It was owned by Alan I. Kay of the VA Commonwealth
Transportation Board during the early to mid 1990s.
http://tinyurl.com/5vf87
(Scroll halfway down the page to the yellow highlited
area or use ctrl-f for 700 chain)
Then it underwent renovations (assumably increasing
the value).
http://www.dmsas.com/searchprojects/projectname/index.cfm?CLID=113
During 1999 it was sold for $17,500,000!!!
http://www.wfpsir.com/overMil_1999.htm
(I can not tell whether the renovations were before or
after the sale, but given the stated 6800 sq ft. size,
I'm guessing that the renovation entailed a
significant enlargement from this figure and this was
done before this sale. But you have seen it in person
so may have a better idea.)
--- aletheiak <
aletheiak@...> wrote:
>
> adding to the bottom
>
> --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak"
> <aletheiak@y...>
> wrote:
> >
> > since mike
> > whose idea it originally was
> > had to postpone our dcmdvan try
> > i too put it off mentally & headed directly for
> the blue ridge
> > instead
> > especially as the dc urbopolis is so crazy anyway
> > as well as hardly autumnal at all yet
> > etc
> >
> > but a few wrong turns & traffic jams after heading
> out of
> frederick
> > toward mdvawv on saturday
> > & i found myself barreling willynilly down the
> freeway toward
> dcmdvan
> >
> > & i justified this change of course
> > not only because mike had said to go ahead without
> him
> > but especially because i knew more prep would be
> needed if our
> > eventual try was to be a real success
> >
> > & yikes
> > i didnt even have a gps receiver
> > which i expected would be essential if any real
> improvement was to
> > be made on the previous try
> >
> > so i knew this would be in all likelihood strictly
> exploratory
> > & not really a distinct try
> > but i barreled on
> > mindful not only of mike
> > but of the participation of lowell & arif & brian
> too
> > & of all the unsolved puzzles that still remained
> >
> >
> > first the rendezvous & no parking puzzle
> >
> > tho i had suggested to mike that we meet & try to
> park where the
> > potomac heritage trail emerges from fort marcy &
> crosses chain
> > bridge road
> > this was a complete bust
> > so it was lucky we never actually tried it
> >
> > for one thing
> > the trail is unsigned & so indifferently blazed in
> such various
> hues
> > of blue & green that i never even caught sight of
> it til much later
> >
> > & there is in fact no parking anywhere near there
> >
> >
> > then
> > i had to actually solve the parking puzzle for the
> first time
> > since you may recall jc had just waited for me in
> the car on the
> > arfa line with the engine running on my last try
> >
> >
> > what i learned is that there are really only 2
> possible legal
> places
> >
> > one is at glebe road & 41st
> > directly under the george washington pkwy overpass
> >
> > & there is closer parking at fort marcy
> > but it is accessible only via the parkway
> > which you have to drive all the way down to the
> key bridge to
> access
> >
> > & i used both of these areas at various times
> during my 24 hour try
> > which went more or less as follows
> >
> >
> > first a rude awakening
> >
> > the previous dangerous tresspass route that i
> followed circa 1997
> > past the rich houses along the arfa line & down
> the cliff was no
> > longer even an option
> >
> > these properties & practically all the others in
> the neighborhood
> > are now fully enclosed by iron gates & hi tech
> security etc
> >
> > so my first approach was from the chain bridge as
> mike suggested
> >
> > the view from the bridge is quite forbidding
> > & reminded me why i went straight down the cliff
> the first time
> >
> > a very rocky & sheer right bank upstream as far as
> the eye can see
> >
> > still i tried to descend right there but got only
> halfway down to
> > the river level before giving it up
> >
> > it might have been possible to inch our way the
> full half mile
> from
> > there up to dcmdvan with finger & toeholds but it
> wouldve taken at
> > least all day
> >
> >
> > this left only the downstream approach via the
> potomac heritage
> > trail northbound from fort marcy
> >
> > but the next rude awakening was that the trail
> doesnt just cross
> > chain bridge road & descend directly but
> > as i later learned in stages
> > it follows the road upstream for half a mile &
> then continues
> > another mile north wedged between crest lane & the
> parkway before
> > finally letting you down onto the river a good
> mile or more above
> > dcmdvan
> >
> > very rude
> >
> > so rather than just accepting such a fate
> unquestioningly
> > i next checked every possible loophole
> > examining every property line for a crevice
> > trying especially 44th street
> > which at first offered some false hope
> > & a path between someones hedge & someone elses
> fence
> > part of way
> > until you hit the nettle tree
> > etc
> > etc
> > all ends
> >
> >
> > so it was back to the potomac heritage trail in
> the morning
> > for the last best & only hope
> > short of kayaking the falls
> >
> >
> > but i see i am going to have to pause here
> > since my time is almost up at this computer
>
> ok mike &al
> i see i will have to make a still longer story even
> shorter now
> but basically
> after many circuitous wanderings & escapades
> including more than one spooky wrong turn into a
> parkway exit in
> nearby mclean for the george bush center for
> intelligence
> which fortunately was closed
> with turnabout permitted
> or i might have regretted badmouthing cia & usgs
> mapping all at once
> here i was on the morning after all the above
> afoot & making good headway at last on the potomac
> heritage trail
> headed in the wrong but only possible direction
>
> what joy when the river finally came into view & the
> trail descended
> to the now comparatively gentle bank
>
> but there was no trail from here downstream & only
> dense thickets
> below the cliff
>
> so i started picking my way thru this last country
> mile
> & immediately flushed a bambi
>
> toward dcmdvan
>
> which i took to be a good omen
>
> & whose tracks i was able to follow
> until i flushed it again with its doe very near the
> tripoint
>
> i had to make myself pretty small or contorted to
> get thru in places
> & went barefoot most of the way
> of necessity
> which was easier on the sand & mud than on the rocks
> & ers
> & i imagined not being able to keep up with you mike
> & finding brian waiting for us in a kayak at the
> tripoint
> wondering what took us so long
>
> but it was a long hard bushwhack past many rich
> houses
> first just to reach the dam
> & then to continue toward the bridge
> with many near impasses as it loomed larger
> before the particular rich houses we know & love
> came in view
>
> first governor robbs in fairfax
> then the well hidden one directly on the arfa line
> & finally the monster on the arlington side
>
>
> but again
> no marker wm1 anywhere in sight
> & this despite my much improved fix on the alignment
> & water line
> thanx to all the intervening research
>
> there is a big down tree just there tho
> which could be lying across the marker
> not to mention the great mess of rocks & ordinary
> veggies in which
> it could also be hiding
>
> a bit of good news is that the rocks closest to the
> river just there
> are tall & vertical
> so if we ever do find the marker we can just hang
> out over the edge
> there to claim to be directly above the low water
> mark
> regardless of how the low water mark is ever defined
>
> the river was quite low yesterday btw
> with 8 or 10 vertical feet of rock exposed below the
> veggie line in
> most places
>
>
> since i was exhausted on the return trip
> instead of retracing my steps all the way back to
> the trail
> i detoured up a flight of stone steps when only
> about a quarter of
> the way back there
> which led to perhaps the richest estate of all
>
> meaning there was almost certainly nobody home
>
> & tho i had to pick my way carefully anyway
> as i was carrying a pillowcase rather than a
> backpack
> & had to climb around one iron gate & force another
> ajar
> i did eventually emerge at the entrance to 700 chain
> bridge road
> happily just below the head of crest lane
>
> any idea who lives there lowell
>
> what a house & grounds
>
>
> so anyway the bottom line is
> i would like to try it again with the gps receivers
> so as to get it down to within 10 feet of the marker
> if the usgs map is right
> hahahaha
> & then
> assuming we are so lucky as to find the marker
> to get a true compass bearing from there to the
> tripoint
>
> & one side errand might be to check out markers wm2
> wm3 etc
> just to see what the series looks like & make wm1
> easier to spot
>
>
>
> so there is definitely somewhere left to go here
>
> practically virgin wilderness in the capital of the
> free world
>
> saw only 2 other people the whole way down & back
>
> kayakers
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com