Directly across from the Oakland Apartments was the Warren Clardy House - a wonderful piece of architecture set deep inside the forest with its tall trees, facing south on Columbia Pike.
This sedate tan and brown gingerbread house was just beautiful, and one day (I think it was 1970), many years after I moved to that area, I walked down the peaceful winding dirt driveway to that beautiful house, knocked on the door and presented the elderly lady with a pastel sketch that I had made of her house. "Oh, it looks just like it did when my husband had it built for me!" she said softly. I lived at 3814 Columbia Pike, and my 3rd floor bedroom window faced the Clardy House I took many photos of that house in all seasons, including winter when it was covered in snow. I loved that old house.
Mrs. Clardy' s garage held a big dark blue Packard - possibly a 1956 model - that could be seen through the garage door windows -- the dust that had settled on it showed it had not been used in ages, and the old-fashioned Kleenex box on the rear window shelf dating back to the 1950's, had a picture of Little Lulu on it. During the holidays, I would see a man and his children visiting the house, perhaps her son and her grandchildren.
Sad to say, some time around 1980, after I had moved out of Oakland, I went by that area on the #16 bus, looked into the forest to see the house once again, and saw it .. in pieces, on the floor of the forest. What a shock. Mrs. Clardy had died, and so had that beautiful old house. The whole forest was eventually bulldozed, every single tree. Today dozens of townhouses now fill that area with not so much as a plaque to commemorate what once was. <:-(
