Virginia Beach – One year after being forced from a Virginia Beach farm slated for development, Nathaniel and Beatrice Robinson are living comfortably in their new home, said their lawyer Kevin E. Martingayle.
Last summer, the Robinsons were in the middle of a battle over property and promises.
The couple, in their 70s, had lived in a four-room house on the Brock Farm off North Newtown Road in Virginia Beach, for more than 35 years.
After an upscale community was proposed for the farm, the Robinsons were told they would have to move. The couple refused, claiming that, before he died, farmer Edwin Brock had promised they could live, rent free, in the home for the rest of their lives.
The Brock family, however, said there was no such promise to the former workers and filed suit to force the couple out. Eventually, a deal was brokered between the Brock and Robinson families. The Brocks agreed to provide another house where the Robinsons could live out their lives, and the Robinsons agreed to
leave the farm. The Robinsons picked out a two-bedroom place in Norfolk, near Beatrice’s church and relatives.
On Aug. 20, 2004, volunteers from the local 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise packed up the Robinsons and moved them to Alexander Street, just off Norview Avenue .
It’s about the same size as their old home, but it has running water and air conditioning.
The Dragas Companies writes on their Web site that a large condominium development, called Ridgely Manor at Lake Smith , is coming to the former farm in late fall.
Martingayle said the Robinsons are doing well in their new place and enjoying their privacy once again. They declined an interview.
“I talked to Bea Robinson today,” Martingayle said last week. “She said she didn’t want any more attention. They just want to live out their life… They’re now comfortable living below the radar.”
Published: August 29, 2005
Section: Local, page B2
Source: TONY GERMANOTTA
© 2005- Landmark Communications Inc.
BY TONY GERMANOTTA THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT