A Wheaton neighborhood is honoring its historic homes

At first glance, these one-story houses are unremarkable. They’re small and unassuming. A few are obscured by trees, flowers and shrubbery. But passersby who look closely may see what sets them apart.

They’ll marvel at how walls of glass seem to barely separate the houses’ living rooms from their blooming yards. They’ll notice the chimneys are almost detached from the homes. And they may even wonder why the houses are set at varying angles and face different directions.

The homes were designed by Charles Goodman, widely recognized as the master of the modern architecture movement in the capital region. In Wheaton Crest, a neighborhood in Wheaton where the median price of a home is $545,000, community members are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the 27 Goodman homes located there.

From 1949 to 1960, more than 275 single-family homes designed by Goodman were built in Montgomery County.

“The house basically speaks about possibilities and living with possibilities,” said Marina Callahan, who has lived in one of the Wheaton Crest homes since 2017. “It’s special. It has a lot of light. It just has some really great ideas, and it’s fun living with really great ideas.”

Goodman’s designs were different from the standards of the time, often utilizing nontraditional materials and incorporating nature. He believed starter homes should be interesting and affordable for middle-class families, Callahan said.

Rebeccah Ballo, the chief of Montgomery Planning’s Historic Preservation Division, said she thinks of Goodman’s work as the opposite of the Levittown houses in New York, which were mass-produced and nearly identical.

Although some architects and developers just plowed through land, Goodman made a conscious effort to preserve nature, she said.

“They’re beautiful because they’re so simple. They show that beautiful, livable design does not need a lot of ornamentation,” Ballo said. “It just needs to be thoughtfully and carefully placed in the landscape and in relation to its neighbors, and it needs to use the materials available correctly.”

Goodman knew how to create lasting architecture, Ballo said. The homes in the Wheaton Crest neighborhood were constructed in 1951 and 1952 on Henderson Avenue, Harris Street and Ivanhoe Street. Although some have undergone renovations, most retain their core features, including the detached chimney and the wall of glass.

Callahan didn’t know much about Goodman or his designs before she moved into her house, but she was fascinated by the history. She researched the architect and tried to learn everything she could about the man who created the place she calls home. Now she hopes to share that knowledge with her community.

Last year, Callahan approached the Glenmont Forest Neighbors Civic Association with the idea of honoring the homes’ 75th anniversary. The organization decided to host events throughout 2026, including walking tours, free art workshops and a speaker series.

More than a dozen people gathered at one of the art workshops this month to construct replica Goodman homes using cardboard, wax and mixed media.

Kensington resident Monica Hanna, one of the workshop attendees, regularly runs and bikes through a neighborhood with Goodman homes and has always admired the midcentury modern architecture.

“I finally got up the courage to actually knock on the door and ask somebody about their house,” she said. “That’s how I found out that it was Charles Goodman.”

She researched the architect and found an online advertisement for the art workshops. Hanna considers herself an introvert but said she enjoys socializing at the workshops with artists and others interested in modern architecture.

Karen Butler, another attendee, has lived in a home designed by Goodman in Hammond Wood since 2005. The neighborhood is close to Wheaton Crest and includes one- and two-story houses.

Butler has a background in architecture and sought out a midcentury modern home. Her favorite part is how it brings the inside and the outside together. She also thinks Goodman’s designs foster community.

“There are no closed garages. Everybody gets to know everybody,” she said. “It’s a pretty nice cohesion of all of these different people kind of vibrating together.”

The Hammond Wood neighborhood is one of three of Goodman’s subdivisions in Montgomery County listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Preservation Division is considering Rock Creek Woods, one of these subdivisions, for local historic designation. It would protect the homes against demolition or incompatible alterations, Ballo said. This would be the first of Goodman’s neighborhoods to be locally designated in Montgomery County.

Goodman, who died in 1992, also designed buildings outside Montgomery County, including the officers’ club at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County and a terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. But it’s his homes that have been the most revered.

“They represented this beautiful, optimistic vision of the future,” Ballo said. “They really tapped into the human desire to live in a comfortable space. It doesn’t all have to look the same.”