Small Town

Small Town

Charm Alive

In Md. City

By DAN LOWREY

Rappahannock News Staff JVritcr

Neotraditionalism may not be for everyone, but in Gaithersburg, Md. criticizing the concept is like calling the town square unAmerican.

In the late 1980s, the city was among the first to embrace the new architectural movement, and it now boasts the premier neotraditional development in the mideast.

Upon entering Kentlands, one cannot help but notice the variety of architecture, often displayed side-by-side — from pastel-colored gingerbread reminiscent of the San Francisco Bay area to shingled Cape Cods, common to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Around the bend, smoke pipes line the roofs of a stretch of red-brick row houses, like a wintry backdrop of a Dickens’ novel set in London.

Several miles of black-topped walking trails wind through the open green spaces and in between homes.

The blocks are short and streets are narrow, helping disburse traffic onto the various secondary roads and alleys snaking between clusters of garages.

The common areas, often with quaint names like “town square” or “village green,” can provide safe play areas for neighborhood children. t

Planners of the 1,600-home neotraditional development on the southern edge of Gaithersburg, Md. say they have resurrected small-town charm from the ashes of suburbia. It’s the classic American town revisited.

With all but 60 homes built, and a design of a town center in the works, Gaithersburg leaders have hailed the traditional community as “the jewel in the crown of the city.”

It stands out as a great departure from the surrounding suburbia, in the technology corridor between Rockville and Gaithersburg.

Only the second neotraditional development designed

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