Kentlands, Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Houses in Kentlands

Located in the U.S. city of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Kentlands is an early experiment in returning to traditional neighborhood design for community planning that now is called the New Urbanism. It is an attempt to build from scratch a walkable, mixed-use city neighborhood in order to provide an attractive alternative to the spread out, automobile-centric, subdivisions common to post-World War Two American suburbia. It is built around a farmstead previously owned by Otis Beall Kent.

The development, begun in 1988, contains buildings from the original Kentlands farm, many varieties of residences, a "downtown" commercial district, open space including protected natural areas and pocket parks, and civic uses including schools, a church, and an art center.

1 History
2 Sites
3 See also
4 External Links

[edit] History

Originally known as Wheatlands, the land was farmed by the Tschiffely family starting in 1852. In 1942, the Tschiffely family sold the land to Otis Beall Kent. Kent, a wealthy tax lawyer, renamed the land Kentlands Farm, and he set about to create a gentleman's estate and wildlife sanctuary. In the 1960s, part of the land was given to the Izaak Walton League and the National Geographic Society with conditions of maintaining some of the land as a wildlife sanctuary. Mr. Kent bequeathed the remainder of the property to his adopted daughter, Helene Danger Kent. That portion was annexed into the city of Gaithersburg and was sold in 1988 to the town’s creators, Joseph Alfandre and Andres Duany.

Alfandre, a developer, brought in Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (partners in DPZ), two urban planners credited with designing the town of Seaside, Florida. After the June 1988 Kentlands Charrette, several historic buildings were donated to the city. The neighborhood was built in a process that involved several additional charrettes. As the project was nearing completion, a sister development, named Lakelands, was built adjacent to Kentlands. Lakelands also was designed in a charrette process including the DPZ team, the city staff, and local residents.

Construction started in 1989, and the first model homes opened in mid-1990. The first Kentlands residents moved into new homes early in 1991.

[edit] Sites

Historic landmarks from the original Kent Farm were refurbished and donated to the city. The Kentlands Mansion, the main residence of the farm owners and the center of historic Kentlands Farm, is now a city-owned venue for art exhibits, concerts, and public events. It is available as a rental for private parties and meetings. The spacious Kentlands Barn has been converted into a public arts center with studios, exhibit space, and a ninety-nine seat theater used for theatrical performances and concerts. The former farm manager's house has been transformed into a private residence, another farm building into the town architect's office, and another building owned by the Kentlands Citizens Assembly has become a meeting place, exhibit hall, and the headquarters of the Kentlands Community Foundation. The old Kentlands Firehouse, garden buildings, a "peacock house," and other historic artifacts have not yet been restored.

The town also has a system of artificial lakes, part of its wildlife preserve, which snakes through the community. Residents are often seen jogging on trails in the preserve or practicing catch-and-release bass fishing on lazy afternoons. Kentlands is divided into several districts, including Old Farm, built around the historic mansion; Gatehouse, named after the farm's entry gatehouse, which has been reconstructed; the Hill Districts; the Lakes Districts; Kentlands Bluff; Midtown/Main Street; Market Square; and Kentlands Square. The winding street layout is often as far from a grid pattern as practical, leaving multiple open green spaces with park benches between the buildings.

Market Square and Kentlands Square are commercial districts with grocery stores, banks, restaurants, and movies. Main Street is a mixed-use area with distinctive "live-work" buildings comprised of retail and office uses on the lower floors and residential uses on the upper floors.

Rachel Carson Elementary School is at one entrance to the community and Lakelands Park Middle School divides the newer development of Lakelands from the former National Geographic complex that is adjacent to it, that now is occupied by GE Global eXchange Services.