who we are
the
hollin hills
journal
architecture,
people, culture
and design
in a modernist american community
The Hollin Hills Journal was launched in 2024 to explore the life and culture of one of the world’s most interesting modernist communities — and to showcase the work of the gifted writers, photographers and creative people in every field who live here.
Independent, eclectic, and curious about everything in Hollin Hills, the Journal gets updated often but unpredictably. Enjoy, subscribe (it’s free), and let us know what you think. Have an idea for a story? Drop us a line!
CONTRIBUTORS
Editor Stephen Brookes is a journalist in Hollin Hills whose work has been published in The Washington Post, Newsweek, Asia Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Far Eastern Economic Review, Architectural Digest, Modernism Magazine and many others. He’s been in Hollin Hills since 2002. You can reach him here.
Writer Cliff Bernier (“At 75”) is the author of several collections of poetry, including “Dark Berries” and “Ocean Suite.” A Hollin Hiller since 1989, he’s been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and a ‘Best of the Net’ Award. His book “The Silent Art“ won the Gival Press Poetry Award.
Writer Dennis Carmichael (“A Landscape of Democracy”), is a landscape architect and Hollin Hills resident since 1988, whose work incorporates site history into a narrative landscape that reveals the unique qualities of place. He’s the author of “A House in the Woods”, a guidebook to the landscape of Hollin Hills.
Writer Susan Cohen (“Intimate Connections: Art, Artist and Collector”) is a highly-regarded ceramicist in Hollin Hills, whose gas- and wood-fired pottery is held in collections across the United States. A member of Hollin Hills Potters, Cohen has been a potter for more than forty years, and a Hollin Hills resident since 1998.
Photographer Tod Connell (“A Spectacular Hollin Hills Garden” and many more) is a professional architectural and interiors photographer who’s lived in Hollin Hills since 2012. His elegant, widely-published photographs of Hollin Hills homes have defined the look of the community for many years.
Writer Peter Kinzler (“Birding With Barry”), a Hollin Hiller since 1988, worked in both the House and Senate for 25 years. He’s the author of “Highway Robbery: The Two-Decade Battle to Reform America’s Automobile Insurance System”, his front-row perspective on policy-making on Capitol Hill.
Writer Michael McGill (“Cape Cod Modern”, and “What is Midcentury Modern Architecture?”) has had a full and varied career as a Foreign Service officer, urban planner, and Chief of Staff to Senator Dianne Feinstein. A Hollin Hiller since 2008, he’s written extensively about midcentury architecture.
Photographer Jin Jang Park (“The Care and Feeding of Hollin Hillers”) was born and raised in Korea, where she contributed to a magazine in Seoul. After moving to Hollin Hills in 2016 and having two boys, her passion for photography grew, leading her to start Photography by Jin.
Photographer Michael Soluri (“The Beautiful, Beguiling World of Bobbie Godwin” and many more) is a widely published and exhibited documentary and portrait photographer. A Hollin Hiller since 2023, he’s also a speaker and the author of Infinite Worlds: The People and Places of Space Exploration.
Photographer Barbara Southworth is an accomplished nature photographer, shooting from the Potomac River watershed to the fog forests of the Maine Coast. “Exploring interdependence among plant communities remains a passion,” she says, “as nature is nothing if not rich in metaphor.” Hollin Hills has been her home since 1999.
Writer Seth Styers (“Sign to Sign: An Amble Through Every Street in Hollin Hills”) is, by day, the editorial director of Betterment, a financial technology company. By night, he writes short stories, articles, and the occasional limerick. He’s lived in Hollin Hills since 2023.
