Montgomery County
Planning Department
2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor
Wheaton, MD 20902
Planning Department
2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor
Wheaton, MD 20902
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Potomac Overlook (1956-1959)
Mohican Road and MacArthur Boulevard
Keyes, Lethbridge, and Condon, architects; Edmund Bennett, developer
AIA Guide 1965
Home in Potomac Overlook
This modernist subdivision is one of three in Montgomery County designed by Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon and developed by Edmund Bennett—the others being Carderock Springs and New Mark Common. Built in the late 1950s, at the height of the most radical phase of “situated modernism” in Maryland suburbs, Potomac Overlook is an early example of a neighborhood that was planned to integrate housing into the existing landscape and topography, with secluded cul-de-sac streets serving wooded, sloping lots. Houses are distinguished for their crisp, geometric detailing and clear expression of building components.
NAHB Journal Homebuilding, 1958
In 1958, the project received awards from the AIA Potomac Valley chapter for site planning and house design, and from the National Association of Home Builders for Neighborhood Development.
Architectural historians Mary Corbin Sies and Isabelle Gournay have described Potomac Overlook as an “enchanting almost magical community,” with houses “arranged informally along the steep hillside like family members at a picnic gathering photo shoot.”
This subdivision was created on steep land that had been passed up as undesirable by other developers. Potomac Overlook consists of 19 houses on a nine-acre tract with irregular boundaries.
Home in Potomac Overlook
Glen Echo Heights
Floor plan of the Franklin Newhall House
Nearby, the Glen Echo Heights area has many mid-century modern houses, including more than 30 designed by Donald Lethbridge and his associates between 1957 and 1961. Edmund Bennett started building houses in this neighborhood in 1954, and he built his own house on Wiscassett Road. The Franklin Newhall House won a 1956 award in residential architecture co-sponsored by the Washington Chapter of the AIA and the Washington Evening Star.
More Resources and Information
Learn more about the architects who designed Potomac Overlook.
Modern Architecture Tour
Last updated: February 12, 2014