Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Sterling Park, Virginia Collection (SC 0007), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Royce Givens, Leesburg, VA and unknown

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2003.0008, 2011.0138X

Processing Information

Charlotte Blacklock, 17 June 2011

Historical Information

Loudoun County, one of Virginia's leading farming and dairying counties, was slower to urbanize than much of the D.C. area of northern Virginia. The Sterling Park project was one of several communities that boosted Loudoun's mass population growth in the 1960s.

When rumors of plans for an international airport in Loudoun County began to circulate in the late 1950s, land east of Sterling, Virginia became highly valuable. In addition to the airport, two major transportation routes (the W&OD railroad and Leesburg Pike) and potential sewer line extensions made ownership of the land even more desirable. The New York City banking firm Lehman Brothers was the first to buy a large quantity of the land. Developer Marvin T. Broyhill Sr. (1888-1966), however, decided the Lehman Brothers' land was too far from the sewer lines, and he began to make plans for a piece of land east of that of the Lehman Brothers. In 1961 Broyhill founded the Sterling Park Development Corporation, with Broyhill's son Marvin T. Broyhill Jr. (1918-1969) as president and his cousin Thomas J. Broyhill (1910-1995) as vice president. The corporation proceeded to buy 1,762.157 acres of land, which Broyhill hoped to use for a planned community, something that had not yet been introduced in Loudoun County. A planned community would require special zoning with lots of land for houses that were smaller than standard. Broyhill's construction firm M.T. Broyhill & Sons, Inc. planned to head the project, and U.S. Steel was to provide prefabricated houses with central air-conditioning. The community plan also included schools, churches, a shopping mall, a golf course, Little League fields, tennis courts, and a swimming pool.

M.T. Broyhill & Sons, Inc. presented a plan for the community to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors on 21 August 1961, but it was declined by a vote of four to two. On 22 April 1962, M.T. Broyhill & Sons, Inc. had a second hearing with the Board of Supervisors in which the corporation stated that it would proceed to build a community with regular zoning if it was refused the planned-community zoning. The corporation worked through additional problems with the board, agreeing among other things to pay $250 per house towards the building of schools. On 7 May 1962 the board voted in favor of the planned community, only to cancel the vote a few days later because M.T. Broyhill & Sons, Inc. had neglected to post notices in the Sterling area about the proposed planned community. The board voted a third time on 21 June 1962, however, this time in the affirmative. While most Loudouners and many of the board members disliked the idea of the planned community, the board eventually decided a planned community would better control growth in the county than an unplanned community.

The name "Sterling Park" was chosen for the community, but since a Sterling Park already existed elsewhere in Loudoun County, the Broyhill corporation had to alter the name. The community's technical name was "Broyhill's Addition to Sterling Park," although the original Sterling Park and the new one were not actually connected. The model homes were named for towns and estates in Loudoun County, such as the Leesburg, the Arcola, and the Hamilton. Although the plans for the entire community were not finalized until 18 October 1962, by 5 May 1962 sixty-six families had already put in deposits of $200 for the community, and the first ten homes were built by 21 July. By 23 February 1963, the first fifteen families had moved into the new homes. M.T. Broyhill & Sons, Inc. was bought out by U.S. Steel in 1964. Sterling Park has since continued to grow steadily in population, although the community itself has declined as a result of the competition brought by newer communities.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of documents relating to Sterling Park, the first planned community in Loudoun County. They include documents for the sale of a Sterling Park home and Sterling Park sales brochures. The documents of sale record the transfer of property from the Sterling Park Development Corporation to Herbert H. (1919-2003) and Regina K. Moede (1916-1980). They date from October 1966-January 1967 and consist of a sales agreement, a settlement statement, a deed of bargain and sale, a deed of trust, and a deed of release. The sales brochures are four in number, dating from December 1970-July 1971. Three are the brochures of sales representative William Boswell (1921-1994), and one is the brochure of sales manager James E. Bassett (1929-1996). Each brochure consists of one to two documents describing the prices, loans, down payments, etc. of each model home, a document of notes on Sterling Park that describes the community, a document describing and pricing available features of Sterling Park homes, and blueprints of four to ten different Sterling Park model homes.

Arrangement

Folder

Related Material

Sterling Park Shop-N-News (newspaper)

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None