the hollin hills journal
modern living for modern people in modern houses
Just a few miles south of Washington DC, past the stately colonial buildings of Alexandria, Virginia, sits one of the most unusual — and beautiful — communities in America.
Nestled into a rolling, park-like setting, more than 450 mid-century modern houses seem to float weightlessly in a canopy of trees. There are no traditional suburban houses here, and few fences or barriers of any kind. Instead, the houses — with walls of glass and clean, geometric lines — perch lightly and naturally in the wooded hillsides, as if they were part of the landscape itself.
hollin hills: a midcentury modern masterpiece
The place is Hollin Hills — perhaps the most thoughtfully-designed and well-preserved modernist community anywhere in the world. Built between 1946 and 1971, it was the brainchild of developer Robert Davenport and architect Charles Goodman, visionaries who wanted to bring a bold new approach to housing in America — and who believed that modern architecture could foster both community and, as Goodman put it, “the flowering of the individual.”
Davenport and Goodman turned these wooded hills into an “architectural laboratory,” creating a community both strikingly modern and utterly natural. Pared to an elegant simplicity, the houses have wide expanses of floor-to-ceiling windows to erase the line between indoors and outdoors, while the light-filled “open-plan” interiors create a sense of freedom and space.
And the architecture’s integration into the steep terrain remains particularly striking. The houses don’t try to dominate the landscape — they embrace it. Rather than being laid out on a bulldozed grid, the streets follow the natural flow of the hills, with the houses set at unique angles to enhance views into the trees. Fences are rare, and each property flows freely into the next, tying the community together into a green and park-like whole.
Now, seven decades after its founding, Hollin Hills remains a masterpiece of modern architecture. The winner of numerous design awards, it’s had a lasting impact on postwar American housing and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But it’s also a vibrant, living community of creative people in almost every field, from architects and writers to lawyers and physicians, drawn by the beauty of the architecture and the imaginative freedom it seems to represent.
Is it the modernist utopia its founders dreamed of? Maybe not quite. But as the architecture critic Michael Sorkin once put it, “Hollin Hills is one of the truly happy experiments in modernity … the kind of community so many modernists dreamed of, a beautiful place of social activism, love of nature, and potluck picnics.”
— Stephen Brookes, Editor
new articles
what’s
inside?
what’s new in hollin hills
the view from the hills
New! a fascinating talk on design genius Russel Wright… an upcoming chat with landscape architect Dennis Carmichael … the Winged Victory of Hollin Hills … poet Cliff Bernier releases a new book … dissecting a Finn Juhl chair at the Danish Embassy … a fond farewell to Gus Matson… tiny living at its best … and more!
modern icons: mohra gavankar and her kandy-kolored, ultra-retro 1955 “road runner”
If you’re strolling down Elba Road on a sunny afternoon, prepare to be blinded — by the drop-dead gorgeousness of an absolutely pristine 1955 Road Runner mobile home, one of the great icons of the Atomic Age. You have never seen anything quite so red — or quite so amazingly retro — in your entire life.
george nakashima in hollin hills
As Charles Goodman was re-inventing modern architecture in Hollin Hills in the 1950s, the woodworker George Nakashima was wreaking a similar revolution in furniture — and from its earliest days, Hollin Hills became a showcase for Nakashima’s pathbreaking new designs.
cape cod modernism
In the 1940s, a number of adventurous young architects began to explore Cape Cod as a place to try out new ideas. Led by Harvard’s Walter Gropius, they began putting up simple, ultra-modern summer homes there, and by the 1960s, over 100 striking new houses were built. Most eventually fell into disrepair, but a number have been restored by the Cape Cod Modern House Trust — and are now available to rent.
the beautiful, beguiling world of bobbie godwin
Abstract painter Bobbie Godwin has been at the heart of the Hollin Hills art scene for decades — and, at 88, is still creating unique, captivating and wildly inventive work.
an epic amble through hollin hills
Seth Styers sets out to walk every street in Hollin Hills in one go — and discovers an abandoned ghost, a blasé snake, a cow wearing a hat and other wonders, right here in our own back yard.
the architecture
the visionary architecture of charles goodman
Hollin Hills was launched in the 1940s as an “architectural laboratory” that would build community, connect people with nature, and encourage the “flowering of the individual.” Amazingly enough, it works.
the restoration of alcoa house
A bold, futuristic Hollin Hills home had fallen into decline after decades of neglect. But Lee and Peter Braun brought this rare Goodman design back to its full glory with a meticulous restoration — and saved an important part of modern architectural history.
architecture: who was charles goodman?
Architect, philosopher, populist, dreamer — the designer of Hollin Hills helped shape the look of the postwar world.
gallery: the architectural art of dennis carmichael
Superb drawings of many Hollin Hills homes by landscape architect Dennis Carmichael, perhaps the most beautiful images of Goodman’s architecture we have.
essay: hollin hills at 75: modern then. modern now. modern forever.
Why does the modernist architecture of Hollin Hills still feel so new? It may be the spirit of daring and freedom that inspired Charles Goodman’s innovative designs — and that still draws imaginative people to live here.
gallery: the lautman collection — photographs of hollin hills in the 1950’s
Some of the earliest photographs of Hollin Hills — taken between 1949 and 1957 — by the renowned architectural photographer Robert C. Lautman, who chronicled the rise of modernism in the DC area.
architecture: can a building save your life?
During the height of the Covid epidemic in 2020, Kayde Schwabacher looked at how architects through history — including Le Corbusier and Richard Neutra — have responded to past health scares, and explored the promise of a healthier life through design.
art, design + interiors
tsunami modern: the anything-goes interiors of hollin hills homes
Vintage Danish? Coastal Grandma? Hollin Hills homes are as eclectic (and beautiful, welcoming and crazily imaginative) as their owners. But the roots of Hollin Hills design go deep into its modernist past, and there’s always a connection between the architecture and the furnishings.
susan cohen on the “intimate connection” between art, artists and collectors
Do we connect with an artistic object — a handmade bowl, for instance — by touching and interacting with it? Or should we treat it as a work of art, and put it on a shelf to be admired at a distance? Hollin Hills potter Susan Cohen explores the way we live with art — and how it can bind us to each other.
modern art and the hollin hills home
A Hollin Hills artist and collector talks about his life in the world of contemporary art, how to build a collection — and why we need to live with beauty to fend off The Void.
design: at home with finn juhl
A tour of Finn Juhl’s home in Copenhagen sheds light on this pathbreaking — if somewhat neglected — genius, one of the giants of the “golden age” of Danish Modern furniture design.
house tour: kid-friendly modern
Architect Michael Cook transformed a Marthas Road house into a stunning home for a young family, blending clean lines, a new master bedroom, an open workspace and windows that let the kids “watch the world outside go by.”
house tour: eclectic modern
This Hollin Hills house blends vintage Danish Modern furniture, Asian antiquities, and African artifacts into a harmonious whole — a lesson in how modernist architecture allows for a near-limitless range of styles.
the enveloping landscape
essay: a landscape of democracy
Landscape architect Dennis Carmichael takes a deep, thoughtful dive into the philosophy behind the innovative landscape design of Hollin Hills, which integrates the “natural” and “cultural” worlds we live in.
a spectacular hollin hills garden emerges from an original dan kiley plan
When they set out to transform their Beechwood Road property, two Hollin Hills homeowners turned for inspiration to the original 1953 landscape plan by architect Daniel Kiley — who used the property to develop ideas that would transform the modern American landscape.
fertile minds: barney voigt and the birth of the hollin hills landscape
Guided by the modernist landscape architect Lou “Barney” Voigt, the first Hollin Hills pioneers took an experimental approach to landscaping that shaped the community, knitting the modernist houses together in a park-like setting.
a nature library comes to mccalley
A park bench, a sunny morning, and a stack of books on butterflies and baby animals. What more could a bookworm want? We spent a morning exploring the new and very entertaining Little Free Library in McCalley Park — here’s why you should head there with the kids.
gallery: the original landscape plans
(and how to get yours)
Professional landscape plans were prepared for each property in Hollin Hills in the community’s first decades — part of an effort to create a natural but very modern landscape that would knit the community together. Many of those original plans are available from the Library of Congress and Harvard University; here’s how to get yours.
meet the landscape architects
Modernist designers Barney Voigt, Dan Kiley and Eric Paepcke each brought their own cutting-edge style to Hollin Hills — and transformed the landscape of the community.
hollin hillers and other animals
artists, spies and other neighbors
Hollin Hills has always been as notable for its residents as for its pathbreaking architecture. Meet a few of the creative, committed and accomplished people — from Roberta Flack to Leslie Gelb — who have made this unique community their home.
jeanne gayler, hollin hills heart throb
Meet Jeanne Gayler — Miss America runner-up, Hollywood starlet … and founder of the Committee on East-West Accord, the most important anti-nuclear proliferation organization in Washington, DC. Also, she turned down Howard Hughes.
jerome gordon: please do not jump on the viola!
Hollin Hills virtuoso Jerome Gordon has toured with Celine Dion, coached movie stars and performed for the Pope. So he really does not need to hear your viola jokes.
hollin hills poet cliff bernier turns to the oceans
for his new book
Poet Cliff Bernier is best known for his beat poetry and searing blues harp. But for his latest collection — titled Ocean Suite — he turns his ear to the sea for a suite of quiet, introspective poems that probe the deep waters of sound, language, and meaning itself .
a HIRO of modern art
From a World War Two internment camp to the Smithsonian, a Marthas Road artist has fought for justice through art — and left a searing mark on the world.
life in the hills
so … you’re in love with a hollin hiller! a guide to modern romance
Ok, we get it — we’re all in love with a Hollin Hiller. (And really … what’s not to love?) But if you’re new to this, you may be in trouble — better read our guide to modern romance, stat!
spring cleaning, freeganism, and baby-proofing
the black hole of despair
The avalanche of Stuff is coming. No, wait … it’s already here!
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
public television likes us! they really, really like us!
When a Hollin Hills house was featured on PBS in 2023, we just about died from blushing. No, really, we did! (But … we liked it.)
poem: at 75
Hollin Hills poet Cliff Bernier took to the parks in 2024 for a spare, evocative poem marking the 75th Anniversary of Hollin Hills.
the joys and terrors of other people: an introvert’s guide to hollin hills
Introverts abound in Hollin Hills, bringing creativity, productivity … and much-needed quiet.
friendship: birding with barry
Peter Kinzler remembers an avian outing with his friend Barry Pearson — an adventure into the perils and pleasures of the remarkable world of birders.
modern history
now it can be told:
the complete history of hollin hills
Explore our illustrated timeline of the story of Hollin Hills, starting in 1946 (when developer Robert Davenport bid on the land at auction, not knowing where he’d get the money to pay for it) to pretty much whatever happened last week.
hollin hills: the birth of an idea
Original Hollin Hills settler Marion Tiger takes a fascinating, in-depth look at how Hollin Hills was launched in the 1940s, drawing on interviews with developer Robert Davenport, architect Charles Goodman, and many others.
jennifer kabat: the fairytale
One of the most thoughtful and interesting pieces ever written about the people and culture of Hollin Hills in its early years, this article by Jennifer Kabat, published in Granta magazine in 2016, is a must-read for anyone interested in Hollin Hills.
david morton: heart of glass
This excellent article on Charles Goodman’s architecture — and personality — appeared in the Washington City Paper in 2003, by the gifted writer David Morton. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in Goodman, or in Hollin Hills.
david morton: heart of glass
This excellent article on Charles Goodman’s architecture — and personality — appeared in the Washington City Paper in 2003, by the gifted writer David Morton. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in Goodman, or in Hollin Hills.
michael sorkin: happy experiment in modernity
In 1999, the architect Michael Sorkin — who grew up in Hollin Hills and went on to become one of the most important critics of his generation — wrote this essay on life in the early years of the community, the “non-dogmatic” architecture of Charles Goodman, and the close connection between the two.
modern resources
everything you ever wanted to know about hollin hills, in eighteen mostly serious questions
From “where did Hollin Hills get its name?” to “who was the first person born in Hollin Hills?”, we have all the answers. (Well ... eighteen of the answers, anyway.)
the care and feeding of hollin hillers
The complete guide to everything you need to know to live — and thrive! in Hollin Hills. From getting involved in community life, to the traditions and culture, to finding schools, to volunteering in the parks, to the odd little Hollin Hills cookbook with its many recipes for cole slaw … we have you covered.
join the 2026 hollin hills house and garden tour
Every two years, Hollin Hills opens its doors for its legendary House + Garden Tour — the largest modernist tour on the East Coast. The next tour is scheduled for 2026; sign up on the tour’s website for updates and to purchase tickets when they go on sale.
hollin hills: community of vision
Hollin Hills: Community of Vision is the definitive book on the architecture, philosophy and culture of one of the most innovative modernist communities in the United States. Originally published in 1999 and now in its third printing, it contains essays on architect Charles Goodman; the unified landscaping; the integration of midcentury furnishings with the architecture; and much more. Hardbound, 185 pages, with many historic photographs.
Available for $65 plus shipping.
hollin hills on the national register of historic places
The National Register of Historic Places registration form was central to getting Hollin Hills on the Register in 2013. The 121-page form contains a wealth of information about the history and architecture of Hollin Hills.
modernist links
Modernism is everywhere — check out these amazing places to explore, from Ville Savoye to Philip Johnson’s Glass House.