A Cherry Blossom Hideaway Without the Crowds in Kenwood

When he moved to Kenwood six years ago, Kevin Keyes knew about the famous cherry blossoms, which form a pillowy pink-and-white canopy over the neighborhood each April.

What he didn't know is that another spring pleasure, the annual Cherry Blossom Party, would embody what he would come to like best about his home.

The catered open-house party is just one of Kenwood's annual community gatherings, including a chili night, a Halloween haunted house and a welcoming dinner for new residents. Residents of the Bethesda neighborhood even write and perform an annual play, in keeping with a tradition that started roughly 50 years ago.

"The cherry trees are certainly a great feature," said Keyes, 42, an entrepreneur and president of the Kenwood Citizens Association. "They define the exterior picture of Kenwood, but not the interior."

Cherry blossom season in Kenwood, a community of about 300 homes off River Road and Little Falls Parkway, draws about 25,000 to 30,000 visitors each April.

The Yoshino cherry trees are the same kind even more tourists flock to see at the Tidal Basin, but they bloom about four days later.

The roughly 1,200 trees were planted when Kenwood was developed in the 1920s. Today, visitors come from as near as downtown Bethesda and as far as Japan to view the blossoms. Residents work with Montgomery County police to control traffic.

Nell Shapiro, who moved to Kenwood eight years ago, said the police presence has helped residents on the neighborhood's main thoroughfares cope with the crowds.

"There are people who live close to the entrance for whom cherry-blossom season can be a double-edged sword, and I understand that many people feel that the visitors are delightful, but also disruptive," said Shapiro, 43, a stay-at-home mother. "But I think most of us feel churlish complaining, because it's so nice to get to have this in our neighborhood."

Shapiro said neighbors have learned to celebrate the onslaught. She said her children are among many who set up elaborate lemonade stands with cookies, brownies and other goodies, often netting more than $100 a day.

Keyes said as gorgeous as the cherry trees are, they represent only the tip of the neighborhood's natural beauty, which includes thickets of mature oaks and landscaping by its award-winning garden club.

Many residents said that beauty, plus the stately homes, drew them to the neighborhood, which sits minutes from downtown Bethesda and the River Road corridor.