Eisner-Keilsohn House MIHP # PG:67- College Park, Prince George's County, MD 1952 Private Capsule Summary The Eisner-Keilsohn House is located at 6209 Pontiac Street in College Park, Maryland. Constructed in 1952, it is a 2,397 square-foot two-story brick and frame dwelling of Modern or Contemporary design. Although the architect of the building is not known, it exhibits many of the signature features of the split-level subtype of Contemporary or Modern residential design of the 1950s, including a low pitched roof with front facing gable, large overhanging eaves, large expanses of windows, exposed supporting roof beams. lack of decorative details and contrasting wall materials and textures. Maryland Historical Trust Inventory No. PG:67- Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form 1. Name of Property (indicate preferred name) historic Eisner-Keilsohn House other 2. Location street and number 6209 Pontiac Street not for publication city, town College Park vicinity county Prince George’s 3. Owner of Property (give names and mailing addresses of all owners) name Jason A. Lunn street and number 6209 Pontiac Street telephone city, town College Park state MD zip code 20740 4. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Prince George’s County Register of Deeds liber: 18966 folio:686 city, town Upper Marlboro, MD tax map 034 tax parcel 0021 tax ID number 2351716 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 X Other: Historic Preservation Section, Prince George’s County Planning Department, M-NCPPC 6. Classification Category Ownership Current Function Resource Count district public agriculture landscape Contributing Noncontributing X building(s) X private commerce/trade recreation/culture 1 1 buildings structure both defense religion sites site X domestic social structures object education transportation objects funerary work in progress 1 1 Total government unknown health care vacant/not in use Number of Contributing Resources industry other: previously listed in the Inventory 0 7. Description Inventory No. PG:67- Condition excellent deteriorated X good ruins fair altered Prepare both a one paragraph summary and a comprehensive description of the resource and its various elements as it exists today. The Eisner-Keilsohn House is located on a 0.28-acre lot in College Park, Maryland. It is located in the residential neighborhood of Berwyn Heights at 6209 Pontiac Street, about 500 feet west of Kenilworth Avenue. Constructed in 1952, it is a 2,397 square-foot, two-story, brick and frame dwelling of Modern or Contemporary design. Although the architect of the building is not known, it exhibits many of the signature features of the split-level subtype of Contemporary or Modern residential design of the 1950s, including a low-pitched roof with front facing gable having exposed supporting roof beams, large overhanging eaves, large expanses of windows, lack of decorative details and contrasting wall materials and textures. The house is accessed from a driveway shared with 6207 Pontiac Street to the west. The house is a split-level dwelling set on a brick foundation having Flemish headers separated by six stretcher courses. The house is composed of three sections unified by a low-pitched front-gabled roof with large overhanging eaves. The most visible section of the house is the two-story block at the northwest corner facing the entrance drive and Pontiac Street. This section contains a roughly nine-foot high brick lower section with a shallow projecting second-story frame section that is cantilevered over the brick wall. The second story is clad with wide vertical cypress board siding. The north façade of the main section has no windows on the first story. The second story of the north façade has a rectangular projecting bay centered beneath the roof ridge that is nearly filled with a grouping of nine large windows, the center windows are fixed and the outer windows are operable casements. The west façade of the first story on the main section has two, double-sliding windows set near each corner and a central double-hung sash. On the second story, the window pattern is reversed, with a sliding window sash centered within a projecting bay with two double-hung sashes near the corners. The slope of the main section's gable roof continues down the east side covering a one-story section that has a recessed front porch. The front door is accessed from a twelve-foot wide concrete staircase leading to the concrete porch. The main entrance to the house is on the east side of the main section and is accessed from the porch. The front entrance consists of a modern steel clad entrance door set into the original wood frame comprised of large molded wood casing. The porch roof is supported by three painted square steel posts. The porch ceiling is clad with rectangular boards edged with small lath. The front wall of the northeast section of the house is nearly a complete wall of windows consisting of upper and lower bands of fixed rectangular sashes with a central large fixed pane between them. Completing the rectangle on each side of the central fixed pane is a pair of casement windows. There are no windows punctuating the east façade of this section of the house. The third section extends southward towards the rear, or south façade of the house. This two-story section consists of brick walls with large expanses of windows on both the south and east façades, and is clad with vertical cypress siding above its brick foundation on the west façade. The cypress siding on the west façade acts as a unifying element for the main section and the rear section on this side. The east façade has a block of windows centered within its brick wall. The upper part of the block contains four equally large fixed rectangular sashes. Below these, the two northernmost windows are paired casements. The remaining windows consist of two fixed panes, one of which may have been modified from its original appearance as it appears to have been shortened to accommodate an air-conditioning unit. At the southeast corner of the rear of the house, a band of windows wraps around the corner at the roofline towards the rear, or south façade of the house, terminating at a massive brick chimney. Larger windows of this band are capped with smaller trapezoidal windows that follow the pitch of the roof. A small shed-roof storage area has been added to the house's southeast corner. It is a frame structure with shed roof and T-111 plywood siding. The remainder of the rear, or south façade of the house consists of a large expanse of windows extending from the southwest corner and continuing to the chimney. Lower windows are fixed panes flanking central casements, while two upper bands of fixed windows terminate at the roofline. Three massive roof support beams extend through the south Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Inventory No. PG:67- Historic Properties Form Eisner-Keilsohn House Continuation Sheet Number 7 Page 1 façade of the house and support a wide gable overhang. A rear concrete porch begins at the chimney and wraps around the southwest corner of the house. The west façade of the rear section has a shed roof supported by painted square steel posts covering the secondary entrance near the southwest corner. Near the roofline on the west façade is a continuous band of eight windows. Six of the windows are fixed and the two northernmost sashes are casements. North of the porch at the first story level is a band of three double-hung windows. Integrity The Eisner-Keilsohn House retains a high degree of integrity of location, setting, and association. The location and setting remains the small residential 0.28-acre lot within the Berwyn Heights subdivision. The design of the Eisner- Keilsohn House remains largely unaltered and continues to reflect its historic function as a single-family residence. The vertical wood siding, brick, original windows, concrete porch floors, exposed roof support beams and steel porch posts, are in most cases as originally installed. The house has been well maintained, preserving integrity of materials, design, workmanship and feeling. 8. Significance Inventory No. PG:67- Period Areas of Significance Check and justify below 1600-1699 agriculture economics health/medicine performing arts 1700-1799 archeology education industry philosophy 1800-1899 X architecture engineering invention politics/government X 1900-1999 art entertainment/ landscape architecture religion 2000- commerce recreation law science communications ethnic heritage literature social history community planning exploration/ maritime history transportation conservation settlement military other: Specific dates 1952 Architect/Builder Construction dates 1952 Evaluation for: National Register X 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.) Statement of Significance The Eisner-Keilsohn House is significant as an intact example of post-World War II Modern Movement residential architecture. Constructed in 1952, it is a 2,397 square-foot, two-story brick and frame dwelling of Modern or Contemporary design. Although the architect of the building is not known, it exhibits many of the signature features of the split-level subtype of Contemporary or Modern residential design of the 1950s, including a low pitched roof with front facing gable, large overhanging eaves, large expanses of windows, exposed supporting roof beams.