Ashlin and Lloyd Smith, like many Charlottesvillians, are no strangers to the clash between developers and residents. The Smiths are also no strangers to “firsts”: Lloyd was among the earliest members of the Downtown Board of Architectural Review in the late 1960s and Ashlin was one of the founding members of Preservation Piedmont in 1993, as well as one of the first artists to settle into the McGuffey Art Center. It comes as no surprise then to find they were also instrumental in the preservation of Park Street during its nascent stages—and have remained so for the past 38 years.
When bulldozers arrived at the house (now known as 630 The Park Lane Apartments) next door to the Smiths in 1964, they knew that it was only the beginning of development on the quiet, historic Park Street they had grown to love. They also knew they had to do something, so they began buying adjacent houses themselves.
Long before the Smiths bought their 620 Park St. residence in 1961, the street had been zoned R3 (meaning it could support apartment complexes). Law offices, accountants and insurance companies were already spreading from Court Square north onto the line of Victorians and Queen Annes that completes the street today. While discussing the influx of commercial business with neighbors one day, the Smiths quickly found they weren’t the only concerned Park Street residents—Charles Webb, Lucious Bracey and Dick Howard were growing worried about the fate of their street, too.
The four families decided to pool their money and purchase the house at 621 Park St. The Smiths drew up closing papers with stern restrictions against subdividing it or turning the property into a multi-family residence. “We were never out to make a profit,” says Lloyd, “we just wanted to save our street.”
Raising small children, beginning to restore their own home and struggling with new careers (Lloyd started as a litigator at Tremblay and Smith in 1967), the Smiths and their neighbors continued to buy. They purchased three more residences, in fact, including the Frazier White house at 702 Park St. They even put up a fight with a senior center at one point, unwilling to take any more chances on so-called growth.
The Smiths and company then took their fight to City Hall armed with a handful of signed petitions. Finally, in 1991, the City permanently re-zoned Park Street (from Comyn Hall northward) to R-1A (residential, single-family units).
Ashlin, currently serving her second term as president of Preservation Piedmont, has, with her board members, spared the lives of many bridges, roads and homesites in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Nelson, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene and Louisa. She doesn’t strive to protect other people’s heritages only. She and Lloyd have spent the past 40 years refining their own 1894 home, too.
They’ve worked together for a long time as a team, but even as preservation partners they have differing views on the subject. Somewhat frustrated with his stint on the BAR, for instance, Lloyd says architects “are very glib.
“Perhaps even more glib than lawyers,” he adds.
“Ashlin and I sometimes disagree about preservation,” Lloyd says. “You do need extra places for people to live. Otherwise, we’d all still be living in tepees God knows where.”