was. It looked like the real thing. I was in several episodes of “Veep,” including one episode where I played the president of Egypt at a press conference with the U.S president, who was played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Coincidentally, shortly after this episode aired, the real U.S. president and the real Egyptian president met for a real press conference. The question at our house was, “Who played it better?” “LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD” Getting shot at in a film is no fun – even when you know it’s fake. It’s happened a few times, such as in “Live Free or Die Hard,” one of the “Die Hard” movies with Bruce Willis. We were in the streets of Baltimore, waiting for the director’s cue, when an overhead helicopter started shooting at us with the “police” returning fire and fake explosions going off in the street. I was in the street as a “bystander.” We were instructed to take cover, but that didn’t even need to be said. A helicopter even flew under the traffic lights and between the buildings. It was a heart-thumping time. When it was over, everything was reset for another take as if nothing had even happened. “RUNAWAY BRIDE” In “Runaway Bride” with Julia Roberts, I found that Julia Roberts really is a “pretty woman” in real life. I played a bartender, and she came into the bar to take her “drunk” father home while Richard Gere waited outside. A couple days later, we found out that something had gone wrong with the scene, and we were all called back to shoot it again. It rained all day, and we couldn’t get the scene in. We were called back another day and I had a meeting at my real job and couldn’t leave. Another extra ended up playing my bartender part. “THE WEST WING” I often got called for “The West Wing” when the crew came to town to shoot for 

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Brambleton resident Cathy Shwaery stands next to her movie star husband, Fred.

a few days. Actor Martin Sheen, who played the president on the show, was extremely friendly and encouraging to all the extras. One afternoon, after we all had lunch with him, a scene set at Camp David was about to begin. Sheen entered the room … and before the cameras even rolled, exclaimed to us all, “Whenever the president enters a room, no one sits.” He had fully transformed into his character and was no longer the guy we just had lunch with. He was President Josiah Bartlet, and we all knew it. “THE DISTRICT” Once while shooting the TV show “The District” with actor Craig T. Nelson playing a police chief, a pedestrian scene was being shot when a car that wasn’t part of the scene somehow got past the barricades and into the middle of filming. Nelson – as the “chief ” – sprang into action, admonishing

the driver, while the young kid had no idea the police chief was really an actor, and he was actually in the middle of a TV show. In the same episode, about 50 extras were waiting to get placed around the street scene. The assistant director put everyone at their starting locations. It was the one and only time my daughter decided to join me on one of my extra adventures and we were on opposite sides of the street. But then the director chose to have us walk down the street side by side as father and daughter – without knowing that’s who we actually were. “BROADCAST NEWS” A restaurant scene with Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks in “Broadcast News” was filmed at the famous Two Nineteen restaurant in Old Town Alexandria years ago. I played a guy on a date at a table next to the main couple. Last year, I was having dinner with my family at the same restaurant. I noticed that my scene was playing on the monitor in the restaurant for all to see. The waiter was so excited to learn it was me in the scene. A

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ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 47

local adventures feature

TRAILING AN ASSASSIN History buffs can follow the path that John Wilkes Booth fled BY G LENDA C . B OOTH

ohn Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington on April 14, 1865, at 10:15 p.m. A Confederate sympathizer and actor, after shooting Lincoln, he leaped from the second-floor balcony onto the stage, charged out the back door and galloped into Maryland in the dark of night with his accomplice, David Herold. Booth’s motivation, plot and attempted escape through Maryland and Virginia have intrigued professional and amateur historians for 157 years. Retracing his route today still provokes questions: Who helped them along the way? Was the route planned? What was their ultimate destination? Once today’s travelers escape the Washington suburbs and drive into the quiet countryside of farm fields and dense forests, it’s easy to envision two desperate men on horseback charging at a fast gallop down rural dirt roads in the dead of night, sneaking in and out of farmhouses and hiding in swamps and thickets. History buffs can retrace Booth’s and Herold’s 12-day, 66-mile journey from Ford’s Theater to Port Royal, Virginia, a small town on the Rappahannock River east of Fredericksburg. There, Booth met his

demise and Herold surrendered. 1 Ford’s Theater 511 10TH ST. NW, WASHINGTON

Lincoln and his wife, Mary, were watching “Our American Cousin” from the balcony’s presidential box, along with 1,400 other people sitting on portable wooden chairs. During a laugh line, Booth shot the

president in the back of the head with a derringer handgun. Ever theatrical, Booth then jumped 12 feet from the balcony onto the stage and accidentally snagged his boot spur on either the framed photograph of George Washington or a flag draped across the balcony. When he landed, he broke his left fibula. Chaos ensued, and Booth disappeared into the night. The theater today looks much as it did in 1865. The museum under the theater explores Civil War Washington up to the night of Lincoln’s death and houses over 3,000 items related to the assassination, including Booth’s gun, dagger, diary and compass, and features life-size replicas of four conspirators. A major piece of incriminating evidence on display is Booth’s boot that Dr. Samuel Mudd removed later that night to stabilize the fugitive’s broken bone. Mudd stashed the boot under the bed Booth used. Because it had Booth’s name inside, authorities surmised that he had been at the Mudd farm. 2 The Surratt House Museum 9118 BRANDYWINE ROAD, CLINTON, MD.

Maryland did not secede from the union, but in the 1860s, it was heavily proConfederate and slavery was legal. Southern

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(Clockwise from top) The actual bed at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home where John Wilkes Booth slept while fleeing authorities; a replica of the carbine where it was left behind and hidden in a wall at the Surratt’s Tavern; a bedroom at the tavern where travelers would have slept. Maryland was the pair’s immediate destination. From Ford’s Theater, Booth and Herold raced across the city to the Navy Yard drawbridge. Booth’s horse was lathered in sweat, the bridge tender observed. They made their first stop 13 miles south of Washington at Surratt’s Tavern, owned by John Surratt Jr., in what is now Clinton, Md. The tavern was a Confederate safe house for spies and couriers, and the conspirators had hidden supplies there. In the seven minutes they were there, Booth did not go in. Herold went in and got rifles, field glasses and whiskey. Because of his injury, Booth could not carry a carbine as planned, so John Lloyd, a former police 50 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

officer who ran the tavern, crammed the gun inside an upstairs wall. Today, visitors can explore eight rooms restored to the 1860s appearance of what was then an “ordinary,” a combined tavern-hotel at a strategic crossroads. On a self-guided tour, people can learn about tavern life, Maryland’s enslaved people, the Reconstruction era and view the shaft where Lloyd hid the carbine Booth and Herold left behind. 3 The Mudd House 3725 DR. SAMUEL MUDD ROAD, WALDORF, MD.

Booth was in pain and decided to seek help from his acquaintance, Dr. Samuel Mudd at Mudd’s Bryantown farm. They

arrived around 4 a.m., with Booth claiming to have fallen off his horse. Mudd cut off Booth’s boot, set the leg and allowed the two fugitives to rest in a second-floor bedroom, while a thousand or so men scoured the countryside, searching for the assassin. Today, docents lead tours of the sevenroom Mudd farmhouse, built in 1830 and presented as it appeared in 1860, when it was a 218-acre tobacco, corn and wheat farm called St. Catherine. About 90% of the furnishings are original from the time Mudd and his wife lived there. On the second floor – in what’s now called “The Booth Room” – is the actual bed where Booth slept. Mudd’s first-floor country doctor’s office has his original mortar and pestle used for grinding and mixing medicines. In the little-changed kitchen are the original toaster, juicer and potato ricer of that time. For Mrs. Mudd, as well as a servant and four children, 

Dr. Misty Paul

Dr. Tanya Pederson

ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 51

(Left) Dr. Samuel Mudd’s gravestone at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bryantown, Md.; an historic marker on the road near the spot where assassin John Wilkes Booth was shot and killed after 12 days on the run.

52 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

the home was a “prison” for a week as Union soldiers held her under house arrest. Eventually, Mudd was convicted of aiding and abetting Booth and imprisoned for four years at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas islands. At the farmhouse are two shelled jewelry boxes, a cane and a table that he made at the prison. After President Andrew Johnson pardoned Mudd in 1869, he returned home and had five more children. He died in 1883 and is buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bryantown, where his tombstone still stands. After Mudd’s Farm On the morning of April 15, when Dr. Mudd learned that federal troops were swarming the area, he sent Booth and Herold on their way. The pair camped in boggy Zekiah Swamp, where Thomas Jones, a Confederate sympathizer, brought food and newspapers and coordinated plans to transport them across the Potomac River to Virginia. One journalist of the day wrote about the swamp, “No human being inhabits the 

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John Wilkes Booth, Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth Jr. seen in an 1864 production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” malarious extent.” At 21 miles long and half a mile wide, today it’s the Zekiah Swamp Natural Environment Area (4) near Brandywine. After five long, cold days in the swamp, Booth and Herold went to Rich Hill (5), the home of Samuel Cox near Bel Alton, about 18 miles south of the Mudd farm. Cox gave them a meal but, fearful of being

associated with them, told them to hide in a nearby pine thicket. The house today is a private residence that can be seen only from the roadside. Today’s pine thicket is likely a remnant of the hideout site. On the night of April 21, Jones led the two fugitives to the Potomac River, where he had hidden a rowboat. The river was two miles wide at this point and patrolled by Union officers in gunboats. Today’s visitors can view the crossing point from bluffs above the river. In Virginia, they made their way to Elizabeth Quesenberry’s home (6). A Confederate underground operative, Quesenberry gave them food and fresh horses. They ventured onward another 16 miles or so south and crossed the Rappahannock River on a ferry at Port Royal. Union detectives learned that the two had made it to Virginia. Booth and Herold then sought refuge at Richard Henry Garrett’s farm (7) near Port Royal. Garrett made them sleep in the

tobacco barn and, worried that the two men would steal his horses, he locked the barn. On April 26, the federal cavalry surrounded the barn and set it afire. Herold surrendered, but Booth, heavily armed, resisted arrest. At some point after 2 a.m., Army Sgt. Boston Corbett shot Booth in the neck. Booth died later that morning at age 26. Soldiers found his planning documents, compass, diary and photos of five women among his possessions. Today a roadside Virginia historical marker titled “Where Booth Died” is on U.S. Route 301 just south of its intersection with U.S. Route 17, near the former farm. Booth and Herold were on the run for 12 days, aided by Confederate agents and accomplices, historians contend. The assassination and their attempted escape had generated the most massive manhunt in history. A Glenda Booth is a freelance writer based in Virginia — no known relation to John Wilkes Booth. She writes for publications around the state.

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loudounvalleyfloors.com 54 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

real estate roundup

ASHBURN’S TOP 10 L

oudoun County’s housing market continued to be busy in the fourth quarter of 2021, although the number of home sales fell for the second quarter in a row, according to the Dulles Area Association of Realtors. The sales drop reflected a very busy fourth quarter of 2020 along with a continued lack of inventory. Inventory is at historically low levels, the association said, with the county’s market tighter than almost anywhere else in Virginia. In Ashburn, sales were up 2% in the 20147 Zip code during the last three months of 2021 but down 5% in the 20148 Zip code. The lower inventory helped to drive prices higher, however.

20147

Countywide, the median sales price rose 11% in the fourth quarter, compared with the prior year. In Ashburn, the median sales price in the quarter was up a whopping 29% in the 20148 Zip code to $765,000 and 10% in the 20147 Zip code to $565,000. Houses continued to sell quickly – the median time on market was 17 days in 20147 and 19 days in 20148. Highlighted below are the five highest-priced homes that sold in each of Ashburn’s two Zip codes between mid-December and midFebruary, along with the sales price and other key information. Data and photos from Realtor.com.

20148

20404 NORTHPARK DRIVE

41218 TRAMINETTE COURT

$1,300,000 Sold: Dec. 23 5 bedrooms 4½ bathrooms 4,300 square feet

$2,025,000 Sold: Jan. 31 5 bedrooms 5½ bathrooms 7,028 square feet

20023 BELMONT STATION DRIVE

21869 PARSELLS RIDGE COURT

$1,300,000 Sold: Feb. 11 8 bedrooms 7½ bathrooms 8,864 square feet

$1,525,000 Sold: Dec. 30 6 bedrooms 6½+ bathrooms 8,036 square feet

19964 INTERLACHEN CIRCLE

42838 FALLING LEAF COURT

$1,252,000 Sold: Jan. 14 4 bedrooms 4½ bathrooms 5,690 square feet

$1,350,000 Sold: Dec. 16 5 bedrooms 4½ bathrooms 5,000 square feet

21293 CAMERON HUNT PLACE

42386 WILLOW CREEK WAY

$1,150,000 Sold: Dec. 23 6 bedrooms 4½ bathrooms 6,191 square feet

$1,200,000 Sold: Feb. 4 4 bedrooms 2½ bathrooms 3,970 square feet

21458 GREY SLATE COURT

21819 INGLEWOOD COURT

$1,135,000 Sold: Dec. 20 6 bedrooms 5½ bathrooms 6,624 square feet

$1,100,000 Sold: Jan. 7 6 bedrooms 4½ bathrooms 5,391 square feet

56 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

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105% 105%

Total Homes Sold Total Homes Sold 2000-2021 2000-2021 Total Homes Sold

““

Average Sales to list Average Sales to list Price 2021 PriceSales 2021to list Average

1,067+

105%

2000-2021

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Average Days on Average Days on Market 2021 MarketDays 2021on Average

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“Pam and Dave are one of a kind in the industry. If you are looking to buy or sell a home, they should be your first call. They are patient with you while “Pam and Dave are one of a kind in the industry. If you are looking to buy or sell a home, they should be your first call. They are patient with you while searching thisDave thin inventory don’t push you Iftoyou buyare a particular house. They know youshould are looking for the right homepatient for YOU and “Pam and are inventory one of and a kind the industry. to buy or sell a home, be your first call. They with youyour whilefamily searching this thin andindon’t push you to buy alooking particular house. They knowthey you are looking for the right homeare for YOU and your family and they will stick with you until they find itpush for you.”to—buy Ken & Tosia house. They know you are looking for the right home for YOU and your family searching this thinwith inventory and don’t a particular and they will stick you until they find it foryou you.” — Ken & Tosia and they will stick with you until they find it for you.” — Ken & Tosia

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deemed reliable, but notIf guaranteed. is listed with another broker, InformationInformation deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. your propertyIfisyour listedproperty with another broker, is not as solicitation that listing.broker, Information deemed reliable, butintended notthis guaranteed. If your property is listed of with another this is not as a intended solicitation ofathat listing. this is not intended as a solicitation of that listing.

ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 57

time travel

Brambleton’s Barn Historic structure has bright future BY C H R IS WADSWO RT H

riving south on Belmont Ridge Road through Brambleton, you are surrounded by lovely homes in every direction. The fast-growing Ashburn neighborhood has quickly gone from farmland to thriving suburban community, and Belmont Ridge is a wide, divided boulevard. But as you cross Evergreen Mills Road, the road begins to narrow — almost as if to signify you’re traveling back in time. And there, on your left, stands an old dairy barn and silo — sentinels of a time before Brambleton was Brambleton. “I drive down that way constantly,” said Brambleton resident Jenna Warren. “The barn is very picturesque, but I don’t know why it’s still there. I’m very curious.” Turns out, the barn is one of the last vestiges of the area’s rich agricultural past – and the good news is the barn is being preserved for the future too. The researchers and librarians at the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg did some digging and said the property on which the Brambleton barn stands today was once part of Thomas Lewis’ land.

Indeed, his name shows up on a map of the county from 1853. It was sold several times over the years – including to one owner who had the interesting name Sirlanselot Karner. By the late 1800s, according to a history from the Brambleton HOA, the area around the barn was known as Royville. The nascent town featured a school, about where the Brambleton rock

waterfall is today, as well as a few modest homes and a general store. Royville was named for the son of the store’s owners, John and Ella Hough, after the 14-yearold succumbed to typhoid fever. Eventually, Royville faded away – the school was closed, Ella Hough passed away and the store closed, too. The land was bought by several farmers, including a name many in the area might recognize

TIME TRAVEL

– L.B. “Billy” Creighton, who bought the property and operated a large stock farm there. Today’s nearby Creighton Farms neighborhood and the local Creighton’s Corner Elementary School are two places that bear his name. In 1944, the Cornelius brothers from Fairfax County moved to present-day Brambleton with a herd of 84 cows. They set up a 300-acre dairy farm, leading to a revolution in farming in the area. According to the notes, Loudoun County eventually became the leading dairyproducing county in the state, a title it held into the 1960s. The Brambleton barn was part of the Cornelius’ property. Historic records indicate it was built in the 1950s, but the former farm that it served was certainly much older. It appears in several archival aerial photos that date back to the 1930s. The barn is what’s known as a gothic  (above) An 1853 map that includes land that today is part of the Brambleton community. In the lower right a dot identifies Thomas Lewis’ farm, believed to be where the Brambleton barn stands today.

PHOTO BY JIM KIRBY

TIME TRAVEL

PHOTO BY JIM KIRBY

www.astriwee.com

photography@astriwee.com

barn or a gothic-arch barn due A 1957 aerial photo to the shape of its roof. The of the property shows four metal ventilators on top – the farm that used to sometimes called cupolas – aren’t be located where the just for show. They help keep air Brambleton barn still circulating through the building. stands today. Two silos originally stood next to the barn, as seen in the photographs. Sadly, the silo that is dark orange and red in color was recently razed due to instability and safety concerns. Despite their time-worn look, the Brambleton barn and the remaining silo have a bright future. The space around it has already been used for neighborhood events, such as Fourth of July fireworks. Soon, the developer of the community plans to give the barn a major makeover. In the future, the dairy barn will be used as a performing arts center and community center for concerts, weddings and special events. The Brambleton Presbyterian Church also intends to hold its Sunday morning services there. “The plans are still very fluid as we work with our architect and land planners,” said Kim Adams, director of marketing for Brambleton, who added that work on the barn structure should begin later this year. Passersby will notice work happening on the property around the barn. Adams says that planting and berm work is already underway. There are no final architectural drawings yet of what the finished community center will look like, but the good news is this piece of Ashburn’s history will stay right where it is – a reminder of the community’s rich history from centuries past. A 60 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

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Now Showing Death of a Time-Traveler

Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre March 12 at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn March 19, 26, April 2 & 9 at Oatlands in Leesburg

Steel Magnolias

Dramatic Comedy Staged Production March 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 & 27

Something Different

Fairytales and Folklore for Children March 19, 26 & April 2 – Livestreaming Available • March 11, April 8, May 13 Sly’s Magic • March 18, April 15, May 20 StageCoach Bandits Improv • April 23 Come N’Get Some Anja – One-Woman Comedic Drag Show • April 29 Mr. Lorah’s Classroom – Long-form Improv All performances are held at StageCoach Theatre in Ashburn except as noted. Registration is open until March 18 for After School Theatre Classes for ages 5-18.

the burn A ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST RESTAURANT, RETAIL AND OTHER COOL NEWS FROM ASHBURN AND BEYOND. CHECK OUT THE BURN AT THEBURN.COM AND FOLLOW IT ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM.

62 • ASHBURN MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022

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The Burn has confirmed that the cosmetics retailer Sephora

A new Korean barbecue restaurant in the works for Ashburn. It’s coming to the Goose Creek Village shopping center off Belmont Ridge Road at Sycolin Road. The banner over the front door says Gogigogo Korean BBQ is “opening soon” in a

COMING TO ONE LOUDOUN CENTER

5 KOREAN BBQ RESTAURANT HEADED TO GOOSE CREEK VILLAGE

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Honor Brewing, which has a tasting room in Chantilly, is planning to build a 30,000-squarefoot facility off Arcola Mills Road south of Brambleton. The new brewing hub will include

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, a California-based full-service restaurant chain, is considering a new location in the Lansdowne Town Center, north of Route 7. The brand, which has more than 40 locations around the country, wants to build an 8,000-squarefoot restaurant on an empty parcel of land next to the Chick-fil-A. The plans also call for a 1,500-square-foot outdoor patio.

will be opening a 5,000-square-foot store at One Loudoun in Ashburn. It’s the first tenant announced for a new block of retail spaces that was recently built. Sephora will go into a corner spot, across the street from The Yard Milkshake Bar and kitty-corner from Okada Restaurant & Sushi Bar. No firm date on when the Sephora store will open – tentatively sometime this summer.

OPENING NEW FACILITY NEAR BRAMBLETON

RESTAURANT EXPLORING A LOCATION IN LANSDOWNE

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A new Thai restaurant called My Home Thai Bistro is coming to the Belmont Chase shopping plaza in Ashburn. It’s taking over the 4,500-square-foot space next door to Baker’s Crust that was previously Lee Tai Tai Asian Bistro. This will be the second location for My Home Thai. There is also one in Reston. If plans go smoothly, the owners hope to open the new restaurant late this summer.

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RESTAURANT HEADED TO BELMONT CHASE

a full restaurant and bar with indoor and outdoor seating. There will also be a separate fitness center adjoining the building. The brand, which honors soldiers and veterans with its beers, hopes to open the new Loudoun location sometime in 2023.

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spot in between Passion Fin and the Harris Teeter supermarket. Bowls and ramen will also be on the menu. Not coincidentally, “gogi” is Korean for meat. The space was previously the Thai Bistro restaurant and the East Wind China Bistro before that. 6 RUMBLE BOXING OPENING NEW STUDIO A new fitness studio is headed to Ashburn, one that features boxing as the centerpiece of its exercise regimen. It’s called Rumble Boxing and it's coming to the Ashbrook Commons shopping plaza at Ashburn Village

Boulevard and Russell Branch Parkway. It will be in one of the outlying buildings, next to the upcoming Altos de Jalisco Mexican restaurant. No word yet on when Rumble Boxing, a national chain, will open its Ashburn gym. A

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Fri. May 13 – Sun. May 15, 2022 Tickets: CapitalOneHall.com Tysons, VA

Ashburn

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