hollin hills
I've mentioned Hollin Hills on the blog many times as it is one of our designated dream neighborhoods and where we have asked our realtor to spend significant time looking for potential homes for us. Because of its history and role in MCM architecture, this iconic neighborhood deserves a dedicated deep-dive post.
History
For me, Hollin Hills is rather magical because it is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Throughout most of the DC suburbs, one is greeted by landscaped subdivisions of colonial and split-level homes on flat land. But driving into Hollin Hills feels like being transported into a different past and in many ways, represents a unique period in American history. Some historians refer to these types of homes as the country's great housing experiment. Even architect, Charles Goodman described Hollin Hills as "an architectural laboratory." At the time that these developments were underway, suburbia was becoming the largest and most costly undertaking in world history.
Shortly after World War II ended, developer Robert Davenport began purchasing hilly, undeveloped land outside of Washington D.C. with no real plan and very little capital. He bought the Hollin Hills area in 1946 for $550 an acre (inflation is sad). Davenport brought in several investors and hired architect, Charles Goodman and landscape architect, Lou Barney Voigt to design the community. Their goal was to create the "future of American suburban life."
Within a few years, the first homes were built and the community began to gain national attention. Parents' Magazine named the design "Best Home for Family Living" and LIFE magazine named Hollin Hills homes as among the best eight homes under $15,00 (and I am still depressed by inflation). Charles Goodman was awarded "Architect of the Year" and Robert Davenport"Builder of the Year" by Southwest Research Institute.
Building continued in Hollin Hills through 1971 but by 1977, the neighborhood of 217 homes was designated a historic site. In 2013, the neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, which ensures that updates to the home are in line with the design and time period.
Architecture + Landscape
Davenport, Goodman, and Voigt shared a vision: a progressively unique design and a communal environment. Where as many developers avoided the sloping, rural land of northern Virginia, Davenport and Goodman favored it. Rather than force the land to comply with traditional building practices, Goodman designed the homes around the complexities of the hills. The houses are sited to the fall of the land, rather than the street. The roads also mirror to the land, following the contours of the hills, which is clear when driving down roads like Rebecca and Paul Spring. Thirty acres of low-lying land was also set aside for park space, which was integrated between homes to create privacy and preserve the forest. This focus on sustainability and communal benefit is something that is hard to find in most suburbs of the time period. Also different than most traditional homes, Goodman maximized the back side of the home, which often revealed two stories when the front of the home only revealed one.
Goodman developed several models of homes - Unit House 1, Unit House 2, etc. The dominant model was a 3-bedroom, 1-bath home priced at $14,800 (lol). A large, visually dominant fireplace served as an anchor in the home's great room. A dominant roofline and high ceilings provided the contemporary feel that is still so attractive today. Other home models provided larger kitchens or bigger windows on the backside of the home but all homes adhered to Goodman's modern and clean aesthetic.
A 1954 edition of House and Home magazine shares a snapshot of how unique this development was at the time, "The builder was daring indeed: for the amazing thing about this house is not only that it has such a well integrated plan and structure, or such a simple, expressive interior; it is just as amazing that Builder Robert Davenport let Architect Charles Goodman get away with a design that only 10 years ago might have been considered the most avant-garde house in the U.S."
In addition to the creativity of the homes are the carefully curated landscapes. Historians have referred to these landscapes as democratic because of the unified landscape unburdened by visual boundaries. As one will notice quickly, the presence of a fence is rare. The private and public space is blurred intentionally and this speaks to me during our current period of intense polarization. The goal of Barney Voigt was to tie the lots together in a way that mimicked the feeling of a beautiful park. Despite the lack of fencing, individual yards still feel private somehow with the overgrown shaded trees, meandering pathways, and positioning of the homes. The landscapes prove to be just as unique in design as the homes as the hilly topography meant that uniform design was not possible.
Something I expanded on in a recent research paper on homeownership is that today's housing system is built on profit with little incentive to expand access, affordability, or quality. Hollin Hills and the work of Davenport, Goodman, and Voigt illustrates a focused effort to provide attainable, quality homes to families that were designed specifically for their needs and lifestyle and I hope we can move toward that vision again.
I highly recommend an afternoon drive around the neighborhood. You may also want to mark your calendars for the house and garden tour on September 25, 2021. I could have written so much more in this post and may need to do another Hollin Hills deep dive on the current state but will stop here for now....
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