One of the Most Popular Older Silver Spring Neighborhoods, Close-in Woodside Park has an interesting history. This Mature, Densely Wooded Neighborhood is accessible to Downtown Silver Spring and the Silver Spring Metro Station. Located inside the Beltway and just over the Washington DC line in Maryland, this gorgeous old subdivsion of charming homes has larger than average lot sizes. Read on for a full history or scan down for an in-depth overview of the amazing variety of architecture styles found in Woodside. 
Woodside Park is located in Silver Spring, one of the oldest suburbs of Washington DC. Its boundaries are roughly Georgia Avenue (State Route 97) on the west, Spring Street to the South, Colesville Road (US Route 29) to the east, and from there Dale Drive to the north, then following Woodland Drive to Grace Church Road. It does, however, include Clement Road and Clement Place on the northern side of Dale Drive. It borders the neighborhoods of Woodside, Woodside Forest, North Woodside, and South Woodside Park. It also shares a boundary with the Silver Spring business district.
The neighborhood was established in 1922 when Alton Farm, the estate of Crosby S. Noyes, the late Washington Evening Star newspaper publisher, was sold for development as Woodside Park, which featured "Acre Plot Home sites of Distinction." The neighborhood developed slowly. Most homes were built from the 1920s through the 1950s, although some in-fill construction has taken place from the 1960s into the 1990s. In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s many homes have been added to and a few smaller homes have been demolished and replaced by new, larger homes.
Woodside Park streets were built to create a park-like setting for homes. Unlike the grid pattern typically found in urban areas, Woodside Park streets follow the contours of the land and curve to follow natural ridges and stream valleys. Most street rights-of-way are unusually wide, and homes are set back from the rights-of-way almost twice as far as required by zoning regulations. This creates an unusually spacious look not found in most urban or suburban neighborhoods.
One reason the neighborhood is desirable is the varied architecture of its homes. Many types of homes are found in Woodside Park. Their architecture and significance were discussed extensively in the "Maryland Historical Trust State Historic Inventory Form" prepared by historian Andrea Rebeck for Woodside Park in November 1987; much of what follows is taken directly from that document. The original Woodside Park subdivision contained approximately 415 homes in 1987. Of these, 293 or just over 70% were built before World War II. These houses represent nearly every style and type popular in Maryland in the first half of the 20th Century. There are bungalows, a four-square house, both brick and frame Colonial Revival houses, Dutch and Spanish Colonial Revival houses, Tudor and English or Cotswold cottage houses, and Cape Cod houses. They range from relatively humble structures to mansions, but whether built of wood, brick, stucco, or stone, these houses exhibit some of the finest craftsmanship of their era. Woodside Park's post-war houses are also exemplary; they include California ranch, split-level and bi-level houses, as well as one strikingly modern house and many brick Colonial Revival and Cape Cod houses. The large lots on which they sit provide ample space for viewing and appreciating them.
Unlike many contemporary subdivisions in which a single developer sells completed homes on new lots, many builders worked in Woodside Park. The developers initially had their own affiliated construction company, the Woodside Homes Corporation, but it built only a few homes and had considerable difficulty selling the ones it did build. Wynnewood Park's Thomas E. Jarrell & Company had the Stambaugh Construction Company, which employed builder Edward A. Gaylor to do much of its work. These affiliated builders did not work exclusively in their related subdivisions; for example 1408 Highland Drive had a "Stambaugh Built" plaque embedded into its front walk until the walk was replaced in the 1990s even though the Stambaugh Construction Company was affiliated with Wynnewood Park's developer, not Woodside Park's.
Many different styles of houses were constructed in Woodside Park, as noted above. See below for a detailed description of the types of architecture and specific examples of each type.
Bungalow
The bungalow is a type of house to which many styles were applied, ranging from Spanish Colonial to Swiss Chalet. The style originated in California as an outgrowth of Japanese influences. By the 1920s hundreds of bungalow were being built throughout the developing areas of the county. These houses are characterized by asymmetrical elevations; an open, informal plan; low pitched overhanging roofs; shed or gabled dormers; and the inclusion of the porch as an integral part of the massing and design of the building. An excellent example of the type is 1509 Highland Drive. 1509 Highland was built prior to 1931. It is a one and one-half story, side gabled, frame structure, with a cross-gable porch wrapping around the front and side of the house. Projecting from the roof of the house is a gabled dormer whose roof pitch follows that of the porch below. The wide, overhanging eaves are supported by knee braces. The house is similar to the "Corona," a catalog house offered by Sears & Roebuck between 1916 and 1922.
The bungalow at 1226 Noyes Drive actually is a Sears house. It is the "Kilbourne" model offered in some Sears home catalogs between 1921 and 1929 for from $2,500 to $2,780 (1997 equivalent: $22,250 to $25,900). This particular "Kilbourne" was built in 1925 for Robert L. and Flora Petzold, who lived there until 1958. As was fairly commonly done with Sears homes, the design was flipped left to right from the home and plan shown in the catalog as the home was actually built in Woodside Park. The basic "Kilbourne" design has five relatively large rooms (living room, dining room, kitchen, and two bedrooms) and one bath. The front porch has a steeply pitched gabled roof supported by tapered piers and exposed roof rafter tails. Construction of three rooms on the second floor (attic) is optional. The fireplace is flanked by windows in the living room and there is a French door between the living and dining rooms. As the 1926 catalog put it, "The Kilbourne bungalow satisfies every family that has built it. Judge for yourself! The photograph and floor plan show the reason why the Kilbourne is such an outstanding value. See its sloping roof, the dormer, the overhanging eaves, the fireplace chimney, the large porch, and the massive porch pillars!"
Other good examples of bungalows in Woodside Park are 1437 Highland Drive, the now-modified home of builder John Faulconer; 1506 Highland Drive, which was built in 1924; 9103 Woodland Drive; and 8916 Woodland Drive, which was also built in 1926 by John Faulconer. The home at 1433 Highland Drive is a Prairie Style bungalow. Builder Robert Murphy built it for his own use.
American Foursquare
Woodside Park contains one example of the American Foursquare type house. 9104 Woodland Drive is a large, simple, two-story house, with stucco exterior walls and a slate roof. The roof is low-pitched and has double-window, hipped dormers projecting from it. Across the entire front facade is a one-story hip-roof porch supported by square posts. The front door, which is asymmetrically placed at the right end of the facade, is glazed and has sidelights. A triple window is to the left of the door. Two double windows are on the second story. All windows have six-over-one, double-hung wood sashes. Mrs. Marian Brown has lived in the home since the mid-1930s. The original builder-owner was forced to sell it during the Depression.
Colonial Revival
The 1876 Centennial kindled a fascination with America's colonial roots that is still strong today. Gradually, elements of English Colonial design such as fan lights and Palladian windows began to appear on Victorian houses. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, architects were so adept at designing in the Colonial Style that some of the houses of this era are almost indistinguishable from their 18th century models. Builders found the styles easy to copy. Numerous Georgian, Dutch, and Spanish Colonial Revival houses appeared in suburbs throughout the United States. Woodside Park contains several examples of each.
Georgian Revival
The grandest of Woodside Park's Georgian Revival houses is 9033 Georgia Avenue. This house was built in 1926 for Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Williams. It is a large, two-story, five-bay brick house with a side-gable roof. Three large, broken-pediment dormers project from the roof and contain round-headed windows. The front facade is symmetrical around the front door, which is surrounded by transom and sidelights and sheltered by a broken-pediment porch roof supported by Tuscan columns. As is typical in this style, the main block is flanked by one-story wings; a large open porch (known as a breakfast porch) on the right and an enclosed sun-room (often called a living porch) on the left. The Colonial image is completed by a straight walkway lined with boxwood shrubs leading to the front door.
Another example is 9101 Crosby Road. This very large stone house with three car garage was built in 1939.
1210 Highland Drive is another noteworthy faithful Georgian Colonial revival home. The brick home was built in the mid-1920s for Samuel F. Birthright. It has a quietly imposing symmetrical facade with porches at either side of the house. The front entry is emphasized by a semicircular porch with a half-domed copper roof. The plan of the house resembles its colonial ancestors and has been changed very little since the house was built. A center hall with an elegant staircase greets the visitor upon arrival. A parlor is to the right and a smaller study is to the left. The dining room is behind the study.
Other good examples of the Georgian Revival style are 1205 Highland Drive, a frame house built in 1926; 1311 Noyes Drive, a very nice stone house advertised in the October 9, 1926 Evening Star for $15,850 (1997 equivalent: $142,500); 919 Highland Drive, which was built in 1934; 9020 Alton Parkway, which was built in 1940; and 1223 Woodside Parkway, a Garrison Style Colonial Revival home built by 1941.
Dutch Colonial
Derived from the gambrel-roof houses built by the Dutch settlers, the Dutch Colonial house is typified by the gambrel roof from which projects a large shed dormer containing two or more windows. The builder's variant of this creates the appearance of a gambrel roof while actually building a two-story, gabled-roofed rectangular box. The overhangs of the gables are sloped at a steeper angle beginning a few feet down from the peak, and join the lower roof again just above the eave. This "fake" gambrel can be detected by noticing that the cheeks of the dormer are in the same plane as the end of the gable walls. Such construction was less expensive than building a gambrel roof with a narrower shed dormer because it used simpler framing. A good example of such a house is 1408 Highland Drive, a frame house which was built by Stambaugh Construction in 1925 for Clifford and Louise Tyrrell. A large addition which respects the original style and materials has been constructed on the rear of this house.
The house constructed by John J. Dolan in 1926 at 1430 Highland Drive (corner of Woodland Drive) is another example. This house is unusual in its materials. Its lower floors is brick and the upper floors are stucco and half-timber. The house is also unusual in how it is sited. Its narrow front, which has an open porch with massive plain stucco columns, faces Highland Drive. In a typical Dutch Colonial house this would be a side rather than the front. The longest dimension of the home, typically the front but in this case the side, faces Woodland Drive, and the home seems to march down the hill in a grand fashion revealing the former garage, now a sun-filled playroom, tucked beneath the house.
1420 Highland Drive is another good Dutch Colonial example, as is 1300 Noyes Drive. Another is the somewhat smaller 9112 Crosby Road, which is relatively atypical of Woodside Park's Dutch Colonials because of its brick exterior. There are other noteworthy examples in Woodside Park, but some of the best of them have been covered with aluminum or vinyl siding.
Spanish Colonial Revival
About 1925, the Spanish Colonial Revival Style became a craze in the United States. A mixture of styles derived from the Mediterranean countries, it is typified by an asymmetrical and sometimes complex elevation, low-pitched tile roofs, stucco exterior walls, round-headed windows, twisted columns, multi-colored medallions mounted in the exterior walls, wrought iron balconies, and steel casement window. Woodside Park contains two excellent examples of this style, 1000 Mansion Drive, which was built in 1926 on the foundation of the original Noyes mansion, and the smaller one-story 1003 North Mansion Drive, which was advertised as "Villa Carmen." These houses retain their original mottled-pastel-on-grayish tan exterior coloring.
Italian Renaissance
The home at 1011 North Noyes Drive is an example of Italian Renaissance architecture, which was especially popular in the 1920s. These homes typically feature ceramic tile roofs with wide eaves supported by decorative brackets and upper story windows which are less elaborate than those on the first floor. The lot for this home was sold in 1926 to Howard W. Kacy, who had the home constructed for his own use.
Gothic Revival
Woodside Park has one example of a castellated Gothic revival home, 9207 Crosby Road.
Tudor
Woodside Park especially excels in Tudor houses, which were popular in the 1920s. Whether built of stone, wood, or brick, these homes combine many Medieval English elements in an informal way to create considerable visual interest. Their use of rough textured materials and lush plantings (especially ivy) creates an effect of antiquity.
An excellent Tudor example is "Pinecrest,"1227 Pinecrest Circle, which was built in 1928 by architect Graham H. Woolfall for his own use. The home consists of complex gabled roof forms, masterful half-timbering, and stuccoed white walls. The grouped casement windows are of wood, not metal, and the house contains several Medieval details such as the crude tapered columns supporting the entrance porch. It is well sited on its lot on one of Pinecrest Circle's curves so that the house's shape changes dramatically as one rounds the corner. Another Woodside Park resident and architect, Frank G. Beatty, designed an addition to the house that was totally in keeping with the original Woolfall design for a later owner of the house, Charles A. Horsky.
Nearby stands 1234 Pinecrest Circle, which was completed in 1929 by architect Warren R. Seltzer, who also worked in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury with Graham Woolfall. Mr. Seltzer's Woodside Park home was featured in Building Age magazine in 1929. In 1989 a substantial addition was constructed to the home's left and front in a way that makes the addition virtually impossible to distinguish from the original construction. Indeed, the stone used to accent the addition's exterior walls matches the accenting stone of the original section of the house. This stone, which was excavated near East-West Highway when Connecticut Avenue was extended, contains unusual iron deposits that have long since rusted out to leave soft red streaks. The stone accenting the addition came from original stone that had been used to build a small backyard fish pond and from extra stone left over from when the home across the street at 1227 Pinecrest Circle was built.
Alton Parkway also contains important Tudor homes. 9104 Alton Parkway is a more formal example of the style. This large house presents two steep gables to the street and has intricate half timbered upper floors above a stone main floor. Across the street and well sited up the hill is 9105 Alton Parkway. This home was built for Clarence L. Hubbard. The home has superb stonework, roundheaded doors, a spiral staircase, a raised dining room overlooking the living room and even an unusual round stained glass window which was taken from a theater in Washington.
There are other noteworthy Tudor homes in Woodside Park as well. 1211 Woodside Parkway is a large example of a Cotswold Cottage Style house. It is front gabled with brick and stone accents, and its long, sloping roof line terminates in a garden wall which attaches to a garage of matching design and materials. This was the home of J. Reginald Boyd illustrated in an earlier chapter. Other Tudor houses with matching garages include 1015 Noyes Drive, 1016 North Noyes Drive, and 1108 Highland Drive, which was designed for his own use by architect Arthur L. Blakeslee. Another Tudor home, 9017 Fairview Road, deserves special mention for its extraordinary stonework.
Cape Cod
The Cape Cod Style house was to the 1940s and 1950s what the bungalow had been to the 1890s and 1920s--an attractive usually smaller house that was built in large numbers. The style derived from the one-story, gable-roof houses common in New England but also found in mid-Atlantic colonies including Maryland in the 1600s and 1700s. Although the style can be used for inexpensive houses with attics that may be used for living space, most Woodside Park examples are much more substantial and roomy and are built of brick and have slate roofs. The second floor in these houses was often designed from the beginning for habitation and a small true attic may be found above the second floor.
A good example of this type is 1401 Woodside Parkway. This home was designed and built in 1937 by architect Frank G. Beatty. His widow, Louise Beatty, lived there until 1995. The home won the Washington Board of Trade's Diploma of Merit as of "superior design among the buildings erected in the year 1937." The home was described as a "charming one and one-half story brick residence in the Virginia manner." The central one and one-half story portion of the house is flanked on both sides by one story wings. The wing on the right serves as a large garage with entrance at the rear. The wing's use as a garage can not be detected from either the front or the side of the house. The home has a number of clever design features such as a mail slot by the front door that opens to a chamber within the wall. A small door built into the wall allows access to the mail.
The home at 1221 Woodside Parkway is another outstanding Cape Cod. Built in 1941, this home is a one-and-one-half story side gable house with a garage wing to the left balanced by a small one story wing on the right. An external brick chimney rises at the right end of the main block and two small gable-roof dormers are mounted on the slate-covered main roof. The front door, surrounded by classical detailing, is flanked by eight-over-eight, double-hung wood windows with paneled shutters.
Another example is 9114 Crosby Road. This house, which was designed by A.W. Smith and completed in 1940, has interesting wood dentiles under the eaves. The facade is brick, as is typical of the style in early mid-Atlantic and Southern planation houses. The brick is set in American Bond; every seventh row of brick is all headers. There is classic detailing above and around the door. The front is symmetrical with slightly arched and shuttered eight-over-eight windows on either side of the door and three smaller six-over-six windows in dormers mounted in the slate roof. An exterior chimney is on the right. The interior also follows the floor plan found in these houses in colonial Maryland plantations.
The home at 1229 Noyes Drive is another distinguished Cape Cod style home. This house was constructed some time between 1935 and 1941 by a builder for his own use and is reportedly modeled after the Smith's Fort Plantation house built in the 18th Century on the James River opposite Jamestown, Virginia.
Modern
Woodside Park contains numerous homes of various modern styles ranging from builder adaptations of the International style to California ranch, contractor modern, and contemporary. The Beitzell homes on the north side of the 1000 block of Woodside Parkway (1013, 1015, 1019, 1021, and 1023) are examples of builder adaptation of the International style. These homes are clearly different from their more traditional neighbors, but they are not extreme in their adoption of the International style.
A post-war group of Beitzell homes illustrates the California ranch style. The homes at 9109, 9113, 9117, and 9121 Fairview Road were constructed in 1950. The style itself was originated by several California architects in the 1930s. These often asymmetrical rambling one story houses maximize the facade width, which is often further extended by a built-in garage or carport. The style gained considerable popularity in the 1950s and 1960. The Beitzell Fairview Road examples were selected by the Washington Post for its "Homes of 1950" series. The home at 8920 Fairview Road is another example of this type, as is the home at 9109 Crosby Road.
Woodside Park has contemporary homes. The most notable example, which was designed and built by its architect-owner S. Thomas Stathes in 1972, fits perfectly on its site at 1213 Noyes Drive. The home has a large living room, dining room, family room, and kitchen on the first floor and three bedrooms on the second floor. A 1997 addition, also designed by Mr. Stathes, added an office at the rear.
A somewhat more traditional appearing example is 1221 Noyes Drive. This Acorn manufactured home was built in 1991.
The above information has been borrowed from:
Home Sites of Distinction
The History of Woodside Park
Silver Spring, Maryland
by
Robert E. Oshel
Published by
The Woodside Park Civic Association
