Charles Wagner-designed mid-century modern in Moyaone Reserve.

Demand for Mid-Century Modern Homes Strong

UrbanTurf writes about the continuing demand for mid-century modern homes in the Washington area despite Mad Men being off the air for the past five years.
“Mad Men concluded its television run in 2015 and it seemed like people’s infatuation with mid-century modern design went with it,” writes Nena Perry-Brown. “However, interest in the DC area’s mid-century housing market remains high.”
Read the full article here and explore some of the mid-century modern neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C. area.

Washingtonian Magazine Top Agent Recognition

I am honored to be recognized once again as a Washingtonian Magazine Top Agent. Thank you to all of my clients, family and friends who have supported Modern Capital for the past 14 years. Please reach out if you are thinking of buying or selling a mid-century modern home. Happy to meet and discuss today’s modern real estate market.

Furnishing a Mid-Century Modern Home: Inspiration & Sourcing

A guest post on sourcing mid-century modern furniture from our partner, ATTIC.
Nothing completes a beautiful mid-century home like furniture and decor drawn from the same aesthetic. The simple, sleek lines of MCM furniture pair up perfectly with the modern, open and airy feel that make mid-century homes the gems that they are. The following post provides some inspiration, whether you’re just starting or continuing to furnish your home. We’ll focus on two spaces: dining rooms and living rooms.

We’re also going to introduce you to ATTIC, a one-of-kind resource that will help you find the best mid-century furniture from stores of the DC and Baltimore regions. After all, who wants to buy a “forever” piece of furniture without ever seeing or touching it? ATTIC makes that process so much easier. ATTIC is now available in cities throughout the country, but is owned and operated by a small team based right here in Washington, D.C. Its mission is simple — to make it easier for consumers to shop from small, local businesses.

Dinner is Served, In Style
Whether it’s with family or friends, the importance of meal time transcends culture. As such, dining rooms and breakfast nooks are often visual focal points in modern homes. And with pieces like those pictured here, it’s no wonder why. Rectangular, round, “boat-shaped”…small, grand, or expandable…mid-century dining tables come in a vast array of options. Likewise, some of the most famous furniture designs in history are those for mid-century dining chairs.

Rosewood Dining Table
Read More >

Carderock Springs’ Situated Modernsim

Carderock Springs is a great example of mid century modern in Maryland. One of our area’s largest mid-century modern neighborhoods was highlighted in a recent Washington Post “Where We Live” column. The article features Carderock Spring’s situated modernism. “Unlike a lot of suburban neighborhoods in Montgomery, Carderock Springs is marked by ‘situated modernism,’ a style dating to the 1960s,” writes Harriet Edelson. “Houses were designed to blend with the natural landscape.” The National Register of Historic Places-designated neighborhood was developed by Edmund Bennett and designed by architect Francis Donald Lethbridge of the modernist firm Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon.

Carderock Springs Celebrates 50 Years

Congratulations to the residents of Carderock Springs. The mid-century modern neighborhood of celebrated its 50th anniversary this past Saturday night. The event was dubbed, “50 Years of Modern Living. A community celebrates!” Edmund J. Bennett, 92, the builder/developer of the Bethesda community, made a surprise visit from Arizona via video link on the community’s big screen TV. He was introduced by his son Bruce and welcomed by Phil Rider, the president of the Carderock Springs Citizens Association, which sponsored the event attended by 225 current and former residents. Bennett built the 275-home National Register of Historic Places-designated neighborhood and between 1962 and 1966. It was designed by local modernist architectural firm Keys, Lethbridge, and Condon. The evening included a slide show of the community’s early years, displays of memorabilia, a trivia contest and dancing until midnight. Here’s to another 50 years.

Post Highlight’s Carderock Springs Renovation

More mid-century modernism from the Washington Post. A nice piece here by Amanda Abrams about the renovation of one of the rare flat-roof atrium houses in Carderock Springs in Bethesda. “While almost all of Carderock’s houses have pitched roofs, developer [Edmund] Bennett took a chance in the mid-1960s and built seven flat-roofed homes, each clad in western red heartwood cedar siding and featuring a glassed-in atrium at its center, ” Abrams writes. “Distinctly more contemporary than anything else in the neighborhood, the houses were featured in House and Garden and Architectural Record magazines.” See slideshow here of the work done by owners David and Barbara Beers.
Speaking of the mid-1960s, remember to submit your photos for the Post’s ‘Mad Men’ Look contest.

New Bethesda/Chevy Chase Listings Open on Sunday

Original Nelson lamp and brick screen at the 1961 MCMin Charred Oak Estates I am holding open Sunday.
I’ll be holding my new listing, a 1961 vintage MCM in Charred Oak Estates in Bethesda, open from 1 to 4 p.m. If you are out looking at mid-century modern houses, stop by to see this award-winning, all-original 5/3 by Ernest Cook. Located here.

Here are a few other new listings in the Bethesda/Chevy Chase area that are also open: A 1966 contemporary in Glen Echo Heights ($697k), a 1966 Clubview model in Carderock Springs ($830K) and an award-winning 1968 contemporary in Chevy Chase by Hartman-Cox ($999K).

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Open Houses Galore in Carderock Springs Today

If you have been thinking about checking out Carderock Springs in Bethesda, now may be a good time to look. Here are eight houses for sale in the community; six of them are open today. Carderock, built by Edmund Bennett and designed by the MCM architecture team of Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon, was named earlier this year to the National Register of Historic Places.

These six are by Bennett and Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon.

1967 4/3 – $798K

1962 5/3 – $810K – Open 5/31

1966 5/3 – $839K- Open 5/31

1968 4/3 – $850K – Open 5/31

1969 4/2.5 – $849K – Open 5/31

Expanded 1964 5/3 – $995K

These two were developed later and we’re not done by Bennett.

1971 5/3 – $1.09 Million – Open 5/31

1971 5/3 – $855K- Open 5/31

Carderock Springs is Now Historic

Carderock Springs, the mid-century modern community in Bethesda built in the 1960s by pioneering developer Edmund Bennett and designed by Arthur Keyes, Francis Donald Lethbridge and David Condon, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in December after a four-year effort by residents and county officials. Charles Goodman’s Rock Creek Woods, Hammond Wood and five homes on Takoma Avenue are other the MCM communities in Montgomery County on the National Register. Read more about Carderock’s designation here.

Carderock’s Bid for the National Register of Historic Places

The Gazette takes a look at Carderock Spring’s effort launched fours years ago to be placed on the National Register of Historic places. “In the 1960s, Bethesda’s Carderock Springs neighborhood was lauded with national attention in the architecture world because of its contemporary design and incorporation of homes into the natural landscape,” Bradford Pearson writes. “It is now in the final stages of completing the approval process for being named to the National Parks Services’ Register of Historic Places.” The community was built by developer Edmund Bennett and the architectural team of Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon, AIA.
Pearson notes that “if approved, the neighborhood would join other county neighborhoods, including the Garrett Park and Kensington historic districts, on the historic register.” Correct, but he fails to mention the three other modern Montgomery County communities already on the register: Charles Goodman’s Rock Creek Woods, Hammond Wood and his five Takoma Avenue homes in Takoma Park.

Endangered: 1967 ‘Clubview’ in Carderock Springs; Auction June 10

This 1967 expanded Clubview model in Carderock Springs in Bethesda will be auctioned at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, at the property location. The home needs an estimated $150,000 to $200,000 worth of work, according to Realtor and community resident Mary Lou Shannon. She says neighbors are concerned that a developer will buy the house and tear it down. This Redfin listing says the suggested opening bid is $534K. This could be a good opportunity for an MCM fan to buy low in Carderock and redo the interior of the house exactly how you want.
There is one sad note about the house. Here is a link to a story about Brad Bishop, who was accused of killing his family in the home in 1976, as a few posters noted.

The Post Remembers Francis D. Lethbridge

Francis Donald Lethbridge, one of D.C. leading modernist architect during the 1950s and ’60s who helped design Cardeorck Springs, Holmes Run Acres, Pine Spring among other contemporary neighborhoods, died last week at the age of 87. The Washington Post ran a lenghty obituary today on the contributions to local architecture scene Lethbridge made during his career here in D.C.
Here’s a great quote from Lethbridge:
“The whole idea of contemporary design was so new in Washington that Nick [Satterlee] and I had to write the ads and the brochure to explain what we were trying to do,” Mr. Lethbridge said in 1974. “I guess we succeeded, because the printer of the brochure went out the next day after setting it and bought a house in Holmes Run.”