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In Washington Grove, Working Around the Trees
The small town of Washington Grove is made up of about 225 homes, many of them only a few feet from their neighbors.
(Photos By Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)
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Town meetings are held at McCathran Hall, a small, octagonal structure that is also the site of birthday parties, weddings, and orchestral and choral concerts.
Lehman was 10 in 1966 when her schoolteacher parents bought one of the peaked cottages in Washington Grove. The circa 1885 structure was tiny, just 13 1/2 feet wide, with ceilings 10 feet tall at the highest point. The kitchen was rudimentary, and there was a coal shed outside. Her family remodeled and reconfigured, creating two bedrooms and a bathroom out of an upstairs loft for Lehman and her sister.
"When you first move in, you hurt your head a lot. You learn to accommodate," said Lehman.
Lehman's mother, Betty Knight, continues to live in that cottage. Eventually, she added a living room and a two-car garage, a rarity among the original Washington Grove houses.
"I've just loved it. I tell my girls I hope they carry me out in a box," said Knight, 79.
Both houses and people are close in Washington Grove, she said, and that's among the reasons she has stayed so long.
"What exists here, I don't find in other places. It takes you back in time a little bit," Knight said. "The houses are small and clustered together. You are forced to know your neighbor well."
Although the tents are long gone, Washington Grove still has a bit of the summer-camp feel. The forests contribute to this atmosphere, as does the lack of drivable streets. There are no busy thoroughfares, and many of the houses front grassy walkways instead of paved streets.
"Walking is a key characteristic of Washington Grove. It's laid out to be pedestrian friendly. Every other street is a walkway," Compton said.
Winkler said the walkways and greenery attracted her when she and her family were house-hunting. "We parked the car and were walking down Grove Avenue. We weren't even sure we should be walking on it. There was a sign that said something about no wheeled vehicles, and here I'm pushing my son's stroller. I said, 'Can we do this?' "
Strollers were and are permitted, and Winkler said she still loves living where she does.
Roads are designed to keep traffic slow -- the speed limit is 15 miles per hour -- and at a minimum.
