An area full of historic places now has one more. As reported by Gazette.net, the Greenwich Forest neighborhood in Bethesda has just been designated a historic district in a unanimous vote. This will add the neighborhood’s 71 homes to the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
The decision to create this new historic area sprang from petitions by neighborhood residents who wanted to stop the older homes from being demolished and replaced by new properties. Most of the neighborhood’s homes were built between 1929 and 1941, making Greenwich Forest the youngest historic district in the county.
Homeowners living in a historic area must adhere to stricter guidelines for renovations and build-outs so the homes retain their historic charm. This was a point of contention for some neighborhood residents who delayed the initial vote last October. In the interim agreements were reached and some of the stricter rules relaxed, giving homeowners more leeway in renovations not visible from the road. Some of these would include porches, new windows or doors, solar panels and skylights.
It’s almost inevitable to have clashes of the modern and the historic in places like Bethesda. However, as the Greenwich Forest community illustrates, compromises can be reached to keep everyone satisfied while still preserving the rich history of our area.
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