Virginia

Modern Snapshot: St. John’s Lutheran Church in Alexandria

When my family and I were driving down to Florida in December, a closure of the ramp to 95 South off the Beltway took us on a little detour along Franconia Road where I quickly pulled over to take some shots of St. John’s Lutheran Church, which is located here. The church displays an interesting contrast between 1950s and late 1960s architecture. The original sanctuary to the right was built in 1959. The new sanctuary to the left was built in 1966 and has a more Brutalist feel when compared to the original’s more prominent use of stained glass and wood. Members of the church told me the soaring roof lines were designed to reflect the shape of Noah’s ark.

James Rossant, Reston Planner and Architect, Dies at 81

Architect James Rossant, who planned Reston and designed Lake Anne Village Center along with William Conklin, died Tuesday at the age of 81.

Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, in a 1965 front-page article in the New York Times, described Reston as “an attractive cross between an updated Georgetown and an Italian harbor town like Portofino.” Indeed, the village center was designed by Rossant, who studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, to emulate the Italian coastal town.

A condo in the 1966 high-rise on Lake Anne by Rossant and Conklin is for sale here.

Charles Goodman’s Oak Forest in Vienna

I finally found Oak Forest. It is the last of the nine Charles Goodman builder projects in the D.C. area that I had not yet seen or written about. I saw eight or so modest, one-level Goodmans with signature exterior brick fireplaces on Acorn Circle and Cedar Lane in Vienna, Va. A few other homes on Acorn may have been modified beyond recognition or replaced the original Goodmans. The one pictured above just went under contract. The 3 bedroom/1.5 bath home located here was listed at $385K. I would have taken more pictures but it was pouring. Next time.

Two Open Houses in Alexandria Area Sunday, August 2

Two open houses to note if you are out looking in the Alexandria area on Sunday:

This 1949 expanded Goodman in Hollin Hills I first posted here is open from 1 to 4 p.m.

This 1962 mid-century in Alexandria that I first posted here. This has dropped from $579K to $545K and is open from 1 to 3 p.m.

Lost: Charles Goodman’s 1957 Muriel Ferris House

When I first wrote about Charles Goodman’s 1957 Muriel Ferris House, I feared it would be torn down. A small MCM home on nearly 1.7 acres in an exclusive neighborhood in McLean. I can now report that the flat-roof house has been destroyed, as you can see from the picture above. I regret never going to take pictures before it was torn down. At the event with Robert Lautman the other night, I showed him the images of the rubble of the home he photographed more than 50 years ago. There is an image he took of the home in the Fall 1999 issue of Modernism magazine for those who have it.

Two 1978 Contemporaries in Fairfax County

Here are two contemporary homes on large pieces of land in Fairfax County. The both have HOA fees.
1978 4/3 – 729K – This Fairfax Station home sits on 5 acres and has a pool and horse barn. Listing has only one exterior image.
1978 3/1.5 – $599K – This funky three-level home sits on more than an acre in Clifton Ridge in Clifton.

Price Drop: Two Forestview Models in Truro

These listings are for two early 1970s Forestview models in the Miller & Smith-built Truro in Annandale. The bi-level, 4/3 homes feature cathedral wood ceilings in the open living/dining room area. This one is listed at $465K (originally listed at $500K), while this one is down more than $12,000 to just under $450K.

Redeveloping Reston

The Washignton Post ran an interesting piece on Saturday about the impact of planned redevelopment and construction of three Metro station in Reston, founded by developer Robert Simon in 1964 as the country’s first modern planned community.
“Reston –which famously pioneered the kind of walkable, environmentally friendly, mixed-use suburban neighborhood that is all the rage these days — is on the cusp of its own transformation,” writes Sandhya Somashekhar. “And some residents say they fear it could lose the delicate balance that made it a model.”
Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, in a 1965 front-page article in the New York Times, described Reston as “an attractive cross between an updated Georgetown and an Italian harbor town like Portofino.” Indeed, the village center was designed by James Rossant (who studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard University Graduate School of Design) to emulate the Italian coastal town. The village center (which has looked somewhat forlorn when I have been there) is slated to see new development, including more housing and stores.
The Post says that Simon, 94, supports change in Reston, but reports that “some residents say they fear that Lake Anne will be the first domino to fall in a chain reaction that would turn Reston into a traffic-clogged Manhattan. ‘We are not doing design that is in the character or quality of the original Reston,’ said John Lovaas, who has lived in Reston since 1975. He said he favors adding shops and residences to Lake Read More >

Two MCM Foreclosures in Holmes Run Acres

Here are two foreclosures in Holmes Run Acres in Falls Church.
1959 5/2.5 – $408K – Open today from 12 to 3 p.m.
1956 4/2 – 397K – This listing has no images.

MCM Townhomes in Reston by Goodman, Sauer

Townhomes by Charles Goodman in Hickory Cluster in Reston, Virginia

I came across an interesting article (scroll down a bit after you hit the link) from 1966 on the new phenomenon of suburban townhomes by then-Washington Post architecture critic Wolf Von Eckardt. In his article, Von Eckardt writes how developers repackaged the old row house concept of the cities into the modern townhomes of the suburbs. He hailed this move not only for the modern architecture, which he thought was more compelling than most suburban homes, but for their “green” attributes (he did not describe these as green, but that is essentially what he was saying 40 years before it was hip): townhouses minimize suburban sprawl by using less land, they take less resources to build, etc.
“When the row house became a town house, a number of creative, modern architects came to the rescue,” Von Eckhardt wrote. “They have contributed little to our suburban housing, partly because it doesn’t pay them and partly because the builders feel they can along without them. But for the town house the builders have sought professional help.” Von Eckardt highlighted the work of prominent architects in the new modern suburban town of Reston, including Charles Goodman, Chloethiel Woodard Smith and Louis Sauer, who was schooled at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology founded by Bauhaus master Lazlo Moholy-Nagy.
Below are a few homes for sale, one by Goodman and two by Sauer.
1965 2/1.5 Hickory Cluster Townhome by Charles Goodman – $239,999
1968 Read More >

Moran’s Modern Oasis

Now I don’t want to get political here, especially how this election looks to be shaping up. However, I thought you might be interested in this Connection article on Rep. Jim Moran’s Charles Goodman home in McLean—no matter what side of the aisle your are on. The house’s previous owner was Najeeb Halaby, father of Queen Noor, who was the fourth wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. Looks like the home, which sits on 2.5 acres on Chain Bridge Road overlooking the Potomac, could be on the market at some point. The story says Moran and his wife, LuAnn Bennett, are “considering a move to Old Town in Alexandria, where Bennett’s oldest son lives. Moran said he has always thought of Alexandria as ‘his home.’”

Two Hickory Cluster Goodman Townhomes

Here are listings for two Hickory Cluster Townhomes by Charles Goodman in Reston:
1965 3/1.5 – $339K – An end unit carriage home (see pictures below) on Maple Ridge Road.

3/1.5 – $310K – This is one is a FSBO and is open today (June 7) from 1 to 3 p.m. Not sure of the exact year.
Check out this picture of the Hickory Cluster townhomes being built in 1964.

1963 Flat-Roof ‘Phoenix’ MCM in Mantua

Here’s a listing for another flat-roof Phoenix model located in the Fairfax neighborhood of Mantua. The 6/3 home with clerestory windows sits on more than half an acre. This model was done by Phoenix Builders, not Ken Freeman, who designed many of the modern homes in Mantua.

Care-Free in Hollin Hills

“Our goal is to endow the home with a personality … delightful to be in, pleasant to live in, worthy of pleasure and pride in possession.”
–Charles M. Goodman, A.I.A, Alcoa Care-free Home brochure
When I recently wrote about this Charles Goodman Alcoa Care-free house in Minnesota, a reader rightly noted that there is one of the models in Hollin Hills. After the House and Garden Tour on Saturday, I swung by 7801 Elba Rd. to see how our local Care-free stacked up to the one up north. Unfortunately, from the look of the outside, the house (which is not for sale) cannot match the pristine condition of the one in Minnesota.

1961 Hollin Hills Goodman – 579K; Open 4/27

Here’s a listing for a 3/2 Goodman in located in Hollin Hills. Some of the paint colors and kitchen floor are a little too bold, but those are easy to fix. The house is open April 27 from 1 to 4 p.m.

Price Drops: Custom McLean Goodman, Lake Barcroft and Lake Normandy Estates

Here are some updates on three homes I previously featured:
Endangered McLean Goodman: The small custom 1957 Charles Goodman I posted last month that I fear could be torn down because its sits on 1.7 acres in McLean has dropped $100K. Again, the images in the listing mostly shows the land and no interior photos of the house.

Contemporary in Lake Normandy Estates; Open 4/6: This 1965 split-foyer contemporary with tons of glass has dropped more than $50K. It’s open today from 1 to 4 p.m. The 4/3 home is located in Potomac. The listing has plenty of images.
Flat-Roof Mid-Century in Lake Barcroft: I first posted this 1959 MCM in June 2007. The house (pictured below) is back on the market for $755K, or almost $100K less than the original listing price. The house is located here in Lake Bar croft in Falls Church.

Chloethiel Smith’s Coleson Cluster in Reston

I added a new link to the MCM Neighborhoods list. Designed by Reston founder Robert E. Simon and modernist architect Chloethiel Woodard Smith in the mid-1960s, Coleson Cluster consists of 47 two-, three- and four-bedroom flat-roofed, brick rowhouses with floor-to-ceiling windows on each level. Here’s a vintage image of a real estate agent showing a couple the homes in June 1966. I did not see any homes currently on the market in the neighborhood, which is located here.
Smith’s most recognized design in Reston is the Waterview Cluster of townhomes overlooking Lake Anne. Here’s a vintage brochure marketing the townhomes, built between 1962 and 1965.

Two Pine Spring Contemporaries

Here are two new listings in Pine Spring in Falls Chruch. The homes were designed by the local modernist all-star team team of Keyes, Smith, Satterlee and Lethbridge.

1952 4/2.5 – 629K – From the pictures, this looks one of the nicest homes I seen in the Falls Church neighborhood. Great wood ceilings, tons of glass and cool brick fireplace in the middle of the living room. The house is located here.
1952 3/2 – $549K – I like all the windows on the front of this one located here, just around the corner from the one above.

Price Drops on Hollin Hills Goodman Homes; One Open House Today

These three Charles Goodman-designed homes in Hollin Hills that I originally posted in September have all had their prices reduced.

1953 4/2 – $799k – This Goodman (top picture) has been expanded to fit in the with original design, according to the listing. The price has dropped from $825K. Here’s the address.

1968 4/3 – $799K – This one has a granite and stainless steel kitchen, if that’s your thing. Th eprice dropped from $825K. Located here. Open 12/2 from 1 to 4 p.m.

1956 4/2 – $669K – Looks like this one (second picture above) has the original blue kitchen cabinets and appliances. Dropped from $719K. Located here.

Hollin Hills Featured in Examiner

Today’s Examiner real estate section has a feature on Hollin Hills. Entitled “Not your father’s Virginia,” the piece does a good job describing the community by Charles Goodman and Robert Davenport. Author Katie Wilmeth curiously does not even mention the term mid-century modern and says the community is “so unique” that the homeowners are working to have the neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). No mention in the story that Goodman’s Rock Creek Woods, Hammond Woods in Silver Spring and five homes in Takoma Park are already listed on the NRHP.