Hammond wood historic district
A few days ago, Ryan and I had the opportunity to meet with Michael Cook of Cook Architecture (featured in this post). The day was just about perfect in that the weather was 75 degrees, in early March (!) and we had the opportunity to indulge our mid-century obsession. Michael was truly a delight to meet and learn from and he spent several hours walking us through two of his projects under construction in Hammond Wood. He was happy to answer every question we had and it was clear that Michael is a phenomenal architect with an eye for seamless design and creating homes for every day life. I was in architecture heaven!
The homes we toured are both in the Hammond Wood neighborhood in Silver Spring, Maryland. One of the houses is within the national historic district boundary and the other house is just outside of it. All homes within the historic district are built by Charles Goodman between 1949 and 1951 and nestled in forested, rolling hills, which is consistent with Goodman's other neighborhoods in the DMV.
Both of the homes that Michael is currently renovating are original Charles Goodman design but will undergo major renovation to align with Michael's vision while enhancing their mid-century features. Some of the features of the Hammond Wood subdivision that were carefully curated and selected by Charles Goodman and his developer partners, Paul Burman and Paul Hammond include sloping terrain, homes angled to the street, and glass walls that expose the resident to the outdoors at all times. These homes are carefully positioned to maximize privacy and filter light. It's easy to identify a Goodman home because of these features and the use of postwar materials. Goodman's vision for suburban planning in the post World War II era was to develop enclaves of natural beauty that incorporated European and American modern ideas and provide families an oasis from the city and suburban "monotony."
Source: Maryland.gov
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