October 25, 2013/Hollin Hills House and Garden Tour, Hollin Hills Virginia /by Mid-Century Mike

Hollin Hills Named to National Register; 2014 Tour April May 3

Completing a decade-long process, Hollin Hillswas named to the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 30. The National Park Service announced the decision on Oct. 18.”Hollin Hills Historic District is a harmonious, well-designed Modern Movement neighborhood of innovative, moderately priced houses set within a natural landscape,” says the nominating submission, which includes 468 buildings, sites and structures as contributing resources. “The foundation of the neighborhood’s success was the collaborative interpretation of the traditional large-scale merchant building practices by developer/builder Robert C. Davenport and architect Charles M. Goodman.”

On Goodman’s designs, the nomination says: “A product of the Modern Movement, the buildings were created from standardized plans with prefabricated modular elements and window walls that unite the interior with the outdoors. One of the most identifiable facets of the houses is the contiguous series of floor-to-ceiling, 3-foot-wide window modules, which are free of traditional ornamentation. As architect Charles M. Goodman experimented with his house designs and trimless modular windows, the window areas were enlarged, often grouped to extend the full length of an elevation while carrying the weight of the roof.”The Virginia Department of Historic Resources had previously approved Hollin Hills as a Virginia landmark historic district. The award-winning Fairfax County neighborhood has been long been recognized as one of the ground-breaking modernist suburban communities to be developed post-World War II. Goodman’s Rock Creek Woods, Hammond Wood and five homes in Takoma Park are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Speaking of Hollin Hills, mark your calendars for the biennial Hollin Hills House & Garden Tour. The 2014 tour will take place rain or shine on Saturday, May 3, 2014.

October 17, 2013/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Exhibit Explores Driving Forces of LA Architecture

If you were not able to make it to Los Angeles earlier this year to see the variety of exhibits that made up Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A., the National Building Museum is bringing at least one of them to Washington. Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990 “traces the city’s transformation into an internationally recognized destination with its own design vocabulary, canonized landmarks [see the Stahl House above and below], and coveted way of life.” The exhibit, co-organized by the Getty Research Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum, explores five key subjects: car culture, urban networks, engines of innovation, community magnets and residential fabric. The exhibit opens Sunday, Oct. 20 and runs through March 10, 2014.

October 11, 2013/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: Vintage Photos of Rock Creek Woods

Today, Rock Creek Woods is known for its park-like setting and explosion of cherry blossoms in the spring. While architect Charles Goodman and the builders sought to keep the topography and trees when they were developing the neighborhood, the land was much more barren than it is now, some 50 years later.

As the original 1959 brochure for the neighborhood says: “The architect begins his concept with the beautiful, rolling, wooded terrain of Rock Creek Woods, and the homes have been designed to fit the rise and fall of the of the land, disturbing it as little as possible. All trees not actually in an excavation of street have been saved…the houses become part of the natural surrounding.”

Here are some vintage photos (circa 1960) of the Holland House, my current listing under contract, which is being sold by the original family.

Here’s a shot of the neighborhood when it was first being built. This view is looking northwest on Rickover Road.

Here’s a shot in the neighborhood from last spring when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

October 8, 2013/Marcel Breuer /by Mid-Century Mike

Breuer-Designed House Highlight of MoCo Modern Tour

I am posting a few photos for those of you who missed the Montgomery Modern Bus Tour this past Saturday. The tour was organized by the Montgomery County Planning Department’s Historic Preservation office in partnership with the American Institute of Architects Potomac Valley Chapter. As part of Docomomo’s Tour Day 2013, the tour focused on mid-century resources in Friendship Heights and the western side of Bethesda. You can view the excellent tour booklet with more information and pictures of the sites explored.

We started off at the GEICO headquarters in Friendship Heights. The 26-acre campus was designed by architect Victor Kling and first built in 1959. The taller office tower was added in 1964. GEICO has approved plans to demolish the whole complex and build new office space and housing, although there is no set date for such work to begin.

Love the huge saucer fountain out front.

The tour also included visits to two Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon neighborhoods: Potomac Overlook and Carderock Springs, one of Montgomery County’s four National Register of Historic Places-designated modern neighborhoods. In Carderock Springs, we saw three models, including one of the rare flat-roof Atrium homes pictured below, and toured the community club house.

Participants also toured the 1965 River Road Unitarian Church by Francis Donald Lethbridge and had lunch compliments of KONST, a kitchen and interior design firm based in Bethesda.

The highlight was a private tour of the 1958 Seymour Krieger House by Marcel Breuer, with landscaping by Dan Kiley. The house, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, has been owned since 1990 by architect John Katinas and his wife Katie, who were gracious hosts. John grew up across the street from the Krieger House in a home designed by Hal Esten, whose own house in Hammod Wood I listed a few years ago. The Esten House looks like it was strongly influenced by Breuer’s design for the Krieger House. Hal must have admired it as he was working on the Katinas House just across the street.

The original cane and birch screen that separates the dining room from the living room.

A very appropriate chair.

Month: October 2013