by Knight Trainees

Big projects are underway in East Falls Church. Developers and local leaders want to make it a commercial and residential hub at the intersection of a major highway and the local commuter rail line.

Which sounds pretty much like what East Falls Church once was. Route 29 crossed the Washington & Old Dominion line. Shops and a movie theater sat across the street from the train station. Most everything was vaporized to make way for the I-66 trench. Railroad buffs rescued the station and moved it to the Shenandoah Valley.

Where the Westlee condominiums stand, local residents used to dump trash, industrial waste and the occasional Model T along the banks of Four Mile Run. An oil-tank farm was there in World War II, and most recently a used-car lot.

— Peter Overby

  • La Cote D'Or, a French county restaurant, has long occupied two old storefronts on the corner. Now a new condo looms across the street, and an even bigger building is going up right next door.
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    La Cote D'Or, a French county restaurant, has long occupied two old storefronts on the corner. Now a new condo looms across the street, and an even bigger building is going up right next door.
  • Someone decided the Westlee condo project needed a sculpture. Its meaning isn't exactly clear.
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    Someone decided the Westlee condo project needed a sculpture. Its meaning isn't exactly clear.
  • Tim Winslow delivers food to the Bear Rock Cafe, in the Westlee.
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    Tim Winslow delivers food to the Bear Rock Cafe, in the Westlee.
  • Axel McAhren checks out the cafe as he takes his morning constitutional. His father Scott provides logistical support.
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    Axel McAhren checks out the cafe as he takes his morning constitutional. His father Scott provides logistical support.
  • Jack Hughes pays the bill at Suburban Animal Hospital. Zeke admires the art.
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    Jack Hughes pays the bill at Suburban Animal Hospital. Zeke admires the art.

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