Amanda Abrams - Kent has two personalities — 1930s and ’40s center-hall Colonials, above, on the west side, and in some cases, modern houses to the east.
These days, the farmhouses are all gone, but the area retains an unconventional atmosphere that’s heavily influenced by its architectural variety and the presence of the wooded Battery Kemble Park, which is a haven for sledders in the winter.
“It’s a very highly desired family neighborhood,” says Connie Carter, a real estate agent with Washington Fine Properties and a longtime resident.
(Gene Thorp/The Washington Post)
She acknowledges there are no commercial establishments within the community’s borders but says that the services and restaurants on MacArthur Boulevard and in Spring Valley Shopping Center are convenient enough. Moreover, she says, “it’s incredibly easy to access the metro area — we’re a second from the Maryland line and a bridge away from Virginia. So what we lose in terms of local shopping, we gain in proximity to important areas of the city.”
But residents say the neighborhood also has seen some less popular changes. Small-scale developers have bought up some of the large lots that still exist in the eastern section and built a number of what residents deride as “McMansions.”
In response, neighbors formed the Chain Bridge Road/University Terrace Preservation Committee in the late 1990s. The group successfully argued for a tree and slope protection overlay, a zoning distinction that restricts the number of trees that can be cut down and limits the amount of impervious surface allowed on each lot.
The overlay has been a useful tool in the group’s fight against Morton Bender, a Washington businessman who bought 31 / 2 acres on Chain Bridge Road in 2002 with the intent of building between nine and 13 multimillion-dollar homes on the property. Residents have strongly opposed the development, arguing that it is inappropriate for the lot and the neighborhood.
At the moment, they seem to be safe: In 2011, the Board of Zoning Adjustment ruled against Bender’s plans. But Bender says he still plans to build on the property.
“We’re going to proceed with the development of the property as the zoning permits,” he said.
Alma Gates, a former Advisory Neighborhood Commission representative for the area who has lived there or nearby for all of her 73 years, says she’s worried.
“I think the overlay is in some jeopardy,” given the city’s new zoning proposal, she said. At the same time, many members of the preservation committee have grown older or moved away, and the group may not be as prepared for battle in the future.
For now, though, life in Kent is peaceful. In the late afternoons, the park swarms with dog walkers, and the biggest debate at the moment is simply whether to add sidewalks to the area’s winding roads.
Amanda Abrams is a freelance writer.
ZIP CODE: 20016
BOUNDARIES: Loughboro Road to the north, Battery Kemble Park to the east and MacArthur Boulevard to the west.
HOME SALES: According to Connie Carter, a real estate agent with Washington Fine Properties, 31 homes have sold in Kent over the past year at an average sales price of $1.7 million. Eleven homes are currently on the market or under contract.
SCHOOLS: Key Elementary, Hardy Middle and Wilson High.
TRANSIT: The closest Metro station is Tenleytown on the Red Line, more than a mile away. Buses serving MacArthur Boulevard run to Georgetown and Dupont Circle.
WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE: Battery Kemble Park, MacArthur Boulevard shops, C&O Canal, Potomac River, Sibley Memorial Hospital, Little Falls Park, American University.
WITHIN 15 MINUTES BY CAR: Georgetown University, Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, Spring Valley Shopping Center, Friendship Heights, Glen Echo Park, Clarendon.
Loading...
Comments