MARYLAND IDSTORICAL TRUST NR Eligible: yes DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FORM no~ pertyName: West Laurel Acres Subdivision Inventory Number: PG:60-43 Bond Mill at Sandy Spring Road Historic district: yes X no City: Laurel Zip Code: 20707 County: Prince George's USGS Quadrangle(s): Beltsville ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Property Owner: Multiple Tax Account ID Number: Multiple Tax Map Parcel Number(s): Multiple Tax Map Number: Multiple ~~~~~~~~~- ~~~~~~~~- Project: MD 28-1 98 Agency: MD SHA Agency Prepared By: URS Group, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- Preparer's Name: Brian Cleven Date Prepared: 2/20/2015 Documentation is presented in: NIA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- Preparer's Eligibility Recommendation: Eligibility recommended x Eligibility not recommended Criteria: A B c D Considerations: A B c D E F G Complele if !he prop erly is a contributing or non-conlributing resource to a NR district/property: Name of the District/Property: Inventory Number: Eligible: yes Listed: yes • visit by MHT Staff yes X no Name: Date: Description of Property and Justification: (Please allach map and photo) West Laurel Acres Subdivision is 3 miles west of downtown Laurel, Prince George's County, Maryland (Figure 1-1). Located between two major metropolitan centers, Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. , West Laurel Acres is just north of Sandy Spring Road (MD-198), I mile west oflnterstate 95, and 1.25 miles east of U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike). The subdivision is bound by Bond Mills Road and a power line corridor on the southeast and east, Sandy Spring Road on the southwest, and it includes Parkway Road on the west and north (Figure 1-2). The boundary of the 80.5-acre inventoried property is shown on Figure 1-2. The subdivision does not have any curbs or sidewalks, except in Section 4, and landscaping is limited to lawns, accent trees in the front or side yards, and foundation plantings. It is situated in a lightly wooded area, with woods being located predominately between roads and residential developments. The subdivision is strictly residential. The average lot size is 100 feet wide and 200 feet deep, although lots from the 1960s average only 80 feet wide and 125 feet deep. The long axes of the houses are parallel to the road with driveways approaching either side of each house. The subdivision as surveyed comprises 5 plats (Figures 1-3 thru 1-7): West Laurel Acres, March 1, 1954; MARYLAND IDSTORICAL TRUST REVIEW Eligibility recommended Eligibility not recommended ~ Criteria: A B c D Considerations: A B c D E F G MHT Comments: NR-ELIGIBILITY REVIEW FORM PG:60-43 West Laurel Acres Subdivision Page2 Section 2, March I , 1955; Section 3, January 15, 1957; Section Four, June 1967; and Section 5, September 28, 1959. The plats for Sections 3 and 5 included building restrictions with a defined 25-foot setback (Photos I and 2). Eight additional sections for West Laurel Acres Subdivision, platted in 1994 and containing modem houses from the 1990s, were not included in the study area. The West Laurel Acres Subdivision was formerly part ofa 300-acre farm, which Alexander J. Wedderburn inherited from his father. In 1954, he subdivided the first parcel and provided a builder a few of the lots. Not satisfied with the results, Wedderburn built a house as an experiment. It sold very quickly and convinced him to resign from his job as Curator of Photography at the Smithsonian Institution and become a developer. In 1964, the development was connected to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission sewerage system. At the time, he was also developing the 20-lot Stirling Forest subdivision along Sherwood A venue, just north along Bond Mill Road (The News Leader 1964). The West Laurel Acres Subdivision contains 157 dwellings of various architectural styles, including 4 Minimal Traditional, 2 Contemporary, 122 Ranch, 11 Split-level, and 17 Split-foyer that were constructed between 1950 and 1975 (Attachments 4 and 5). One modem house, 15500 Bond Mill Road, dates to 1992 (SDAT 2014). The ranch houses include 3 Transitional Ranch houses, 5 Ranch houses, and 114 Raised Ranch houses. The earliest dwellings constructed by other builders show the greatest variety. These include the four Minimal Traditional-style houses, the two Contemporary-style houses, four of the five Ranch houses, and the three Transitional Ranch houses (Photos 3-6). Wedderburn built raised Ranch houses, Split-level, and Split-foyer houses. The four Minimal Traditional style houses represent only 2.5% of the dwellings within the West Laurel Acres Subdivision. Two were built in 1953 and two more in 1954 (SDAT 2014). These are typically one-story, three-bay-wide by two-bay-deep brick houses with central front entrance that opens onto a covered stoop (Photo 3). Except for a large front picture window on the fa~ade , the windows are one-over-one-light, double-hung units with brick sills. These houses have side gable roofs with asphalt shingles and a brick chimney. Four of the five Ranch houses started as Minimal Traditional style houses in 1953 (SDAT 2014). Based on a October 31 , 1954 advertisement in the Washington Post, these houses started as a one-story, three-bay-wide by two-bay-deep wood-frame houses with an off center front entrance that opened onto a recessed covered stoop (Photo 3; Washington Post l 954:R8). Except for a large front window on the fa~ade in what was the center bay, the windows are one-over-one-light, double-hung units. These houses have side gable roofs with asphalt shingles. In all cases, the porch has been enclosed with a new front entrance and the houses extended with at least one additional bay and the exteriors have new siding (Photo 5). The walls are clad with wood or aluminum siding. The fifth Ranch house was built in 1962 (SDAT 2014). Out of 157 houses, only 2 Contemporary style houses were built in the subdivision, one in 1953 and the other in 1954 (SDAT 2014). These are one-story, five-bay-wide by three-bay-deep wood-frame houses with shallow front gable roofs with wide overhanging eaves (Photo 4). They have recessed, central front entrances with wood doors and single-light fixed sidelight and transom windows. The houses have a combination of fixed and awning wood-frame windows. The walls are clad with wood clapboard siding. MARYLAND IDSTORICAL TRUST REVIEW Eligibility recommended Eligibility not recommended Criteria: A B c D Considerations: A B c D E F G MHT Comments: Reviewer, Office of Preservation Services Date Reviewer, National Register Program Date NR-ELIGIBILITY REVIEW FORM PG:60-43 West Laurel Acres Subilivision Page 3 ere are three Transitional Ranch houses built in 1953 comprising only 1.9% of the housing stock (SDAT 2014). These one- ory, four-bay-wide by two-bay-deep wood-frame dwellings have hipped roofs with louvered gablets and wide eaves (Photo 6). The front entrances open onto covered stoops with hipped roofs. Besides a large bay window with a fixed central light flanked by one-over-one-light, double-hung windows, the remaining windows are single or paired one-over-one-light, double-hung windows. The walls are clad with wood or aluminum siding. The most prevalent house type in West Laurel Acres Subilivision is the Raised Ranch with 114 units comprising 72.6% of the houses. They were built between 1950 and 1964 except for one built in 1971 (SDAT 2014). The Raised Ranch houses are wood­ frame walls clad with wood clapboard, aluminum, asbestos, or vinyl siding and brick chimneys (Photos 7 to 10). The facades are clad in brick veneer. The Raised Ranch house type has a side gable roof with wide eaves, and exterior chimney on a side elevation, a central front entrance opening onto a raised stoop, and a large front flat or bow multi-paned window on one side and two windows (double or single) to the other side. There were 54 Raised Ranch houses with the single windows; 9 of these had a low­ pitch front gable roof over the single windows on the fai;ade (Photos 7 and 8). There were 45 Raised Ranch houses with the double windows; 38 of these had a low-pitch front gable roofover the main entry and the large window on the faiyade (Photos 9 and IO) . There are 13 examples of more linear Raised Ranch houses with interior chimneys between the living area and bedrooms (Photo 11 ). There are two Raised Ranch houses with a projecting gable wing and a side gable rear appendage that contains the front stoop and entry. This type of Raised Ranch has a more compact footprint, which is uncommon for house type associated with horizontal massing. Although not described in detail, "The Ranch House in Georgia" historic context defines this as a Transverse Linear Ranch (Sullivan, Reed and Fedor 2010). The 11 Split-level houses in the neighborhood comprise 7% of the housing stock (Photos 13 and 14). From the front, IO of the houses are Raised Ranch Houses with a center entrance that opens onto a stoop and three one-over-one-light, double-hung windows and a large window on the other side. The large front windows are either flat or bow windows. Flat windows are nine­ light fixed windows (Photo 14) or a center fixed windows flanked by one-over-one-light, double-hung windows (Photos 13). The bow windows were 15-light fixed windows. The rest of the windows are single or paired one-over-one-light, double-hung · dows. One of these houses has three front dormers with single windows (Photo 14). These houses differ from the Raised Ranch use in that the front of the house is one level, but the rear of the house splits into two levels.