Burnt Mills Hills, the best kept secret in Silver Spring

I am amazed at how the market has recovered in Chevy Chase and Bethesda. It is getting very frustrating to find suitable homes for my clients in this area. And, when a nice home comes up on the market, it seems like there are already a number of folks waiting in line with offers. Many of them above the asking price.

That brings us to the beautiful neighborhood of Burnt Mills Hills. This small community (about sixty homes) located near Lockwood Drive and New Hampshire Ave offers up what I consider the best luxury home values in the close-in Metro area. Consisting of mostly older homes built just before and after World War II the community features quality homes build on broad expansive lots with lots of trees and privacy. It is the large lots that get me. Similar homes are just impossible to find elsewhere without traveling further out.

A number of homes in the neighborhood were designed by John Nutter, a local architect of some renown who at 101 years of age still lives in Burnt Mills Hills in the home he designed for himself. Fourteen of the homes in Burnt Mills Hills are Mr Nutter's designs.

The problem with Burnt Mills Hills is that there are very few listings ever on the market at any time. Currently there are no homes for sale there and only two homes have sold in all of 2013 so far. The first one is on Jarboe Ave. and it sold for $960,000 in October

And the second home sold back in the summer of 2013. It was on Burnt Mills Ave and sold for only $799,000 which seemed like a very good price to me. 

If you are getting frustrated with the lack of good homes and skyrocketing values in Bethesda and Chevy Chase then I suggest you take a look at some of the great neighborhoods such as Burnt Mills Hills that are located along the New Hampshire Ave corridor in Silver Spring. For a list of homes currently on the Market in this area you can go here. 

FDA Growth Benefits Surrounding Communities.

It has been a couple of years since I last posted about the Food and Drug Administration White Oak Campus. When I last reported the total work force at the FDA was just pushing past the 5,000 workers mark. Actually, in the past two years this number has not changed much. However, there is still major construction going on and the scheduled completion of a few new buildings should give the facility a boost in it's worker population. By 2017 the projection number of workers should exceed 8,000 employees. After that there is no real projected growth for beyond 2017 as the campus will be pretty much built out. However I would not be surprised to see more buildings and space open up with the passage of time as that seems to be the norm for all government facilities.

Originally there was a lot of griping and resistance to the FDA coming to White Oak but it seems that most objections have faded away and the local communities have not only accepted the new facility but embrace it as well. Hillandale, my own community, which abuts the campus is a good example. I really think the stabilizing real estate market in Hillandale owes a lot to the growth of the campus.  To be sure, our road traffic is a little worse but the FDA has brought a lot of good paying jobs to the area and we have seen a number of FDA employees purchase homes in Hillandale, not to mention some of the other surrounding neighborhoods such as Burnt Mills Hills, and Burnt Mills. We have also seen our local Key Middle School and Cresthaven Elementary School reconstructed as modern, state of the art facilities. We waited a long time in Hillandale for this to happen but the FDA campus seems to have helped move this process along. When my wife and I first moved to this area, I jokingly referred to the New Hampshire Ave. corridor between the White Oak  and Hillandale Shopping Center's as  "dining's death valley." There were just so few options for decent dining out. Nowadays it is different with both shopping centers offering a broad choice excellent places to eat.

With the arrival of the FDA my community is really shaping up to be a great place to live and work. And as any Realtor will tell you. The neighborhoods around the FDA campus offers up some of the best home values in close-in Montgomery County. Click on this Hillandale link if you want to see what is on the market in Hillandale and the rest of the 20903 zip code. And if you are curious about the value of your own home you can go here to get an estimate of your home's worth in today's market.

Go Green With a Whole House Fan.

In my community of Hillandale, Maryland a lot of the homes were built in the 1950s and 1960s.  Back in those days air conditioning was not too common and considered an expensive luxury. Many homes instead had "whole house fans" installed. Typically you see a whole house fan installed in the ceiling between the upper level of a home and the attic. They are pretty big and when turned on the force of the fan opens up louvers in the ceiling and pulls fresh air into the house through open windows and vents it out through the attic. Not only does it cool the house with fresh outside air but the fan also pushes hot air out of the attic space. This actually benefits the home in two ways as an attic without ventilation can get very hot in the summer and force your cooling system to work harder. You really do not see whole house fans installed in newer homes and I can't figure out why. Even with a central air system in place, a whole house fan can save a homeowner a wad of cash. It is estimated that a modern whole house fan uses about 1/10th the electricity that a central air conditioner would. You can still run your AC in the hottest days but when the outside temperature is below 80 and the humidity low, a whole house fan will keep you house just as cool. Here is a nice little video that I found that explains the principal of whole house fans in a quick nutshell.

Whole house fans are not too expensive but if it is not in your budget you can get yourself a high quality window fan that can just about do as good of a job as a whole house fan. I have an "Air King" window fan that goes into my window in the spring and comes out in the fall when the weather cools. It is bit noisier than a installed whole house fan but it is a "brute" and does a great job of ventilating my home.

Grace Church Rd in Silver Spring MD.

I took a minute yesterday and walked through the cemetery located on the Grounds of Grace Episcopal Church. Located on Georgia Avenue just out of downtown Silver Spring. Grace Church has a long history in Silver Spring dating back to before the American Civil War.

Back when I lived in North Woodside my wife and I liked to walk our dog in the neighborhood and would on occasion visit the cemetery. I sort of like old cemeteries but this one is unique in that there is a marker there for 17 unknown Confederate soldiers who lost their lives nearby in the summer of 1864.

In July of 1864 a Confederate force under the command of Jubal Early moved into Maryland near Sharpsburg and raised heck in Maryland. Eventually they ended up marching through Silver Spring up  to the very gates of Washington DC. Although, the region was thrown into a panic the attack proved to be just that, "a raid" and posed no serious threat to the eventual outcome of the conflict. Once the Confederate troops bumped up against the strong fortifications of Fort Stevens (located just over the DC line near where 13th Street meets Georgia Avenue) they really could not go any further. After two days of noisy skirmishing the Confederates pulled back and melted back into Virginia. Probably the most significant achievement of the raid in Silver Spring was the burning down of Montgomery Blair's home on July 12, 1864

I often wonder who these soldiers were and how they met their fates. I assume that most were killed in the fighting around Fort Stevens and not near the church. According to a earlier blog post by Allen Brown the bodies were buried at various sites around the area and gathered up for reburial well after the battle. Ironically Montgomery Blair contributed funds to this effort. Visiting the monument brings home the tragedy of the Civil War. It is hard to imagine that 150 years ago Americans were fighting and killing one another over the very ground that we live, work  and play on today. If you get a minute you should stop by the church and visit the memorial.

Streetcars are coming back to DC

This Sunday I held an open house on Potomac Street in Georgetown. It was one of those priceless Washington fall days and I took the long route back to my parked car so that I could enjoy some of the wonderful architecture unique to the neighborhood. I chanced to walk down P St. near Georgetown University and discovered that the street still had it old cobblestone pavement with a single streetcar track running down the middle.

I really loved the look of the street and if I was a resident of the city it would be just the kind of street that I would want my home on.

 I am old enough to remember the old DC Transit streetcars which were still running when my family first moved to Washington. As a small child I found them fascinating and it always exited me to go downtown with my parents and see them working their way across town. They were kind of cool looking with the ugliest green paint on them. Sad to say, I never got to ride on one before they were taken out of service.

The great news is that we will  have a new streetcar system working in the District of Columbia. It will be limited at first but I am hopeful that we will eventually see more viable streetcar lines connecting our communities. The first line along the H St corridor is slated to begin operation n 2014. Eventually the plan is for the new system to consist of 8 lines covering a total of 32 miles. The new cars are modern looking and will be mostly bright red. I am voting for the old green color but then again, I wanted the Washington Nationals to be named the Senators and nobody paid much attention to me on that matter either.

The Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton, MD

I love Scottish food (insert beer here) and music. So why have I never been to the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton MD. We paid a vist last night on the invitation of my brother who was playing with a local band there. The pub, a Wheaton fixture for 30 years, closed down in late 2011 due to financial trouble but reopened with a new owner in January of 2012. I am glad they did and we are glad that we finally discovered the place. The food is Scottish traditional fare-solid and soulful. We split a great fruit salad with walnuts and goat cheese and then dove into their famous Scottish beef stew. It was kind of funny because my wife's stew was full of beef and my bowl did not have one single piece of beef in it! But somehow I did not mind. The stew was so darn good that I would not have cared. However, my willing wife sent some of here ample beef cubes my way and I just let the matter pass. I had a Belhaven Scottish Ale which was smooth as silk and served only slightly chilled which is the way it should be.

I highly recommend that you give the Royal Mile Pub a look. It is located on Price Ave., near the new Safeway in Wheaton. Take my word for it,  downtown Wheaton MD is destined to be the next real estate hot spot in Montgomery County. With it's own metro station and it walkable core of fine inexpensive restaurants it would not be a bad place to look for a home. If you want to see some of the homes for sale near the Wheaton Metro then click in this link.

It's all happening at the Zoo

We did the Zoo thing today with my great niece. It was a lovely fall day for a visit and we saw lots of wonderful things. We really do have one of the best zoos in the world right here in Washington, DC and it just keeps getting better. Today the place was decorated up for the zoo's annual Boo at the Zoo Halloween celebration. There are some amazing skeleton displays there. Somebody has a great sense of humor and had a good time setting them up. I highly recommend that you make it a point to get down to the zoo this week. Check the schedule though as times have changed due to the Halloween events. And remember that the Boo at the zoo requires you to pay admission.

Am I the only one in Washington unaware of the incredible new carousel that was built right in front of the big cat exhibit? Apparently, the Speedwell Conservation Carousel  opened last November and I have to admit that it is one of the most lovely carousels that I have ever seen. Admission to the zoo is free to all visitors (quite a deal these days) but a ride on the carousel will cost you three dollars. And, it is worth it as you "must" see the unique animals on the carousel up close. They are finely crafted and unique from most other carousel rides. I am telling you, go to the zoo. You can thank me later....