Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form
1. Name of Property

Inventory No. 31-43

(indicate preferred name)

historic

Americana Glenmont

other

Glenmont Forest

2. Location
street and number

2300 Glenmont Circle

not for publication

city, town

Silver Spring

vicinity

county

Montgomery

3. Owner of Property

(give names and mailing addresses of all owners)

name

Glenmont Forest Investors Ltd Partnership

street and number

8630 Fenton Street

city, town

Silver Spring

telephone
state

MD

zip code

20910

4. Location of Legal Description

courthouse, registry of deeds, etc.

Montgomery County

Rockville

city, town

liber 6584 folio 619

tax map JQ23

tax parcel N766; N610 tax ID number 13-00975436 and

13-00975447

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

Current Function

public
private
both
X

agriculture
commerce/trade
defense
domestic
education
funerary
government
health care
industry

Resource Count
X

landscape
recreation/culture
religion
social
transportation
work in progress
unknown
vacant/not in use
other:

Contributing
21

21

Noncontributing
buildings
sites
structures
objects
Total

Number of Contributing Resources

previously listed in the Inventory

7. Description

Inventory No. 31-43

Condition
x

excellent
good
fair

deteriorated
ruins
altered

Prepare both a one paragraph summary and a comprehensive description of the resource and its various elements as it
exists today.

Summary
Americana Glenmont, now known as Glenmont Forest, is a modernist garden apartment complex in a park-like setting in
the suburban community of Glenmont, Maryland. The 33.8-acre property is immediately adjacent to the Wheaton
Regional Park, and is located southeast of the Randolph Road-Georgia Avenue intersection. Built by Carl M. Freeman, an
early and persistent promoter of modernist housing, the complex is rooted in mid-century modern principles. The site
plan is designed to preserve natural features and fit buildings into the landscape. Low slung buildings with broad eaves
are modern in design, with glass window walls, balconies and terraces which promote indoor-outdoor living by
extending living space outdoors with balconies and terraces, and bringing outdoors to the interior, with expansive glass
walls and picture windows. In addition, utilitarian rooms like bathrooms are placed on the interior so that windows are
available for living spaces. The complex was built in two phases. The majority of buildings, located on the large western
parcel, were built in the first phase of 1961. The complex was expanded in 1965 with construction of buildings on the
east parcel.
Location
The Americana Glenmont complex is located along Georgia Avenue, a major boulevard that runs north from Washington
DC, crossing the Capital Beltway (3 miles south of Glenmont) and Wheaton (1 mile south). (Figures 1 and 2) It is roughly
bounded by Randolph Road on the north, single-family houses in the Glenallen subdivision on the northeast, Wheaton
Regional Park on the east, Georgian Woods Place on the south, Georgia Avenue on the west, and the Glenmont Fire
Station and Police Department on the northwest. Directly north of Randolph Road is the Glenmont Shopping Center.
The 33.8 acre property is comprised of one large main parcel, Parcel A (N766, 26.3 acres), platted in 1961, and a smaller,
secondary parcel, Parcel B (N610, 7.5 acres), platted in 1965.
Buildings
The complex has 19 apartment buildings containing a total of 480 units. The apartments were built in two phases, with
the first buildings constructed on Parcel A, in 1961, followed by apartments on Parcel B, which were built about 1965.
Most buildings are composed in plan of two offset rectangular forms, having receding faades where one block is set
back from the other, connected rectangle. (Figure 1) Five buildings are long rectangles.
The long, low buildings are set into the landscape. (Figures 3 and 4) Cantilevered balconies and terraces bring living
space out into the natural setting, while window walls bring nature into living spaces. The two story apartment buildings
have brick siding and low-pitched gable roofs with wide overhangs. Where banked into sloping land, buildings have
exposed basement level doors and windows. A two-story wall of glass marks stairwell entrances. Terraces and
balconies are accessed by exterior doors set within a window wall. A pool and pool house are located on Parcel A, and a
small outbuilding is located on Parcel B. (Figures 5-7)
The complex offered a variety of apartment types from efficiency units to three-bedroom deluxe units, in a range of
sizes from 368 square feet to 1085 square feet. Additional flexibility was offered by providing optional dens or deluxe
units with additional floor space. Following is data on apartments in the complex today:

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No.

31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 7

Page 1

Square Feet2

Number of
Units3

Efficiency

368

14

Junior 1 Bedroom

542

1 Bedroom

612

1 Bedroom Deluxe

650

1 Bedroom with Den

708

2 Bedroom

728

2 Bedroom with Den

880

2 Bedroom Deluxe

915

3 Bedroom

960

3 Bedroom Deluxe

1085

3 Bedrm

2 Bedroom

1 Bedroom

Apartment Type1

146

271

49

Site Plan
The apartment buildings are built into sloped terrain and complement the natural topography. (Figure 29) The structures
are grouped to provide a feeling of community within the complex, yet allow privacy for each dwelling. A circular
driveway, Glenmont Circle, circumscribes 15 of the complexs 19 apartment buildings laid in a roughly radial
arrangement with the short ends of apartment blocks facing the driveway. Apartment buildings are double loaded
oriented so most units face green space and mature trees. At the center of the radial plan is a large wooded green with
pool and pool house. (Figure 7)
The main entrance to the complex is from Georgia Avenue, with two secondary entrances off Randolph Road providing
access to Parcels A and B. To the east, a stem driveway and parking lot access four apartment buildings located on
Parcel B. Parking spaces line Glenmont Circle. Walkways lead from the drive and extend along both long faades of each
building, and connect to circumnavigate the central pool green.
1

Grady Management Company, www.gradymgt.com.

Apartments.com
3
Department of Housing and Community Affairs, April 2012 data.
2

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No.

31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 7

Page 2

Community facilities include a swimming pool with poolhouse, playground, picnic areas, and walkways. Buildings include
communal laundry rooms.
Floor plans
The floor plans feature a convenient and logical arrangement of rooms with a balance of openness and privacy. Doors
open into an entrance foyer that serves as a transition space to a living area that flows into the dining area. Optional
dens offered tenants a more private living space. Kitchens are centrally located and open off the dining area. A hall
leads to the bathroom and bedroom(s). (Figure 8)
Dining and living rooms are enlivened by window walls that overlook a balcony or terrace, accessible by a glazed door.
Bedrooms are lit by picture windows. An innovation of developer Carl Freeman was to locate bathrooms and kitchens in
interior space so windows could be used to light living space. Large storage space was a marketing point for Freeman.
Storage included an entry coat closet, linen closet, walk-in closets and wall-to-wall closets, which were innovative at
that time. The apartments were fully air-conditioned. In contrast, the Freeman apartments of the mid to late 1950s had
offered air conditioning only as an option, at extra cost.

8. Significance
Period

Areas of Significance

1600-1699
1700-1799
1800-1899

1900-1999
2000-

Inventory No. 31-43

Check and justify below

agriculture
archeology

economics
education

health/medicine
industry

performing arts
philosophy

architecture

engineering

invention

politics/government

art
commerce
communications

entertainment/
recreation
ethnic heritage

landscape architecture
law
literature

religion
science
social history

community planning
conservation

exploration/
settlement

maritime history
military

transportation
other:

Specific dates

1961 plat; 1965 plat

Construction dates

1961; 1965

Architect/Builder

Carl M. Freeman

Evaluation for:
National Register

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
Americana Glenmont is significant as an outstanding example of a modernist garden apartment complex with a natural,
park-like setting. Americana Glenmont received an award in 1962 from the Montgomery County Council and M-NCPPC
for a judicious site plan that conserved natural topography and mature trees. Following on the heels of passage of the
countys Anti-Bulldozer Bill, the award program was part of a public education effort to change clear cutting and land
leveling practices of developers in the postwar era. The project represents state of the art planning of its day in
preserving natural resources and promoting indoor-outdoor living through site planning and modern architecture. The
site features large expanses of green and mature trees, while apartments feature balconies and terraces that bring
nature to private residential units. Americana Glenmont was the work of developer Carl M. Freeman, an early promoter
of modernist housing in metropolitan Washington. The Americana Glenmont (1961) is Freemans first project in
Montgomery County to feature a natural, rustic park setting. Americana Glenmont follows the example set by Falkland
Apartments (1936-37), the prototypical garden apartment complex in Montgomery County, noteworthy for moderateincome housing of Colonial Revival styling with a site plan that retained the natural landscape. A quarter century later,
Americana Glenmont picked up on that tradition, using a modernist vocabulary of architectural design.
Carl M. Freeman has been credited with introducing the modern garden apartment to metropolitan Washington. City
planners, government officials, architects, and the building industry hailed his rustic park type of apartment project.
Freemans work was cited in Architectural Record, House & Home, Better Homes & Gardens, Changing Times and Urban
Land. A founder of the Maryland Suburban Home Builders Association and recognized as one of the top 12 builders in
the nation in 1964, Freeman helped transform local and national housing regulations from building codes to zoning.
Freeman was a recognized trendsetter who was in the forefront of new frontiers in housing, from garden apartments to
condominiums and resort housing.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 1

AMERICANA GLENMONT AND THE ANTI-BULLDOZER ECOLOGY MOVEMENT

In the postwar era, the County experienced rapid construction of housing to shelter a huge increase of population. From
1946 to 1950, the county population doubled, and it more than doubled again between 1950 and 1960.4 During this
building frenzy, developers were criticized for leveling land and clear cutting trees to facilitate development. (Figure 9)
In 1957, Irston R. Barnes of the Audubon Society described the effects of the clear-cutting, land-leveling building
practices that had been in place for over a decade:
I have been utterly depressed by the desolation spread by developers since the beginning of the postwar
boom. Nevertheless, it is still a shock to drive out Georgia Avenue, Lee highway, or any other Maryland or
Virginia suburban thoroughfare and see miles of standardized houses with no tree bigger than a sapling. How
can there be any joy in living in such denuded landscapes?5
The wholesale stripping of trees and re-grading of land, however, had become such an issue that the County Council
passed conservation legislation dubbed the Anti-Bulldozer bill, in May 1957, which denounced such practices. 6 An
ordinance with teeth to enforce the conservation law, however, proved to be difficult to craft, in part due to federal and
state regulations governing residential construction.
The County Council established an Advisory Committee on Soil Erosion, Natural Topography and Open Space Planning
which, in the absence of regulatory review, embarked upon a public education campaign to encourage developers to
preserve trees and open space in their projects. In 1961, the Committee sponsored a contest to recognize natureminded developers, with the following criteria: use of natural topography and trees, skill employed in grading, use of
open space, and fitting buildings into the land. In the first year of the award program, an award went to Charles
Goodman for his Rock Creek Woods subdivision, now a National Register Historic District.7
In 1962, the contest, in its second year, was co-sponsored by M-NCCPC in conjunction with the County Council. The
prize went to Americana Glenmont, for its wise use of natural topography and conservation of existing trees. (Figures 11
and 12) The contest was juried by housing expert Warren J. Vinton, Public Housing Administration official known for his
work in establishing greenbelt towns and creating housing legislation. Also on the jury was Blair Lee III, state senator and
former M-NCPPC commissioner; Lathrop Smith, Chair of Montgomery Soil Conservation District; and Julius Hoke,
President of Montgomery County Civic Federation. 8
4

Hiebert and MacMaster, p329.

Irston R. Barnes, The Naturalist: The Beautys All Bulldozed Away, Washington Post, Oct 13, 1957.
6
Joseph L. Geeraert, Land Scalping: The Builders View Washington Post, May 22, 1957; County Seeks Plan to Save Trees, Soil,
Washington Post, Sept 13, 1959. This issue of clear-cutting and regrading land is discussed in Isabelle Gournay, Welcome Havens
from Sprawling Mass Suburbia, in Housing Washington (Richard Longstreth, Ed), pp284-5.
7
Alan Dessoff, Council Honors Area Builders, Washington Post, Nov 4, 1961; and July 22, 1961.
8
The jury was further composed of William R. McCallum and Mrs. ONeal Johnson. Washington Post, June 22, 1963.
5

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 2

Americana Glenmont thus represents this early public education effort to change clear cutting and land leveling
practices of developers in the postwar era. The project was the work of innovative developer Carl M. Freeman and his
team of experts.
CARL M. FREEMAN, TRENDSETTER AND EARLY PROMOTER OF THE MODERNIST MOVEMENT
By the time Americana Glenmont apartments opened for lease in December 1961, Carl Freeman had built a solid
reputation as a trendsetter and innovator. A description of Freemans career provides context for understanding the
breadth and scope of his career.
An early promoter of modernist style housing, Freeman was a trendsetter in the postwar era. Born in Worcester
Massachusetts about 1910, Carl Freeman attended Northeastern University and first worked for General Securities
Corporation. What attracted Freeman to the real estate field is unknown, but it is said that he established a real estate
company in 1934 in the Washington DC area where he had family ties.9 In the Depression era, the Washington area was
one of the few places nationwide where the jobs were on the increase, as federal jobs expanded with New Deal
programs. The construction business was thriving as builders, developers and architects hustled to provide housing for
incoming workers.
Perhaps Freeman found the need for more experience after working in the competitive Washington real estate market
in this climate. In 1937, he moved to Los Angeles area and was working for Fritz Burns, an ambitious and innovative
salesman and community builder. (Figure 13) A pioneer in large-scale subdivisions and locating jobs near housing,
Burns built low-cost, mass-produced housing that preceded other developments by a decade. Freeman became
divisional sales manager for Burns who built over a thousand houses between 1938 and 1942. Burns was famous for his
early morning motivational talks to his salesman. Dont hide our light under a bushel, he told his salesmen in 1941,
smug in the fact that you are a very good salesman. Modern merchandizing calls for more than this. You must analyze
your market and then to out to meet it and encompass it. These are big days calling for the expansion of your biggest
abilities. Freeman took this advice to heart, always listening to the market, and advancing innovations to meet
demand.10 Freemans sojourn in LA came to an end with the outbreak of World War II. During the war, from 1942 to
1947, Freeman served in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.11
In 1947, Freeman came back to the Washington area and established Carl M. Freeman, Inc. In this era, Montgomery
County was the nations fourth fastest growing county. Freemans first projects were single family houses located along

Obituary, Washington Post, July 7, 1998. Washington Post, January 21, 1961. Freemans wife was from Washington, according to
Washingtonian, November 1987. Carl Freeman was a cousin of the Luria brothers, builders; Joey Lampl, Charles Goodman report;
and Isabelle Gournay, research notes.
10
Changing Times, May 1953, p.32. John T. Keane, Fritz Burns and the Development of Los Angeles (2001). Washington Post, January
21, 1961.
11
Obituary, Washington Post, July 7, 1998.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 3

the New Hampshire Avenue corridor.12 Freeman successfully secured FHA backing which provided attractive financing
for homeowners. He advertised locations near the newly opened Naval Ordnance Laboratory. Freemans ads also
highlighted accessibility to the University of Maryland. His mentor Fritz Burns had featured universities to draw
prospective homeowners. 13 In this area, along the Montgomery-Prince Georges County line, Freeman built tract
houses at first and then, in the early 1950s, began building apartment complexes.
Carl Freeman has been cited as the primary force in the proliferation of the rambler- or ranch-type house in postwar
Montgomery County. Like other east coast locales, the county was deeply rooted in traditional architecture where
suburban housing was largely characterized by Cape Cods and two-story Colonial Revivals. Freeman introduced the low
slung rambler building type in 1947. According to an August 17, 1947 article by real estate writer Conrad Harness,
Freeman was introducing a California flavor to the Washington DC area in his unique and modern dwellings that
formed a stark contrast to neighboring conventional brick houses. This is one of the earliest instances, if not the earliest,
of a residence billed as a modern California style house in the Washington DC area.14 The modern houses attracted
attention. So many prospective buyers turned out to see the model homes that police were called in for crowd
control.15
Freemans first houses were designed by architects Berla and Abel, one of two firms credited with introducing avant
garde modernism to the Washington area. The other firm was sole practitioner Charles Goodman.16 Berla and Abel
designed Freemans California cottages, in Carole Highlands (1947) and Hillwood Manor (1948) with such innovations as
100-square foot window walls, an open floor plan, a wall of closets in the bedroom, and radiant floor heating. (Figure
15)
Practical Builder magazine brought Freeman national publicity when an article, Western Bungalows Make Eastern
Debut, featured Freemans California houses in 1948. Freeman received inquiries from builders around the country
seeking construction details on his modernist houses. From 1947 to 1953, Freeman built houses near the Northwest
Branch, in Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties.17
Freeman established the practice of using the Americana name to market his housing products. (Figure 17) First used
for his single-family housing developments, Freeman continued over subsequent decades to use the Americana brand
for apartment complexes and mixed-use communities. Freemans slogan Youll Live Better aptly suited the indoor-

12

Washington Post, July 17, 1949.

Washington Star, June 18, 1949. Keane, op cit.
14
Evening Star, January 9, 1954, advertisement. See discussion of California contemporary in Lampl, E-58.
15
Washington Post, Aug 17, 1947; Feb 29, 1948; Jan 21, 1961; July 7, 1998. Practical Builder, 1948.
16
Elizabeth Jo Lampl, Charles Goodman, National Register Historic Context, E-58. Chris Martin, cited in Lampl, E-92 fn1.
17
These included Prince Georges County houses in Carole Highlands, Hillwood Manor and Hampshire Estates, and Montgomery
County houses in Springbrook Forest, West Springbrook, and Parkwood. In addition to tract houses, Freeman built some individual
houses as well in Bethesda and Quaint Acres (White Oak) area of Silver Spring.
13

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 4

outdoor concept of modern architecture as a way of life.18 Freemans designs were based on the modernist concept of
indoor-outdoor living. Balconies and terraces extend living space into nature, and glass plate walls bring nature into the
home. Freeman used Americana as a brand to describe this modern ideal as a way of life.
Freeman experimented with innovations to attract homebuyers. He offered a convertible home in 1952 which featured
a sliding wall to convert living space into a third bedroom.19 In Virginia, Freeman engaged modernist architect Joseph
Miller to design split level houses in his Ridgeview Estates, a 1956 development of 250 houses, which was featured by
Family Circle, American Builder, and National Lumber Manufacturers Association. Modern features included open-floor
plans houses, and over nine acres of open recreation space.20 By 1954, Freeman was using a double decker plan,
banking houses into hillsides to provide one-level front faades and two-level back faades, in his Parkwood and
Rollingwood Terrace subdivisions.21 The Parkwood houses were approved by the Southwest Research Institute as
Revere Quality Exhibition Homes. Criteria for the designation included wise of use space, privacy and liveability,
orientation, outdoor living, quality of construction and materials. The floor plan bears great resemblance to Americana
apartments floor plans.22 (Figure 16) Rollingwood Terrace houses were designed by his lead designer, Arnold Kronstadt,
in association with architect Richard Collins, who would re-use their popular features in their design of Freeman
apartments, including balconies, window walls, and hillside banking. (Figures 18 and 19)
Freeman gained early recognition for his excellent marketing ability, a quality which undoubtedly benefitted from his
experience working for Fritz Burns. In 1952, Freemans company, located at 7800 Old Georgetown Road, was again
recognized by Practical Builder publication, this time as the best home merchandising program in the country.23 Parents
magazine voted Freeman houses the Best for Family Living. By 1953, when he had built 450 houses in the Washington
area, Freemans single family house designs had been recognized by Architectural Record, Kiplingers Changing Times,
and Good Housekeeping. (Figure 14) His Americana Homes kitchen won an award from the Womens Home Companion
competition for its efficient planning, and separate breakfast area.24
Carl Freeman quickly took a leadership role in the metropolitan construction industry. In 1950, he was nominated
director of the Washington Home Builders Association. Four years later, he founded the Suburban Maryland Builders
Association (SMBA), now known as the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association. In this act, he followed
in the footsteps of his former employer Fritz Burns who had founded the National Association of Home Builders in 1943.

18

Washington Post, November 16, 1952. Freeman used Americana as a brand for his housing as early as 1952 in his Parkwood
development, accompanies by the slogan Best for Family Living.
19
Washington Post advertisement November 16, 1952.
20
Washington Post, September 15, 1956. Gournay and Sies credit Miller with the design of Ridgeview houses in their Edmund
Bennett-Keyes Lethbridge Condon study.
21
Evening Star advertisement, Jan 9, 1954. Washington Post, June 12, 1955.
22
Architectural Record, May 1950. Washington Post, March 20, 1955.
23
Cited in The Record, April 11, 1952.
24
Washington Post, June 7, 1953. The Record, April 11, 1952.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 5

The Maryland organization, of which Freeman was president for two terms, aimed to legitimize the home building
industry in the Washington, DC area, providing standards to local professionals.25
Carefully selecting ambitious and skilled individuals for his team of experts, Freeman nurtured his employees, many of
whom went on to be leaders in the construction field themselves. It was said that Freeman was responsible for training
and mentoring more presidents of building companies and organizations in the Washington, DC region than anyone
else.26 Many of Freemans employees went on to establish their own construction and real estate businesses. An
example from the mid-century era which illustrates this phenomenon is Thomas Harkins, who was a designer for
Freeman, became president of the SMBA and headed his own construction company, still active today.
Innovation in design and construction were a particular strength of Carl Freeman, who effected change in building codes
and regulations on a local and national level. He and his staff were recognized as national experts in the technical field
of construction, serving on advisory panels to the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, and
National Bureau of Standards. Other advisors were mainly from academic institutions and large research firms.27
On a personal level, Freeman purchased a historic farmstead, Tusculum, in Olney (designated on the Master Plan for
Historic Preservation). Charles Goodman designed an addition to the Tusculum house to accommodate the familys
needs. Goodman himself lived in an older farmhouse to which he had constructed an addition. Perhaps it was this
experience, combined with Goodmans contemporary esthetic, which drew Freeman to choose him to design his own
residential addition.28
In the early 1950s, Freeman embarked on a new initiative to build modernist apartments which would once again bring
him to the forefront in innovation. It was said that an aversion to poorly designed, government-funded apartments led
him to the arena of modernist garden apartments.29 His park-like garden apartments as well as his mixed-use apartment
communities would bring Freeman local and national acclaim. Apartments were a key piece in community building that
was promoted by Freeman in the early 1960s, starting with his Americana Park development, at New Hampshire Avenue
and Metzerott Road. He saw apartments as integral elements in community centers, which included shopping centers,
25

Evening Star, January 7, 1950. Washington Post, January 31, 1954. Jane C. Sween and William Offutt, Montgomery County:
Centuries of Change, p214. Keane, op cit. A fellow charter member of SMBA was Paul Burman, who served as the organizations first
treasurer. Burman, along with his cousin Paul Hammond, was also a business partner with Freeman. Burman and Hammond were
builders whose projects included Charles Goodman-designed Hammond Hill (1949) and Hammond Wood (1950). Lampl, Goodman
report. Burman, Hammond, and Freeman joined forces to purchase the land which became the Americana Flower project.
26
Washington Post, July 8, 1998.
27
When Joseph B. Nelson was designer on the Freeman team in 1960, he was cited in Structural Foam publication for National
Research Council. William Berry on Freemans staff was a speaker at the National Association of Home Builders in 1966. (Washington
Post, June 11, 1966). Kronstadt and Thomas Harkins also served as advisors in this role.
28
Roger Farquhar, Old Buildings and Homes in Montgomery County (1962), p296. Tusculum file, Historic Preservation office, MNCPPC. Charles Goodman designed garden apartments for Carl M. Freeman, but they apparently were not built. Goodman papers,
LOC, finding aid, HP office, M-NCPPC.
29
John B. Willmann, This Builder Keeps Poking Into New Frontiers, Washington Post, January 21, 1961.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 6

churches, and schools. The relationship between Freemans garden apartments, the modern movement, and the
conservation movement are discussed further below.
By 1959, Freeman was speaking out for changes in zoning rules in order to build the kind of community he built in
Fairfax. He was concerned that apartments were seen mainly as a buffer between single-family housing and shopping
centers. Arnold Kronstadt, head of Freemans architectural and engineering department, predicted that the county
population would shift from primarily families to an increasing number of young adults and single people. This group
would be eager to move into the suburbs but not be ready to buy a house.30 In Montgomery County, Freeman
attempted to create mixed-use communities in Cabin John and Olney, yet his plans were foiled by opposition of
neighbors and government officials.31 Freeman began building neighborhood shopping centers in the late 1960s. His
Cabin John Mall and Shopping Center dating from 1968 included the companys corporate offices.32
In 1964, House & Home named Freeman one of the top 12 builders in the US. He had 10,000 units built nationwide with
plans for 18,000 more. The same year, Freeman moved his firm to office space at the O.R.I. building (1963), 1400 Spring
Street, a modern office building designed by architect Ted Englehardt. Freemans firm occupied the first and partial
second floors of the building. The office was conveniently located near Collins & Kronstadts offices, at 1106 Spring
Street (1963, Collins & Kronstadt architects), as well as the M-NCPPC Planning Department offices, at 8787 Georgia
Avenue (1958, E. Burton Corning architect), at the corner of Spring Street. Built within a few years of each other, these
three International Style buildings represent an affinity for modern architecture that professionals in this era had who
were concerned with the design of the built environment.
Throughout his career, Freeman was known for exploring new frontiers in building and design. In 1964, at the American
Society of Planning Officials conference, he challenged planners to provide for mixed-use communities in a natural
setting.33 He had 10,000 units built nationwide with plans for 18,000 more. Freeman was cited as a trendsetter in
building luxury apartments in this era, such as Americana Finnmark (1968), and converting garden and high-rise
apartments into condominium sale units, a venture he began in 1971.34 Starting in the 1970s, Freeman turned to resort
housing. His Sea Colony beach and tennis community in Bethany Beach, Delaware, became a model for communitydeveloper partnerships. Sea Colony received a Governors Conservation Award for environmental preservation from the
governor of Delaware. In later years, Freeman was a pioneer in building Washington area resort communities and a
pacesetter in turning apartments into condominiums, starting with Plymouth Woods in 1973. 35

30

Washington Post, August 16, 1959.

Carl Freeman articles in Washington Post, June 10, 17, and 24, 1967.
32
Carl M. Freeman Companies, corporate history, www.freemancompanies.com, accessed 4-26-2012. The Courier, May 27, 1981.
33
American Society of Planning Officials, Boston conference. Washington Post, April 11, 1964.
34
Washington Post, Sept 18, 1971.
35
Jane C. Sween and William Offutt, Montgomery County: Centuries of Change, p214
31

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 7

Freeman was recognized for his philanthropic activities. He was honorary chairman for the Montgomery County
General Hospital. Carl Freeman died in 1998, at age 87. In recognition of his role as a leading patron of the performing
and visual arts, the Kennedy Center paid posthumous tribute to Carl Freeman in 1999.36
CARL FREEMAN AND THE MODERNIST GARDEN APARTMENT
In 1962, the Washington Post reported that Carl Freeman was regarded by nearly everyone [in the National Capital
area] as a true pioneer in the creation of garden-styled apartments.37 Freemans Americana apartments were the
model for modernist garden apartments which were built in the Washington DC area, and around the country. Freeman
once remarked that if he had a dollar royalty for every apartment other builders constructed based on his prototype,
hed be rich as Croesus.38
Garden apartments have their origins in the late 19th/early 20th century Garden City movement promoted by Ebenezer
Howard in England, who called for new communities of low density with ample open space. Architect Clarence Stein
and planner Henry Wright made garden city ideals manifest in the US in their communities of Sunnyside Gardens,
Queens, NY (1924-28) and Radburn, NJ (1928-33). Site plans oriented houses away from streets and toward communal
open space. Stein and Wright developed the concept of a superblock that separates vehicular and pedestrian traffic.39
In the New Deal era, the National Housing Act of 1934 established the Federal Housing Administration, an agency which
financed hundreds of low-rise garden apartment complexes nationwide. In Montgomery County, the first FHA garden
apartment complex was the Falkland Apartments (1936-37), in Silver Spring (designated on the Montgomery County
Master Plan for Historic Preservation). The Falkland Apartments (Figure 20) are the prototypical garden apartment
complex in Montgomery County, noteworthy for moderate-income housing with a site plan that retained the natural
landscape. The complex is characterized by low Colonial Revival style units arranged around courtyards in a natural
setting. Most units face public streets or parking lots with backs opening to green space. The styling of apartments,
however, was conventional, and individual units did not enable the kind of indoor-outdoor living which would become
popular with mid-century modernism.
The character of garden apartments changed in the immediate postwar era when Colonial Revival architecture fell out of
favor at a time when modern architecture was characterized by minimal design and mass-produced materials. In 1946,
Congress modified its Section 608 program, with the Veterans Emergency Housing Act, which encouraged affordable
garden apartment complexes by providing desirable financing. Yet critics charged that the program led to poorly
planned projects with unimaginative designs that met minimum FHA requirements. (Figure 21) The FHA terminated the
Section 608 program in 1950.40
36

Washington Post, Aug 10, 2000.

John B. Willmann, Total Planned Community Finding More Acceptance, Washington Post, July 28, 1928.
38
Washingtonian magazine, November 1987, p.211.
39
In Maryland, Greenbelt is a government-sponsored garden city community.
40
EHT Traceries, Garden Apartments in Arlington County, VA, National Register Documentation Form, 2011, E-16, 22.
37

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 8

Seeing an opportunity for innovation, Freeman moved into the apartment market in 1954, just as developers who had
been constructing apartments through the New Deal and postwar era had left the scene. Carl M. Freeman set about to
change the mold of apartment design that had been set in place by the FHAs Section 608 rental housing program.41 As
a business associate told it, Freeman broke the 608 pattern and stuck his neck out to make rental apartments more
attractive and liveable. Unable to find funding locally, he had to turn to Canadian institutions to finance his early
apartments.42 By the time Fortune magazine predicted in 1959 that the apartment builder would have an increasingly
large share of the housing market, Freeman had already been building apartments for several years.
Freemans first apartment projects, built 1954 to 1955, were modernist apartments located close together in the
Langley Park-Takoma Park area, and accessed by express bus lines. Initially named Fairview, and soon dubbed
Americana, Freemans apartments used modernist design with expanses of windows to bring light into living space,
while ground-floor terraces and balconies extend living space into the outdoors. Finding that modern tenants sought
apartments that afforded the privacy of single-family houses, Freeman provided separate entrances for each tenant,
omitting public halls on the ground level. He used popular features of his contemporary single family houses, including
the low-slung building form and open floor plans. (Figures 19, 22 and 23) Americana Riggs was first, followed by
University, and Flower. These earliest Freeman apartments had an urban park setting, with manicured greenspace and
planted trees.
Freeman challenged local building codes and instigated reform. A notable example was the use of a bathroom
ventilation fan. Local plumbing code required bathrooms be ventilated by a window, which forced builders to locate
bathrooms along outside walls. Freeman wanted to be able to free up window walls for living space. He was inspired to
effect change upon visiting a New York hotel. He recalled, When I went into the bathroom and flipped on the switch, a
fan came on. I thought, If thats good enough for a fancy hotel, it ought to be good enough for apartments. Freeman
received permission to try vented bathrooms, and local plumbing codes were changed.43 Bathroom exhaust fans were
installed in Americana Riggs units opening in June 1954.44
By the time Freeman moved into the garden apartment arena, he had hired Arnold Kronstadt to lead his Architecture
and Engineering Department. Kronstadt, an engineer, was affiliated with architect Richard Collins by 1955 and the pair
designed houses and apartments for Freeman. According to company history, the firm Kronstadt and Collins was
formally started in 1958.45 His apartments used a plank and beam system of construction which gave the apartments a
higher ceiling than conventional apartments. By 1960, Kronstadt was a recognized expert in modern garden
apartments. Kronstadt authored What Builders Should Know about Garden-type Apartments for the National
Association of Home Builders (1960), served on the Building Advisory Board of the National Research Council, and
41

John F. Bauman, Roger Biles, Kristin Szylvian, From Tenements to the Taylor Homes: In Search of an Urban Housing Policy in
Twentieth-Century America, Penn State Press, 2000. EHT Traceries, Arlington Garden Apartments, National Register context.
42
John B. Willmann, Freeman Isnt Slowing Down, Sept 8, 1981, Washington Post. January 21, 1961, Washington Post.
43
Washingtonian magazine, November 1987, p.211.
44
Washington Post, May 23, 1954.
45
Interview, William Collins, partner in Kronstadt & Collins, and nephew of Richard Collins.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 9

lectured on the topic of garden apartments at American University.46 More detailed information about Kronstadt and
Collins follows in a later section.47
By 1961, Freeman had some 500 employees on his staff. Freeman assembled a team of experts to design his park-like
garden apartments, including land planner S. E. Sanders, engineer Arnold Kronstadt, and architect Richard Collins.
Formerly with Public Buildings Administration, Sanders was an expert on new urban communities who promoted natural
settings and sizeable open space with low density housing. Freeman himself was the guest speaker at Urban Land
Institute on the topic The Outlying Apartment Community: Its Design and Characteristics.48
A special issue of House & Home, in April 1958, identified characteristics of a new breed of garden apartments, which
are summarized below:
Land planning and natural landscape: preserve trees and natural character of the site; low density; and intimate
scale for open spaces. Buildings may need to be banked into hillsides to preserve rolling quality of land. Use
apartments as buffers between single family houses and commercial property.
Indoor-outdoor living: large expanses of glass, balconies, patios. Windows oriented to view open space.
Privacy: separate entries rather than entries off interior corridors, orient entries away from streets and from
facing apartments, have trees between buildings. Floor to ceiling thermopane windows. Individual outdoor
entrances to terraces or balconies.
Interiors: air conditioning, dishwashers, disposers, ample closets, washers and dryers in laundries, interior
bathrooms.
Marketing features to draw tenants in, such as recreation or fireplaces.
Functional floor plan
These elements were key components in Freemans Americana apartments, which were hailed by the Washington real
estate and development community. Starting in 1960, Freeman was promoting this new breed of modernist apartment
complex--branded Americana apartments--which had a comprehensive, ecological plan to fit buildings into the land,
preserve mature trees, and promote outdoor recreation.49
His first garden apartment featuring a natural, rustic setting was Americana Park, in Prince Georges County. His plans
called for 1200 units on 50 acres, of which 85% was preserved in natural wooded areas and protected parkland. The
46

Arnold Kronstadt, What Builders Should Know about Garden-type Apartments, National Association of Home Builders, 1960.
Collins & Kronstadt still practices today.
47
The Evening Star 1-15-1955. Washington Post, August 9, 1958. Freemans first apartments, in the mid 1950s, were called Fairview,
a name he had used for some of his early houses. By 1960, he was using the Americana brand for his apartments. Freeman also
used Best for Living slogan for his apartments.
48
Carl M. Freeman, May 1962, lecture published in Urban Land, July-Aug 1962.
49
Freeman began branding all his apartments Americana from about 1958. His Fairview University Apartments were advertised
February 9, 1957. Americana Hampshire was open by August 1958. See Figure 23 for brochure.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 10

project was featured in the July 1961 issue of House & Home (Figure 24), which cited it as an outstanding example of
preservation of natural setting by banking apartments into the land to protect wooded parkland. The project, at 1818
Metzerott Road, off New Hampshire Avenue, is now known as Heritage Park Apartments.50
Freemans second complex with a natural siteplan was Americana Fairfax, which was planned as a 240-acre community
including 2,000 apartment units, shopping center, community center, school, and church facilities. The Fairfax garden
apartment complex received an award from Northern Virginia Builders Association for its excellence in architecture,
workmanship and detailing, site planning, and landscaping. (Figures 24 and 25) Americana Fairfax was hailed by the
Washington Post as a new generation of apartments featuring a park-like setting. The community included garden
apartments, intermediate and high-rise apartments.51 The look was modern, with low slung buildings, deep eaves, large
windows, balconies and terraces. And the buildings were banked into the landscape.
Americana Glenmont was Freemans first garden apartment complex in Montgomery County that featured a natural
setting, with minimal disturbance of the land, and preservation of mature trees. As discussed in a previous section, the
project received accolades from the County Council and M-NCPPC who were anxious to see more projects which did not
denude the landscape and level the land. The design of the buildings matched those of the award-winning Fairfax, right
down to balcony railing detailing.
Freeman was not the only builder constructing garden and low-rise apartment projects in this era. Keyes and Lethbridge,
architects, designed the Luria Brothers Pine Spring Gardens (1958), in Virginia, with balconies and terraces. Joseph
Millers Congress House (1958), 3970 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, was a modernist three-story building with balconies. Jack
C. Cohen designed Laurel Park Apartments (1958), in Maryland, whose only heralded features by one source were air
conditioning and a pool. Carl Freemans apartments, however, set the stage for garden apartments starting in 1954, and
were unequaled in innovation and regional influence.52
Later Freeman complexes in Montgomery County were Americana Halpine, a garden apartment complex; Americana
Finnmark, with high-rise and garden apartments; and, in Rockville, Americana Centre, with high-rise apartments and
townhouses. (See table of Americana complexes in following section.) By 1962, Freeman also had apartment
communities started or built in Annapolis and Harrisburg.
AMERICANA GLENMONT, OPEN SPACE, AND COMMUNITY PLANNING
Americana Glenmont represents a major shift away from exclusively single-family housing that dominated the Glenmont
area for decades. Between 1937 and 1938, small subdivisions of Lutes, Glenmont Heights, and Glenallen were platted.
After World War II, the development of Glenmont accelerated precipitously, starting with construction of a water tower
50

House & Home, July 1961. Washington Post, October 8, 1960. heritage-park-apts.com
Washington Post, November 12, 1960; April 15, 1961; June 16, 1962.
52
Pine Spring and Congress House received Washington Board of Trade awards in 1958. Housing Boom Hasnt Hurt Apartment
Design,Washington Post, August 9, 1958.
51

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 11

in 1947, by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Subsequently developers, including Earl J. Preston and Elias
Gelman, platted large subdivisions in Glenmont, and built hundreds of single-family houses over the next decade. By
1953, the Americana Glenmont parcel, like the surrounding area, had been zoned for single family housing. The only
non-single family zone in Glenmont at the time was the commercial area north of Randolph Road (or GlenmontColesville Road, as it was then known), zoned C-1 in 1946.
In 1959, the County Council rezoned the 27.3-acre tract from single-family (R-90) to multiple-family (R-30), upon
application from the owner, Contee Sand and Gravel Company of Laurel. The company, later Percontee Inc, was
founded by Isador Gudelsky, who was experienced in apartment construction, having built the Art Deco style
Montgomery Arms garden apartments (designated on the Master Plan for Historic Preservation), at Colesville Road and
Fenton Street, in 1941. Contee Sand and Gravel had acquired the land from Glenmont Building Corporation in 1956. A
complete chain of title is found in a subsequent section.53
The Americana Glenmont parcel historically featured mature trees, seen in aerial photo of the 1950s (Figure 27). The
land was located immediately adjacent to Wheaton Regional Park, established in 1960. Recognizing the need to make
apartments compatible with the character of single-family neighborhoods, Freeman engaged land planner S. E. Sanders
to design a sensitive site plan. (Figure 28) Freeman saw the value of providing mixed-use development, with town
houses and a range of apartments, to provide housing for population growth into new areas. He asserted, however,
that a major factor in sensitively providing apartment developments in single-family areas was to preserve open land for
the use of the people. Such natural setting would protect the integrity of single-family developments.54
Americana Glenmont was built in two phases. The first phase included 15 apartment buildings and a pool, on the 27
acre tract. Four years later, the complex was expanded with an additional four buildings, on a 6.67 acre tract to the
east. For this project, Freeman did not plan and build a comprehensive community as he did in Fairfax. And yet, taken
in conjunction with the surrounding area, the apartments form a key component in a local community.
By the time that Americana Glenmont was built, the Glenmont community, centered at the intersection of Randolph
Road and Georgia Avenue, included a shopping center, school, police station, fire station, and a church, all immediately
adjacent or across the street. (Figure 28) The apartments were built after Glenmont Village and other single-family
subdivisions in the area, and after Glenmont Arcade and after the police station. Glenmont Americana was seen as a
buffer between single family residential and commercial. Americana Glenmont was built a decade after Wheaton
Regional Park was established. With its bucolic setting, natural topography, and mature trees, the apartment complex

53

Carol Kennedy, Montgomery Arms Historic Sites Inventory Form, Resource 36/7-2, September 1990. According to company
history, Contee Sand and Gravel has been owned by the Gudelsky family since 1913. The company is now headquartered at 11900
Tech Road, in Silver Spring. Source: percontee.com
54
Willmann, This Builder Keeps Poking Into New Frontiers, Washington Post, January 21, 1961.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 12

forms an extension of the park. The property today is owned by Glenmont Forest Investors Limited Partnership, and
managed by Grady Management Company, 8630 Fenton Street, Suite 635, in Silver Spring.55
FREEMANS TEAM OF EXPERTS
Collins & Kronstadt
Arnold Kronstadt became an expert in garden apartments and was the head of Freemans Architectural Engineering
Department. He designed many projects for Carl M. Freeman, usually in conjunction with Richard E. Collins, AIA. Early
projects credited to the pair include Brookville Road houses (1954) and Rollingwood Terrace houses (1955) and
Americana Alexandria (Hamlet West) apartments. Arnold Kronstadt was credited with the design for Americana Riggs,
in 1953.56 In 1958, Kronstadt formed the partnership Collins & Kronstadt with his associate Richard Collins. Collins had
been a member of the American Institute of Architects since 1946.57
Like Carl Freeman, Arnold Kronstadt was a recognized national expert on suburban garden apartments in the 1960s.
Kronstadt published the booklet What Builders Should Know about Garden-type Apartments for the National
Association of Home Builders, in 1960. He taught classes on the subject at American University and Catholic University.
As associate professor of architecture classes at American University, Kronstadt took students on tours of Freeman
apartments to show the latest in design and engineering. He also lectured at Catholic University.58 Kronstadt joined
Freeman in pushing for new zoning to allow more apartments in suburban areas.59
Arnold Kronstadt had been affiliated with Carl M. Freeman as early as 1950. By 1956, he was identified as the head of
Freemans Architectural Engineering Department, when he served on a panel to study water heater efficiency for the
FHA. As associate professor of architecture classes at American University, Kronstadt took students on tours of Freeman
apartments to show the latest in design and engineering. In addition to undergraduates, his classes included continuing
education students who were realtors and other professionals. They toured, for example, Americana Park (1961).60
Kronstadt served on the Maryland Governors consulting committee on housing, and on the Maryland State Planning
Commission. He was an engaging speaker who taught at American University and regularly presented talks at the
National Home Builders Association. He led annual field trips for his students to experience firsthand the latest design in
apartment complexes. He maintained his interest in multi-family housing through the 1980s. His innovative design for a
zero lot-line multifamily townhouse appeared in the Washington Post magazine, May 2, 1982.
55

www.gradymgt.com Glenmont Forest Investors Ltd Partnership, which has the same address as Grady Mgmt Co, acquired the
property from Percontee in 1984. Land Records, 6584:619; 13320:468.
56
Washington Post, September 27, 1953; March 20, 1955; July 18, 1959.
57
AIA Archives. William Collins interview, Collins & Kronstadt, 7-2012; and Collins & Kronstadt corporate history.
58
Gournay, E-15. William Collins, interview. Kronstadt served as construction advisor to the National Research Council. 1960
National Research Council, Structural Foam report. Freeman used public art in lobbies of several of his garden apartment complexes.
By 1960, Joseph B. Nelson was an architect on the Freeman teamlittle is known about his role.
59
The Washington Post and Times Herald, August 16, 1959.
60
Washington Post, April 30, 1950; May 13, 1961.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 13

S. E. Sanders Associates
A regular on Freemans team of experts, S. E. Sanders was a nationally recognized land planner who promoted
comprehensively planned communities. In addition to designing Americana Glenmonts site plan, characterized by
natural setting and open space, Sanders designed single-family subdivisions, mixed-use communities and other
apartment complexes for Freeman.
Spencer Edward Sanders was co-author with A. J. Rabuck, of New City Patterns: The Analysis of and a Technique for
Urban Reintegration, (1946) an illustrated study of concepts for new urban communities. As landscape architect for the
Public Buildings Administration, his projects included the National Airport (1938), with Harry Boucher, and Linda Vista
(1941), in California, a residential project designed with large blocks with abundant open space, and a separation of
pedestrian and vehicular traffic.61
The first known project that Sanders did for Carl M. Freeman was Rollingwood Terrace (1955), a development of 45 splitlevel houses, designed to fit into a sloping landscape.62 Opportunity for a larger, more comprehensive plan came in
1957, with Freemans proposed cluster development in Cabin John. The plan for 13,000 acres called for three separate
communities with their own shopping, apartments, parks, and other community services. The plan ultimately was not
approved, though, in 1968, Cabin John Shopping Center was built on part of the property.63
S. E. Sanders was engaged by a syndicate to design another new city in 1959, for Upper Rock Creek, in the Muncaster
Road vicinity, on over 9,000 acres. This plan, too, was ultimately not approved, and much of the area became parkland.
On a smaller portion of this land, covering 1,000 acres, Sanders designed Mill Creek Towne, a residential subdivision for
Morris & Shreffler that opened in 1963.64
Sanders was the landscape architect for Americana Plaza apartments (1958), which featured new plantings and trees.
For Americana Fairfax, in 1961, the approach was to preserve the natural landscape: S. E. Sanders and Associates did
the land planning to retain natural features and provide sizeable open area with an overall density of less than 15 family
units per acre.65 Other land planning projects by Sanders include a $15.5 million project called Shirley-Duke community
(1950); the Kirk subdivision of modernist houses, in Alexandria (1957) and Grosvenor Park apartments, 10301 Grosvenor
Place (Donald H. Drayer, architect, 1964).66

61

George Hartman and Jan Cigliano, Pencil Points Reader, 1920-1943, p.569. Richard Longstreth, City Center to Regional Mall. p.291
Washington Post, March 20, 1955.
63
Washington Post, January 4, 1957. Carl M. Freeman, Building Competition Seen Forcing Better Land Plans, June 10, 1957.
64
Washington Post, January 10, 1959; September 14, 1963.
65
Washington Post, April 15, 1961.
66
Washington Post, March 5, 1950; January 12, 1957; May 16, 1964.
62

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 14

CHAIN OF TITLE
Date
Desc
1950
Anna Pararas to Nancy Strohecker.
Parcel 1- being Lot 2 of division of real estate of
William G. Peerce, of 242 acres, except 5.75 acres
conveyed by Peerce to Reuben Middleton
Parcel 2-pt of Good Luck tract 5.75 acres conveyed
by Peerce to Middleton, except land conveyed to
James & Marie L Bowe 1948
1956
Glenmont Building Corporation to Contee Sand &
Gravel. Being Parcel 1 and pt 2 of land conveyed
by Pararas to Strohecker 1950. Land located at
NW corner of Sec 1, Glenallen subdiv Plat 7:594,
and adj to Lutheran church and fire dept
properties. Included police station property
1959
County Council grants rezoning to allow
apartments on this property
1961

1961

April: Plat for Parcel A, Americana Glenmont Apts

PERCON, INC. Isadore Gudelsky, President; David
Moore Trustee.
May: Contee Sand & Gravel to PERCON Inc.

1984

Percontee Inc to Glenmont Forest Investors Ltd

Partnership c/o Grady Mgmt.
Parcel A 13-01-975436: Americana Glenmont,
Plat 6337
Parcel B 13-01-975447, Americana Glenmont,
Plat 8065
Homer Gudelsky, President, Percontee Inc., 11900
Tech Rd, Silver Spring
Grady Mgmt, 8630 Fenton Street
Acct 13-00975447, parcel N610, 6.67 acres
Date
1965
1965

Desc
Contee Sand and Gravel Co, Inc.
June: Contee Sand & Gravel to PERCON Inc.
Sept: Plat for Parcel B, Americana Glenmont Apts
Percon Inc, Homer Gudelsky president

Source
Deed 1468:83, 12-7-1950

128.5784 acres
2185:559, 3-21-1956

Zoning Amendment Request C296; Council Resolution 4-985,

Nov 3, 1959.
Plat 6337, 4-10-1961
27.5591 acres
27.5591 acres
Deed 2845:478, 5-11-1961.
$12 million. 6584:619

Source
2185:559 as shown in Plat 6337
7.5285 acres, 3374:518
Plat 8065, October 1965

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form
Name Americana Glenmont
Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 15

CARL M. FREEMAN, SELECT PROJECTS:

Garden Apartments
Fairview Riggs (Americana Riggs), Prince Georges County, 1954
Fairview University (Americana University), Prince Georges County, 1955
Fairview Flower (Americana Flower), 1956
Americana Hampshire, Prince Georges County, 1958
Americana Plaza, Prince Georges County, 1958
Hamlet West (Americana Alexandria), Virginia, 1959
Americana Plaza, Prince Georges County, 1960
Americana Park, Prince Georges County, 1961
Americana Fairfax, 1961
Americana Glenmont, 1961
Americana Halpine, 1964
High-Rise Apartments
Americana Finnmark, 1968, Charles G. Mumma architect
Americana Centre, 1972
Shopping Centers
Cabin John Mall and Shopping Center, 1968
Van Dorn Plaza, Alexandria, Virginia, 1972
Subdivisions (Montgomery County)
Springbrook Forest, 1948
West Springbrook, 1948
Hampshire Estates, 1949
Hampshire Hills, 1950
Alta Vista Terrace, 1950
Parkwood, 1953
Ayrlawn, 1954
Rollingwood Terrace, 1955
Regency Estates, 1967
Inverness Forest, 1968

Inventory No. 31-43

9. Major Bibliographical References

Inventory No. 31-43

See continuation sheet.

10. Geographical Data

Acreage of surveyed property
Acreage of historical setting
Quadrangle name

33.8 acres
Quadrangle scale:

Verbal boundary description and justification

11. Form Prepared by

name/title

Clare Lise Kelly

organization

Montgomery County Planning Dept, M-NCPPC

date

October 2012

street & number

8787 Georgia Avenue

telephone

301-563-3402

city or town

Silver Spring

state

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

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 1

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Babcock, Richard F. and Fred P. Bosselman, Suburban Zoning and the Apartment Boom, University of Pennsylvania Law
Review, 111:8 (June 1963), 1040-1091.
Barnes, Irston R. The Naturalist: The Beautys All Bulldozed Away, Washington Post, October 13, 1957.
Bauman, John F., Roger Biles, Kristin Szylvian, From Tenements to the Taylor Homes: In Search of an Urban Housing
Policy in Twentieth-Century America, Penn State Press, 2000.
Bobeczko, Laura, and Richard Longstreth, Housing Reform Meets the Marketplace, in Housing Washington, Richard
Longstreth (Ed), pp159-180.
Callcott, George H. Maryland and America, 1940 to 1980. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985.
Farquhar, Roger. Old Buildings and Homes in Montgomery County (1962), p296.
Ford, Larry R. Multi-Unit Housing in the American City, American Geographical Society, 76:4 (Oct 1986), 390-407.
Freeman, Carl M., Companies. Corporate History, www.freemancompanies.com, accessed 4-26-2012.
Goode, James. Best Addresses: A Century of Washingtons Distinguished Apartment Houses. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Books, 1988.
Gournay, Isabelle. Welcome Havens from Sprawling Mass Suburbia, in Housing Washington (Richard Longstreth, Ed)
Gournay, Isabelle, and Mary Corbin Sies. Subdivisions Built by Edmund Bennett and designed by Keyes, Lethbridge &
Condon in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1956-1973, National Register of Historic Places, Multiple Property
Documentation Form, University of Maryland, 2004.
Hartman, George & Jan Cigliano, Pencil Points Reader: Selected Reading from a Journal for the Drafting Room, 19201943. Princeton Architectural Press, 2004.
Keane, James Thomas, Fritz B. Burns and the Development of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University and the
Historical Society of Southern California, 2001.
Kiplinger, W. M. (Ed). Watch this House Go Up, Changing Times, May 1953, pp29-34.
Kennedy, Carol. Montgomery Arms Historic Sites Inventory Form, Resource 36/7-2, September 1990.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 2

Lampl, Elizabeth Jo. Subdivisions and Architecture Planned and Designed by Charles M. Goodman Associates in
Montgomery County, Maryland. National Register of Historic Places, Multiple Property Documentation Form, MNCPPC, 2004.
Longstreth, Richard. City Center to Regional Mall: Architecture, the Automobile, and Retailing in Los Angeles, 1920-1950.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1997.
Longstreth, Richard (Editor). Housing Washington: Two Centuries of Residential Development and Planning in the
National Capitol Area. Chicago, IL: Center for American Places, 2010.
McHarg, Ian L. Design with Nature. Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press, 1969.
Montgomery County Land Records, deeds. v3.mdlandrec.net/
Montgomery County plats. plats.net
Reardon, Judy, Silver Spring Historical Society; and Laura Trieschmann and Kristie Baynard, EHT Traceries, Falkland
Apartments, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 2003.
Saunders, S[pencer]. E[dward]. and A. J. Rabuck, New City Patterns. The Analysis of and a Technique for Urban
Reintegration. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1946, 197 pages.
Sween, Jane C. and William Offutt, Montgomery County: Centuries of Change, American Historical Press, 1999.
Trieschmann, Laura, and Andrea Schoenfeld, EHT Traceries, Garden Apartments, Apartment Houses and Apartment
Complexes in Arlington County, Virginia: 1934-1954 National Register Documentation Form, 2011.

Willmann, John B. Carl FreemanHes His Own Man: This Builder Keeps Poking Into New Frontiers, Washington Post,
January 21, 1961, pD1.
-------------------. Total Planned Community Finding More Acceptance, Washington Post, July 28, 1968.
--------------------- Freeman Isnt Slowing Down, Washington Post, Sept 8, 1981.
Select journal articles featuring Freeman projects (chronological)
The American Home Study Plan, American Home, Vol 41, May 1949, pp38-39.
Distinguished Plan gives privacy and convenience, Architectural Forum, April 1950, 154-155.
Revere Quality Exhibition Houses, Carl M. Freeman, Bethesda House, Architectural Record, May 1950.

Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Inventory of
Historic Properties Form

Inventory No. 31-43

Name Americana Glenmont

Continuation Sheet
Number 8

Page 3

$15,000 Trade Secrets House, Life, January 5, 1953.

Watch This House Go Up, Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine, May 1953.Americana house, Rock Creek Park,
Bethesda.
Trade Secrets House Brought to Life by Local Builder, Home Builders Monthly, July 1953.
Medium Rise Apartments House & Home, July 1961.
Key to Success: quality, comfort, noise control, American Builder, October 1962, p94.
Van Dyne, Larry. The Making of Washington: Dream Makers of the Suburbs, November 1987, pp206-242.
Freeman and associates
Collins, William. Interview by Clare Lise Kelly, 7-2012. Nephew of Richard E. Collins and senior partner in Collins &
Kronstadt, Leahy Hogans Collins Draper LLP.
Collins & Kronstadt corporate history, Collins & Kronstadt, 1111 Spring Street, Silver Spring.
Freeman, Carl M. The Outlying Apartment Community: Its Design and Characteristics, Urban Land, Vol 21: n. 7 (July
1962).
Freeman, Carl M. Building Competition Seen Forcing Better Land Plans, Washington Post, June 10, 1967.
Freeman, Carl M. Single-Family Mentality Seen Lowering Land Values, Washington Post, June 17, 1967.
Freeman, Carl M. Incentives in Density Urged for Developers, Washington Post, June 24, 1967.
Harkins, Thomas H. advisor. Building Research Division. National Bureau of Standards Proceedings, 1965.
Kronstadt, Arnold, consultant. A study of slab-on-ground construction for residences, National Research Council (U.S.).
Building Research Advisory Board, United States. Federal Housing Administration, 1955.
Kronstadt, Arnold. What Builders Should Know about Garden-type Apartments. National Association of Home Builders,
1960.
Sanders, S. E. and A. J. Rabuck, of New City Patterns: The Analysis of and a Technique for Urban Reintegration, Reinhold
Publishing Co, 1946.