October 8, 2017 Hollin Hills

Curbed: Hollin Hills is a Mid-Century Neighborhood ‘to Know’

The national real estate site Curbed highlights Hollin Hills as one of seven mid-century modern neighborhoods modern architecture fans should know about. Writer Patrick Sisson’s piece looks at seven suburban modernist developments that rose during the booming post-war years.

“After years of sacrifice and shortage, and buoyed by the purchasing power of newly returned GIs, America was in a buying mood,” Sisson writes. “This spirit of optimism, and the desire for modern design to complement a contemporary lifestyle, set the stage for the growth of midcentury modern suburbs and developments. These clusters of contemporary homes, built on the outskirts of newly booming suburbs and metro areas, show how developers across the country cashed in on homebuyers hungry for contemporary style.”

On Hollin Hills, he writes:  “The vision of Robert C. Davenport, a New Deal-era Department of Agriculture employee-turned-postwar Virginia builder, this tucked-away enclave offered a rare vision of modernism in the greater Beltway region, set just 10 miles from D.C. Davenport oversaw the transformation of a hilly, 326-acre plot of winding creeks and steep lots near Alexandria, Virginia, into a modern subdivision, with glass-enclosed homes designed by architect Charles Goodman and landscapes shaped in part by noted designer Dan Kiley, who focused on privacy and retaining the lush woodlands.”

The award-winning Fairfax County neighborhood has been long been recognized as one of the groundbreaking modernist suburban communities to be developed post-World War II. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the neighborhood just south of Old Town Alexandria includes nearly 450 mid-century modern homes.