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Jennifer Sergent

Freelance design writer + blogger | Marketing copywriter

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Merry Go Round Farm

July 19, 2010

I wrote a story in The Washington Post on Saturday (see it here) about Merry-Go-Round farm, which Tyler Abell developed in an attempt to inject examples of good architecture into the Potomac region, where River Road is littered with ugly, oversized McMansions.

The work of top architects is represented in this 79-lot development, where houses are hidden in the woods to preserve the original, sweeping pastureland of the working farm that Tyler’s stepfather built in the 1940s as a way to support the war effort.

Here is what you see when you drive through the central arteries of the development, which has several entrances off River Road. Note that you’re not seeing a lot of houses at first glance.

Don't really feel like you're driving through a residential neighborhood, do you?

This is the original farm built by Drew Pearson. The tiny blue boxes on the left are beehives, a recent project by Bess Abell, Tyler Abell's wife.
These are the stables where residents keep their horses, and where other horses are boarded.
One of the stable residents.
A riding ring near the stables.
A walking and riding trai extends off one of the neighborhood roads down to a pond. An extensive network of them leads to ponds and the Potomac River, where residents to go kayaking.

Now for the houses. As I wrote in the story, developer Tyler Abell didn’t care so much about the architectural style so much as whatever genre an architect and his clients chose has to be accurate and consistent and built within the property’s context.

Architect Jim Rill, who sits on the neighborhood’s architectural review board, has designed many of its homes. He took me on a driving tour one today to see the wide variety of architecture that’s represented there.

Jim Rill

Here’s the front and rear of one of his modern designs:

He also desigined this house below for Joyce Prill and her husband, whom I quoted in The Post story:

Photographs by Tim Bell
This closeup reveals the home's intricate architecture.
It seems that you can swim right into the woods with this fabulous pool.

Jim also designed this cool wooded cottage:

Photograph by Eric Taylor

And Jim designed this lovely home, set around a courtyard and overlooking the Potomac River out back.

Architect Bob Gurney, known for his starkly modern houses, designed this gorgeous home, which belongs to Beverly Packard, whom I quoted in the article:

Photographs by Anice Hoachlander

Bobby McAlpine, a nationally known architect, designed this Flemish villa for owners who used a guru to advise them on feng shui:

Here is a house currently under construction to execute the design of modern architect Mark McInturff.

Here are a bunch of other homes whose architects I don’t know (readers weigh in if you do!). I love driving through these streets at 5 mph, just soaking in the architecture and the pasture views. There was one house where Jim and I stopped so I could take a picture, and the owner was home — thank goodness she knew Jim (her architect), because otherwise she would have called the police!

And here’s my final image — what you see when you come up over a slight rise, looking out across pastureland, where this house seems to rise up by surprise.

Since the story appeared on Saturday, I’ve received several emails congratulating me for “taking on” the McMansions of Potomac. But I haven’t heard a word from any of those architects or developers. I would honestly love to hear from them to know their thought process with those projects. If you are out there — what do you think about the things people are saying about your designs?

Filed Under: Architecture Tagged With: Bob Gurney, Jim Rill, Mark McInturff, Merry Go Round Farm, The Washington Post, Tyler Abell

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Acanthus & Acorn says

    July 21, 2010 at 9:21 am

    Jennifer,
    Great article! As someone who lives in the suburbs where all the homes look similiar, it is so refreshing to see this type of neighborhood. Especially, where such care is taken to preserve land and views!!!

  2. diane says

    July 20, 2010 at 10:11 am

    Since I live in So. Calif where even the Mcmansions are “cookie cutter” I love the uniqueness of each one of these homes and I have a soft spot for DC. My Dad is buried at Arlington and we visit often. Would live in any one of these homes if they are looking for a house sitter!

  3. casart says

    July 20, 2010 at 8:54 am

    Jennifer, I enjoyed the story you wrote for the Post on Saturday. I was happy to see other homes than McMansions in Potomac profiled. I think folks are appreciating more modest domains and this one, albeit luxurious, has a lot of down to earth features that make it truly livable. That woodland, infinity pool is gorgeous in a natural way and brings out a lot of design character.

  4. My Notting Hill says

    July 19, 2010 at 5:19 pm

    Love the mix of styles in this development. Really makes all the difference. The endless pool w/the view to the woods is fab! Looks like a great day touring that neighborhood.

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