Longtime Hillcrest Cluster Resident, Bill Lawson was recently featured in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Around Reston Magazine. This small community publication is easy to ignore as a quick throwaway in your mailbox, but does a fabulous job of highlighting the life and career as an architect, who helped shape the neighborhood that he still calls home. The article content is below, and can be found on the Around Reston website here: (https://issuu.com/kattoussaint/docs/around_reston_community_fall_winter_2019) on pages 46-47 of the issue.
From Around Reston: Written by Stacia Datskovska
I enter Bill Lawson’s townhouse just as his “100-pound puppy,” Murdock dashes out for a walk. Bill, retired architect and former basketball player, standing six foot ten inches to prove it, greets me with warm enthusiasm.
Bill lives in Hillcrest Cluster, and part of the cluster’s design can be credited to Bill himself. He was on the Reston Zoning and Planning Commission in the 60s. “I was in the school of architecture at Howard University studying urban planning,” Bill recalls of his early start in design, “and my course professor was active in the development of Columbia, Maryland.”
Columbia and Reston began their development at the same time adhering to similar planning concepts. Upon learning this, Bill was inspired to work in the architectural sector in Reston. To this day, he believes it is Reston that takes the prize in terms of livability and urban elements. “Being in the favorable Baltimore-Washington corridor, Columbia was a bigger commercial draw, and initially, it grew faster; however, I think Reston is greener and more residential-friendly,” Bill comments.
Bill uses the architect term, “garden city” when discussing Reston’s design concept. This phrase goes back to 1898 and revolves around the idea of a commercial town center, lots of greenbelts, and surrounding villages. The concept entails an accessible, family-friendly atmosphere, which Bill associates, in part, with road planning.
“Many of Reston’s roads are purposefully curved,” Bill infoems me, “to reduce traffic speed for safety. I think in some places that should have been thought through differently – those Wiehle Avenue ‘S’ curves near Lake Anne are something!”
In terms of the changes in Reston since the ’60s, Bill believes the main one is residential growth. Reston’s population goal was 75,000 at the start, with a limited commercial sector. However, with the Dulles Airport and the subsequent growth of the tech industry, commercial growth in Reston took off, which led to increased residential demand.
“Early Reston Town Center, states Bill, was one block, with a movie theater and the Hyatt hotel being the main attractions.” The Town Center has grown considerably since then. Bill believes it has room for improvement, especially the paid parking policy, which Bill argues is a root cause of the recent business turnover.
Wary as he might be about parking and roads, Bill savors every moment living in Reston. It was during his time as a contractor that he decided he wanted to move here with his wife from Washington, D.C. Bill felt strongly connected to the space.
“My family thought I was nuts!” Bill reminisces through enthusiastic laughter, ” I was active in the civil rights movement, and Virginia was considered a hostile and segregated place. There was white flight from the district. My parents were nervous.”
Though he also felt trepidation, Bill could look beyond that. “I could just see, in Reston’s design, that it was a utopia, a paradise. Indeed, we lived the ideal and constantly thought, “Why go anywhere else?”
Among the things that Bill considers “the ideal” is safety or the fact that you could keep your doors unlocked! Bill confesses that this was often a point of disagreement with his wife — his D.C. upbringing made him a little more cautious about ditching the lock.
Being his cluster’s designer and first resident, Bill is revered by his neighbors. He has lived through three generations of residents. Many ask him, “What’s behind this wall?” Bill admits he often has no clue, but can say for sure which walls are bearing walls, saving his neighbors a few remodeling disasters along the way.
Bill smiles brightly as he shares, “My daughter Leslye, Marketing Associate at Tall Oaks Assisted Living, and I now live together with her dog and cat. We lost my wife, Kay, eight years ago; since then, they’re the best thing that ever happened to me.
Bill reveals that he is Langston Hughes’ distant cousin. “My mother, Charlotte Hughes Lawson, was Langston’s first cousin, and she had a stack of his letters that he had written to her; they were very close.” Unfortunately, Bill has not located them yet, however, he treasures the connection (his daughter went to Langston Hughes Middle School).
Bill Lawson’s fulfilling career and family life have kept him grounded in a community that he was and is lucky to grow and evolve alongside. He continued his journey. Among Bill’s daily pleasures is sitting on his deck and watching the cardinals, chipmunks, and occasional opossum cohabitate gracefully. Another is spending time at Lake Anne, where his family has a founder’s brick. Bill hopes that Reston’s planning concept is preserved for years to come.
What is Bill’s advice to future generations of Restonians? “Don’t change Reston. Maintain the integrity of its original design and vast, open greenery for people to enjoy.” Looking at his loveable companion who has returned from his walk, he adds “…and where dogs can run freely!”
Stacia Datskovksa is a high school junior who is passionate about journalism, especially bringing awareness on happenings in the local area. She hopes to one day be a foreign correspondent, covering the world’s most pressing issues.
We at Hillcrest Cluster can confidently thank Stacia for highlighting one of our longest residents who represents our community so well.
