Side View (West)
Figure 7. Green Spring Farm, 1936. Photos by Delos Smith, HABS.
Figure 8. Berry Survey Map, 1941. Deed Book P-15, p. 147.
III. THE END OF THE FARMING ERA: MICHAEL STRAIGHT (1942-1969)
Fountain Beattie sold Green Spring Farm in 1917. Annie Hathaway Beattie had died the year before, after they had moved from the farm to a house in Alexandria.[71] Beattie’s deed to George R. Sims of Florida is dated January 23, 1917, and conveyed the entire tract of 339 acres.[72] Ownership changed again in 1922, 1924, and 1931,[73] and ultimately led to the subdivision of the tract into smaller parcels. In 1942, one of these parcels, containing the farmhouse and the principal related buildings, was purchased by Michael and Belinda Straight.[74]
The Straights did not occupy the main farmhouse immediately but set about having certain changes made in the interior design and structure. These were completed late in 1942, and the family moved from the cottage to the main house.[75] A few months later, in January 1943, their occupancy was interrupted as Michael Straight was called to service in the U.S. Army Air Force; and, during World War II, the house was occupied by tenants. The Straights returned to Northern Virginia in 1948 and took up residence at the farmhouse from that time until they moved to Georgetown in 1965.