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The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 10-0 on July 14 to approve a 57-townhouse redevelopment of the historic Bowman House property at 1850 Old Reston Avenue in Reston.

The project, proposed by the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association with developer EYA, will replace a county-approved 2019 plan for a headquarters campus with two new office buildings. The 5.2-acre site is bounded by Old Reston Avenue, the Washington & Old Dominion Regional Trail and Stratford Park Place.

Land-use attorney Andrew Painter said the office plan was no longer workable as demand for office space had declined and the existing office buildings had reached the end of their useful life. “This office project is no longer feasible,” Painter said.

The approved redevelopment will set aside seven of the 57 townhouses as affordable housing. It also will include two parklets accessible to the general public.

The plan calls for preserving the circa-1899 A. Smith Bowman House, a nearby gazebo and a historic retaining wall. The house, also known as Sunset Hills, could retain its office use or be converted into a single-family residence or neighborhood clubhouse.

The property is one of three remaining sites from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the area formerly known as the town of Wiehle until 1901. Supervisor Walter Alcorn noted that another of the three surviving properties had recently been damaged in a storm.

“We’re down to just a couple of structures left from that era,” Alcorn said.

The Bowman House’s history predates the development of Reston. A. Smith Bowman purchased 4,000 acres of farmland in the late 1800s and eventually held more than 6,000 acres that developed into a major distillery operation after Prohibition ended. In the early 1960s, the Bowman family sold its holdings to Robert E. Simon, who used the land as the nucleus of Reston.

The area’s earlier history also includes Dr. Carl Wiehle’s effort to establish a community north of the Washington & Old Dominion rail line for health-conscious residents. The Virginia General Assembly granted Wiehle’s proposed community a town charter in 1889. Wiehle died at age 54 in 1901, ending the effort to establish the community that bore his name.

Before the supervisors’ vote, Fairfax County staff and the Fairfax County Planning Commission supported the townhouse proposal. A resident of the nearby Stratford Condominiums was the only speaker at the public hearing and raised concerns about the project’s scale and its effects on neighbors.

Alcorn said the development team and county staff had worked with the community to address areas of concern, citing “diligence in working through a number of issues.” He also said the proposal represented a better fit for the neighborhood.

“Ultimately, this is a much better site design and fits much better into the community and that part of Reston,” Alcorn said.

FFXnow reported the final county approval July 21.