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Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form
1. Name of Property
historic other (indicate preferred name)
Inventory No. 33-29
Burnt Mills Hills
2. Location
street and number city, town county Burnt Mills, Gatewood, Harper, Hoyle, Jarboe, and McCeney Avenues and Edelblut Drive not for publication vicinity
Silver Spring Montgomery

(give names and mailing addresses of all owners)
3. Owner of Property
name street and number city, town
Multiple Ownership
telephone state zip code
4. Location of Legal Description

courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Montgomery County Courthouse city, town liber tax parcel multiple folio
multiple
Rockville
tax map JQ61
tax ID number
5. Primary Location of Additional Data

Contributing resource in National register District Contributing resource in Local Historic District Determined Eligible for the National register/Maryland register Determined Ineligible for the National register/Maryland register recorded by HABS/HAER Historic Structure report or research report at MHT Other:
6. Classification
Category
x district building(s) structure site object
Ownership
x public private both
Current Function
agriculture commerce/trade defense domestic education funerary government health care industry landscape recreation/culture religion social transportation work in progress unknown vacant/not in use other:
resource Count
Contributing 50 Noncontributing 7 buildings sites structures objects 7 Total
50
Number of Contributing resources previously listed in the Inventory 1
7. Description
Condition
x excellent good fair deteriorated ruins altered
Inventory No. 33-29
Prepare both a one paragraph summary and a comprehensive description of the resource and its various elements as it exists today.
SUMMARY Burnt Mills Hills is a planned residential development in the White Oak area of Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. Located in the southwest quadrant of the Columbia Pike (Colesville Road) and New Hampshire Avenue intersection, the subdivision is bounded generally by Lockwood Drive, New Hampshire Avenue, and Northwest Branch Park. Roberts E. Latimer and his R. E. Latimer Land Company started subdividing Burnt Mills Hills in 1934. The development was conceived as a community of country estates with company designed houses on large lots in a natural setting. Latimer preserved the natural topography of rolling hills and meandering streams and retained existing farm lanes in establishing a curvilinear street plan on a 125-acre tract, forming the majority of the Smith-Waters Farm. A central road encircles a high knoll on which is set the original farmhouse that faces the main Burnt Mills Avenue entrance. The period of significance is 1934 to 1968, extends from 1934, the year that Burnt Mills Hills lots were first platted, to 1968, the year of developer Roberts E. Latimers death, and is generally the same as the modern era as defined in the SHA Suburbanization Historic Context. Of the 57 houses in the subdivision, 51 (89%) were built by 1968. Company architects designed houses in revivalist house types featuring regional American architecture, with representatives from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New England, Virginia, and Tennessee. Others are patterned after French and English country houses. Houses built from in the last decade of the period of significance include custom designs of California-inspired house types, and a Levitt & Sons custom model house. One contributing house built before the period of significance is the c1858 Smith-Waters House, 700 McCeney Avenue, which was renovated by the Land Company and was the first Burnt Mills Hills house marketed for sale. The Ronald Senseman House, at 10718 Gatewood Avenue, was designed by locally prominent architect Ronald Senseman for his own residence. Built after the period of historic significance, it is a noncontributing resource in the historic district, but may merit designation as an individual resource. Houses were built with high-quality materials including brick and stone siding, slate roofs, copper gutters and downspouts, and plaster walls and ceilings. Garage doors face away from the street to preserve the domestic character of the houses. Built on pasture and fields, the land, punctuated with trees, featured open vistas through the surrounding farmland. Burnt Mills Hills, now heavily wooded, is a bucolic oasis in a densely developed suburban area. SITE DESCRIPTION Burnt Mills Hills is a planned residential development in the White Oak area of Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. Located in the southwest quadrant of the Columbia Pike (Colesville Road) and New Hampshire Avenue intersection, the subdivision is bounded generally by Lockwood Drive, New Hampshire Avenue, and Northwest Branch Park. Roberts Latimer platted Burnt Mills Hills in two sections. Blocks A through E, Plat 564, filed in 1935, included the circular road formed by Burnt Mills and McCeney Avenues, along with radiating streets of Harper, Gatewood, Jarboe, and Hoyle Avenues.1 In 1937, Latimer platted lots on Edelblut Drive (Blocks H and I), which leads from Harper Avenue to the Northwest Branch. Lots range in size from one to four acres. Several early homeowners bought more than one lot, using the extra land for gardens or horse pasture until the post-war era when most were sold for building lots. In 1946, Latimer replatted the west end of Edelblut Drive, leading to construction of a new wave of houses including ranch type houses.
Plat 564, filed in May 1935, had been surveyed in 1929. Two plats were filed earlier--505 (August 1934) and 535 (February 1935) for house lots comprising 700 McCeney Avenue and 823 Burnt Mills Avenue. Those house lots are in conformance with the 1929 plat.
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Name Burnt Mills Hills Continuation Sheet
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ARCHITECTURE Burnt Mills Hills was conceived as a community of country estates. The houses were designed in traditional architectural styles that communicated the esthetic appeal of rural retreats. Interiors featured modern conveniences. Basements were finished with plaster walls and tile floors to accommodate living spaces including recreation rooms and servants suites. Many opened onto grade level terraces as houses were often banked into hillsides. Houses are generally designed in revivalist styles, broadly described at the time as either a Farmhouse type or Colonial type, with subsets including Western Europe (English, Irish, French), and Eastern and Southern American (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Cape Cod, Virginian, Tennessee). As company architect John B. Nutter observed, houses were conceived as building types and not styles. Newspaper articles and advertisements for Burnt Mills Hills bear testimony to this concept. The houses were generally described by their place of origin and not by stylistic features. Houses are constructed with high quality materials including brick, stone, slate, and copper. Structural walls of cinderblock were faced with high-quality brick or stone. Roofs are shingled with slate, most of which are a dark blue variety. Gutters and downspouts are copper. The majority of houses were built with a two car garage with entrance doors facing away from the street. Interiors were finished with plaster walls. Most had finished basements with 4-inch concrete slab floors that were tiled. HOUSE TYPES Vernacular I-House The earliest house in Burnt Mills Hills is a vernacular farmhouse, 700 McCeney Avenue, built before Roberts Latimer acquired the property. (Figure 1.2) The original block of the three-bay, two-story house is one-room deep, a configuration that is the hallmark of the I-House form. According to tradition, the house dates from the 1850s. George and Elizabeth Smith established a 139-acre farm here in 1858, with approximately the same acreage upon which Burnt Mills Hills was platted. The George Smith House is shown in this approximate location on the Martenet and Bond map of 1865. Burnt Mills and McCeney Avenues encircle the knoll upon which the house perches. The house and its broad lawn are a focal point for the main entrance to the community on Burnt Mills Avenue. The frame house has stucco siding, likely dating from the 1935 renovation when Latimer offered the house for sale. The one-bay, two-story east side wing was also built by 1935. Windows are 6/6 sash. A porch extending across the main, north faade is covered with a standing seam metal roof that matches the main roof. In 1935, the house was advertised with seven large rooms, two large baths, and a breakfast room, with living room featuring random-width walnut floors and a paneled fireplace wall. The house was sold with a 3 acre lot that included a two-car garage. By the 1940s the property was known as Windy Hill and included a four-stall horse barn with paddock, chicken house, fruit and shade trees, flowering shrubs and gardens. (Figure 1.1) The house has a west side wing, built in 2002, and a rear addition. Behind the house, a one-story frame outbuilding of irregular shape is set on a stone foundation. The house and outbuildings have a high level of integrity English Types There were two types of houses in Burnt Mills Hills advertised as English types. One was a two-story variety called an English Country Housethe very first house type marketed in Burnt Mills Hills. Located at 710 Burnt Mills Avenue, the brick house bears the hallmarks of this English type house, being two stories tall with multi-gabled asymmetrical form,

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wall dormers, steeply pitched slate roof with narrow eaves, and shed-roof portico with heavy posts. (Figure 1.4) Its designer, Laurence P Johnston, was the first company architect engaged by the R.E. Latimer Land Company. Though the original design for the house called for metal casement windows, it was built with 8/8 and 6/6 sash which remain largely intact. The house design bears resemblance to English examples such as Lord Baltimores Hook House in Wiltshire, England, albeit on a more modest scale. With a list price of $14,500, the three-bedroom house featured a garage wing with cupola, with two-bedroom suite, laundry and breezeway access. The extant garage with cupola retains the character of the original, yet is re-oriented with garage bays facing the street instead of the side lotline. Painted white in accordance with the architects design, the house was nicknamed White Gables when the announcement was published of its August 1935 sale to an official of the Dept of Justice, Andrew Sharpe. (Figure 1.3) U.S. Congressman Albert H. Quie, (RMinnesota), next resided here, owning the house from 1964 to 1978. Though the attached garage has been enlarged and reoriented, the resource retains a high level of integrity. In 1937, John B. Nutter designed four two-story English Country type houses, at 1000 McCeney Avenue (Figure 2.27), 821 McCeney Avenue, 1000 McCeney Avenue, 10710 Gatewood Avenue, and 10615 Harper Avenue. The latter two werent built until 1939. Another type of English house was a 1-story side gable variety with dormer windows. The first example built was at 816 Burnt Mills Ave (Dillon & Abel architects, 1935). Though the main block bears resemblance to what is today more commonly known as a Cape Cod, this house type was built with a gable end extension that is integral to the original design. (Figures 1.5 and 1.6) More significantly the design features a distinctive chimney with sloped weatherings reminiscent of such English colonial examples as the Adam Thoroughgood House (1640), Princess Anne County, Virginia. The house was built with a 16 x 25 living room, that featured a large fireplace and paneled walls, a dining room, study, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and basement servants quarters. Built into a hillside, the back of the house had basement level access to the garage. By 1955, the 1 acre property was well landscaped with rose gardens, rock garden, flowering shrubs, and hemlock hedge. The first owner was Carl Albert, pilot captain for Central Airlines, listed in Whos Who in Aviation (1943). From 1947 to 1956, the house was owned by developer Samuel Blick. A second example, also designed by Dillon & Abel, located at 909 McCeney Avenue (Dillon & Abel, 1936), has a mirror floor plan from 816 Burnt Mills Avenue. Another house in this category is a custom house built in 1934 for General Charles Saltzman, at 823 Burnt Mills Avenue. (Figure 2.6) The five-bay house, with steeply pitched roof with two oversize dormers, has redwood siding originally stained dark brown, but painted white since 1950. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers, the house is said to be the best constructed house in the subdivision.2 Maryland Types The third house marketed by Latimers Land Company was advertised as a Maryland Colonial Farmhouse, later known as Northern Maryland Farmhouse. The residence, at 800 Burnt Mills Avenue, is a two bay structure featuring wall dormers and telescoping wing, and has stone siding on the front faade and brick siding elsewhere. (Figure 1.8) The main block has wall dormers centered over front entry door and side window, and an exterior gable end chimney. The architect of the house is likely Dillon & Abel, judging by the architects rendering and house design. (Figure 1.7) The plans, which appeared in a June 30, 1935 advertisement, are in the same script as Dillon & Abels design for 807 Burnt Mills Avenue. The front door opened into a square stair hall which led to a full-depth living room with paneled walls and fireplace flanked by doors accessing a flagstone porch, located on the gable end. A dining room tucked behind the stairhall led to the kitchen wing and garage. The upper level contained three bedrooms, with servants suite in the basement. The house
2
Deeds, plat. Interviews with John B. Nutter September 13, 2011; and Jane Davenport, October 14, 2011.

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was priced at $14,950 with one acre (Lot 4), and $16,000 for two acres (Lots 4 and 5). The original garage was converted to living space and a new compatible garage, constructed in 2011, is east of the telescope wing and accessed by the original circular driveway. Original windows in wall dormers are 8/2 wood sash. A bay window on the first level replaces the original double hung sash window. In the telescope wing, a larger bay window replaces two double hung sash windows. Both bay windows are covered with standing seam copper roofs. The front door and roof shingles are replacements for originals. Despite these alterations, the house has a high level of integrity. Another example of this house type is 10901 Jarboe Avenue (John B. Nutter architect, 1937). A similar house is 824 Burnt Mills Avenue (Dillon & Abel architects, 1937) which has a main block with three wall dormers and side wing with one wall dormer. Another type is the Maryland Tidewater characterized by its 1 story side gable roof that extends over a full width porch, with rear gambrel roof ell. The first house of this type, built at 807 Burnt Mills Avenue (Dillon & Abel architects, 1935), was patterned after Sotterley plantation, St. Marys County. (Figures 1.9 and 1.10) Set on a knoll accessed by a winding drive, the brick house features shaped exterior chimneys and a Chippendale style pergola leading to a copper roof gazebo. The front section has three gable dormers and the rear ell has two shed dormers. A Washington Post Model House, the residence was outfitted with reproduction colonial-era furniture for open house tours. The house was said to have a 10mile view through open land when it was first built. The front door opened into a 18 x 24 living room with straight run staircase, next to a 18 x 12 dining room. Interior detailing included paneled walls, period mantels and random width oak flooring. The rear wing accommodated the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom or library. The upper level had three bedrooms and two more baths, while basement had a recreation room with fireplace, servants suite, and two-car garage leading to the driveway. The house has slate shingles with snow dogs along the front eave. The front porch was originally embellished with Chippendale type trellising to match the pergola. Posts are now simple supports. The 6/6 windows and six-panel door appear to be original. The house, originally owned by Raymond Briggs, founder of Briggs & Co, meatpacking and ice cream firm, has a high level of integrity. A second Maryland Tidewater type house is located at 10714 Gatewood Avenue (John B. Nutter architect, 1937). Pennsylvania Types There were two Pennsylvania type houses built in the development. The first was a two story stone complex of which a sole example was constructed, being 901 McCeney Avenue (Laurence Johnston architect, 1935). The two-acre property contained the second house marketed for the R. E. Latimer Land Company, being a commodious two-story, five-bay, side gable house with attached front gable wing with quarters for two servants, and two-car garage. (Figures 1.11 and 1.12) The main block had nine rooms with three baths, and two porches leading from the living room and the dining room. The house features massive stone chimneys, a pedimented central doorway, and shutters that are paneled on the first level and louvered on the second. An original connecting stone wall runs from the servants wing to a tool house. A recent stone outbuilding that stands northwest of the servant wing is compatible in form and material. The property includes mature trees and landscaping. Not advertised for sale by the Latimer Land Company, the house, owned by Louise Scanlan, was undoubtedly built on contract. Its architect, Laurence Johnston, included the Louise Scanlan House among his notable works in his AIA Directory entry. The house was later home to architect Ronald Senseman, designer of Burnt Mills Hills houses who was also a Pennsylvania Farmhouse aficionado. The resource retains a high level of integrity.3
See subsequent section for more on Senseman and his publication on architect R. Brognard Okie, known for his authentic restorations of Pennsylvania farmhouse, as well as his own designs patterned after historic Pennsylvania houses.
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The second Pennsylvania house is 915 McCeney Avenue (1936), a 1 story, three bay house with side wing having a front porch. The architect is unknown but was possibly Dillon & Abel, the firm engaged as company architect for Latimer in this era. The interior featured a large full-depth living room opening to the front porch, dining room, four bedrooms, and basement play room and laundry. The driveway extends to the wings gable end leading to the integral basement garage. The house was sold in October 1936 to Bernard Ostmann, described in the sales notice as a well-known Washington lawyer. The house has a high level of integrity. French Types Flanking the entrance to Burnt Mills Hills are two cubical brick houses designed in the French style with steeply pitched hipped roofs. Both were designed by Dillon & Abel architects. The first was 701 McCeney Avenue, marketed in September 1935 as a French Colonial. The five-bay residence has a symmetrical design with pedimented front door, keystone window frames, and oversize central dormer. (Figures 1.13 and 1.14) Tall slender exterior chimneys flank the steeply pitched roof. Facing roughly north, the eight-room house had west side porch with large brick pillars (now enclosed), and a two car garage to the east. Designed with a center-hall plan, the house has an attic level which had a main room and two store rooms, while the basement accommodated a playroom and den with fireplace. The house has a high level of integrity. The original resident was Mustafa Jack Ebbess, a produce business entrepreneur, who also purchased three adjacent lots for a total of five acres surrounding the house. According to a period account, the family planned to keep sheep, a riding horse, and a pony within a fenced pasture on the tract, while a longtime neighbor recalls a chicken house on the property (Lot 4). Dillon & Abel designed a second French Colonial at 700 Burnt Mills Avenue, which sold in November 1936 to Charles Whitey Price. The house has pedimented front door, vaulted dormer windows with pilasters, a large polygonal bay on the west gable end, and replacement windows. A singular French-inspired house is the Norman, 800 Edelblut Drive, designed by John B. Nutter in 1937. The ell-shaped, 1 story brick house features a two-story entrance tower with conical-hipped roof. (Figures 1.15 and 1.16) John B. Nutter recalls that the design for this speculative house came out of his imagination. One of the largest houses in Burnt Mills Hills, the residence sold for $40,000 to Arch McDonald, popular radio sports announcer, the Voice of the Nats, who was known for his popular play by play broaD.C.asts of the Washington Nationals. The house has a high level of integrity. Dutch Colonial The hallmark of the Dutch Colonial is its gambrel roof. There are four examples in Burnt Mills Hills, all built in 1937. The first, at 10701 Harper Avenue, was a Washington Post model home, designed by Dillon & Abel in 1936 and constructed in 1937. (Figures 1.17 and 1.18) The house contained 11 rooms and three baths, a recreation room, and servants suite. The three bay residence has three shed roof dormers, flanking exterior end chimneys, and a one-story wing on each end. The house has a high level of integrity. The first owner was John N. Bradley, attorney for C&P Telephone Company. The property included land on Harper Avenue used for a horse pasture and stable, until it was sold for a house site in 1963 (10705 Harper Avenue). The other examples of this type are 10711 Gatewood Avenue (John B. Nutter, 1937), 10616 Harper Avenue (Dillon & Abel, 1937) and 10906 Jarboe Avenue (Dillon & Abel, 1937). Southern Colonial Types This category includes several one-of-a-kind house models. The Georgian, 900 McCeney Avenue (Dillon & Abel architects, 1937), was sited on a prominent two-acre knoll overlooking the convergence of McCeney, Harper, Gatewood

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and Burnt Mills Avenues. The stately 2 story house, with its broad, hipped roof and gambrel-roofed garage wing was called a reproduction of Westover, the typical Virginia homestead of the noted Byrd family, on the James River.4 (Figures 1.19 and 1.20) Like Westover, the Georgian has a steeply pitched hip roof, tall exterior chimneys, and gambrel roof wing with cutaway hyphen. The large residence had 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, a suite for two servants, and an attached garage with rear entry doors. Now known as The Arcadian, the house has paneled shutters on the first level, and louvered shutters on the second. The two-story pedimented portico has Doric columns and iron railing. Windows are 6/6 and 8/8. The broad slate roof is flanked by massive chimneys which each have two flues. The first owner was Edward J. Harding, successful construction executive whose projects included the Holland Tunnel and Norfolk Naval Base. The house has a high level of integrity. Another Southern Colonial, the Virginian, at 801 Edelblut Drive (John B. Nutter, 1937), has a cross gable roof, denticulated raking cornice with returns, and a broken pediment on the entry doorframe.5 (Figures 1.21 and 1.22) The spacious house became the residence of developer Roberts Latimer and his family when the house failed to sell in the economic downturn of 1938. The Tennessee Plantation House, at 818 McCeney Avenue (1937), was designed and built for Phil Poston, real estate agent for the re Latimer Land Company and exclusive agent for Burnt Mills Hills. (Figures 1.23 and 1.24) Poston, a Tennessee native, described the residence as an old Tennessee plantation home, with its large white columns, broad brick veranda, and cabin attached. Poston spent most of his days in the cabin wing where he had an office kept warm by a fire. He grew corn in the front lot.6 The house was completed by July 1937. In 1947, the house was advertised for sale for $17,500, as the owner was leaving the area. Poston retired and was living in Florida when he died in 1950. The house has a high level of integrity. A screen porch has been enclosed with banks of floor to ceiling multipane windows. Other Period Houses Two story colonial revival houses included a model known as the New Englander, at 808 Edelblut Drive (John B. Nutter architect, 1937). The main three-bay section has wall dormers with clapboard siding on the second floor and brick siding on the first. (Figures 1.23 and 1.24) A nonhistoric portico shelters the front entrance. A gambrel roof wing which originally housed the garage has been converted to living space and a new detached garage built nearby. A frame example at 1007 McCeney Avenue has Greek revival features in pedimented dormers and front portico and gable end cornice returns. The house was built 1936 (architect unknown, 1936). The first owner was T. Earl Cox, an official with B.F. Saul Real Estate. The brick house at 10910 Hoyle Avenue (architect unknown, 1936) has a front projecting ell and porch (now enclosed with casement windows), with one-story garage wing, and is covered with a standing seam metal roof. The house was sold in 1936 to James Cope, and was later home to NBC news commentator Morgan Beatty. A two-bay example is 1015 McCeney Avenue (architect unknown, 1943) and one with hipped roof is at 919 McCeney Avenue (architect unknown, 1939). The alterations to these houses are compatible and these houses have a high level of integrity. Additional period houses are one-and-a-half story examples. The brick house with stone trim at 801 McCeney Avenue (John B. Nutter architect, 1937) became John B. Nutters own residence. (Figure 1.25) Nutter designed this residence as a
Washington Post, May 23, 1937. The two story portico is not found at Westover. John B. Nutter recalled that he used the Georgian as a model for his Virginian in terms of its scale and floorplan. He gave his design a cross gable roof instead of the hipped roof of the Georgian. Interviews with John B. Nutter, September 13 and October 13, 2011. 6 Washington Post articles, including May 23, 1937. John B. Nutter was listed as the architect but the design was largely in place when he came to the project as the company architect. Interview, September 13, 2011. See later section for more on Phil Poston.
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speculative house, yet it became his own when Latimer offered it to him at low cost. Nutter had chosen a distinctive brick manufactured in Royalton Pennsylvania which acquires purple, pink and yellow tones when wet. In a revision to the original design, Nutter called for extra large windows in the basement level to bring in more light. With Mr Latimers permission, he selected the windows from another job site. Nutter chose stone trim to add interest around the main window and other openings. While other houses were built with a two-car garage, this one has two single car garages, one being under the master bedroom on the left side of the house, and the other under the rear porch. The house is one of the smaller houses built by the R.E. Latimer Land Company, measuring 35 feet wide. The large, round-arched window on the front faade lights a 13 x 20 living room which adjoins a 13x13 dining room. Another small period house is Dillon and Abels 811 McCeney Avenue, built early in 1937. Banked into a hillside, the stone house has a center chimney and telescope wing.7 Ranch Houses The ranch house has its origins in vernacular house forms of the Southwest built during Spanish and Mexican periods of occupation. California ranches and hacienda estates often included one-story structures with a rambling form built around a central courtyard. In the early 20th century, California architects and critics became interested in local folk housing and a revivalist trend was born, similar to the phenomenon occuring on the east coast, resulting in architect-designed houses based on historical models, built for wealthy clientele from about 1900 into the 1930s. In the 1940s, national publications brought the ranch house to popular attention. A 1945 national housing report included the recommendation that, A California-styled houselike the ranch typebuilt in a carefully planned neighborhood or community with all the essentials for good living is your best best for the post-war. Architect Cliff May of California published a series of plan books starting with Sunset Western Ranch Houses in 1946. Also influential were Frank Lloyd Wrights designs, including his Usonian houses which had one-story, horizontal forms with wide eaves and open floorplans and were integrated into the landscape. In recent years, ranch houses have been studied and accepted as building types in both scholarly works and popular press.8 Custom examples of the ranch house often have a complex roof form or plan to give a rambling appearance, with projecting front wings or receding side-gable blocks. The ranch house typically has a long main block with low-pitched side gable roof, asymmetrical window placement, and attached garage or carport. Speculative examples built for modest sums and reproduced en masse in subdivisions were often simple rectangular forms. Innovations included open floor plans, picture windows and garden patios that took the place of covered porches. Such features facilitated the concept of indoor-outdoor living popular in the post-war era.9
John B. Nutter interviews August 17 and September 13, 2011. John Nutter identified Dillon & Abel designed houses, see table. David L. Ames and Linda Flint McClelland. Historic Residential Suburbs: Guidelines for Evaluation and Documentation for the National Register of Historic Places, National Register Bulletin, 2002, p66. Patrick Sullivan et al, The Ranch House in Georgia: Guidelines for Evaluation, New South Associates, 2010; Katherine Salant, The Ranch, an Architectural Archetype Forged on the Frontier, The Washington Post, December 30, 2006. History of the ranch house in Montgomery County in Elizabeth Jo Lampl, Subdivisions and Architecture Planned and Designed by Charles M. Goodman Associates in Montgomery County, Maryland, National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form, 2004. 9 Rachel Carley, Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture, Henry Holt & Co, 1994, pp236-7. Virginia and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, Alfred A. Knopf, 1986, pp 479-80.
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Regional variants occurred as the house type was adopted outside the southwest. In Maryland, the ranch house is representative of the modern period, reaching its peak of popularity in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Locally, early examples were frequently described as California style ramblers, and often featured East Coast colonial revival detailing including cupolas and polygonal bay windows. The earliest incident known by this researcher of a ranch or rambler in the Washington metropolitan area is a January 1947 advertisment which promoted a custom brick and stone rambler on a oneacre lot in a restricted Annandale, Virginia community. In Burnt Mills Hills, there are 11 ranch type houses built between 1950 and 1966, plus one late example dating from 1984. The Maryland SHA Suburbanization Historic Context selected a Burnt Mills Hills house, 810 Burnt Mills Avenue, to illustrate the definition of the ranch house type.10 In Burnt Mills Hills there are two types of ranch houses: traditional and modern. Traditional ranches have detailing inspired by historical house types and styles. The earliest example of a traditional styled ranch is 10915 Jarboe Avenue (architect unknown, 1950), the home of builder John William Wrathall. (Figure 1.27) The house feature such traditional details as a cupola, copper-roof polygonal bay, and stone and brick facing. Wrathall was involved with the construction of the Rockville Civic Center and Paint Branch Unitarian Church. The ranch house at 810 Burnt Mills Avenue (1960) is a custom model house, the Country Clubber, from the Levitt & Sons Belair subdivision. (Figures 1.26 amd 1.27) James Lee, Levitts chief manager at Belair was the first owner. Other traditional styled ranches are 1018 McCeney (1950), built, and possibly designed, by John Crockett, for his own residence; and 708 Edeblut Drive (architect unknown, 1952), the residence of State Delegate J. Douglas Bradshaw. Modern ranches are notable for their lack of references to historical architectural styles, and may have wide eaves, asymmetrically placed windows, often with large panes, and a large central chimney. The Stewart Bainum house, 705 Edelblut Drive (Ronald Senseman, 1952) is a fine example. The Wrightian house at 911 McCeney, built c1966, features a large central chimney, recessed door opening and canted corner window. (Figure 1.28) Other examples are 10912 Jarboe Avenue (architect unknown, 1950) and 717 Edelblut Drive (architect unknown, 1962). Split Level and Split Foyer Houses This house type is composed of a two story structure intercepted at mid-level by a one story wing, forming a total of three levels. An arrangement of interior spaces, with bedrooms on upper level, kitchen and living area on a mid-level, and family or recreation rooms on a lower level, was intended to separate spaces by noise and activity level. The split level has a horizontal emphasis, like the ranch, and often features Colonial Revival inspired detailing such as shutters and ironwork railing.11 The earliest known split level houses in the Washington area were built in late 1953. The style was slower to take hold than in other parts of the East Coast. On Long Island, four times as many buyers preferred split levels to ranches in 1954. Two years later, in the Washington market, ranches were still more popular (43.3%) than split levels (34.3%).12 The split level house at 711 Edelblut Drive (architect unknown, 1962) has brick veneer and features traditional detailing including slate roof with cornice returns, polygonal bay window, shutters, and ocular gable vent. A related type is the split foyer, in
10
P.A.C. Spero and Co./KCI, Suburbanization Historic Context and Survey Methodology, Prepared for the I-495/I-95 Corridor Transportation Study for the Maryland State Highway Administration, 1999 (rev 2000), D-21, D-36. Evening Star, January 5, 1947; January 3, 1948 (Arcola Road rambler). 11 McAlester, p481. SHA Suburbanization Historic Context, D-21, D-37. 12 Lampl, E-61. House and Home survey, cited in Washington Post, May 16, 1954, R9. Christopher Martin cited in Lampl, E-101.

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which the entrance stair hall is located midway between the first and second stories. An example of a split foyer is at 717 McCeney Avenue (John B. Nutter architect, 1960). (Figure 1.29) The main section has a second story overhang, front one-story ell, and garage wing. In keeping with the tradition of the development, garage doors face to the side rather than facing front. The house has brick siding on the first level and vinyl siding on the second. Resource Built After 1968 The Ronald Senseman House, at 10718 Gatewood Avenue, was the home of prolific local architect Ronald Senseman, who designed it for his own use. The Shed Style house was built in 1981 (Figure 1.30). The Shed Style, popular from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, is characterized by an asymmetrical composition of shed roof planes and natural siding, often diagonal laid flush boards. The Senseman House has a full-width clerestory, characteristic of the style, which is created at the intersection of a rear shed roof that extends higher than the front shed. The house has stone siding and a side basement garage. Sensemans landscape plan for the property shows the nautilus shaped swimming pool that is located at the rear corner of the house. (Figure 2.28) This structure is a non-contributing resource in the historic district, since it was built after the period of significance. The Senseman House may be considered for designation as an individual site for significance on its own merits.13 Integrity As a whole the houses in Burnt Mills Hills retain a high level of integrity. This is clearly evident in comparing current views with historic views (see Figures). The most common alterations have been enclosures of porches, conversion of garages to living space, and window replacement. Most additions are located to the rear or expanded modestly to the side and are compatible with the historic building. One original house was lost when it was demolished and replaced by an oversize neo-revival house, at 912 McCeney Avenue, in 2009. These changes have generally not diminished the integrity of individual houses or Burnt Mills Hills as a district.
INVENTORY
Resources are considered as contributing or non-contributing based on their association with the criteria for designation on the Master Plan for Historic Preservation in Montgomery County and based upon the period of significance that extends from 1934, the year that Burnt Mills Hills lots were first platted, to 1968, the end of Roberts E. Latimers association with the development, and is generally the same as the modern era as defined in the SHA Suburbanization Historic Context. One contributing resource built before the period of significance is the c1858 Smith-Waters House that was renovated by the Land Company and was the first Burnt Mills Hills house marketed for sale. Resources built after 1968 are considered non-contributing. In addition, if a resource was built within the period of significance but no longer retains sufficient integrity due to alterations and/or additions, it has been deemed a non-contributing resource.
13
John Milnes Baker. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co, 1994, p146.

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MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures
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Figure1.1700McCeneyAvenue,WashingtonPost,August17,1947.
Figure1.2700McCeneyAvenue,May4,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.3710BurntMillsAvenue.WashingtonPost,June23,1935.(SeealsoFigure2.11)
Figure1.4710BurntMillsAvenue,July20,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.5816BurntMillsAvenue.WashingtonPost,July5,1936.
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Figure1.7800BurntMillsAvenue,WashingtonPost,June30,1935.
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Figure1.9807BurntMillsAvenue,WashingtonPost,Jun7,1936.
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Figure1.11901McCeneyAvenue,WashingtonPost,June16,1935.
Figure1.12901McCeneyAvenue,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.13701McCeneyAvenue,WashingtonPost,November17,1935.
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Figure1.15800EdelblutDrive,WashingtonPost,June20,1937.
Figure1.16800EdelblutDrive,July21,2011.
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Figure1.1710701HarperAvenue,WashingtonPost,September11,1937.
Figure1.1810701HarperAvenue,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.19900McCeneyAvenue,WashingtonPost,April18,1937
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Figure1.21801EdelblutDrive,WashingtonPost,January5,1939
Figure1.22801EdelblutAvenue,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.23818McCeneyAvenue,WashingtonPost,July18,1937.
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Figure1.23808EdelblutAvenue,WashingtonPost,May15,1938.
Figure1.24808EdelblutAvenue,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.2710915JarboeAvenue,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.26CountryClubbermodel,Belairbrochure.
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Figure1.28705EdelblutDrive,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.3010718GatewoodAvenue,July21,2011,MNCPPC.
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Figure1.31HistoricDistrictBoundaries
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WhiteOak
FDA(Naval OrdnanceLab)
BurntMills Hills BurntMills Knolls
Cresthaven School
Cresthaven
Figure1.32Vicinitymap,MontgomeryCountyPlanningDepartmentGIS,2011.
8. Significance
Period
1600-1699 1700-1799 x 1800-1899 x 1900-1999 2000-
Inventory No. 33-29 Check and justify below

economics education engineering entertainment/ recreation ethnic heritage exploration/ settlement health/medicine industry invention landscape architecture law literature maritime history military performing arts philosophy politics/government religion science social history transportation other:
Areas of Significance
agriculture archeology x architecture art commerce communications x community planning conservation
Specific dates 1858; 1929; 1934-1966 Construction dates Evaluation for: National register
Architect/Builder Roberts E. Latimer; Laurence Johnston;
Dillon & Abel; John B. Nutter; Ronald Senseman c1858; 1934-1966
Maryland register
not evaluated
Prepare a one-paragraph summary statement of significance addressing applicable criteria, followed by a narrative discussion of the history of the resource and its context. (For compliance projects, complete evaluation on a DOE Form see manual.)
SUMMARY Burnt Mills Hills is a residential subdivision characterized by large lots with farmhouse and estate type houses in a natural setting, and is highly representative of a planned suburban development of the modern period (1930-1960), as defined in the SHA Suburbanization Historic Context. Starting in 1934, Roberts E. Latimer and his R. E. Latimer Land Company platted a large lot subdivision, marketed as a community of country estates. Latimer purchased a farm of rolling hills and streams along the banks of the Northwest Branch, preserved the 19th century farmhouse and existing farm lanes, and platted lots and roads that retained the natural topography. Latimer engaged company architects to design custom houses suitable for a country setting, including regional farmhouse types and colonial reproductions. Houses were sited to take advantage of natural features, often banked into hillsides, and built of durable materials. Traditional in exterior design, the houses featured modern conveniences including open floorplans, recreation rooms, and modern kitchens, and garages that are built in or attached. Residents included a Whos Who of elected and government officials, high-level military officers, news and sports commentators, a Fortune 500 company executive, and builders and architects active in the region. Lots were between 1 and 4 acres, and several early residents purchased more than one lot. In this rural setting, residents boarded horses, kept chickens, and tended vegetable and flower gardens. Originally located in a farming region, the residential development was accessible by car to the Silver Spring shopping district and jobs in Washington, D.C. Latimer continued to be involved in resubdivisions and real estate transactions into the 1960s. The period of significance, 1934 to 1968, extends from the year of Latimers first plat to the year of his death. HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT In 1929, Roberts E. Latimer obtained a 125-acre farm fronting on Colesville Road and the Northwest Branch, located within 10 miles of Washington D.C., and 3 miles outside of Silver Springs shopping district. The farm had been established by George and Elizabeth Smith in 1858. The ell-shaped land was conveniently located with frontage on the Colesville Turnpike as well as the Northwest Branch, near a mill. Following the death of her husband, George, Elizabeth Smith conveyed the farm to Richard Waters, in 1882. (Figures 2.1 and 2.2) The Waters family owned the property until 1922. Developer Roberts Latimer acquired the property in 1929 from the McCeney family, including the Smith-Waters

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farmhouse.14 The same year, Latimer engaged his brother, P. A. Latimer, a civil engineer, to conduct a survey of the property. With the stock market crash and subsequent depression, it was a few years before the land was subdivided.15 Burnt Mills Hills was subdivided in two main plats, dated 1935 and 1937. The first plat centered a radial street plan around a central knoll, incorporating farm roads already in place, being parts of McCeney Avenue and Harper Avenue. (Figure 2.3) McCeney Avenue follows the alignment of a farm lane that appears on a 1917 topographic map. Latimer arranged the subdivision so that the original Smith-Waters House perched on a knoll is a focal point for the main entrance. Rather than demolish the farmhouse, Latimer used the structure as a centerpiece for his development. Burnt Mills Avenue and McCeney Avenue encircle the central knoll and radiating side streets are connected with triangular pocket parks. Latimer platted the remainder of the land in March 1937, creating Edelblut Drive, a long street connecting the center circle with Northwest Branch. (Figure 2.4) The roads, finished in Tarvia bluestone, were laid out along valleys and streams to preserve house sites on high ground.16 Two houses predate the 1935 platting of Burnt Mills Hills: the 19th century Smith-Waters House, 700 McCeney Avenue, and the Saltzman House, 823 Burnt Mills Avenue (1934). In September 1934, Latimer created a single lot which he sold to Charles McK. Saltzman. The plat established Burnt Mills Avenue with a 50 foot right of way and the single lot. (Figure 2.5) retired from the U.S. Army, Major General Saltzman had been Chief of the Signal Corps from 1924 to 1928. Saltzmans house at 823 Burnt Mills Avenue was built by the Chief of Army Engineers, according to long-time resident John B. Nutter. Banked into a hilltop, the house overlooks a vale and winding stream, all located on a spacious four-acre lot.17 (Figure 2.6) A second plat, filed in February 1935, established a lot for the Smith-Waters House. (Figure 2.7)18 According to tradition, the vernacular house dates from the 1850s, a date which corresponds to the establishment of a farm by George and Elizabeth Smith. Their house is shown in this approximate location on the Martenet and Bond map of 1865.19 (Figure 2.8) By April 1935, Latimer had renovated the Smith-Waters House, 700 McCeney Avenue. The house on a 3 acre lot was sold four days after its first showing. (Figures 1.1, 1.2, 2.9)20 A real estate entrepreneur, Roberts E. Latimer owned a development and excavation company, the R. E. Latimer Company, which employed laborers, drivers, steam roller operators, and realtors. At its height, the company had 100
George and Elizabeth Smiths farm was 139 acres. The signed 1929 plat was filed in 1935 as plat 564. 16 Washington Post, September 20, 1936. 17 Plat 505, September 4, 1935. 18 Plat 535, February 27, 1935, shows the location of the Saltzman House and Smith-Waters House. The plat also dedicated McCeney Avenue, Harper Avenue, and Gatewood Avenue, as well as 3 lots for early houses at 710 and 800 Burnt Mills Avenue and 701 McCeney Avenue. 19 The house, 700 McCeney Avenue, is the subject of MIHP Form 33/11, which incorrectly identifies its original owners (Catherine Crawford, 1983). McCeney sisters Louisa and Augusta confirmed that the McCeney family acquired the house from the Waters family. Source: Malone and Young, Burnt Mills Hills, paper from Richard Dame. Architect John B. Nutter, an original Burnt Mills Hills resident, related the tradition that the house dates from the 1850s. State tax assessment records (SDAT) list the construction date as 1856. 20 Washington Post, April 14, 1935; May 5, 1935.
15 14

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employees and 75 teams of horses. (Figure 2.10) To design and market Burnt Mills Hills, Latimer assembled a team of experts, including architects, interior decorators, and an exclusive realtor.21 He hired architect Laurence Johnston, experienced in designing commodious houses in Washington, D.C.s Woodley Park and Chevy Chase neighborhoods. Johnston had risen to local recognition with his 1933 design for the M-NCPPC headquarters building in downtown Silver Spring. Latimer also engaged realtor Philander D. Poston, president of the Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, to promote the community. Latimers vision for Burnt Mills Hills was a country homes community with houses of authentic colonial and regional farmhouse types located on one- to four-acre lots in a natural setting. The large lots enabled residents to pursue such rural activities as owning a horse, and tending a vegetable garden. Nearby were bridle trails, a riding academy, and two golf courses. The expectation was to build the subdivision out with 50 houses within two years. While this ambitious pace was not realized, the Land Company was able to sell 31 houses by the close of 1937. The 50 house mark was met in 1967, the year before Latimers death. 22 Latimers nomenclature for the community and its streets were steeped in tradition, being derived from local history, longtime and new residents, and his own family. Burnt Mills was a name given to the place near the intersection of Northwest Branch and Colesville Road going back to the 18th century when a mill had burned down. McCeney was the name of the family who sold him the land and who owned several farms in the area. Harper Avenue was part of an existing farm lane that led to the Harper farm, still operating when the first Burnt Mills Hills residents arrived. Jarboe was Latimers wifes maiden name. Edelblut was named for the family who lived at the entrance of the eponymous road he platted in 1937. The naturalistic plan for Burnt Mills Hills was in widespread use by the early 1930s. It follows a model used locally by W.C. and A.N. Miller from 1923, especially in their Spring Valley development, which has an organic street pattern following the natural topography, rather than a grid pattern. In contrast with other subdivisions, Latimer created large lots and promoted a country estate district. Nationally, the average size lot in automobile suburbs in the interwar period was about 5,000 sq. ft. (just over one tenth of an acre).23 House lots in Burnt Mills Hills were one to four acres. The concept of a country estates district was promoted as an innovation in suburban living. Heretofore, around Washington, a family must live in an apartment, rowhouse, a house on a small subdivision lot, or buy a farm or country estate. There existed nothing in between the subdivision house and the farm. Now, however, at Burnt Mills Hills, one may have a well-designed and arranged farmhouse type of home on one to five acres.24 Indeed there were earlier developers who platted large lot subdivisions, but local examples were sparsely populated, such as Cissels development in Long Branch, and did not include architectural restrictions. A promotional article encouraged
21
Display houses were completely furnished with antiques and reproductions provided by Hutchison, draperies by Ligon and rugs by Manoukian. 22 Washington Post, August 11, 1935, September 13, 1936. 23 Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1985, p185. 24 Washington Post, July 28, 1935; November 3, 1935.

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other developers to follow suit, speculating that the Burnt Mills Hills country estate plan was well worthy of emulation on a broader scale in other outlying sections of nearby Maryland and Virginia.25 A large lot development that followed on the heels of Burnt Mills Hills was E. Brooke Lees Springbrook Estates, platted 1940. Latimer directed his company architect to design Burnt Mills Hills houses either on speculation or by contract. Advertisements extolled the rolling landscape and flowing streams, and used a picturesque font for the Burnt Mills Hills lettering that evoked hills and valleys. The first speculative house marketed for sale was Laurence P. Johnstons multigabled, brick house at 710 Burnt Mills Avenue, advertised in May 1935 as an English Farm House. (Figure 2.11) The three-bedroom house on two acres sold for $14,500 in 1935. A contract house built about the same time was the stone Pennsylvania Farmhouse, at 901 McCeney Avenue, that Johnston designed for Louise Scanlan. According to a promotional piece, the architect expressed in this house his conception of the beautiful but simple architecture found in the older areas of Pennsylvania. The house incorporated ledge stone on the front facade with white-washed brick and broad white clapboards on the ends and rear. (Figures 1.11 and 1.12) Johnston was obviously proud of this design, as he included the house in his list of life works in the AIA Directory. The house would later be inhabited by architect Ronald Senseman, an ardent admirer of vernacular Pennsylvania architecture.26 The Land Company designed and constructed houses, completed landscaping, and built driveways. Preserving the natural landscape, houses were banked into hillsides and located on elevated sites to take advantage of vistas in the open landscape. The first wave of houses contained between six and nine rooms, with two to four baths, priced between $12,500 and $25,000. A few larger houses were built, notably the Norman, which sold for $40,000. While traditional in style, the houses featured modern conveniences including two-car garages, either built-in or attached, Electric Health Home kitchens with the latest appliances, and Electol oil burners. Most were designed with a bed and bath suite for livein domestic help, often located in the basement or over the garage. Some featured specialty rooms such as a library or had an extra large servant suite. The first house advertised with a basement recreation room was 701 McCeney Avenue. The space was described in September 1935 as a very large playroom and den. The space was outfitted with colored tile flooring and paneled walls. Other basement rec rooms had flagstone flooring and featured soundproofing.27 By June 1935, Dillon & Abel were engaged by the Land Company. The architecture firm, established in 1932, worked with Roberts Latimer in his Rock Creek Hills development on upper 16th Street NW. Eleven houses in Burnt Mills Hills have been attributed to Dillon & Abel. Dillon & Abel designed 807 Burnt Mills Avenue, a Washington Post model home, in 1935. (Figure 2.12) Seven houses were completed or underway in Burnt Mills Hills within the first five months, selling for between $12,500 and $25,000. The first houses were centrally located on Burnt Mills Avenue and McCeney Avenue. (Figure 2.13) 28
25 26
Washington Post, April 11, 1937. Washington Post, May 5, 1935; June 16, 1935. George S. Koyl, American Architects Directory, 1956, Laurence Johnston entry. The Smith-Waters House was marketed in late May as a striking example of Marylands early farm architecture, a term that sounds like it comes from Johnston, given his interest in regional architecture. An earlier ad had called the house an old Maryland colonial home, which sounds like it came from Postons pen. See Ronald Senseman biographical sketch below. 27 Numerous Washington Post articles, including September 8, 1935; March 29, 1936; April 26, 1936; October 4, 1936. 28 American Institute of Architects, membership application for Joseph H. Abel, AIA Archives. John B. Nutter interview.

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In the 1936 construction season, Latimer completed six more houses, though he had fallen short of the 15 houses he had optimistically predicted building. The Land Company celebrated its accomplishment in the first year by taking out a full page Washington Post ad illustrated with houses bought and sold. (Figure 2.14) By the 1936 construction season, houses were approved for Federal Housing Administration mortgages, a process requiring inspection to meet FHA standards. In January 1937, John B. Nutter became the sole company architect. Like Dillon and Abel, Nutter received his architectural training at George Washington University. Nutter was working for the Woodridge realty Company when Latimer approached him about designing houses at Burnt Mills Hills. Tired of designing small houses on tiny lots, Nutter jumped at the chance to design larger scale houses without lot limitations. He was familiar with Dillon & Abels single family house designs, which served as a model for some of his own work. Nutter designed 14 houses in Burnt Mills Hills, from the modest house that would become his own residence, at 801 McCeney Avenue, to the spacious Norman Castle, at 800 Edeblut Avenue. (Figure 2.15)29 The majority of houses had brick siding, while others have stone siding, and to a lesser extent wood siding. Most of the brick houses were sold with natural brick finish. An exception was Laurence Johnstons English country home at 710 Burnt Mills Avenue. His rendering shows the house with white walls in May 1935. Indeed the nickname for the house, by the time it sold in August 1935, was White Gables. (Figures 2.11 and 1.3) When some houses originally marketed with natural brick siding languished on the market, Latimer ordered them to be painted, in hopes of increasing marketability. This practice dismayed architect John B. Nutter who recalls carefully selecting brick for its particular finish only to have it covered with paint. His house at 10901 Jarboe Avenue was advertised in May 1937 with natural brick walls. By that August, the house had been painted white.30 Less common were houses with stone siding. Houses described as Pennsylvania type houses, at 901 McCeney Avenue (Laurence Johnston architect, 1935) and 800 Burnt Mills Avenue (Dillon & Abel attributed, 1935) both have stone siding. Other houses have stone trim, including John B. Nutters house at 801 McCeney Avenue (John B. Nutter architect, 1937). Sales lagged late in 1937, forcing Latimer to let his company architect go. In September, with several houses unsold, Latimer had to tell John B. Nutter that he had no need for his services in the foreseeable future. By December 1937, there were 29 houses complete and 15 undeveloped lots. Latimer expected the remaining lots would be built out in the following year. No new houses were built in 1938. In November, there were still 29 houses, with two of them yet unsold. Some of the larger houses, including the Norman and the Virginian, were the most challenging to sell. The Virginian, at 801 Edelblut Drive, had six bedrooms, four baths, a club room, and featured 10-foot ceilings.31 Undaunted Latimer still had plans early in 1939 to build twelve more houses in Burnt Mills Hills. As it turned out, he built only three houses that year. Late in 1939, Latimer advertised undeveloped lots for sale for the first time, under the slogan, Buy new and build later. Latimers last big sales campaign in Burnt Mills Hills was in 1940, for a Southern Maryland Colonial at 10714 Gatewood Avenue, a house designed by John B. Nutter three years earlier. He updated his advertisements with a modern font updating the picturesque type he had used in marketing since 1935. The house was a
29 30
John B. Nutter recalls being a couple years behind Joe Abel at GWU. Nutter interview July 30, 2011. D.C. Building Permits. Washington Post advertisements May 23, 1937 and August 8, 1937. 31 Washington Post, December 5, 1937.

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Washington Post Display Home in March 1940. Listed at $19,950, the residence was purchased by Charles E. Fletcher in a sale announced in May 1941.32 Latimer continued to be involved in development and real estate transactions in Burnt Mills Hills through his later years. In 1946, Latimer resubdivided Edelblut Drive (Figure 2.17). Up to this point there were no houses in the 700 block of the street. The furthest west that houses had been built were at 800 Edelblut Drive (the Norman), and 801 Edelblut (the Virginian).33 After Latimers revised 1946 plat for the 700 block, houses were built at 716 (1949), 708 (1952), and 705 (1952) Edelblut Drive. In the 1960s, neighboring houses were built at 717 (1962) and 711 (1965) Edelblut Drive. The last lot developed on Edelblut Drive was 712, built about 1981 for Robert Bainum. Land at the end of the Edelblut Drive culde-sac became part of M-NCPPCs Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park. Representative of this wave of houses is 708 Edeblut Drive, the residence of State Delegate J. Douglas Bradshaw. The R. E. Latimer Land Company conveyed land to Bradshaw in 1952. The same year, he built his traditional styled ranch house 708 Edelblut Drive.34 Burnt Mills Hills houses were originally serviced by well water and septic systems. Resident John B. Nutter recalls that the wells were known to run dry in August, and residents would rely on neighbors when water ran out. To the relief of Burnt Mills Hills residents, public water and sewer lines were installed in the 1950s.35 Roberts E. Latimer died in 1968, at the age of 81. He continued to have a hand in real estate even in his later years. The last land transaction for the R.E. Latimer Land Company in Burnt Mills Hills was in December 15, 1960. He had envisioned a community of 50 homes. By the time of his death, there were 51 houses in Burnt Mills Hills.36 COUNTRY LIFE Roberts Latimer had a vision for Burnt Mills Hills as a community of country estates. The plan was for well-designed farmhouse and estate type houses set on large one-to four- acre lots in a rural landscape that featured picturesque rolling hills, streams and boulders. Residents could enjoy country pursuits, including owning a horse and tending a vegetable garden. His company promoted nearby amenities that supported a country lifestyle, including a riding academy, ten miles of bridle trailssupplemented by quiet, shaded secondary roads for ridingand a 40-acre Boy Scout camp.37 As long as there have been cities there has been a desire to retreat to the country. In Montgomery County, Francis Preston Blair, Lincolns postmaster general, built his Silver Spring country retreat in the 1840s, where he lived in summer months, wintering in his house on Washington D.C.s Lafayette Park, now called the Blair House. At the turn of the early 20th century, the Country Life movement grew, presenting a genteel rural life for those who were tired of the stress and strain of city living. This philosophy was popularized in Bolton Halls Three Acres and Liberty (1918), and other similar titled books, which harken back to the British land reform campaign of 1885, whose rallying cry was Three Acres and a Cow.
32
Washington Post, November 20, 1938; January 8, 1939; March 17, 1940; May 4, 1941. Latimer does not appear to have engaged a company architect after John B. Nutter. 33 Plat 1802, filed September 11, 1946. 34 Deeds 1626:514; 1707:344. 35 John B. Nutter papers and interview August 17, 2011. 36 Today there are 50 houses built before 1968 in Burnt Mills Hills. One 1938 house, at 912 McCeney Avenue, was demolished in 2002 for a new house. 37 Washington Post, August 11, 1935; September 13, 1936; April 11, 1937.

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In 1910, Country Life in America magazine presented an evocative illustrated series Cutting Loose from the City with leisurely articles such as amateur photography interspersed with how to grow alfalfa.38 Promoters of Burnt Mills Hills targeted prospective buyers with a yearning for open space and the pleasures of country living. This included families with active children, businessmen seeking a respite from the stresses of working in the city, and those who had grown up on farms who had an innate craving to return to the land. Phil Poston, himself, a Tennessee native, built a plantation type house in Burnt Mills Hills which must have reminded him of home, complete with attached cabin where he had his office and hearth, and he tended a cornfield in the front of his large lot. Roberts Latimer, too, had a personal feel for country life having grown up on a farm in Melwood, Prince Georges County. 39 In the early 20th century, the Burnt Mills area became a favorite locale for those seeking scenic beauty and a natural setting. John Harry Shannon, who wrote The Rambler column for the Washington Star, described Burnt Mills as one of the romantic spots of the region around Washington. He extolled the virtues of this locale in several entries from 1913 to 1926. In 1916, he wrote: From the mill there is a well worn trail which leads to the ancient rocks above the mill and the rushing and roaring waters of the branch. High up there with great broad rock masses and just enough soil to support a growth of trees, many people from the city go to enjoy the scene and eat their lunches. It is a popular place with folk who know about it, and there have been proposals to build a trolley line and turn the section into a resort for picnickers and summer "outers."40 Nothing came of the trolley line idea, but the area was selected for a Boy Scout Camp established in1920. Early residents of Burnt Mills Hills recall hearing the Boy Scouts singing campfire songs into the night.41 By June 1937, there were 20 families living in Burnt Mills Hills with over 50 children under 12. Realtor Phil Poston summarized Burnt Mills Hills appeal to parents seeking the country life for their children, in his characteristic flowery prose: As a neighborhood of country homes of the farmhouse type, on generous tracts of rolling land rich in landscape beauty, Burnt Mills Hills is striking close to the heart of those who love the nearby country, with every city convenience, and is making a strong appeal to the appreciative and discriminating family with children whose primary object in life is the family health couples with the sturdier and simpler enjoyments of life that come only through actual contact with the soil and with living and growing things.42
38
Dona Brown, Back to the Land: the enduring dream of self-sufficiency in modern America, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. Country Life -- for example August 1910, Vol 18. 39 Washington Post, October 11, 1936. 40 John Harry Shannon, The Rambler, The Sunday Star, June 22, 1913, p44; May 14, 1916, p25. 41 Robert S. Brookings bought over 40 acres in 1919 and conveyed the land in 1920 to the D.C. Boy Scout Council. The camp was dedicated in October 1920 as the Woodrow Wilson Scout Reservation at Burnt Mills Hills. The camp, which included a swimming pool and bunkhouses, continued to operate into the 1940s. Eileen Finnegan, email correspondence Jan 15, 2012. In February 1913, the Boy Scouts were considering a Burnt Mills site as a possible Boy Scout camp location. Washington Post, February 9, 1913; September 4, 1921. 42 Washington Post, June 11 and 28, 1936.

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In another promotional piece, Poston used a popular book, A Home in the Country, to illustrate the appeal of Burnt Mills Hills, observing that the book paints a vivid picture of what a home in the country can really mean. A memoir written by Frederic Van de Water, the book describes the acquisition and ownership of a house in the country in the years following the stock market crash, driven by a desire for a sound investment, self-sufficiency, and a departure from Manhattan citylife. Their vision was for a simple, well-built Colonial house with lofty rooms, with hills behind and valley before, leading to a flowing brook. After a two year quest, Van de Water and his wife finally find their dream house in Vermont. By books end, the couple thinks of the house as a member of the family that they could never imagine leaving. Here was the experience that Latimer and Poston promoted for Burnt Mills Hills.43 A local example of the search for a country place is found in Austin Kiplingers memoir that he called The How Not to Book of Country Life. Kiplinger writes of his postwar era quest, It was not a farm we were looking for, exactly. Just a place in the country, with a stream like the one that used to flow through the front yard of the little place on Willard Avenue Just a country place where [my sons] could roam, do some hunting and be independent pioneers of mid-20th century, leading the outdoor life. Thats all we wanted.44 Residents of Burnt Mills Hills engaged in country pursuits that took advantage of the large open lots. Horseback riding was a popular hobby. Residents built horse stalls for horses and ponies, and white stock fences for their pastures. Homeowners with horses included Linda Wood at 818 McCeney Avenue, Charles Fletcher at 10714 Gatewood Avenue, and Joseph Cullins at 10701 Harper Avenue. The Edelbluts, of 10616 Harper Avenue, competed in regional horse shows. The R. E. Latimer Land Company proposed establishing a riding field and jumps, though documentation of their existence has not been found.45 The property with the longest history of horse boarding is 700 McCeney Avenue, the property with the Smith-Waters House. Into the 1960s, Myra Betters was boarding a horse here for her neighbor, Congressman Albert Quie, of 710 Burnt Mills Avenue.46 The sales notice for 700 McCeney Avenue was indicative of the farmlike character of Burnt Mills Hills was When it was offered for sale in 1942, the property, including house, four box stalls and a fenced-in paddock, was not placed in the Suburban Houses part of the real estate ads but rather with Farms, Estates, and Country Places. The property also included a chicken house. Another chicken house belonged to Mustafa Jack Ebbess, a produce market entrepreneur, who had a spread of about six acres, on five lots contiguous with his house at 701 McCeney Avenue. The Ebbess chicken house was so large it was later converted into a house for a son, having two rooms upstairs and two rooms down (now the site of 717 McCeney Avenue).47 Residents, including Ebbess, kept sheep for the picturesque effect they produce, as well as for cropping the pasture.48 Gardening was another popular pursuit, as residents tended extensive vegetable and flower gardens. John B. Nutter, described by his daughter as a city boy, nonetheless kept a large vegetable garden at 801 McCeney Avenue. His well
43 44
Frederic F. Van de Water. A Home in the Country. Baltimore, MD: Waverly Press, 1937. Austin Kiplinger. The How Not to Book of Country Life. Self published, Montevideo, Christmas 1973. The Kiplingers eventually found and bought Montevideo, a historic site in the Potomac area. 45 Washington Post, April 26, 1936; September 6, 1944. 46 Washington Post, October 11, 1942. Lusk and Polk Directories. John B. Nutter interviews August 17 and September 13, 2011. 47 John B. Nutter interviews. Jack Ebbess had a produce market at 1309 5th St NE. See his profile. Washington Post, October 11, 1942. 48 Washington Post, October 18, 1936.

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landscaped yard included a croquet court, parterre garden, gazebo, and a bridge. (Figure 2.19) Frank Pohanka, founder of Pohanka Automotive, started growing roses after moving to 824 Burnt Mills Avenue, and soon was winning prizes for his flowers and conducting tours of his garden for regional garden groups. Pohanka resided at this house from 1937 until his death in 1959.49 Other features of Burnt Mills Houses indicative of outdoor living included more leisurely pursuits of cooking and playing sports. Residents had out-of-door ovens on terraces, clay tennis courts, and bluegrass croquet grounds.50 Built on farmland, houses were situated in a landscape that was largely open in the early years. Homeowners enjoyed long vistas from windows and front porches through to the surrounding farmland. Burnt Mills Hills and the surrounding area remained largely open and rural through the mid-20th century. (Figures 2.20-2.22) When Brigadier General Hubert D. Hoover and his wife Gertrude Mills Hoover moved into the house and four acres at 823 Burnt Mills Avenue in 1950, they thought of it as their home in the country.51 In the postwar era, green lots were sold for the construction of new houses. Joseph Cullins of 10701 Harper Avenue had a pasture and horse stable in an adjacent lot which was sold, and the house at 10705 Harper was built in 1956. The house at 10911 Hoyle was built in 1952 on land that had belonged to Albert Carl, of 816 Burnt Mills Ave; and 800 McCeney Avenue was built in 1964 on land that had belonged to Raymond Briggs, of 807 Burnt Mills Avenue. In the decades following World War II, the farmland around Burnt Mills Hills was subdivided. The Naval Ordnance Laboratory, completed in 1946, brought new workers to the area. The Harper Farm on the east border was subdivided for a school and for the Crest Park development. Dr. Lockwoods farm to the southwest was replaced with Burnt Mills Court houses. Though lots within Burnt Mills Hills have been enclosed with trees and mature shrubbery, the community retains a rustic character and a natural setting. Construction of the Capital Beltway (I-495), in 1964, led to high-rise apartments, offices, and retail center developments. RESTRICTED SUBDIVISIONS AND THE NEW DEAL ERA Burnt Mills Hills was a controlled subdivision that was presented to prospective buyers as an attractive community with exclusive residency and a safe investment. Restrictions for architecture were provided through company architects who designed houses for the first several years. Other restrictions came in the form of deed covenants. There were two types of deed covenants used in Burnt Mills Hills. One controlled architecture and the other controlled ownership. Such controls in Burnt Mills Hills were intended to safeguard the owners investment so that the property may be resold at a profit or without a loss.52 Architectural controls included in Burnt Mills Hills deeds were designed to ensure the construction of well-planned and well-built houses. Covenants in deeds required houses and fences be reviewed by the Land Company. In fact, the Land Company engaged company architects to design all houses, whether on speculation or by contract. Lots were only sold
49 50
John B. Nutter interview. See following profiles for John B. Nutter and Frank Pohanka. Washington Post, October 18, 1936. 51 Jane Davenport, granddaughter of Hubert and Gertrude Hoover, interview, October 14, 2011. 52 Washington Post, May 17, 1936.

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through Latimers real estate agent, Phil Poston, which further ensured control. In addition to designing the house, the Land Company completed landscaping around the structure, and built the driveways.53 Deeds also included covenants that prohibited sale to African Americans. The practice of racial covenants had been used locally as early as the 1890s by the Chevy Chase Land Company and were in widespread use by the 1930s. By the time that Burnt Mills Hills was platted, their use was federal policy, as the Federal Housing Authority encouraged developers to employ racial covenants. The FHA Underwriting Manual recommended covenants to control the design of all buildings and to prohibit diversity by prohibiting occupancy except by the race for which they are intended. Racial covenants were finally outlawed in 1948 with a Supreme Court ruling (Shelley v. Kraemer).54 As early as April 1936, Burnt Mills Hills was approved for FHA mortgages. The FHA established standards that subdivisions must meet in order for owners to receive FHA mortgages. From 1934 to 1960, the period when the majority of Burnt Mills Hills were built, Montgomery County residents received twice as much mortgage insurance as those in the District of Columbia.55 In addition to federally supported development, a New Deal trend epitomized in Burnt Mills Hills is regionalism, the rediscovery of American regional identity, discussed below. Other New Deal trends included population movement out of cities, and a renewed appreciation for country living. The community attracted proponents of New Deal philosophy including Alben Barclay, spokesman for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Vice President of the U.S., and Paul Betters, urban affairs consultant to federal agencies, and head of National Conference of Mayors. More information about residents and their roles in the New Deal era is given in a following section. FARMHOUSE AND COLONIAL TYPE HOUSES Burnt Mills Hills houses were marketed as regional farmhouse types and pure colonial reproductions. The subdivision was conceived at a time of rediscovery of American regional identity when architects and academics were studying and documenting early American architecture. This concept is reflected in New Deal programs. Chief among these is the Historic American Building Survey, established in 1933, which documented regional distinctiveness in a nationwide survey of early American architecture. In another program, the Works Progress Administration built public buildings that reflect local building styles and materials, including Bethesda, Rockville, and Silver Spring post offices, built between 1936 and 1939.56 Houses in Burnt Mills Hills were advertised in terms such as Northern Maryland, Southern Maryland, and Pennsylvanian, including farmhouses from the north and plantation houses from the south. Sensitivity to regionalism is also seen in the marketing of the Smith-Waters House, 700 McCeney Avenue, which according to tradition dates to the 1850s. The vernacular residence was promoted as a striking example of Marylands early farm architecture.(Figure 2.9) In this era,
53 54
Ibid. Kenneth Jackson, Federal Subsidy and the American Dream, in Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1985. Laura Bobeczko and Richard Longstreth, Housing reform Meets the Marketplace, in Housing Washington, 2011. 55 Jackson, p211. Title 1 of the 1934 National Housing Act was for Housing renovation and Modernization. It insured banks against losses from loans made to alter, repair and improve real property. Loans were small and not used so much. Jackson p364. 56 New Deal postoffices in Montgomery County were the limestone faced Rockville, stone Bethesda, and brick Silver Spring buildings.

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architects tended to think in terms of house types rather than architectural styles. This point was emphasized by John B. Nutter, R.E. Latimer Land Company architect for Burnt Mills Hills. Nutters houses included the New Englander, the Virginian, and the Tennessee Plantation.57 In addition to regional house types and specimen reproductions, Burnt Mills Hills houses included traditional types identified as being from Western Europe--English, Irish, and French. Also in Burnt Mills Hills were pure Colonial houses that were patterned after particular historic buildings. Dillon & Abels house at 807 Burnt Mills Avenue (1935) was based on Sotterley Plantation, described as one of the early and famous Southern Maryland Colonial homes in St. Marys County. (Figure 2.12) The main side gabled block has a fullwidth shed roof, a rear ell has a gambrel roof. Lattice work on front porch and arbor mimic Chippendale stair railings of the original. A copper roof summer house bears resemblance to the models cupola.58 And the firms house at 900 McCeney Avenue, known as the Georgian, was reportedly a reproduction of the ancestral home of the Byrd family on the James River in Virginiaone of the stately mansions of the Old Dominion.59 (See Figure 2.23) Such houses were documented in HABS surveys as well as regional architectural histories that proliferated from the late 1920s through the 1930s. Architectural journals and popular magazines of the era also promoted historic American buildings.60 In the 1930s, the overwhelming majority of homeowners preferred traditional style dwellings. An Architectural Forum survey found over half of the respondents favored Colonial Revival style houses. Almost a quarter chose English Tudor style, the next most popular category. Only about a tenth of those surveyed preferred Modern style houses. By this time, the revival of colonial era architecture had been popular for over a century. Traditional designed houses made good marketing sense for developers and were considered a sound investment for property owners.61 SILVER SPRING GROWTH In the New Deal era, Silver Spring was one of the fastest growing areas in the Washington D.C. area. The re Latimer Land Company promoted convenient accessibility between the Burnt Mills Hills development, jobs in Washington D.C., and shopping in Silver Spring. The recommended route from the District was to travel north on 16th Street, turn right at the light in Silver Spring on Colesville Road and drive three miles to Burnt Mills Hills. Bus lines were running this route as well. Both 16th Street and Colesville Road were popular thoroughfares for automobile drives in the early 1930s.
See also Gebhard, p110. John B. Nutter noted an exception was the stylistic term Dutch Colonial, characterized by its gambrel roof. Washington Post April 21, 1935; April 18, 1937. 58 Washington Post, June 7, 1936. 59 Washington Post, April 11, 1937. The Byrds estate, Westover, estate, however the Georgian, with its two-story portico, does not appear to bear great resemblance to Westover. 60 For example Progress on Williamsburg, Architectural record, November 1936; restoration at Williamsburg, Progressive Architecture Pencil Points, April 1936; Historic American Building Survey #8, The Architectural Forum, August 1936. The first exhibit of HABS drawings and photographs was at the National Museum in Washington, DC in April 1934. Landmark examples of regional works include Eleanor Raymonds Early Domestic Architecture of Pennsylvania (1931), with foreword by R Brognard Okie, accomplished Colonial revival architect; and Thomas Tileston Waterman and John A. Barrows Domestic Colonial Architecture of Tidewater Virginia (1932) with foreword by Fiske Kimball, HABS founder. 61 The Architectural Forum, November 1936. David Gebhard, The American Colonial Revival in the 1930s. Winterthur Portfolio, 22:2/3 (Summer/Autumn 1987), pp 109-148.
57

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Sixteenth Street, described as a broad, concrete boulevard in1935, made Silver Spring accessible to downtown Washington in a scant 25-minute drive.62 Burnt Mills Hills was platted in what has been called the golden age of highway building. Colesville Road epitomizes that era. When Latimer purchased the Smith-Waters farm in 1929, Colesville Road was a newly paved road. Until about 1911 the road was a toll road. By 1935, it was outdated and inadequate for the subdivisions that opened east of Silver Spring. In 1935, Maryland State Highway improved Colesville Road as a five-lane arterial highway replacing the two lane road. From about July to November 1935, the road was under construction, undoubtedly presenting a challenge to prospective buyers traveling to the newly opened Burnt Mills Hills. The new road opened November 3, 1935, the same day that the Maryland model house, at 800 Burnt Mills Ave, opened to the public.63 Burnt Mills was the name given the area along the Northwest Branch at Colesville Road. A mill along the Northwest Branch had burned sometime in the 18th century. There was a mill south of Colesville Road that was still operated in 1916.64 The greater Silver Spring area was a largely agricultural area into the early 20th century. A commuter train stopped near Francis Preston Blairs summer estate starting in 1873, yet did not spur development. The streetcar line, in contrast, did attract developers who laid out residential neighborhoods along Georgia Avenue, including Silver Spring Park. A commercial district grew along Georgia Avenue, north of the train station. By the late 1920s, Silver Spring had a commercial and entertainment district on Georgia Avenue north of the railroad tracks. Colesville Road was a residential corridor in 1931, even where it intersected Georgia Avenue.65 Burnt Mills Hills was advertised as lying just outside the Silver Spring commercial district, an area that experienced tremendous growth in concurrence with the growth of the Burnt Mills Hills subdivision. The Silver Theater and Shopping Center opened in 1938 and became a mecca for local shoppers. Burnt Mills Hills resident John B. Nutter recalls weekly shopping trips when he would drop his wife off to do the familys shopping while he took the children to the railroad station to watch the arrival of commuter trains. Silver Springs shopping district expanded greatly in the postwar era with the opening of Hechts Department Store and establishment of a parking district. E. Brooke Lee, a Blair descendant, developed family holdings with his North Washington realty Company, along with Cissel and Frank Hewitt. By 1934, Silver Spring had a new high school, Montgomery Blair High School, built with New Deal funding in a Colonial Revival style; a community library, Jesup Blair Park; and a linear stream valley park, Sligo Creek. East West Highway, the areas first Beltway, was completed in this era, facilitating travel between Silver Spring and Bethesda. Lead individuals for Burnt Mills Hills had a role in development in Silver Spring and the surrounding area. Roberts Latimer had developed Rock Creek Hills on 16th Street NW just south of the Montgomery County boundary. Phil Poston was the president of the Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce and promoted commercial development as well as the
62 63
Washington Post, October 6, 1935. David L. Ames and Linda Flint McClelland, Historic Residential Suburbs, National register Bulletin, 2002, p23. Washington Post, November 3, 1935. The Rambler, June 22, 1913. Deed 484:105 references the 1929 plat which describes the new concrete roadway leading from Silver Spring to Colesville Road, and located along a boundary of the tract. The signed 1929 plat was filed in 1935 as plat 564. 64 The Rambler, Washington Star, January 30, 1916. 65 See for example, Klinge real estate maps, 1931, pp21 and 30. Jerry McCoy, Images of America: Historic Silver Spring. 2005.

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residential Woodside Park where he lived before moving to Burnt Mills Hills. Architect Laurence Johnston designed several houses in Silver Spring, where he lived with his family on Sligo Avenue. His 1933 design for the M-NCPPC headquarters brought him local recognition, winning an award from the Washington Board of Trade. The brick Colonial revival building was located on Colesville Road west of Georgia Avenue (site of todays Discovery Headquarters). County school buses served the Burnt Mills neighborhood from the early days transporting students to elementary, junior and high schools. Montgomery County schools already had a reputation as a high quality school system by 1936. Other amenities available to Burnt Mills Hills residents included two nearby golf clubs and a riding academy.66 BURNT MILLS HILLS RESIDENTS Residents of Burnt Mill Hills included elected officials, professional leaders, architects, and developers who were influential on local and national levels. Key people responsible for the creation of Burnt Mills Hills settled in the development, a testament to their investment in making it a liveable and attractive community. Promoter Phil Poston commissioned a house at 818 McCeney Avenue; architect John B. Nutter moved into 801 McCeney Avenue and stayed for over 70 years; and developer Roberts Latimer settled in at 801 Edelblut Avenue. (All three of these houses were designed by John B. Nutter in 1937.) Profiles for these individuals are in a following section, along with other Land Company architects. The neighborhood attracted residents working in the built environment related fields including architects, developers, and planners. residents included Edward J. Harding, national leader in construction industry (900 McCeney); planner Paul Betters, urban affairs consultant to federal agencies, and head of National Conference of Mayors (700 McCeney); Frank Bratten, Chair of Maryland real Estate Commission (808 Edelblut); Stewart Bainum, Fortune 500 executive who was founder and CEO of Quality Courts and Manor Care (705 Edelblut); James Lee, Vice President of Levitt & Sons Company (810 Burnt Mills Ave); and architects John B. Nutter (801 McCeney) and Ronald Senseman (901 McCeney; 10718 Gatewood). Burnt Mills Hills was also home to military officers, elected government officials, political candidates, and radio and television broaD.C.asters. Military and government officials included Major General Charles McK. Saltzman, U.S. Army, who built 823 Burnt Mills Avenue in 1934 following his retirement as Chief Signal Officer. Brigadier General Hubert Hoover, U. S. Army, later resided at 823 Burnt Mills Avenue, while Admiral Morton C. Mumma, lived at 808 Edelblut Avenue. Albin Barclay, Vice President under Harry S. Truman, resided briefly in Burnt Mills Hills and then was a frequent visitor at 1000 McCeney Avenue, home of his daughter Marian Truitt and family. Other elected officials who resided in Burnt Mills Hills include include J. Douglas Bradshaw, Maryland House of Delegates (708 Edelblut built 1952); and Albert H. Quie, U.S. Congress (710 Burnt Mills Ave, 1964-78). Arch MacDonald (800 Edelblut) was a candidate for state delegate, in 1946; and Ronald Senseman (901 McCeney) ran for the Maryland House of Delegates, 1958 (901 McCeney). Stewart Bainum, Jr., who grew up at 705 Edelblut Drive, became a State Delegate and was a onetime gubernatorial candidate. Arch MacDonald was popular CBS radio sportscaster, while Morgan Beatty (10910 Hoyle Avenue) was a news broaD.C.aster for NBC television.
66
Washington Post, June 21, 1936.

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A number of the original 1935 residents were successful entrepreneurs whose businesses capitalized on a growing population from the World War I through New Deal eras. Frank Pohankas automobile dealership specialized in repair and service, which served him well in the difficult years of the Depression (824 Burnt Mills Avenue). Sewell reeves (800 Burnt Mills Avenue) owned reeves Bakery at 1209 F St NW. The business started in 1895 as a grocery store and evolved into a popular restaurant and bakery. Raymond Briggs of 807 Burnt Mills Ave owned Briggs meats which were eventually sold in several area chain supermarkets. Mustafa Ebbess, a Syrian immigrant, was a fruit and produce entrepreneur, with a business at Northeast Market, 1309 5th St NE, in Washington, D.C. He bought the largest number of lots in Burnt Mills Hills owned by one resident, acquiring four lots surrounding his house at 701 McCeney Avenue. BIOGRAPHIES: REPRESENTATIVE RESIDENTS Stewart Bainum (1919- ), 705 Edelblut Avenue: Fortune 500 company founder and CEO Stewart Bainum hired architect and colleague Ronald Senseman to design his Burnt Mills Hills residence at 705 Edelblut, in 1952. Stewart Bainum built two successful national companies: the Quality Inns, International, Inc hotel business (later Choice Hotels International) and Manor Care, a nursing home business. Many of Bainums local projects--ranging from motels, apartments and a nursing home--were designed by Ronald Senseman, AIA. Bainum, born about 1919, was a mechanical contractor in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, the Stewart Bainum Company was a merchant builder concern, constructing houses in Indian Spring Village and New Hampshire Estates. A candidate for the Montgomery County Planning Board in 1958, Bainum was the President of Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Washington and Director of the National Association of Home Builders. Bainum built a chain of local motels including the Park Arlington Motel (Ronald Senseman architect, 1961), and Park University Motel (1962). Several of his mid-century projects were located near his Burnt Mills Hills residence, including realty Investment Building, 11315 Lockwood Dr (Eugene Delmar, 1965), for his company offices; White Oak Professional Building, 11161 Lockwood Dr (Vincent DeGutis, 1965), and White Oak Apartments.67 Upon completion of his own office building, Bainum stated, I feel there are unlimited possibilities for growth in this area. We recently moved our own offices to White Oak and watch with interest the further expansion of this Montgomery County community.68 Bainum sold his Burnt Mills Hills house in 2001. He was recognized as 2009 Montgomery County Philanthropist of the Year for his work as founder of the Commonweal Foundation, which provides financial support for secondary education students. Alben W. Barclay (1877-1956), 1000 McCeney Avenue: U.S. Vice President Vice President under Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, Barclay resided briefly in Burnt Mills Hills. He visited his daughter Marian and her family at 1000 McCeney Avenue. A biographer related this anecdote about one of his visits: One evening in the spring of 1949, [Barclay] spent a quiet time with daughter Marian and grandson Stephen Truitt. The conversation turned to the awkward address, Mr. Vice President, that people used when they met Barkley. TenChoice Hotels corporate history, choicehotels.com; Washington Post: Washingtons Top 60, April 14, 1980; The Areas Wealthiest, October 14, 1986. Corporate yellow book: Whos Who at leading U.S. Companies (2000). Numerous additional Washington Post articles including April 3, 1965. 68 Washington Post, November 20, 1965.
67

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year-old Stephen thought Gramps should insert two es between the initials V.P. to form Veep. At his next news conference, the proud grandfather told this story and the reporters picked it up and began to employ the title Veep when they wrote articles about the vice president. A popular politician, Alben Barclay was reelected 6 times to the U.S. House of representatives. In 1932, he was keynote speaker at the Democratic national convention and became known as leading apostle of the New Deal, second only to Roosevelt himself, often serving as radio spokesperson for FDRs program. He became Senate majority leader in 1937. Two years after the death of his wife Dorothy, Barclay became vice president under Truman, a position he transformed during his tenure. With his popularity and speaking abilities, Barclay became principal spokesperson for the president, delivering major addresses throughout the country in support of the presidents programs. In recognition of his abilities, Truman created a special flag and seal for the Vice President. A progressive politician and partisan democrat, he was also the only vice president to marry while in office. He married late in 1949. Barclay was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1953. After retiring to his native Kentucky, he was elected to congress, in 1954. Barclay suffered a heart attack in 1956 after a public address at Washington and Lee University.69 Paul Vernon Betters (1906-1956), 700 McCeney Avenue: Executive Director, U.S. Conference of Mayors An expert in municipal affairs, Paul Betters was a consultant to various federal agencies, including the Civil Works Administration, and a delegate to international conferences of local, state, and federal officers. Betters lived in the SmithWaters House, at 700 McCeney Avenue, from 1949 until his death in 1956, and his wife, Myra K Betters, continued to own the property until 1980. Paul and Myra Betters boarded horses on their Burnt Mills Hills estate which they called Windy Hill. Congressman Quie, a fellow Minnesotan, boarded his horse at Betters place. As head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a clearinghouse for municipal issues, Betters worked for urban reform and public accountability. Betters was a champion for federal relief in the post-depression era, calling for federal support of low cost housing. A native of Minnesota, Betters came to Washington, D.C. in 1930 to join the Brookings Institution where he wrote monographs on federal agencies. In 1933, he became both Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Executive Director of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers. He was a co-founder of National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (1945) and founder and Executive Director of the National Institute of City and Town Clerks (1946). During World War II, Betters was a lieutenant colonel in the army, serving as a liaison officer monitoring a controversial investigation of army training films and alleged profiteering with Hollywood production. Betters was 50 when he died in 1956.70
James K. Libbey, Alben Barclay,in Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary By L. Edward Purcell. NY, NY: Facts on file, 2010. Robert Sobel, Biographical Directory of the U. S. Executive Branch, 1774-1989, p.19. Louisa McCeney Malone and Augusta McCeney Young, Burnt Mills Hills, written by c1946. Source: Richard Dame. John B. Nutter interview. Truitt deed, Land Records. 70 William R. Brock Democracy and the New Deal, Cambridge University Press, 2002. David Holbrook Culbert, and Richard E. Wood, Film and Propaganda in America: A Documentary History, Greenwood Press, 1990. Eric H. Monkkonen, America Becomes Urban: the development of U.S. cities & towns, 1780-1980, University of California Press, 1988. Paul V. Betters and J. Kerwin Williams, and Sherwood L. Reeder, Recent Federal-City Relations, Washington, D.C.:The United States Conference Of Mayors, 1936.
69

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Raymond C. Briggs (c1896-1988), 807 Burnt Mills Avenue: Food Company Entrepreneur Born about 1896, Raymond C. Briggs was the original owner of 807 Burnt Mills Ave, a Washington Post model house, which he acquired in 1935. Briggs had a meat business in Washington D.C. By 1920 he was selling Sunshine meats at Washington, D.C.s Center Market. In the 1930s, his meat products were sold at several area grocery chains, including A&P, Sanitary Grocery, and Piggly Wiggly. The company slogan, recalled by original Burnt Mills Hills resident, John B. Nutter, was Better Buy Briggs. Nutter also recalled that Briggs was known for always having the latest model automobile and was the first in Burnt Mills Hills to have an air conditioned car, which happened sometime after World War II. In 1956, Briggs expanded his business offerings with ice cream, which became a popular product. Briggs was 92 when he died in 1988.71 Mustafa Jack Ebbess (c1891-1979), 701 McCeney Avenue: Produce Business Entrepreneur One of the first residents in Burnt Mills Hills, Mustafa Ebbess (known as Jack) purchased five acres on which he had a stable for horse and pony, sheep, and chickens. His large brick French-inspired house, designed by Dillon & Abel, was an early gateway into the community. The property was a testament to the success of the entrepreneurial skills of Ebbess, who is said to have profited from his practice of purchasing produce from farmers and selling to vendors at Washingtons Northeast Market.72 A Syrian native, Ebbess came to the US at the age of 14 and opened a pushcart on Lousiana Ave NW before opening a wholesale produce business at 1309 5th St NE, at Northeast Market. He married Jurene Douglass in 1918. In 1935, the pair acquired several lots in Burnt Mills Hills including the house at 701 McCeney Avenue where they raised five children. Jack Ebbess retired about 1965, and was 88 years old when he died, in 1979. About 1975, the Burnt Mills Seventh Day Adventist Church was built on two of the original Ebbess lots. Jurene Ebbess sold the family home in 1983.73 James P. Lee, 810 Burnt Mills Avenue (1925-2011) Vice President, Levitt and Sons James Lee built his house at 810 Burnt Mills Avenue about 1964. Lee was Vice President of Levitt and Sons, developer of Levittown, N.Y. and Belair, Prince Georges County, Maryland. Levitt and Sons perfected an on-site assembly-line production for construction of large scale developments to house the post-war population. For his home in Burnt Mills Hills, Lee chose a customized Country Clubber, a high end Belair model. 74 A native New Yorker, Lee started working for William Levitt in 1940 as a construction worker when he was still in high school. During World War II, he served with honor as a volunteer with the Submarine Service in the U.S. Navy. Lee was a full-time employee after the war, when he was appointed Assistant to the General Superintendant for Levitt and Sons as the company embarked on creating Levittown, N.Y., in 1947. By the time the 17,500-house development was completed
71 72
Obituary, Washington Post, March 18, 1988. Washington Post articles. Deeds. John B. Nutter interview. Washington Post April 26, 1936. John Nutter interview. Nutter described the chicken house that once stood at 708 McCeney Avenue, and the business acumen of Ebbess. 73 Obituary, Washington Post, November 16, 1979. Deed 6155:424. Polks Directory,1962. Washington Post July 27, 1918; November 17, 1935. 74 James A. Jacobs, Beyond Levittown: The Design and Marketing of Belair at Bowie, Maryland, in Richard Longstreth (Ed), Housing Washington, 2010. Belair sales brochure, 1961 (reprint by Bowie Heritage, 2010). Obituary, Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), May 6, 2011. Various Washington Post articles.

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in 1952, Lee was chief superintendant of house building operations in charge of construction for the companys communities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 1963, Lee moved to Maryland to supervise the development of Belair, and selected a lot in Burnt Mills Hills to build his own house. While a Belair Country Clubber typically cost about $25,000, James and his wife Constance Lee took out a mortgage from the Belair National Bank for $37,500 for their Burnt Mills Hills house. Custom upgrades for the Lee house included an oversize garage wing and brick siding. Lee was general manager of Washington area operations and then became Vice President of Levitt and Sons, at a time when the company was the largest producer of single family homes in the Washington area. As general manager for Belair, Lee was responsible for construction of the houses at Belair during its period of establishment and rapid growth, when some 8,000 houses were built between 1957 and 1970. Lee also served as a director of the Home Builders Association of Suburban Maryland. In 1970, the Lees sold their Burnt Mills Hills house when Lee left Levitt and Sons to become President of Behring Construction Company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He later operated a professional construction group, Coffey-Lee Associates, with longtime associate Matt Coffey. He was still living in Ft. Lauderdale when he died in May 2011. Arch McDonald (1901-1960), 800 Edelblut Drive: CBS Voice of the Nats Radio Sportscaster In 1938, when Arch McDonald bought the house known as the Castle (or the Norman), at 800 Edelblut Drive, he was already a popular CBS sportscaster. The house, designed by John B. Nutter, was the most expensive one sold in Burnt Mills Hills at the time, selling for $40,000. Born in Hot Springs Arkansas in 1901, McDonald began broaD.C.asting Washington Nationals games starting 1934, and soon became known as the Voice of the Nats. McDonald and his cohort Arthur Godfrey had companion programs on WJSV by 1934. One of the first to use ducks on the pond to describe runners on base, he was best known for his recreation of road games which were watched by crowds who gathered outside his G Street studio. McDonald gave play by play accounts for Washington Nationals and the Washington Senators and continued to be a local sportscaster until 1955. An amateur horse racer in later years, McDonald died in 1960. Frank S. Pohanka, (c1891-1959), 824 Burnt Mills Avenue Founder, Pohanka Automotive Founder of Pohanka automotive group, todays oldest same-family-owned dealership in the Washington metropolitan area, Frank Pohanka was locally known for his prize-winning roses which he grew in the front yard of his house at 824 Burnt Mills Avenue. He resided in Burnt Mills Hills with his family from 1937 until his death in 1959.75 Pohanka, a native New Yorker, left home at the age of 11 to pursue his dream of being a racing jockey. After learning the ropes as an exercise boy at a Long Island race track, he rode the tracks throughout the country for the next decade.76
Obituary, Washington Post, August 27, 1959. Corporate history, Pohanka Automotive Group, pohanka.com/history (accessed November 21, 2011). Interview with John B. Nutter and Betty Fulton, September 13, 2011. Numerous Washington Post articles. 76 Walter Haight, Around the Tracks: Horses and People, Washington Post, September 15, 1954. Pohanka related this anecdote: In the winter of 1907-1908 I was riding races at Emoryville race track in Oakland, California, and Bud Fisher had just started to work for the Chronicle of San Francisco. Most people do not know that his cartoon of Mutt and Jeff was really a tipster cartoon and every day we in the jocks room were interested in his pick for the day. One day he had a cartoon of Mutt standing before a judge to be sentenced for some petty crime and through the open window in back of the court room a fire engine was going by. Jeff looked in through the window and yelled, Mutt, your house is all ablaze, and, as Mutt dove through the window, the judge yelled, Put two
75

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As he outgrew the jockey life, Pohanka, at about age 23, decided to pursue an interest in automobile mechanics. His knowledge of engines was largely obtained from books, yet he clearly was a quick study. In 1914, he got a job with the Chevrolet Motor Company, educating new dealers about automobile servicing for two years, before becoming Washington, D.C. manager. In the Washington office, he worked with sales manager Bennie Ourisman, founder of todays Ourisman Auto Group, and established a relationship with Howard W. Phillips, financier and insurance broker, who helped him set up a repair shop on Ward Place, in the District. In 1919, Pohanka became a sub-dealer for Barry Pate Chevrolet, opening a successful facility on L Street NW. Pohanka acquired an Oldsmobile franchise in 1923 at 1126 20th Street NW. He remodeled the adjacent Blue Mouse movie theater into a showroom. He named his company Pohanka Service and he was known for his expertise as a master mechanic and service consultant. His focus on automobile service served him well in the economically tough years of the Depression and then World War II. In the boom time of the postwar era, his sons Frank and John joined the company. Pohanka purchased a house at 824 Burnt Mills Avenue, in Burnt Mills Hills, in 1937. He became an avid gardener. By 1942, he was known for his prize-winning roses. He opened his garden up for tours, and was an active member of the American and Potomac rose societies and the Takoma Park Horticultural Club. While he opened his gardens to groups of touring gardeners, it was strictly forbidden to neighborhood children. Neighbors recall that Pohanka kept glass tubes on each plant, containing the name of the specimen. Frank S. Pohanka was 68 when he died in 1959. His sons John and Frank Jr. both worked to continue the family business. With a fourth generation now employed, the Pohanka Automotive Group has five dealership locations, selling 14 makes of cars and trucks. Sewell A. Reeves (c1865-1940), 800 Burnt Mills Avenue: Bakery and restaurant Entrepreneur Sewell Reeves, the first owner of 800 Burnt Mills Avenue, owned a popular bakery in the District. Born about 1865, reeves opened a Washington D.C. grocery store in 1895. He soon expanded with a candy confectionary and the company grew into a bakery and restaurant. By 1902, Reeves, at 1209 F St NW, could seat 200 diners and had 54 employees. One Washington Post correspondent fondly recalled Saturday lunches at Reeves Bakery and Restaurant that featured made-toorder sandwiches and pie. Sewell Reeves died December 1940 at the age of 75, leaving an estate of $300,000.77 Charles McK. Saltzman (1871-1942), 823 Burnt Mills Avenue: Chief Signal Officer, Major General, U.S. Army In 1934, Major General Saltzman acquired land from Roberts Latimer and built his house in advance of the Burnt Mills Hills. The house was designed and built by the Chief Engineer of the Army, according to John B. Nutter, and has very substantial construction using steel I-beams. Saltzman was Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army. (Figure 2.6) Born in 1871, Saltzman was an Iowan native. He graduated from West Point in 1896 and served at several western pots, including Fort Apache and Fort reno, Indian Territory. During the Spanish-American War, he served with the First Cavalry in Cuba and was awarded the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster for gallantry in action (1898) against both Las Guasimas and Santiago. Saltzman transferred to the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army in 1913, graduating with honors from the Signal School in Fort Leavenworth. He represented the Signal Corps in various ways over the next 23 years,
bucks on him for me. Well I rode All Ablaze that day and won on him at about 6-1. From that point on, my boss W.W. Finn, called me Cicero, who was Mutts son. The boss won a large bet on All Ablaze and I got $300. 77 Obituary, Washington Post, January 25, 1941. A Washington Stores History: Reeves Grocery, Candy Factory and Bakery Grows to Large Proportions in Few Years, Washington Post, September 28, 1902. Singing an Old Tuna: A Nostalgic Updating of the Perfect Sandwich, Washington Post, April 3, 1991. John Nutter interview.

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including as delegate to the International Board on Radio Telegraphy. Saltzman became Chief Signal Officer in 1924. (Figure 2.24) Upon completion of his assignment he retired in 1928, with thirty years of active duty, and recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1942, Major General Saltzman, age 71, died at Walter reed Hospital.78 Hubert Don Hoover (1887-1971), 823 Burnt Mills Avenue: Brigadier General, U.S. Army Hubert Don Hoover and his wife, Gertrude Mills Hoover, acquired the property at 823 Burnt Mills Avenue in 1950 for a retirement estate, their home in the country. Formerly known as Fouracre Farm, the Hoovers renamed the estate Tanglewood. Hubert D. Hoover had been a Judge Advocate for the U.S. Army, working in the Pentagon. He was appointed Brigadier General of the U.S. Army on January 24, 1948. Gertrude was born June 10, 1883 and died September 15, 1977. Their son Holman Hoover (born September 15, 1909) lived at Tanglewood from about 1970 until his death in 1989. Jane Davenport, granddaughter of Hubert D. and Gertrude M. Hoover, now lives at Tanglewood with her family.79 John William Wrathall (1909-1971), 10915 Jarboe Avenue: Builder Developer John William Wrathall constructed his own house at 10915 Jarboe Avenue in 1950. A local builder, he had embarked on a construction career in 1948 with custom homes, including Singing Hills residential development in Charles County. In 1957, he shifted to commercial projects and formed the partnership Wrathall and Ovalle, Inc. His projects included the Rockville Civic Auditorium (1960), Paint Branch Unitarian Church (1965), and Peoples National Bank in Greenbelt. John William Wrathall had been manager of the Standard Esso station in downtown Silver Spring in 1942, before he turned to the construction business. Wrathall was 62 and still a Burnt Mills Hills resident when he died in 1971.80 BIOGRAPHIES: BURNT MILLS HILLS DEVELOPMENT TEAM AND ARCHITECTS Developer: Roberts E. Latimer (1886-1968) Roberts E. Latimer was the owner of R. E. Latimer Land Company which developed Burnt Mills Hills. Born on a farm in Melwood, Maryland, near present-day Andrews Air Force Base, Latimer was the son of Mary Bessent and William J. Latimer. After completing the fourth grade, Latimer trained as a surveyor under his father, an engineer and surveyor who is said to have surveyed the major portion of Prince Georges County. Under the rigorous training of his father combined with his own initiative, Latimer became a surveyor in 1900, at the age of 14. From 1909-1912, Latimer was an engineer with the Bureau of Engraving from 1909-1912.81
78
Gerald V. Flannery (Ed), Commissioners of the FCC, 1927-1994, University Press of America, 1995. Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, March 1943, 31: 3, p88. Signal Corps regimental History, US Army, http://signal150.army.mil/09_saltzman.html Arlington Cemetery website, www.arlingtoncemetery.net. Interviews John B. Nutter and Jane Davenport. 79 Jane Davenport interview and family papers. Dept. of the U.S. Army, Official Army Register: Active and Retired Lists, Vol 1. Adjutant Generals office. Washington D.C.: Government Printing office, 1949. Arlington Cemetery website, www.arlingtoncemetery.net 80 Obituary, Washington Post, November 8, 1971; Jerry McCoy, Downtown Silver Spring, Then and Now, Arcadia Press, 2010. www.pbuuc.org/comm/about/history.htm. 81 Primary sources: Wolmar Stoffel, Biographical sketch of Roberts Latimer, c1961. Stoffel was Latimers son-in-law, having married his daughter Ida. Oral history of John B. Nutter, employee of Roberts Latimer. Obituary, Washington Post, February 3, 1968. Latimer family papers, email correspondence, 2011.

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Latimer received training in the construction business through his work building the steel plant at Sparrows Point, Maryland, as engineer for the Bethlehem Steel Company, starting in 1921. In later years, Latimers son-in-law, Wolmar Stoffel, wrote that Latimer found that this job [at Bethlehem Steel] afforded him the greatest opportunity he could imagine to learn the construction game. It was undoubtedly a great contributing factor to the development of his own real estate and construction business. In 1925, Latimer formed the R. E. Latimer Land Company. One of his early projects was Rock Creek Hills, a subdivision of custom houses at 16th Street NW along Rock Creek Park. Here he built his own house at 1601 Jonquil Street NW. He also developed the area at Cathedral and Belview Terrace. Latimer was a real estate entrepreneur. According to Stoffel: Shortly after the Depression hit with full force, Roberts owned a great deal of real estate, but was short of cash to pay taxes and other expenses. He was, as he later expressed it, "land poor". He was able to survive financially by taking advantage of loans by the government on real estate and subsequently managed to make a tidy profit. Among the land that Latimer owned was a 125-acre farm east of Silver Spring which he purchased in 1929. This land later became Burnt Mills Hills. Latimer had the land surveyed in May 1929, but was not in a position to market houses until 1935. By the mid-1930s, the R. E. Latimer Land Company included all the necessary equipment for excavating roads and building foundations, including steam shovels and teams of horses. In his companys heyday, Latimer had as many as 15 salesmen working for him, trading and selling real estate, with over a hundred employees and 75 teams of horses engaged in construction work. (Figure 2.10) Even when his company was at its largest, he did his own estimates and his own payroll. Latimer engaged his brother, P. A. Latimer, civil engineer, to do survey work. He assembled a team of professionals including architects and a realtor. He was described as a tense and dedicated man who had a quick temper. He was known to hire and fire an employee several times in one day. John B. Nutter, one-time company architect for Burnt Mills Hills, credits Roberts Latimer for having the vision for Burnt Mills Hills country estates character, and for carrying it out. Latimer called for handsomely designed houses made of high quality materials, and had vendors on site to show the architect samples of brick, stone and slate. The expectation was to build the subdivision out within two years. While this ambitious pace wasnt realized, the Land Company was able to sell 31 houses by the close of 1937. With a slower economy and intervening war years, the 50 house mark wouldnt be met until 1967. Roberts E. Latimer married Ida Jarboe of Poolesville, Maryland, daughter of Eugene and Mary Eleanor Jarboe. The Latimers had four children by 1936. Somewhat by chance, the Latimer family lived in Burnt Mills Hills, at 801 Edelblut Drive, from 1937 until after World War II. (Figure 2.25) As John B. Nutter recalls, Latimer made the decision to move into the house, known as the Virginian, when he had trouble finding a buyer for it. Nutter was the architect who designed the house. Sometime in the 1940s, the family moved to 1303 Floral St NW. In 1938, Latimer opened an insurance and real estate office near Alaska and Georgia Avenues NW, in the Silver Spring vicinity. The same year, he bought land on Powder Mill Road and established a sand and gravel company. He developed Meadowood around this time. He got his Powder Mill land rezoned to include apartments as well as houses. In 1948, Latimer suffered a nervous breakdown when he had just begun to develop Powder Mills Estates. He officially retired though he continued to occupy himself with real estate transactions for himself and family members. Stoffel wrote

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that Latimer, in 1960, undertook the development of 18 acres of industrial property near Rockville, Md., a task which would have been a major undertaking for most men many years his junior. The last Montgomery County land transaction for the R.E. Latimer Land Company in Burnt Mills Hills was in December 15, 1960. About 1964, when Latimer was about 78 years of age, he suffered a stroke. His wife Ida tried to take care of him at their home on Floral Avenue, near Walter reed Hospital. However it proved to be too much for her and he was transferred to a nursing home where he lived for about three years until he died. Roberts E. Latimer died in 1968 at the age of 81. Realtor/Sales Director: Philander D. Poston (1880-1950) Major Philander Phil D. Poston was sales director for Burnt Mills Hills in conjunction with the R.E. Latimer Land Company. Poston was a Burnt Mills Hills resident. He contracted to have a house built that was representative of his native Tennessee. The house, known as Little Plantation, was designed by John B. Nutter and was built in 1937, at 818 McCeney Avenue. Poston resided here until about 1943.82 Born in Tennessee in 1880, Poston moved to Washington D.C. in 1897. A major in the Army during World War I, he was recognized by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower for his work in the U.S. Tank Corps. Before and after the war, he worked in the health field, with a post at the National Physical Culture Institute (1906), a natural therapist business (1921-1927), and a Washington Post health column (1921-1925). Phil Poston married Aurora M. Edwards in 1922. In 1926, Poston built Stonecroft, a stone English type house, 1201 Woodside Parkway, in Woodside Park. At about the same time, he started a real estate career, and soon had an office in Silver Spring. Poston promoted Woodside Park in Washington Post advertisements that featured his house. Like many homeowners in the post-Depression era, Poston defaulted on his mortgage and the house was sold in 1935.83 As president of the Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce in the early 1930s, Poston promoted development in Silver Spring. In 1935, Poston opened a new office in a small Colonial revival structure on Colesville Road. The same year, he started work for Latimer at Burnt Mills Hills. (Figure 2.26) In April 1935, the first month of sales for Burnt Mills Hills, Phil D. Poston was initially listed simply as agent for the R.E. Latimer Land Company. By May 19, 1935, Postons title was elevated to Director of Sales for Burnt Mills Hills. By April 1937, Poston had incorporated his business as Phil D. Poston, Inc. For a brief time, in September 1937, Poston lost this sales position to Waple & James of Montgomery Hills. Yet by October, a reconciliation had taken place, celebrated in a news article featuring side-by-side portraits of Poston and Latimer. Then in January 1938, Roberts E. Latimer expanded his services to include real estate brokerage, and Poston was omitted from Burnt Mills Hills promotion. Phil Poston, meanwhile, opened a new office in May 1938 in the Ford Motor Company building, at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road in downtown Silver Spring. By November 1938, Poston was evidently back on the payroll with Roberts Latimer, as he was again writing promotional articles extolling the advantages of Burnt Mills Hills, and once
82
Primary sources for Phil Poston: Obituary, Washington Post, October 9, 1950. Washington Post, various articles. Robert Oshel, Home Sites of Distinction: The History of Woodside Park, 1998. Telephone directory listings and database of Poston columns, Robert Oshel collection. John B. Nutter interviews. 83 1931 Klinge real Estate Atlas; Oshel, pp 65, 67, 86. Washington Post, September 12, 1926; June 9,1935.

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again was included as realtor on sales advertisements. He was also in this era involved in the sale of commercial property, homes and acreage in the Silver Spring area.84 In his later years, Poston was recognized for negotiating a contract to bring Hechts Department Store to Silver Spring and for playing a key role in establishing public parking for Silver Springs commercial district. He died in Florida in 1950, just a few months into his retirement. Architect: Laurence P. Johnston (1894-1960) Laurence Johnston was the company architect engaged by the R. E. Latimer Land Company to design houses in Burnt Mills Hills when the subdivision opened to the public in 1935. He designed White Gables, an English type house at 710 Burnt Mills Avenue; and the Louise Scanlan House, a Pennsylvania type house at 901 McCeney Avenue. A native of Washington D.C., Laurence P. Johnston grew up in a privileged family, the son of Margaret G. and lawyer Walter A. Johnston, living at 8 Grafton Street, in Chevy Chase Village. Johnston was designing large houses in the early 1920s in Woodley Park and Chevy Chase D.C., ranging from $9,000 to $79,000. The latter was for a Woodley Park mansion built by well-known real estate investor Middaugh & Shannon, in 1924. Johnston was admitted to the American Institute of Architects in 1925. He worked for Arthur B. Heaton from 1929 to 1931, and for some time in the partnership Johnston & Dixon. The majority of his career he was a solo practitioner.85 In addition to having a private practice, Johnston worked for federal and municipal government agencies. He worked for the Office of Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department from 1926 to 1929; the office of the D.C. Municipal Architect from 1931 to 1932; the U.S. Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks, 1932 to 1935; and the Veterans Administration Tech Division, 1935 to 1937. For most of the remainder of Johnstons career, starting in 1938, he was hospital architect for the Department of Interiors Bureau of Indian Affairs. By 1934, Johnston was designing houses in Silver Spring area, where he lived with his wife and children on Sligo Avenue. He was active in the Silver Spring Lions Club, while his wife belonged to the Womens Improvement Club of Silver Spring and chaired a committee on the American home. A gambrel-roof house he designed in Westmoreland Hills in 1934 was described in the press as an authentic colonial. In 1933, Johnston designed the first M-NCPPC office building, a $88,000 Colonial revival brick structure on Colesville Road, Silver Spring (present site of Discovery Headquarters), for which he received a Washington Board of Trade award. Two years later, he designed houses for Roberts Latimer in Burnt Mills Hills. Johnston included the Louise Scanlan House (901 McCeney Avenue) among his major projects in his entry for the American Institute of Architects Directory. He continued to design single family houses in the District through the late 1930s. His last commission before the war broke was the Anheuser Busch warehouse, 1440 Okie Street SE, a $90,000 modern concrete and steel structure, built in 1940. During the war and in the following years, Johnston became a hospital architect working for the U.S. Department of Interior Office of Indian Affairs and hospital consultant for Perkins, Wheeler and Will, architects, located in Evanston
84 85
Washington Post, May 3, 1938. Laurence Johnston AIA records. Polks Directory, 1927, Chevy Chase. Washington Post articles. D.C.Building Permits database.

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Illinois, outside Chicago. His projects include the Tacoma Indian Hospital (1941), Anchorage Hospital (1954), and Bethel Hospital (1954). Laurence Johnston died in 1960. Architects: Dillon & Abel Charles E. Dillon (1891-1939) and Joseph H. Abel (1905-1985) were the principals in Dillon & Abel architectural firm. Between 1935 and 1937, the firm designed at least eleven one-of-a-kind houses in a variety of house types in Burnt Mills Hills.86 A native of Chesterfield County, Virginia, Charles Dillon was practicing architecture in Washington, D.C. by 1926. He designed substantial brick, stone, and tile dwellings in well-to-do neighborhoods of northwest Washington. Jospeh Abel, a Washington, D.C. native, attended Central High School and graduated from George Washington Universitys architecture program. He worked for George Santmyers, prolific and accomplished designer of apartment houses, from 1923 to 1928. Dillon and Abel formed their partnership in 1932. In 1935, they designed houses for Roberts E. Latimer in his Rock Creek Hills subdivision, between upper 16th Street and Rock Creek Park, including a $15,000 house for historian John Clagett Proctor, author of the five-volume Washington Past and Present (1932). Proctors house was adjacent to Latimers own house on Jonquil Street NW. Dillon & Abel are recognized by James Goode in Best Addresses for being the first to design International Style apartments in Washington, with their Governor Shepherd apartments of 1938. The partnership was abruptly curtailed with Dillons untimely death in 1939. Joseph Abel then formed the partnership Berla & Abel, with Julian E. Berla, from 1939 to 1968. After Berlas retirement, the firm was called Abel & Weinstein from 1969 to 1974. With its most prolific period being in the postwar era, the firm was known for its apartment buildings, shopping centers and residences. Abel was enrolled in AIA membership in 1941 and was made an AIA Fellow in 1968. He was recognized as a national expert on apartment buildings. He coauthored a book Apartment Houses in 1947, and wrote articles on apartment buildings for the Encyclopedia Britannica. Abel was 80 when he died in 1985. Architect: John B. Nutter (1911- ) A Philadelphia native, John Barrett Nutter came to Washington, D.C. as a child, when his father, an engraver, was transferred to the U.S. Treasury Department during World War I. Nutter attended the McKinley Manual Training School (now McKinley High School) where he discovered a passion for architectural drawing. He studied architecture at George Washington University, under Norris I. Crandall, a Cornell University graduate. Nutter recalls a Professor Cline, a Beaux Arts man, who taught him how to draw from nature and design for the project requirements. Cline had studied for four months in Europe. Joseph Joe Abel was a classmate two years ahead of Nutter in the program. Abel would form a partnership with Charles Charlie Dillon, another GWU graduate, and design houses in Burnt Mills Hills before Nutter came on board.87
Primary sources include E.H.T. Traceries, D.C. Architects Directory, October 2010. D.C.Building Permits database. Joseph Abel AIA membership file. 87 Interviews with John B. Nutter, D.C. Building Permit database.
86

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Nutters first job was designing small houses for the Woodbridge realty Company in NE Washington, from 1935 to 1937. The challenge of the work was to design for small lots and meet setback requirements. The modest houses, averaging about 24 x 38, were two-story, brick sided buildings, mostly valued between $4,000 and $6,000, and designed in simple Colonial revival, Cape Cod, and Tudor revival styles. On January 1, 1937, Nutter went to work for Roberts E. Latimer. Latimer came to Nutter at one of his job sites and asked if he would be interested in bigger jobs. Latimer drove Nutter around Burnt Mills Hills where several houses were under construction and asked if Nutter could design houses of that size. Nutter recalled replying, with tongue in cheek, that he certainly could, and he got the job. Though he had no experience designing estate houses, Nutter recalled a sense of relief to be free of the restrictions of small subdivision lots, as though Id been let out of my coop, and I could go in any direction I wanted. Over the next nine months, Nutter designed 13 houses in Burnt Mills Hills.88 (Figure 2.27) The majority of Nutters projects in Burnt Mills Hills were speculative houses. Nutter had freedom to draw up his own plans for these jobs. The Norman, Virginian and New Englander were his designs. Never having traveled abroad, he found the Norman castle design came from his imagination. I let my brain and pencil run wild, Nutter recalled, designing a 16-room house that sold for $40,000--the most expensive house he designed. Thats what I wanted to do when I fell in love with architectural drawing--make a house people will fall in love with and be happy. Nutter designed two contract houses: 818 and 821 McCeney Avenue. For the latter, he recalled the owner, Dr. William Robinson, brought him a small picture of a house from a magazine and asked him to draw up the plans. He had to use his spyglass to determine how the design went. The houses had slate roofs, copper gutters and downspouts, brick and stone. Nutter hand selected bricks for particular houses from on-site vendors. To his dismay, Latimer ordered some of the brick houses which were not selling quickly enough to be painted white in order to appeal to prospective buyers. John B. Nutter married his wife Dorothy soon after he started working for Roberts Latimer. The couple came to live in Burnt Mills Hills when Latimer offered Nutter a house at reduced cost. The house, at 801 McCeney Avenue, was one that Nutter had designed on speculation. (Figures 1.26 and 2.19) He was able to buy the house for $14,000, reduced from the market price of $16,500. Nutter recalled that Phil Poston, exclusive realtor for Burnt Mills Hills, was not happy to hear that the house had been sold without his services. Nutter had been working in a basement office at Latimers house on Jonquil Street, Rock Creek Hills, living in a nearby rented room. After his marriage and move to Burnt Mills Hills, he worked in a basement office of his own house. Nutter worked for Roberts Latimer from January until September 1937. He left his employ when Latimer confided in him that several houses on the market were not selling and it would be some time before he would have need for more houses. In 1938, Nutter worked for architect E. Burton Corning, his chief project being the National Cash register Building on 16th Street NW. In 1939, he designed houses for developer Merwin A. Mace at Westmont, in Arlington, Virginia, a distinctive low-cost housing development of concrete construction. Nutter briefly had his own architectural practice, with an office on Colesville Road.
88
Nutter designed a total of 14 houses in Burnt Mills Hills, including 717 McCeney Avenue (1960), which he designed for a neighbor.

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With a family to support and the war coming on, Nutter pursued a government job. He aced the Civil Service Exam which required him to design a small house. He worked in the Bureau of Yards and Docks in Washington D.C. for 33 years. In 1960, Nutter designed a speculative house at 717 McCeney Avenue at the request of a builder. The split foyer house has a side-facing garage in keeping with garage designs of the neighborhood. Having celebrated his 100th birthday in July 2011, John B. Nutter continues to live in his house at 801 McCeney Avenue. Architect: Ronald S. Senseman (1912-2001) Ronald Senseman appreciated the traditional regional architecture presented in Burnt Mills Hills and yet was a skilled practitioner of the modern. In 1952, he designed a contemporary estate house for business partner Stewart Bainum at 705 Edelblut Drive. Two years later, Senseman bought the stone-faced Pennsylvania farmhouse at 901 McCeney Avenue, which he expanded in 1970. Following the death of his wife and his subsequent remarriage, Senseman designed a stonefaced Shed-Style residence at 10718 Gatewood Avenue (1981), where he resided until his death. Ronald Sylvester Sensemans lifework included over 2,000 projects including 50 churches and 150 schools, as well as hospitals, hotels, and nursing homes. He was most recognized in his lifetime for his innovative lightweight construction in school architecture. A recognized authority on design and construction of school buildings, he published articles and served as consultant to the government on the topic. In addition, Senseman was recognized for his church design and he published and taught on the topic.89 A New Jersey native, Senseman first studied architectural drawing in a vocational high school in Camden. He worked as a draftsman for a local architect for a year before moving to the Washington area in 1931. Senseman took classes at Takoma Academy, Takoma Park, and worked at Washington College Mill, in the District, before opening his private practice in 1934. He started designing small houses which were in great demand in this Depression era. He later received his degree in architecture from Catholic University. In 1944, he was admitted to the American Institute of Architects. Senseman was a republican nominee for the Maryland House of Delegates, in 1958. Senseman was a founder of the Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and served as its first president in 1955. A member of several national committees, he worked on planning and zoning committees of the Washington Building Congress, Home Builders Association, and Washington Board of Trade. In recognition of his accomplishments, Senseman was advanced to AIA Fellow membership in 1966. He was one of 25 Fellows in the Washington area at the time, representing 3.8 percent of the AIA membership nationally. Sensemans major projects included Washington Adventist College, Takoma Park (1936-1960s); and Leland Memorial Hospital (1936-42), in the Riverdale Historic District. Notable projects include St. Elizabeths Hospital, Shady Grove Hospital, Columbia Union College, Andrews Air Force Base chapel, and Andrews University buildings. The majority of his work was contemporary modern. His innovative elementary school design was recognized by Progressive Architecture (Forest Grove ES, 1950), and he received awards from the Washington Board of Trade for Oak View (1950), Viers Mill (1951) and Rolling Terrace (1951) Elementary Schools. He designed an International style office building for his firm in 1954, 7705 Georgia Avenue, with such
89
Sources on Ronald Senseman include AIA membership files; Obituary, Washington Post, February 6, 2001; Marcie Stickle and George French, MIHP Form, Silver Spring Baptist Church; and Washington Post articles.

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innovations as low-maintenance plastic wall paneling and aluminum ceilings, and acoustical and thermal insulation, which was recognized with a Potomac Valley Chap AIA award. He designed the modernist Montgomery County Council office building (1952), in Rockville; and Wheaton High School (1953). Sensemans modernist churches include Silver Spring Baptist Church (1956). He also designed traditional styled churches including Seventh Day Adventist Churches in Silver Spring (1950) and in the Takoma Park Historic District (1952-54). Senseman worked with Stewart Bainum in a variety of projects. He designed motels for Bainums motel company which grew to become Quality Courts. His motels include the Park Silver (1956), Park Arlington (1961), and Park University that became a Fortune 500 company. At one point, in 1955, Senseman and Bainum formed a syndicate to bid on a GSA project for the redevelopment of SW Washington, though their proposal was not ultimately accepted. The first known project Senseman did for Bainum was his 1952 residence at Edelblut Drive, in Burnt Mills Hills. Senseman designed few custom houses. The earliest known example was the Kessinger House (1946), 307 Warrenton Avenue, in nearby Springbrook, which received an award from the local AIA chapter. Senseman had an affinity for vernacular residential architecture, specifically the Pennsylvania farmhouse. He co-authored a book on R. Brognard Okie, restorer and designer of stone houses in southeastern Pennsylvania. Senseman bought the Pennsylvania farmhouse in Burnt Mills Hills, at McCeney, the moment it came on the market in 1953. The house, designed by Laurence Johnston in 1935, bears great resemblance to buildings depicted in his Okie book, such as the H. B. DuPont House, in Wilmington. Senseman designed an addition to the McCeney House in 1970.90 In 1999, Senseman was awarded an honorary doctorate from Andrews University. Senseman was 88 when he died in 2001.
90
John B. Willman Houses Age Gracefully at Burnt Mills Hills, The Washington Post, Real Estate, October 2, 1971, E1. Ronald S. Senseman et al, The Residential Architecture of R. Brognard Okie of Philadelphia, Washington,DC: R. S. Senseman, 1946.
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Figure2.1BurntMillsHillslandwashistoricallyafarm,shownhereunderownershipofFrankandWilliamWaters.The farmhadfrontageontheColesvillePiketothenorthandtheNorthwestBranchtothewest.DeetsandMaddox,1916
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Figure2.2TheBurntMillsHillslandfeatureshillsandstreams(dotdashlines).TheSmithWatersHouseisseenonthis 1916topographicmap(arrowadded).Farmlanes(heavydashlines)leadingfromColesvilleRoadtothefarmhouseand southtotheHarperFarmfollowthealignmentsoftodaysMcCeneyAvenueandHarperAvenue.U.S.GeologicalSurvey map,1916
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Figure2.3BurntMillsHills,Plat564,filedMay10,1935.
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Figure2.4BlocksHandI,BurntMillsHills,Plat788;FiledFebruary25,1937.
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Figure2.5In1934,theR.E.LatimerLandCompanydedicatedBurntMillsAvenueandsubdividedonelot,whichbecame 823BurntMillsAvenue.Plat505;FiledAugust1934.
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Figure2.6823BurntMillsAvenue,takenabout1951.Source:JaneDavenport
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Figure2.7TheSmithWatersHouse,700McCeneyAvenue,andSaltzmanHouse,823BurntMillsAvenue,areshownon this1935plat.(Plat535;February12,1935.)
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Figure2.8GeorgeSmithshouse(circled)isshownonthis1865map.AlsoseenistheColesvilleTurnpike,highlighted withhatchmarks,BurntMillspostoffice,andflourmill,attheintersectionoftheNorthwestBranchandColesville Turnpike.MartenetandBondmap,1865.
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Figure2.9Thisdisplayadisfortherestoredvernacularfarmhouse,700McCeneyAvenue,thefirsthousemarketedfor saleinBurntMillsHills.Thepicturesqueupanddownfontevokestherollinghillsideswithhighelevationsand
MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties InventoryNo.3329 BurntMillsHills Section8Figures extendedviewsextolledinthetext,andwasusedbyRobertsE.Latimerfor5yearsuntilheupdatedforamoremodern fontin1940.WashingtonPost,April21,1935
Figure2.10EmployeesoftheR.E.LatimerLandCompanyusedsteamshovelsandteamsofhorsestocarveoutroads andhousesitesinBurntMillsHills.Source:Latimerfamilycollection.
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Figure2.11710BurntMillsAve,LaurenceJohnstonarchitect.ThehouseasbuiltvariedsomewhatfromJohnstons originaldesignshownhere,includingchimneyplacementanduseofdoublehungsashinsteadofcasementwindows. (SeeFigure1.3)WashingtonPost,May5,1935
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Figure2.12807BurntMillsAvenue,WashingtonPost,June7,1935.
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Figure2.13aBurntMillsAvenuelookingwestabout1935.Source:LatimerFamilycollection.
Figure2.13bDetail,leftsideofphotograph,BurntMillsAvenuelookingwestabout1935. Farleft:823BurntMillsHills,andright,807BurntMillsAvenue.
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Figure2.13Detail,rightsideofphotograph,BurntMillsAvenuelookingwestabout1935. Fromlefttoright:700BurntMillsAvenue(behindtree),701BurntMillsAvenue(center);800BurntMillsAvenue,far right,with710BurntMillsAvenuebehindandtoright.Source:Latimerfamilycollection.
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Figure2.14Housesillustratedare1007McCeneyand807BurntMillsAvenues(toprow);700McCeneyand800Burnt MillsAvenue(2ndrow);701McCeney,710BurntMills,and901McCeneyAvenue(3rdrow);and10910HoyleAvenue (bottom).WashingtonPost,September13,1936.
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Figure2.15JohnB.Nutterdesigned14housesinBurntMillsHills,includingthefourhousesillustratedinthis advertisement.WashingtonPost,December12,1937
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Figure2.16DeveloperRobertsLatimermodernizedhisadvertisementsin1940withanewfont,marketingA CommunityofGentlemansEstates.Thehouseat10714GatewoodAvenuewasdesignedbyJohnB.Nutterandbuiltin 1940.WashingtonPost,March31,1940.
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Figure2.17RobertsLatimerresubdividedthewestendofEdelblutDrivein1946.Plat1802,filedJuly1946.
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Figure2.18AHomeintheCountry,memoirofacitydwellerssearchforacountryplace,wasapopularnovelusedby marketingagentPhilPostontoillustratetheidealsofcountrylivingforprospectiveBurntMillsHillshomeowners. Source:Frontispiece,FredericF.VandeWater.AHomeintheCountry.Baltimore,MD:WaverlyPress,1937.
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Figure2.19JohnB.Nutterslandscapeplanforhishouseat801McCeneyAvenue.Source;JohnB.Nuttercollection.
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Figure2.20EarlyresidentsinBurntMillsHillskeptlargegardensandboardedhorsesontheiramplelots.Joseph Cullinshadapastureandhorsestableinthelotadjacenttohishouse(identifiedhereasDame,alaterowner).Also visibleisPhilPostongrewcorninfrontofhishouse,theLittlePlantation(1),at818McCeneyAvenue,andthe Pennsylvaniafarmhouse(2),is901McCeneyAvenue.(Aerialphotograph,c19451946,JohnB.Nuttercollection)
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Figure2.21BurntMillsHillswassurroundedbyopenfarmlandbutthischangedinthepostwarerawiththe constructionoftheNavalOrdnanceLab(centerbackground)andsmalllotresidentialdevelopments.Aerialphotograph, c19451946,JohnB.Nuttercollection)
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Figure2.22USGeologicalSurveymap,LaurelSWQuadrangle,1947.
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Figure2.23aTheGeorgian,900McCeneyAvenue.WashingtonPost,April11,1937
Figure2.23bWashingtonPostApril11,1937
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Figure2.24ThefirsttobuylandinBurntMillsHillswasMajorGeneralCharlesMcK.Saltzman,ChiefSignalCorps Officer,whobuilthisretirementhouse,at823BurntMillsAvenue.Sources:oldpicture.com/American legacy/012/SaltzmanCharlesMcK.htm;U.S.ArmySignalCorpsRegimentalHistory, signal150.army.mil/09_saltzman.html.
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Figure2.25DeveloperRobertsLatimerlivedintheVirginianonEdelblutDrivewithhisyoungfamily.Picturedherein 1934:(LtoR)RobertsJr,RobertsSr,JohnB,IdaJ(marriednameStoffel),IdaC(maidennameJarboe),andMary (marriednameMount).Source:Latimerfamilycollection.
Figure2.26PhilPoston,realtor,andRobertsLatimer,developer.WashingtonPost,September30,1936.
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Figure2.27ArchitectJohnB.Nutterdesigned14housesinBurntMillsHillsshowninthisrendering(above),including 1000McCeneyAvenue(3onmap,andrenderingbelow).Source:JohnB.NutterwatercolorsJanuary2000,architects collection.PhotographsbySeanFilburn,July30,2011.
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Figure2.28RonaldS.SensemanHouse,10718GatewoodAvenue,landscapeplan,RonaldS.Sensemandrawing. Source:RonaldS.Sensemanmemorialserviceprogram,February7,2001;SilverSpringHistoricalSociety.
9. Major Bibliographical references

See continuation sheet.
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10. Geographical Data

Acreage of surveyed property Acreage of historical setting Quadrangle name Verbal boundary description and justification
Quadrangle scale:
The historic district boundary follows the boundary of Burnt Mills Hills plats of 1935, 1937, and 1946. The boundaries excludes two properties on Lockwood Drive that were developed in the mid-1970s--after the period of significance. These properties are the Burnt Mills Seventh Day Adventist Church, 10915 Lockwood Drive (2.2 acres) and residence at 11001 Lockwood Drive. Both properties are oriented to face Lockwood Drive which is located outside the subdivision.
11. Form Prepared by

name/title organization street & number city or town Clare Lise Kelly M-NCPPC, Montgomery County Planning Dept 8787 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring date telephone state January 2012 301-563-3400 MD
The Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties was officially created by an Act of the Maryland Legislature to be found in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Article 41, Section 181 KA, 1974 supplement. The survey and inventory are being prepared for information and record purposes only and do not constitute any infringement of individual property rights. return to: Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Department of Planning 100 Community Place Crownsville, MD 21032-2023 410-514-7600

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Ames, David L. and Linda Flint McClelland. Historic Residential Suburbs: Guidelines for Evaluation and Documentation for the National Register of Historic Places, National Register Bulletin. September 2002. Architectural Forum, 1937 Small House Preview, November 1936, pp 408-416. ---------------. Subdividing the U.S., 935-1936. October 1936, pp 386-394. Baist, G. Wm. Baists Map of the Vicinity of Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, Pa: G. Wm. Baist, 1917. Baker, John Milnes. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co, 1994. Brown, Dona. Back to the Land: the enduring dream of self-sufficiency in modern America. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. Burnt Mills Hills Citizens Association Directories, 1951, 1978, 1983, 1989, 2001. Carley, Rachel. The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture. New York, NY: Henry Hold & Co, 1994. Cloues, Dr. Richard R. Ordinary Iconic Ranch House, Recent Past Preservation Network Bulletin, Vol. 2, No.1, Winter 2011. Crawford, Catherine. McCeney Farmhouse, 700 McCeney Avenue, Maryland Historical Trust Inventory Form, January 1983. Davenport, Jane. Interview by Clare Lise Kelly, October 14, 2011. Deeds, Montgomery County Land Records. mdlandrec.net Deets, Edward H. and Charles J. Maddox, A Real Estate Atlas of Part of Montgomery County, Maryland. Rockville, Md: E. H. Deets & C.J. Maddox, 1916. District of Columbia, Building Permit Database, State Historic Preservation Office, Washington, D.C.. Listings for Laurence Johnston, Dillon & Abel, John B. Nutter. Finnegan, Eileen. Local history collection and email correspondence. Foster, Gerald. American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Gebhard, David. The American Colonial Revival in the 1930s, Winterthur Portfolio, 22:2/3 (Summer/Autumn 1987), pp. 109-148.

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Gournay, Isabelle and Mary Corbin Sies. Modern Movement in Maryland, Context Essay, University of Maryland, 2002. Hopkins, G.M. Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington Including the County of Montgomery, Maryland. Philadelphia, PA: G.M. Hopkins, 1879. Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1985. Kelly, Clare Lise. Places from the Past: The Tradition of Gardez Bien in Montgomery County, Maryland. Silver Spring: Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 2001. Kiplinger, Austin. The How Not to Book of Country Life. Self published, Montevideo, Christmas 1973. Klinge, Frank H.M. Atlas of Montgomery County, Maryland. Vol 2. Landsdale, Pa: Frank H.M. Klinge Engineers and Publishers, 1931, 1941, 1948 editions. Koyl, George S., American Architects Directory, 1956, 1960, 1970. Lampl, Elizabeth Jo. Subdivisions and Architecture Planned and Designed by Charles M. Goodman Associates in Montgomery County, Maryland, National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form, 2004. Latimer Family Papers, William J. Stoffel collection. Longstreth, Richard (Ed.). Housing Washington: Two Centuries of Residential Development and Planning in the National Capital Area. Chicago, Ill: The Center for American Places, 2010. Lusks Real Estate Directory, Washington D.C.: Rufus S. Lusk and Sons, 1957. MacMaster, Richard K. and Ray Eldon Hiebert. A Grateful Remembrance: The Story of Montgomery County, Maryland. Rockville, Maryland: Montgomery County Government and the Montgomery County Historical Society, 1976. Malone, Louisa McCeney and Augusta McCeney Young, Burnt Mills Hills, written by c1946. Source: Richard Dame. Martenet, Simon J. Martenet and Bonds Map of Montgomery County, Maryland. Baltimore, Md: Simon J. Martenet, 1865. McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.

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McCeney sisters, see Malone. McCoy, Jerry and the Silver Spring Historical Society. Images of America: Historic Silver Spring. Charleston, SC et al: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Meyer, Eugene L. Looks Can be Deceiving, Even in Burnt Mills Hills: Subdivision Stands Out Despite Its Simiar Name, Washington Post, March 20, 2004. Montgomery Sentinel, Dona L Cuttler (ed), Selected Clippings, 1900-1950. Vols 1 & 2. New South Associates, The Ranch House in Georgia: Guidelines for Evaluation, Georgia Transmission Corporation, 2010. Nutter, John B. Interviews by Clare Lise Kelly: July 30, August 17, September 13, and October 13, 2011. ------------------ Burnt Mills Hills: Recollections by John B. Nutter, June 2009. ------------------- Personal Papers, including record book of original owners, Burnt Mills Hills. Oshel, Robert E. Home Sites of Distinction: The History of Woodside Park. Silver Spring MD: Woodside Park Civic Assn, 1998. Plats, Montgomery County Circuit Court. www.plats.net Polks City Directory: Silver Spring, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kensington, Takoma Park, and Wheaton (Montgomery County, MD.), Richmond, Va: R. L. Polk & Co, 1962. Robbinson, Annie. A Portrait of a Nation: The Role of the Historic American Building Survey in the Colonial Revival, in Richard Guy Wilson, Shaun Eyring, and Kenny Marotta (Eds), Re-Creating the American Past: Essays on the Colonial Revival. Charlottesville, Va: University of Virginia Press, 2006. Senseman, Ronald S., Leon Brown, Edwin Bateman Morris, and Charles T. Okie. The Residential Architecture of R. Brognard Okie of Philadelphia, Washington,DC: R. S. Senseman, 1946. Spero, P.A.C. and Co./KCI, Suburbanization Historic Context and Survey Methodology, Prepared for the I-495/I-95 Corridor Transportation Study for the Maryland State Highway Administration, 1999 (revised 2000). Stickle, Marcie and George French. Silver Spring Baptist Church, Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form, Resource 36/61, November 2010. Stoffel, Wolmar. Roberts Edwin Latimer, Biographical sketch. c1961. Latimer family papers, William J. Stoffel.

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Sullivan, Patrick; Mary Beth Reed; and Tracey Fedor. The Ranch House in Georgia: Guidelines for Evaluation. Stone Mountain, GA: New South Associates, 2010. Willmann, John B. Houses Age Gracefully at Burnt Mills Hills, The Washington Post, Real Estate, October 2, 1971, E1. Traceries, E.H.T., Inc, Maryland Historic Context Mid-Twentieth Century (1946-1960), Montgomery County and Prince Georges County, Intercounty Connector Project, Prepared for the Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway Administration, and Federal Highway Administration, 2003. United States Geological Survey, Map, Laurel SW Quadrangle, 1916, 1947, 1955, 1964. Van de Water, Frederic F. A Home in the Country. Baltimore, MD: Waverly Press, 1937. Washington Post Archives. Washington Star, microfilm. Waterman, Thomas Tileston, and John A. Barrows. Domestic Colonial Architecture of Tidewater Virginia. New York, NY: Charles Scribners Sons, 1932.

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Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Burnt Mills Hills

Silver Spring Montgomery

4. Location of Legal Description

tax map JQ61

5. Primary Location of Additional Data

Number of Contributing resources previously listed in the Inventory 1

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

MarylandHistoricalTrustInventoryofHistoricProperties BurntMillsHills Section7Figures

BurntMills Hills BurntMills Knolls

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Architect/Builder Roberts E. Latimer; Laurence Johnston;

Dillon & Abel; John B. Nutter; Ronald Senseman c1858; 1934-1966

Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 33-29