Saturday, rain or shine, 12 of the midcentury-modern gems dotting the Alexandria enclave known as Hollin Hills will open their
doors to the public as part of the neighborhood’s annual House & Garden Tour.
As if you needed another excuse to don your best Betty Draper shift and shake up a fresh batch of Manhattans.
More than half a century ago, a collaboration by
midcentury-modern master architect Charles Goodman and real-estate
developer
Robert Davenport led to a 225-acre, 450-home planned community
that would eventually become one of the best examples of postwar
contemporary architecture. Walking through the neighborhood
today is like stepping back in time; many of the homes, constructed
to be harmonious with the rolling hills in which they are
positioned, have been painstakingly restored and outfitted in
period-accurate
furniture.
If you’re an architecture buff, a Saarinen devotee,
or, like us, just obsessed with all things midcentury-mod, this is a
can’t-miss
opportunity to live the 1950s life for a few hours. Presale
tickets for the self-guided walking tour have long since been
snatched up, but you can still purchase tickets on Saturday for
$25–as long as they last–at the main registration site (see
the website
for more information). Early
birds will be treated to a brief orientation by architect
Thomas Kerns, who’s also a Hollin Hills resident.
If you can’t wait until Saturday, the interior design
department of the Corcoran College of Art and Design is hosting a
lecture,
“A Community Vision: Hollin Hills, Modern Then and Now,” at the
Corcoran Gallery Friday evening at 6 at the Corcoran Gallery.
See the website
for details.
