The utilization of land for the modern development of the Hillcrest Neighborhood has absorbed 54 percent of its total land area, or 1,502 out of 2,772 acres. These are the parcels of land which have been improved with housing units, commercial and industrial structures, public or institutional buildings, and recreational facilities. The undeveloped or vacant acreage (1,270 acres) is found primarily to the east of Wheeler Road. A reservation plat in this section indicates that land to the east of Wheeler Road has been under consideration for a new road or expressway between the District of Columbia border and the Capital Beltway.
LAND USE Acres Percent Total Land Area 2,772 100.0 Developed: 1,502 54.2 Residential (1-3 units) 822 29.7 Residential (4+ units) 156 5.6 Commercial 145 5.2 Industrial 127 4.6 Public/Quasi-Public 171 6.2 Park and Recreation 81 2.9 Undeveloped 1,270 45.8
Residential land use involves 822 acres for single-family, two-family, and three-family homes, and 156 acres for apartment construction. The number of dwelling units supported on this acreage numbered 8,128 in 1970, including a 53 percent share in the single-family type, 47 percent in multi-family types, and a few in the form of mobile units.
DISTRIBUTION OF DWELLING UNITS Number Percent Total Dwelling Units 8,128 100.0 Single-Family 4,283 52.7 Multi-Family 3,799 46.7 Mobile Units 46 0.6
A breakdown of housing units, by type of unit, as Indicated by a CRP field survey, shows the following:
Number Percent Total Residential Units 8,808 100.0 Single-Family, detached 2,111 24.0 Two-Family, attached 1,466 16.6 Three-Family, attached 48 0.5 Multi-Family (including apartment buildings and row housing) 5,183 58.9
The lower density residential development, involving single-family and two-family homes (and including a few of the three-family type) covers the eastern two-thirds of the neighborhood land area with access from Branch Avenue or St. Barnabas Road. The larger subdivisions involve Hillcrest Heights, Hillcrest Estates, and Hillcrest Gardens, supplemented by smaller groupings known as Good Hope Hills, Oxon Run Hills, Marlow Heights, Gordon's Corner, Deer Park, and North Barnaby.
Since the bulk of lower density residential construction appeared between the years of 1945 and 1960, similarities of design are evident in the homes provided by the various subdivisions. Those developers who supplied the less-expensive duplex-type home generally used wood or brick and frame construction in rather utilitarian designs and built the homes on lots of 3,700 to 4,000 square feet. Good Hope Hills, Oxon Run Hills, and parts of Hillcrest Heights, Marlow Heights, and Deer Park are examples.
Single-family construction was generally within the popular designs of the post-World War II period, featuring brick and frame construction in ramblers, split-level, split-foyer, and Cape Cod styles, with lot sizes in the range of 7,000 to 9,000 square feet. Some sections feature more expensive housing, including custom built homes on large lots, as in sections of Hillcrest Heights, and in new additions to the Gordon's Corner subdivision.
The neighborhood also contains several very small subdivisions, comprising a few homes oriented to one street, and generally found in proximity to St. Barnabas Road; among these are Kerr's, Hendley's, and Nicely. Older homes are also found along the route of St. Barnabas Road, and along Old Wheeler Road (paralleling the main Wheeler Road).
The majority of the apartment complexes in the Hillcrest Neighborhood are of the garden, walk-up type, three to four stories in height, of brick construction. Numbered among these are ones with access from Southern Avenue on the District of Columbia border (Oxon Park, Oxon Terrace, and Forest Hills), as well as several oriented to either Branch Avenue or St. Barnabas Road (Anton House, Marlow Heights Apartments, Marlow Heights Gardens, Marlow Overlook, and Gateway Square). Most of the multifamily construction in the interior of the neighborhood is also of the garden type - Chestnut Hills, Barnaby Run, Fountain Square, and Maplewood Park.
Variations to the garden apartment design are found in elevator-type structures, including Lynnhill and Top of the Park apartments in the northeast section, and Marlow Towers and Marlow Plaza near the Marlow Heights Shopping Center. These structures range from six to 11 stories in height.
Commercial land use takes up five percent of the neighborhood land area, or 145 acres. It appears both in the form of large and compact shopping centers and as extensive strip commercial use, especially along St. Barnabas Road.
The first and what was then a large size shopping center was established in connection with the Hillcrest Heights subdivision, located at the intersection of Iverson Street and 23rd Parkway In the early 1950's. It provided for the usual type of retail sale; and services most needed by surrounding residents, including a supermarket, a drug store, and a large variety store. Today, these enterprises are still functioning in the Hillcrest Heights Shopping Center, and its other tenants include a bank and shops selling such items as hardware and clothing. Personal services are available, and a branch of the County library is installed in one of the former stores.
A small shopping center has also been in existence for some time in connection with the Oxon Run Hills section, at 23rd Parkway and Oxon Run Drive. Known as the Oxon Run Shopping Center, it contains a supermarket and a number of personal services.
In 1957, following the construction of a section of new Branch Avenue (Rt. 5), the large Marlow Heights Shopping Center opened at the intersection of Branch Avenue and St. Barnabas Road. Occupying about 40 acres of land, its format was regional in scope, with approximately 60 retail outlets grouped together in four sets of buildings. Several enterprises, such as a large department store and a movie theatre, occupy freestanding structures. The developers of this commercial complex, the Scuderi Brothers, recently completed construction on the same parcel of a modern, seven-story office building known as the Scuderi Building. It furnishes around 74,000 square feet of office space and parking for 400 automobiles.
A second regional shopping center was established in the latter part of the 1960's by the Carozza Company. Known as Iverson Mall, its form as an enclosed mall (the first in the County) was suggested to the developer as early as 1952 by similar complexes he had seen abroad, but actual development of the site did not occur until expansion of population suggested the feasibility of another major shopping center, and arrangements were worked out to amend the County Road Code to permit a portion of the structure to utilize air-rights over Iverson Street, thus allowing the developer to connect the two parcels on either side of the street which were allocated to the mall. Fronting close to Branch Avenue, the shopping center encompasses around 100,000 square feet of retail space and provides for decked parking. Tenants include two large department stores and 70 supplementary shops for retail sales and services.
Another noticeable change in the utilization of land for commercial use has been the expansion of commercial enterprises along St. Barnabas Road. Most of these businesses have appeared during the past decade. The northern side of this road is characterized by four automobile dealerships, used car lots, automobile service and repair shops, and by a small ten-unit shopping center (Marlow Square) which also contains a large office building.
The southern side of St. Barnabas Road has been used just as extensively, or more so, for commercial purposes, with new structures still being erected at the time of the CRP survey in 1970. Beginning near Branch Avenue and utilizing some of the original Gordon's Corner subdivision are a number of structures housing professional services and others which furnish space for retail sales. Below Stamp Road, the roadside is lined with commercial establishments of varied types, including gasoline stations, eating places, several groups of attached stores which deal in items like pet sales and automobile accessories, and free-standing structures which supply paint products, tool rentals, appliance sales and services, and auto body repair services. A small post office and a bank are also located along the road near its intersection with Temple Hills Road. Much of the commercial land use along St. Barnabas Road may be termed highway-oriented in that customers who utilize the products and services provided by the entrepreneurs are not limited to the immediate area.
Other commercial land use in the neighborhood was noted on Branch Avenue near Suitland Parkway (site of motels, cafes, and a bowling alley), and at the intersection of Wheeler Road and Southern Avenue (site of a supermarket).
Industrial land use in the neighborhood was estimated at 127 acres in 1970, subject to day-to-day changes as the section to the south of St. Barnabas Road experiences the introduction of warehousing and other activities of a light industrial and mixed commercial nature.
The only industrial activity before the onset of this trend was an enterprise engaged in the extraction of sand and gravel, the Bevard firm. Formerly operating on a leased site on the eastern side of Branch Avenue, Mr. Bevard moved his enterprise to a section between St. Barnabas Road and Henson Creek, primarily the locale of the Clifton farm but also involving a portion of the Stamp farm. The names of the roads in this section reflect the names of those farm families -- Stamp, Clifton, and Cremen. In 1942, when the sand and gravel company began operation on the new site, St. Barnabas Road was a narrow rural road, about 20 feet in width and lined with cedar trees. Stamp Road was little more than a rural path into the old farm, and present Beech Road which now curves through the area was provided by the Bevard firm.
Extraction activities have ceased in recent years and some of the land held by the Bevard firm has passed to other ownership. Improvement of St. Barnabas Road (widening and resurfacing) and proximity of the section to Branch Avenue (Rt. 5) and the Capital Beltway have heightened its desirability for non-residential land use. Another factor supporting this type of use was the recommendation in the County's General Plan (1964) that this section had feasibility as an "employment center."
Among the enterprises now found behind the strip commercial land use on the southern side of St. Barnabas Road and indicative of mixed commercial and industrial land use are a new Railway Express facility, a number of large warehouse structures and others under construction, and buildings which house a printing company, supply stores, tool rentals, building and equipment contractors, metal fabricators, and automobile sales and repair shops.
Over the past few years, this section has been known as the Silver Hill Industrial Center. When fully developed, this center will account for around 144 undeveloped acres of land zoned for light industrial use.
Public and quasi/public land use totalled 171 acres (occupied mainly by schools and churches) and developed park and recreational land absorbed 81 acres -- acreage which included a golf course and several local recreation centers.
[...] elementary schools are among the neighborhood facilities [in the] Hillcrest section. Most of these are located in proximity to the subdivision development and were constructed in the 1950's when a large population of children necessitated establishment of new educational facilities. Among these were Hillcrest Heights, Panorama, and Green Valley Elementary Schools, located in the interior section near 23rd Parkway, and Sandymount Elementary School in the Marlow Heights area. Both sections also have junior high schools -- Shugart in Hillcrest Heights, and Stoddert in Marlow Heights. A special educational school of the County is located near Branch Avenue and Iverson Street.
The interior section (23rd Parkway and Callaway Street) also hosts a Catholic elementary school in connection with the Holy Family Church. Established around 1950, the church [first utilized?] temporary facilities, but has since erected a new [...], a school with gym and auditorium, a convent, and a [rectory?]. Around 650 students are enrolled in the school [which?] provides instruction for grades one through eight.
Another facility within the neighborhood is a small branch library of the County library system, located in the Hillcrest Heights Shopping Center.
Acquisition of Oxon Run stream valley parkland by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has resulted in the establishment of a golf course and recreation center along the northern edge of the neighborhood. The Oxon Run Recreational Center offers opportunities for picnicking and use of playground equipment and ballfields.
Other developed recreational land consists of the Temple Hills [Center?] near the Deer Park subdivision south of St. Barnabas Road, and the North Barnaby Center near the subdivision of that name on Old Barnaby Road. Both provide a variety of facilities, including picnic tables, ballfields, playgrounds, and tennis courts.
A community center building has been provided in connection with the Commissions's acquisition of a five-acre site in the Marlow Heights section. The building has gymnasium space and activity rooms, while grounds contain picnic tables, playground equipment, and several basketball, tennis, and horseshoe courts.
Hillcrest Neighborhood is bordered on two sides by major arteries of travel -- the Capital Beltway, which opened in 1964, and new Branch Avenue (Rt. 5), whose construction in this neighborhood was started around mid-1950. To the north, the neighborhood is bordered by a portion of the Suitiand Parkway, and sections of incomplete Southern Avenue which marks the dividing line between the neighborhood and the District of Columbia. Another bordering road, Wheeler Road, to the southwest was improved some years ago on a new alignment; portions of Old Wheeler Road are still in use, as is a portion of Old Barnaby Road. Both of these roads are in the sparsely settled southwestern section of the neighborhood.
[One of the most important roads in the Neighborhood is] St. Barnabas Road, which trends southwest-northwest between the Capital Beltway and Branch Avenue. It is one of the few roads moving in this direction in this section of the County, and is thus utilized for through traffic, and, more recently, for traffic in connection with the increasing commercialization of the roadway and for access into an industrial sector. Improvements have been made over time to St. Barnabas Road -- it has been widened in the Marlow Heights section -- but at the present time it is in need of further refurbishment, including surface condition and traffic control. One of the problems in connection with St, Barnabas Road has been the difficulty of access onto the road from side streets which lead to residential, commercial, and industrial development. Particularly on the southern side of St. Barnabas Road, it was noted that streets like Stamp Road and Cremen Road are poorly surfaced, lack drainage, and carry a considerable volume of commercial and industrial traffic. Stamp Road has been listed in the current Capital Improvement Program for rehabilitation.
The neighborhood also has several prominent residential streets which have been widened along all or part of their route. Access from Branch Avenue via Iverson Street is complicated by the fact that shoppers also use Iverson Street as the entranceway to Iverson Mall. Iverson Street also terminates with the end of the residential construction, although proposals have been made to continue it as a major street to Wheeler Road. Another interior street which carries a substantial burden of local traffic is 23rd Parkway, moving north-south between Oxon Run Drive and St. Barnabas Road. Its continuation to the south of St. Barnabas Road is known as Hagan Road, a former rural path trending southward and known as Old Temple Mill Road. The newer Temple Hills Road passes nearby, and Hagan Road has been suggested for an improvement for its 16-foot width.
Most of the streets serving the individual subdivisions were found to be of modern construction and in good condition. Many were complete with curbs and sidewalks.
Since the bulk of residential construction in the Hillcrest Neighborhood has taken place within the past two decades, this section of the County has a high proportion of residential structures whose exterior condition was found to be in excellent condition. Out of 3,080 structures, 2,834 (92 percent) were listed as sound with no defects. Most of the remaining structures (7.6 percent) were also sound but had minor defects attributable to lack of maintenance. Only 12 structures were found in a deteriorating condition.
RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS Number Percent Total Residential Structures 3,080 100.0 Sound: No Defects 2,834 92.0 Sound: Minor Defects 234 7.6 Deteriorating 12 0.4
The 12 deteriorating structures in the neighborhood included a few single-family homes in outlying locations (as along Wheeler Road), but four were structures (3-family homes) containing a total of 12 units, located in a block in which commercial land use was increasing -- near St. Clair Drive and Branch Avenue.
Housing of less than excellent quality (sound but showing lack of maintenance) involved a considerable number of duplexes (two-family attached homes). Approximately one-fourth of all low-density home structures are duplexes (733 out of 2,860). While less than five percent of all single-family detached units showed a lack of maintenance, in the case of duplexes the proportion rose to nine percent. Sections of the neighborhood which contained the bulk of two-family homes in less than excellent condition were Oxon Run Hills, Curtis Drive near Branch Avenue, and the section of Deer Park to the north of St. Barnabas Road.
Apartment construction was also involved in the structures classified as sound but in need of improved maintenance. Included in this category was all of the extensive garden apartment development extending westward along Iverson Street, beginning in back of the Iverson Mall shopping center and reaching to 24th Street, numbering 74 structures and 1,135 dwelling units. These buildings comprise the early garden apartment construction of 1950, built as low-cost housing for returning veterans. Recent newspaper advertisements indicate that some of these groupings, similar to townhouses in their row construction, have been extensively refurbished and are being marketed as condominium townhouses. Original construction, according to County records, was on the order of 18 or more units to the acre.
The Hillcrest Neighborhood provides an example of swift transition of open country land to subdivision development. In the Hillcrest Heights section, over 80 percent of existing housing in 1960 was less than ten years old, and the housing was generally of good quality, constructed with basements, warm air furnaces, and modern sewer and water facilities. The average value of owner-occupied units at that time was relatively high for the County -- $17,100 as against the County median of $15,000. Most of the 100 or more old rental units in this section which were in a deteriorating condition in 1960 have disappeared, displaced by new construction. Today the average value of owner-occupied units in the Hillcrest Neighborhood has reached $25,750, which barely exceeds the County average of $25,511. Contract rents in the neighborhood are also at the County average, around $147.
One noticeable change in the neighborhood has been the increasing proportion of nonwhite residents. In 1960, it is estimated that the ratio was only one or two percent of total residents; today nonwhite residents comprise almost 13 percent of total population. Their 850 dwelling units are generally comparable to the dwelling units of all residents - 43 percent rental and 57 percent owned, with comparable average value for owner-occupied units but a lower average rent for renter-occupied units ($130).
Problems in the Hillcrest Neighborhood, as they relate to the well-being of residents and to the continued desirability of this section as a place to live, include the need for better maintenance of duplex homes and older garden apartments or row housing. Attention from County housing inspectors when these units are placed on the market for sale or rental would be of value in correcting noticed deficiencies.
While the neighborhood has a number of developed park and recreational areas, no facility of this kind was noted in the interior section of widespread subdivision development. Implementation of the proposal in the County's Capital Improvement Program for a Hillcrest Heights Recreation Center would offset this deficiency. Implementation of another proposal for a new library in this same section would remove the present inadequate library branch which has only 2,000 square feet of rented space in the Hillcrest Heights Shopping Center. The site for a new library has already been donated by the developer of Hillcrest Heights.
Another need involves the improvement of the quality of commercial land use along St. Barnabas Road, which is presently characterized by a number of buildings which are poorly maintained and by difficulties of access from the main roadway. An effective way of dealing with these problems may be through an association of the merchants. Such a group could coordinate efforts to bring all commercial structures up to code and suggest plans for enhancing the visual attractiveness of the strip commercial as well as providing for better access and customer parking.
The emergence of a warehousing and industrial section to the south of St. Barnabas Road indicates the need for an overall land use guide for this type of development, one which would be concerned with the particulars of street improvement, siting of structures, and protection of residential sections from encroachment by the nonresidential land use.