Sherwood Forest is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States.[1] It is roughly bounded by Randolph Road, Sherwood Forest Drive, Notley Road, the Intercounty Connector, and Northwest Branch Park.[2]

History

The land was originally a 311.75-acre (126 ha) tract of land called Two Farms.[3] Later called Westover, Evan Thomas inherited the land from his father, Samuel Thomas, in 1783.[3] Evan Thomas leased the land to Thomas Brown for 72 pounds per year.[3] A house was built on the land in 1810, which still stands today across from Robin Hood Swim Club.[4] The house was built with one-foot-thick brick walls with ox blood-based mortar.[4] It has remnants of slave quarters and an icehouse,[4] Occupants drank water from a spring that was located where the Robin Hood Swim Club's pool is now.[4] The water was filtered through a sand-filled channel called a race, pumped to the house with a hydraulic ram, and stored in a 40-foot-tall wood tower.[4]

Evan Thomas sold the land to William Culver in 1816.[3] Brothers John and Romulus Culver inherited the property when their father died in 1824.[3] Then living in Kentucky, John Culver had no interest in the land and sold his portion of the land to Francis Valdenar in 1824; Romulus Culver later sold his portion to Valdenar in 1833.[3]

Valdenar was a farmer and a Commissioner of Montgomery County.[3] When Montgomery County and Prince George's County disputed their border, Valdenar helped define the boundary separating the two counties.[3]

Valdenar mortgaged the property in 1870.[3] When Valdenar could not meet the mortgage payments, the property was sold at a public auction to Henry and Mary Bradley in 1876, and they gave it to their son William Bradley later that year.[3]

A successful farmer, William Bradley built an elaborate Queen Anne-style addition to the house.[3] William Bradley died in 1897, and John Bliler bought the property from Bradley's widow Mary Bradley by way of a mortgage in 1926.[3] Bliler defaulted on the mortgage, and Mary Bradley bought back the property at a public auction in 1929.[3]

Mary Bradley sold the property to a developer in 1950, but she inserted a clause in the deed stating that she could continue to live in the house for free for the rest of her life.[3] The deed also stated that she had the right to chop firewood on the land and she could walk her dogs on the land whenever she liked.[3] Further, the deed stated that if the developer were to sell the portion of the land surrounding the house, she would receive half the proceeds of the sale.[3]

The house has been listed on the Montgomery County Master Plan for Historic Preservation.[4]

Sherwood Forest was developed by Kahn Construction Corporation.[5] Homes were originally intended to be built in 1959,[5] but homes were delayed until a water and sewage system was built in 1961.[6] Homes were originally priced between $28,000 and $45,000 each.[7] Better Homes and Gardens named one of the model homes a 1959 House of Ideas.[8] Kahn intended the homes to be of better quality than typical homes, in order to provide long-term savings on maintenance costs to homeowners.[9]

Amenities

Robin Hood Swim Club is located in Sherwood Forest.[10]

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sherwood Forest, Montgomery County, Maryland
  2. ^ "Sherwood Forest". The Washington Post. March 12, 2011. p. E10.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Leavitt, Donald M. "Westover". Maryland Historical Sites Inventory. Maryland Historical Trust. July 1979.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Siegal, Ann Cameron. "Neighborhood Offers An Everyday Respite". The Washington Post. July 3, 1999. p. G1.
  5. ^ a b "The State of Real Estate". The Washington Post. August 22, 1959. p. C4.
  6. ^ "Kahn to Build at Sherwood Forest". The Washington Post. March 11, 1961. p. B10.
  7. ^ "Map, Directions to Home of '59". The Washington Post. September 12, 1959. p. B2.
  8. ^ "Ideas Galore at Sherwood Forest". The Washington Post. September 12, 1959. p. D16.
  9. ^ "Quality Plea Sounded by Area Builder". The Washington Post. April 22, 1961. p. C15.
  10. ^ Kelly, John. "When a Maryland pool was damaged, neighbors dived right in to getting it fixed". The Washington Post. August 13, 2014.

39°04′43″N 77°00′45″W / 39.07861°N 77.01250°W / 39.07861; -77.01250

Categories