a field guide to the houses
from “unit types” to “your dream house made real”: a guide to the architecture of hollin hills
by stephen brookes • map by jeremy kenney
Phiotio: Chris McNamara
overview: the houses of hollin hills
Even to the casual viewer, two things immediately jump out about the architecture of Hollin Hills: first, how each house seems to have its own individual character and personality; and second, how they all seem to be deeply connected to each other as well, as if part of a greater whole.
That may be because the majority of Hollin Hills homes were designed by a single architect, Charles Goodman, who aimed at creating a unified architectural community — but with houses that would meet different needs and allow for what he called “the flowering of the individual.”
The houses have many things in common: they all share the same pared-down, modernist esthetic, with clean lines and minimal ornamentation, as well as distinctive architectural elements — walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, flat or low-sloped roofs, open floor plans, a massive, sculptural chimney of salvaged brick that anchors the house, and a tendency to hug the natural terrain — that together create the distinctive look of Hollin Hills.
Yet, as the architecture critic Michael Sorkin once noted, there was nothing dogmatic about Goodman’s modernism. And far from creating a sense of rote uniformity, these shared elements were used flexibly and imaginatively. Goodman called Hollin Hills his “architectural laboratory,” and between 1946 and 1960 he developed eight basic house plans — which he called “Unit Types” or “Unit Numbers” — which could be easily and inexpensively modified to meet the needs of individual homebuyers, or of the site itself. (In this guide, we use either the term “unit type” or just “type” for simplicity.)
By using modular, often prefabricated components such as roof trusses, doors and windows, these Unit Types could be extended, flipped on end, or combined with elements from other designs. At least seven common variations were developed, and homebuyers could could also customize features and finishes in multiple ways — siding was offered in cypress, fir or redwood, for example — adding to the “individualization” of each house.
why a field guide?
While Goodman’s architecture has remained remarkably intact over the decades, most of the homes have undergone significant additions and renovations which can make it difficult to identify the original “type” of any particular house. There is no mention of the model name in any state property records for Hollin Hills, and — to complicate matters — there are also a number of unique Goodman custom designs, houses by other architects, three designs by developer Robert Davenport, and more.
So navigating the architectural taxonomy in Hollin Hills can be challenging. But for intrepid explorers of this unique landscape, this guide is designed to provide a quick, non-technical sketch of each of the original house types and variations — and, in conjunction with our interactive map, make it easy to identify the model of almost any house in Hollin Hills.
We’ve tried to include an early photo of each house type to show them in their original state, along with more recent photos, floor plans, elevations and other materials when possible. There’s also a list of where you can find each house type.
While each model is described individually, the basic elements common to most houses (the window walls, roof pitches and so on) are described in the first two entries, for the Type 1 and the Type 2 houses. Scroll down (or use the index at right) to find a particular model.
using the map
The new interactive map is easy and fun to explore. Created by Jeremy Kenney, it uses public data available from Google Street View and the 2022 HOD design guidelines. The information is purely architectural: click on a particular house, and the model, year of construction, and any later additions will pop up. No homeowner names or other personal information is included.
We and Google have great respect for personal privacy, and you’ll notice that some house pictures are blurred out — you can request this of Google if you don’t want your house on their “street view” service. On the other hand, if the Google image of your own home is not very flattering (and most are pretty bad), you can help out by sending us a better photo, and we’ll use it for the map — helping build a more enjoyable “virtual tour” of the community!
acknowledgements and thanks
This guide is based on multiple sources: original sales brochures, design plans, numerous books and articles, and the writing of scholars, critics and architects including Richard Guy Wilson, Michael Sorkin, John Burns, Eason Cross, Jr., and of course Goodman himself.
But our biggest debt is to architect Gregory Hunt, whose essay “The Architecture of Hollin Hills” in the book “Community of Vision” is essential reading; and to the dedicated work of the many people, particularly Jere Gibber, who produced the 2013 registration for the National Register of Historic Places and the 2020 Historic Overlay District guidelines. Their work has ensured the continued preservation of Goodman’s legacy, and we are grateful to them for it.
the interactive map
index to the houses
the goodman houses
unit type 1 (1949)
model: type 1
date: 1949
size: 1,408 sf
floors: 3
bedrooms: 3
baths: 1
The Unit Type 1 was one of architect Charles Goodman’s first two house designs in Hollin Hills, and it embodies many of the distinctly modern elements — from the low-sloped roof to its long wall of floor-to-ceiling glass — that would become the hallmarks of Hollin Hills.
Introduced in 1949, the Type 1 was designed to fit into what developer Robert Davenport called “dramatic hillside sites” without leveling the landscape. It’s a three-level (split), 1,408 square foot design, usually (but not always) found on a sloped lot, and has an upper level slightly cantilevered out over the lower level.
The first one built can be seen at 7300 Rippon Road, and many of the Type 1 houses and their variations were built near the intersection of Rippon Road and Drury Lane, the first part of Hollin Hills to be developed.
The Type 1 houses are typically entered on the ground floor, with stairs straight ahead and a utility or multipurpose room off to the left. A short flight of stairs leads up to an intermediate level built into the hillside, with three bedrooms (including eight feet of closet space) and one bath.
Another short flight of stairs leads up to the kitchen and an open, 27-foot living and dining area on the top level. The upper level is marked by an 18-foot wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and a wide interior chimney and fireplace of reclaimed brick. While the ground floor is typically made of concrete block (sometimes faced with brick), the upper level is wood-frame construction.
The Type 1 house in 1949. Photos by Robert Lautman. Click images to enlarge
Notable features
Davenport described the Type 1 as being designed in “tomorrow’s vernacular,” and their innovative low-sloped roofs, siding of redwood or fir, and banks of floor-to-ceiling windows gave the houses what was, at the time, a strikingly modern look.
The most notable of these elements was the window wall, which quickly became emblematic of the Hollin Hills style. Composed of modules with fixed glass at the top and fixed or operable windows at the bottom, the glass walls gave structural support to the roof (making the open-plan interiors possible), connected the interior with the surrounding landscape, and reflected the boldness of Goodman’s ideas. As architect Eason Cross, Jr. later noted: “The idea of using fixed glass panes, mounted in un-trimmed rabetted structural grade wood frames, was terribly radical for its day.”
Options
The Hollin Hills houses were designed to be affordable, and Goodman made use of unusual materials (such as asphalt tiles for flooring) to keep costs down. But additional options for both Unit Types 1 and 2 were available, and included an attic fan, hardwood or parquet flooring, an extra exterior glass door, redwood paneling, and a terrace. To see a price list for typical extras, please click here.
The early houses were also notable for their lack of closet space. “Any excess storage space in a little house is expensive and cuts down needed living space,” Goodman argued, but he also offered an outdoor “storage increment” (a 4’x8’ shed) for $300.
The Type 1 houses were originally offered with a carport for $700, but these were later abandoned due to lack of buyer interest. The Type 1 sold at the time for about $16,500, including the lot.
To see a detailed cost breakdown for the Type 1 and Type 2 houses in 1949, please click here.
To see a list of materials and suppliers used in the early houses, please click here.
A Type 1 house in 1950, and today. GIF by Jeremy Kenney.
Variations
Two variations — Unit Type 1B and Unit Type 1BE — were also introduced in 1949. While they look similar from the outside, they have different interior layouts — notably a ground-floor kitchen in the Type 1B.
The 4-bedroom Type 1BE is much larger, at 2,410 square feet. The kitchen and living/dining areas are on the upper level, with an additional bedroom, bath, and storage space added to the uphill side of the living area.
Where to see them
The Type 1 can be found at 1817 Drury; 2001 and 2003 Bedford Lane; 2111 Popkins Lane; and 7300 Rippon Road. And there’s a Type 1BE at 7308 Rippon.
The Type 1B houses are much more common, and can be seen along Rippon Road (7302, 7304, 7306, 7310, 7312, 7314, 7316, 7318); with more at 7316 Stafford Road; 2109 Popkins Lane; 2115 Paul Spring Road; and 7222 Beechwood Road.
TYPE 1
floor plans
resources
unit type 2 (1949)
model: type 2
date: 1949
size: 1,150 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 1
The Unit Type 2 was one of the most common early houses in Hollin Hills, and there are dozens of them (with variations) throughout the community. The first one built is at 1800 Drury Lane.
Like the Type 1, the Type 2 was introduced in 1949, but is designed for flat sites and is built on a 4” concrete slab — considered advanced building technology at the time. It’s a one-level, 46’ x 25’ home of 1,150 square feet, with three bedrooms, one bath and an L-shaped 19’x23’ open-plan living/dining area.
The 1949 Type 2 house; click to enlarge
Notable features
Many of the elements in the Type 1 are also found in the Type 2, including the low-sloped gable roof (pitched 3 feet vertically to 12 feet horizontally) with thin, wide overhanging eaves, designed to keep water away from the wooden window frames and for protection from the sun.
The house is anchored by an impressive, salvaged-brick chimney (complete with wood box and “heatilators” to recirculate warmed air) which, with the masonry walls at the other end, gives the Type 2 lateral stability. A floor-to-ceiling window wall runs the length of the living area, and, like other Hollin Hills designs, the Type 2 has two entries, one as the main entry and another fully-glazed door from the living room to the terrace in back.
The front entryway opens directly into the living-kitchen area (never the home’s most popular feature, and one that many later owners corrected by adding an entryway) and each of the bedrooms has a glass wall and an eight-foot sliding door closet. The house sold in 1949 for about $10,000, with lots going for $1,800 to $2,600.
As originally marketed, the Type 2 came with asphalt tile as the flooring, with the option of adding parquet wood floors for $260, and the kitchen was equipped with a stove but no refrigerator. Many other options were available as well, including a terrace for $250.
To see a detailed cost breakdown for the Type 1 and Type 2 houses when they were offered in 1949, please click here. To see a list of materials and suppliers used in the early houses, please click here.
Variations
The Type 2 has multiple variations, including several two-level versions and one with a “butterfly” roof. See the next two sections for more information.
Where to see them
Examples of Unit Type 2 may be found all over the older parts of Hollin Hills, but most have had additions or alterations made over the years.
See them on Rebecca Drive (7203); Paul Spring Road (1800,1805, 1809, 1813, 1901, 1909, 2002, 2003, 2005); Drury Lane (1800, 1809, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, and 1820); Stafford Road (7216, 7218, 7217, 7219, 7221, 7223, 7216, 7201, 7223, 7301, 7304, 7305, 7306, 7307, 7308, 7309, 7310, 7312, 7314); Bedford Lane (2002, 2004, 2005); Marthas Road (1903, 1904, 1908, 1912, 1915, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1931, 1933, 1938, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2019, 2101, 2102, 2009, 2206, 2207 [butterfly], 2208 [butterfly], 2213 [butterfly], 2214, 2219); Recard Lane (7401, 7403); Glasgow Road (2200); and Popkins Lane (2103, 2113, 2115, 2117, 2200 2202, 2204).
TYPE 2
floor plan
resources
type 2 variation: the 2B42LB
model:
type 2B42LB
date: 1950
size: 2,300 sf
floors: 2
bedrooms: 4
baths: 2
Click images to enlarge
The Type 2 plans could easily be adapted to meet buyers’ needs — and they often were. As architect Gregory Hunt points out, by only expanding the houses in length, rather than width, costs could be kept down, as it was basically a matter of adding more of the modular roof trusses; no costly structural modifications had to be made.
The changes in length were made in four-foot increments, each adding 100 square feet of floor space to the house. The houses could be expanded up to 54’ in length, from the original 46’.
This also led to an expansion of name terminology; if a buyer needed an extra four feet of space in the kitchen, for instance, the result was a 1,250 s.f. house known as a Type 2K4 (with K for "kitchen”, and 4 for the number of feet extended). Or, if another four feet were added to both the kitchen and the bedrooms, the resulting plan was known as a Type 2K4B4. And so on.
Notable features
A key advantage of this flexible system was that it allowed Goodman to adapt the plans to differing sites. For the hillsides of Drury Lane, for instance, he developed the very popular Type 2B42LB, a longer, two-level house with extra bedrooms in the lower level, which was priced at $18,150 (without the lot).
This new, four-bedroom, 2,300 s.f. design is quite spacious and appealing, with its walls of windows facing into greenery at the back. From street level, it often appears to be a one-level house, the lower level only visible from the rear. A staircase at one end of the upper-level living/dining area leads down to the lower level, and the the upper level is cantilevered over the lower one, which gives it a sense of lightness and almost “floating.”
The house can be accessed from both levels, and while the upper level is similar to the basic Type 2 layout, the lower has an additional two bedrooms and a bath, a recreation room with fireplace, and a utility area.
As Gregory Hunt points out, Goodman also developed two new design innovations for the Type 2B42LB: canting the living room wall to expand the room spatially; and creating two fully-glazed walls at the outside corners of the lower-level bedrooms, using window modules. The effect is quite striking.
To see the original 1950 sales contract for a 2B42LB on Marthas Road (which specifies $2,600 for the lot, $14,450 for the basic house; and another $1,680 for listed extras), click here.
Where to see them
Examples of Unit 2 variations are scattered throughout Hollin Hills, including a 2B4K4 at 2200 Marthas Road with additions by Eason Cross, Jr. The very popular Type 2B42LB is far more plentiful, with roughly 60 of them around Hollin Hills.
Find them on Rebecca Drive (7412, 7409, 7417, 7423); Stafford Road (7311, 7313); Popkins Lane (2106, 2108, 2110, 2112, 2114); Marthas Road (1905, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1919, 1921, 1923, 1925, 1929, 2100, 2202, 2204); Recard Lane (7407); Beechwood Road (7219, 1721, 1723, 1725, 7201, 7200); Glasgow Road (2212, 2216, 2220, 2224, 2232, 2312); Drury Lane (1808, 1812); Elba Road (7500); Whiteoaks Drive (2201, 2205, 2209, 2210, 2216 [some of these may be Deccas], 2211, 2213); Range Road (7418, 7416, 7502, 7504); Mason Hill Drive (2113); Hopa Court (7421); Kimbro Street (2317, 2319, 2311, 2303); Davenport Street (7803 [may be a Decca], 7802); Sherwood Hall Lane (2310)
floor plan
Click to enlarge
elevation
TYPE 2B42LB
Click images to enlarge
type 2 variation: the “butterfly” (1952)
model: type 2 butterfly
date: 1952
size: 1,150 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 1
In 1952, another Type 2 variation was introduced. With three bedrooms and one bath, and running between 1,150 and 1,350 square feet, it has the same layout and dimensions of the original model, but is far more dramatic-looking due to the addition of a low-slope, V-shaped “butterfly” roof whose crease runs the length of the house.
The new design came about, Davenport wrote, out of a desire that Hollin Hills “not be a static community.” He and Goodman wanted to offer people a wider choice of styles. “We did not want the same type of houses everywhere one looked,” he wrote. “We wanted to break the monotony and introduce a new point of view in the community.”
The innovative roof design was later used in the Type 6 houses as well. Note the gentle slope of the roofline and the tapered 4-foot overhanging eaves; as Goodman’s associate Eason Cross, Jr. described it, the slopes of the two butterfly designs “were chosen after much study and deliberation. Such subtleties really matter if the visual effect intended is to be reached.”
Notable features
Aside from the butterfly roof, this Type 2 variation is also notable for its use of radiant heat in the floors (which Davenport described as “the best type of heat for houses on slabs”) and a distinctive new chimney design, which consists of a “vertical chimney mass interlocked with a lower and broader brick element containing the fireplace and adjacent wood box,” as architect Gregory Hunt describes it.
The new chimney design also places windows above the fireplace, running up to the roof line and connecting to the main wall of windows. “By running the glazing across this lower masonry element,” Hunt notes, “Goodman lightened the end wall of the living room and visually floated the chimney from the exterior wall.”
The first of these innovative “butterfly” houses, at 2208 Marthas Road, was furnished by Knoll Associates as an “exhibition house” for the first Hollin Hills House and Garden Tour, in 1953. Both Davenport and Goodman were quite proud of the design, and prepared a special brochure for the house. They offered an early showing of the house to Hollin Hills residents, announcing that the home would be sold fully furnished with the Knoll furnishings.
A description of the house’s landscaping by original landscape architect Lou “Barney” Voigt, which explores in his own words the connection between architecture and landscape design, can be found here.
Where to see them
There are five Type 2 “Butterfly” houses in Hollin Hills. They can be found at 2227 Glasgow Road; 2207, 2208, and 2213 Marthas Road; and 2105 Paul Spring Road.
There are also Type 2 houses with later additions with butterfly roofs; one can be seen at 2221 Glasgow Road.
floor plan
2BUTTERFLY
From top: a Type 2 “Butterfly” on Glasgow Road; the original on Marthas Road, 1953; a 1952 architect’s rendering; interior shots showing the Knoll furnishings.
Click images to enlarge.
resources
unit type 3 (1950)
model: type 3
date: 1950
size: 1,600 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
The one-level Type 3 was introduced in 1950, and is a larger, wider version of the Type 2. Measuring 28’ x 60', this 1,600-square-foot design has three bedrooms, two baths, a study, and a reconfigured living/dining area. Nineteen of them were built between 1951 and 1953, mostly along Marthas Road.
Notable features
From the outside, there isn’t a dramatic difference between the Type 2 and the Type 3, but the increased width of the Type 3 makes it feel roomier and brighter. The two end bedrooms now have three window modules, and the interior bathroom is brightened with a large skylight, to wonderful effect.
The Unit 3, which originally sold for $16,750 without the lot, was built frequently on Marthas Road. There are also reportedly some two-story models of Unit 3.
Where to see them
There are about 20 Type 3 houses in Hollin Hills, most of which can be seen on Marthas Road (1910, 1914, 1916, 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2201, 2203, 2205, 2210, 2212, 2217, and 2220). A few strays can be found on Rebecca Drive (7208, 7321); Recard Lane (7408, 7410) and at 7210 Beechwood.
floor plan
Type 3; click images to enlarge
TYPE3
elevations
unit type 4 (1950)
model: type 4
date: 1950
size: 1,600 sf
floors: 2
bedrooms: 3
baths: 1
Type 4: click images for full view
The Unit Type 4 house — introduced in 1950 — is a two-story design built for sloped sites, such as those at the top of Stafford Road on the Goodman Park side, where most can be found. Only six of them were built, between 1951 and 1953.
At 1,600 square feet, the Type 4 is much roomier than it appears from street level. The design takes the novel approach of putting its three bedrooms (and an entry vestibule) on the upper, entry level of the house, with the other living spaces — kitchen, full bath, living and dining area, and utility room — on the lower level.
The upper level is cantilevered slightly over the lower, and walls of windows dominate the back side of the house — taking advantage of views into Goodman Park, and making the 26’ x 34’ house look a bit like a smaller-scale Type 2B42LB (if you squint a little).
A notable innovation in the Type 4 is a smaller chimney mass than the earlier unit types; the fireplace sits against an inside wall.
Where to see them
The are six Type 4 houses in Hollin Hills, and can be found at 7315, 7317, and 7319 Stafford Road; 2007 and 2209 Marthas Road; and 7409 Recard Lane.
TYPE4
unit type 5 and 5A (1952)
model: type 5
date: 1952
size: 1,150 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 1
Type 5 and 5A; click images to enlarge
There are several versions of Goodman’s innovative Unit Type 5, which attracted national attention almost from the moment it was introduced in 1952.
Described by architect Eason Cross, Jr. as “pristine, flat-roofed elegant boxes,” these one-story, 31’ x 37’, 1,150 square foot houses featured three bedrooms with a living space arranged around a central mechanical core containing a kitchen, bath, and utility room. The house is organized around the idea of three “zones”; one for privacy, one for utilities, and one for living and dining.
The Type 5 was designed for flat lots, and their lack of roof overhangs underscores their pure geometry.
Unit Type 5A is nearly the same as Unit 5 but has a slightly different framing and rafter structure.
The “cubic” quality of this inventive new design, says architect Greg Hunt, was a significant addition to Goodman's repertoire of house types. The core contains a raised roof section — a sort of cupola — with clerestory windows to introduce light into the bath and hallways, and it serves as a spatial buffer between the living and sleeping areas. A 17-foot long exposed cinder-block wall contains a fireplace, and is a major aesthetic feature of the living area, as are (of course) the wide expanses of windows that flood the home with natural light.
Notable features
The new Type 5 designs quickly won critical praise. The January 1954 edition of House and Home magazine noted the design was “the most advanced builder house” in the country, adding that “the amazing thing about this house is not only that it has such a well-integrated plan and structure, or such a simple, expressive interior; it is just as amazing that Builder Robert Davenport let Architect Charles Goodman get away with a design that only 10 years ago might have been considered the most avant-garde house in the U.S.”
The design won the AIA Merit Award, the Evening Star Award, and an Award of Special Merit in the 1957 Parents Magazine housing contest.
Where to see them
Despite all the critical acclaim, only five examples of the Type 5 and Type 5A were built in Hollin Hills. You can see them at 7212 and 7213 Beechwood Road; and 2103, 2111, and 2113 Paul Spring Road.
floor plan
TYPE5 & 5A
unit type 5 variations (1954-55)
Type 5B, Stafford Road
Type 5CS: the Odoroff house (above) and on Whiteoaks Drive (below)
Unit Type 5B (introduced in 1954) was Unit 5A enlarged to 1,290 s.f., and set on an unfinished basement plinth with the upper level cantilevered over the lower level.
Unit Type 5CS, introduced in 1954, is also designed for sloped sites, but is larger than Unit 5B due to its enlarged entry decks and another bedroom and bath at the lower level. It has a low-sloped shed roof with wide overhanging front eaves. Built on a concrete block foundation, the upper level is cantilevered over the lower level.
The most well-known 5CS is the so-called “Odoroff house,” at 7322 Rebecca Drive. A custom design meant to showcase the extensive art collection of Minnie and Maurice Odoroff, it received a National Award of Merit from the American Institute of Architects in 1954, and the Evening Star Award for Excellence in 1956.
Another Type 5CS, at 2306 Kimbro Street, won The Washington Post “Mad Men” award in 2012.
Unit Type 57, the final variant of the Unit 5, was developed in 1955. It’s more commonly known as the Award, and is covered in a later section.
While the earlier Unit 5 models were rectangular, Unit 57 was larger — a 37’ x 37’ square containing three bedrooms and two baths. Read more about it here.
Where to see them
Examples of Type 5B may be found on Rebecca Drive (7102, 7104, 7106, 7110, 7200 and 7211); Glasgow Road (2204, 2209), and Paul Spring Road (2201, 2203, and 2205).
The Type 5CS can be found on Rebecca Drive (7202, 7204, 7322, 7401, 7415, and 7416); Whiteoaks Drive (2212 and 2214); 7419 Hopa Court; and Kimbro Street (2306, 2312, 2314, and 2321).
TYPE 5B & 5CS
elevations
Courtesy Library of Congress
unit type 6 (1952)
model: type 6
date: 1952
size: 2,100 sf
floors: 2
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
Examples of Type 6. Click to enlarge.
One of Goodman’s most striking designs is the Unit Type 6 — or, as it’s more commonly known, “the Butterfly.” Davenport had been getting requests for larger houses, and in 1952 he introduced this model — the biggest house so far in Hollin Hills.
Typically 27’ x 44’, and 2,100 square feet, it’s a two-story design, usually built on an uphill slope, with a graceful “butterfly” roof that almost seems to pull the house skyward. Initially designed for a sloping site on Paul Spring Road, you can find it across the community, adding a confident panache to the streets.
Inside, the Type 6 even feels bigger than it looks. The upper level has a spacious living area that extends the full width of the house, with an interior fireplace and chimney. You’ll find three bedrooms and two baths up there as well.
On the ground level is the kitchen, a main entry, a basement/utility area, and a multipurpose room. There’s another fireplace on the ground floor, and there’s often a terrace at that level as well.
Goodman reportedly experimented with alternate layouts, and in at least one Type 6 (on Saville Court) the kitchen is located on the upper level, rather than the ground floor.
Notable features
The larger size of the Unit Type 6 reflected the intention of Goodman and Davenport to provide a range of housing within the community, so that families, as they grew, could stay in Hollin Hills by simply moving to a larger house. Nevertheless, both men were committed to keeping the houses within a measured price range, so that the houses would not be markers of wealth differences.
Goodman had used the butterfly roof on a Type 2 variation in 1953 (see above), but in this new design the “crease” runs the width of the house, rather than the length, as it does in the earlier Type 2.
The shallow slope of the roof, however, remains the same; anything steeper would have made the houses look “chunky and artificial”, as Goodman’s colleague Eason Cross, Jr. puts it. As it is, the cantilevered upper level, combined with the sweeping line of the roof, give the houses a light, “floating” look.
The larger size of the Type 6, and the higher elevation of the butterfly roof on this two-story house, enhance the drama of the design, and you might detect faint echos of Eero Saarinen’s “flying wing” design for Dulles International Airport, built a few years later. They both seem about to achieve liftoff.
Where to see them
Nine of the Type 6 houses were built. They can be seen on Beechwood Road (7218, 7220); Paul Spring Road (2109, 2117, 2119, 2121); 7421 Saville Court; 2112 Whiteoaks Drive; and 7105 Rebecca Drive.
TYPE6
floor plan
elevations
Click images to enlarge
unit type 7L (1954)
model: type 7L
date: 1954
size: 1,250 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 1.5
Click images to enlarge
The one-level Unit Type 7L house was introduced in 1954, and is notable for being shaped largely by Goodman’s desire to use advanced prefabrication ideas, which had long interested him.
Goodman designed the 7L around the use of 12-foot wall modules. One such panel provided a good width for each bedrooms, while two of them together allowed a longer area for the living and dining area
The Type 7L is a 25’ x 50’, three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath house featuring a kitchen/family room space, with an L-shaped space for dining, living and study. Like the earlier Type 2 “butterfly” design, the 7L has a low-slung, sculptural fireplace with glazing above it, giving the house a lighter feel.
Notable features
For the first time in a Goodman design, all the exterior walls were 12’ x 8’ panels, which were made offsite at construction foreman “Mac” McCalley's shop, where he had set up big, flat steel jig tables. As in earlier unit types, wood trusses spanned from outer wall to outer wall, so none of the interior partitions had to be load-bearing. The house also has a small storage closet which stands opposite the kitchen entry.
As Eason Cross, Jr. has noted, the way Goodman created a sense of spaciousness in the 7L is remarkable. The single floor plan is open to the living room, dining space, study, hall, entry, kitchen and laundry space — which means, says Cross, that “you can see a part of the next space, not all of it. There is always some implied larger space extending each room. It makes a small house look enormous.”
Other new features include deeper overhangs and a slightly lower pitch to the roof than previous designs, giving it the impression, as Greg Hunt notes, of a “thin, hovering protective feature of the house.”
Where to see them
There are 15 existing Type 7L houses in Hollin Hills. They can be found on Rebecca Drive (7206, 7210, 7214, 7216, and 7421); Glasgow Road (2303, 2305, 2306, 2307, 2308, 2309, 2310, 2311, 2313); and 2207 Paul Spring Road.
TYPE7L
floor plan
elevations
unit type 8 (1958)
model: type 8
date: 1958
size:
floors: 2
bedrooms: 4
baths: 2
Unit Type 8; click to enlarge
In 1958, Goodman introduced the ambitious Unit Type 8, the most complex (and expensive) design so far. A T-shaped house on two levels, with four bedrooms and two baths, the Type 8 has a cathedral ceiling that connects the living and dining areas and gives the entire upper level a spacious, airy feel.
The Type 8 has a low-sloped roof with wide overhangs, like that of the Type 7L. The area beneath the upper-level living spaces was originally designed to accommodate a large utility area, a future family room, and a future study.
Notable features
New designs for the windows and fireplace are two of the most interesting innovations. As Greg Hunt points out, the Type 8’s four bedrooms stretch some 50 feet across the upper level of one arm of the T, and although their 12-foot width is consistent with earlier unit types, the exterior bays are now filled with two sheets of fixed glass, each nearly six feet wide, with smaller windows arranged underneath them.
Similarly, fixed glass pieces almost seven feet wide were used on the elongated window modules of the living/dining area — the largest glazing modules to be used in Hollin Hills.
A large brick fireplace and wood box divides the living room from the kitchen / dining area of the Type 8, and while it’s similar to the ones found in the Type 2 houses, it’s larger, centrally located, and only the chimney portion extends to the roof. That creates a wonderful sense of the hearth being at the center of the home — and, since the ceiling now visibly extends over the entire living space, a strong feeling of connectedness with each part of the space.
There’s a slightly larger variation of the Type 8, the Type 8B4. Two of these were built on Brentwood Place in 1958.
Where to see them
There are eight of the Type Unit 8 houses in Hollin Hills. They can be found at 7805 Elba Road; 7420 Saville Court; 7420 Hopa Court; 2318 Kimbro Street; 7413 and 7417 Rebecca Drive; and 2401 and 2403 Brentwood Place (type 8B4).
floor plan
TYPE8
the mainline (1958)
model: mainline
date: 1958
size: 1,385
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
Click images to enlarge
In 1958 and the early 1960s, Goodman produced two additional unit types — the Mainline and the Customline — that were essentially variants of the Type 7L, designed to provide additional space and amenities. Also, for the first time in Hollin Hills, more common house names were used for new unit types.
The Mainline model was a slightly enlarged (1,385 square feet) version of the Type 7L, with the same layout of living spaces. It has three bedrooms, one and one-half baths, a 24-foot living area, study, fireplace, kitchen, and family room. It measures 26’ x 54’, and originally sold for $20,250.
”Dramatic design, a contemporary use of glass and vaulted roof to add to the essential spaciousness, and a functional arrangement of rooms are the primary attributes of this fine home,” says the original sales catalog. “The 20-ft. all-G.E. kitchen is beautifully equipped, with a long expanse of worktops and cabinets housing an undercounter washer-dryer, oversize built-in electric oven and countertop range, garbage disposal, and dishwasher.”
The Mainline was featured in the article “Nature Preserved in a Tract” in the September 15, 1958 issue of LIFE Magazine; click here to see the story.
Notable features
The most notable change in the Mainline was from flat ceilings in the 7L, to cathedral ceilings in the new models (made possible, as Greg Hunt points out, by altering the roof framing from trusses to conventional rafters, carried in the center of the house by a dropped beam).
This allows the windows in the end wall to extend up to the underside of the roof, increasing the sense of spaciousness, light and openness that are the hallmarks of the Mainline model.
Variations
A larger, two-level Mainline 2L model was developed in 1960 to take advantage of sloped sites. It has three baths, the potential for five bedrooms (depending on the layout of the lower level), and large recreation and utility areas. There are several example of the two-level Mainline on Elba Road near Daphne Lane.
Where to see them
Some 27 examples of the Mainline and its variations were constructed in Hollin Hills. Versions can be found on Elba Road (7521, 7526, 7529, 7703, 7706, 7707, 7712, 7713, 7715, 7716, 7718, 7722, 7800, 7802, and 7807 and 7809 [which were hybrids with Type 260]); Range Road (7501); Daphne Lane (2403 (with a later butterfly roof addition); Rebecca Drive (7424); Brentwood Place (2406, 2410), Nordok Place (2320, 2401, 2405, 2406, 2409), and Sherwood Hall Lane (2400).
floor plan
MAINLINE
elevations
the customline (1957)
model: customline
date: 1957
size: 1,700 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 4
baths: 2
The Customline was a companion model that maintained the width of the Mainline but stretched its overall length by 8 feet, to 66 feet. The additional length produced a house with a huge 28 ft. living and dining area, study, fireplace, and 23 ft. kitchen-family room.
At 1700 square feet, it has four bedrooms and two full baths, and sold at the time for $23,500. The Mainline and Customline models were built only in “new” Hollin Hills.
Notable features
From the sales brochure: “There is a feeling of light and space everywhere, even in the baths with their glass ceiling domes. This home received one of the few AIA awards in 1957.”
Where to see them
Twenty nine examples of the Customline exist, and can be found on Elba Road (7505, 7519, 7520, 7521, 7525, 7606, 7618, 7704, 7708, 7800); Elba Court (2402); Daphne Lane (2400, 2401, 2402, 2204, 2405 and 2406); Brentwood Place (2400, 2402, 2408, 2411, 2413); Nemeth Court (2405, 2408); Lisbon Lane (2402, 2403); Rebecca Drive (7424); Whiteoaks Drive (2207); and Sherwood Hall Lane (2400).
CUSTOMLINE
floor plan
elevations
the award / type 57 (1957)
model:
type 57
(the award)
date: 1957
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
The Award Special; click images to enlarge
The Award — also known as the Unit Type 57 — was introduced in 1957. A flat-roofed model based on the earlier Type 5, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a U-shaped kitchen, and a 12’ x 33.6’ living-dining area. It sold for $19,200 when it was introduced.
According to the original sales brochure, the Award “is a new, expanded version of our most original design [Type 5] that won the AIA Merit Award, the Evening Star Award, and an Award of Special Merit in the 1957 Parents Magazine housing contest.”
Notable features
The Award was offered as a square or slightly larger rectangle (known as the Award Special). The square version measured 37 feet by 37 feet, and continued the interior zones that Goodman developed for the Type 5A. “Notice how circulation flows easily from each zone to the other,” notes the original sales catalog, “without forced passage through a single room.”
Three large bedrooms make up the “privacy zone” across the rear of the home, and are separated from the open living-dining area (the “living zone”) in the front by a “utility zone” of two bathrooms, utilities, and kitchen. The U-shaped kitchen, says the sales brochure, “has a passthrough counter and eating bar arrangement, and is fully equipped with G.E. appliances.”
The brick chimney is the same freestanding sculptural chimney stack developed by Goodman in the Type 2 “butterfly” design, and the concrete-block chimney wall on the interior of the earlier variations was sometimes replaced with a “wood-surface wall” or brick wall.
The very similar Unit No. 57 rectangle (also known as The Award Special), measuring 48 feet by 36 feet, adds a bedroom and a multipurpose room off the kitchen. There are skylights over the bathrooms, and for the first time in Hollin Hills, as Greg Hunt notes, drywall replaces plaster as the primary interior wall finish.
The exterior walls are made of prefabricated 12-foot-wide “wall panels”, which allow for the placement of window modules with the usual fixed pane above and a fixed or sliding sash below.
Where to see them
There are several dozen examples of the Award / Type 57 in Hollin Hills, and they can be found on Elba Road (7501, 7503, 7504, 7507, 7523, 7600, 7604, 7605, 7608, 7610, 7613, 7710); Nemeth Court (2406, 2407, 2410); Lisbon Lane (2401, 2404); Elba Court: 2303, 2305, 2400, 2404); Range Road (7421, 7511, 7602, 7506); Kimbro Street (2300, 2307, 2308); Rebecca Drive (7427); Mason Hill Drive (2114, 2112, 2107, 2109, 2111, 2115); Hopa Court (7422, 7424); 2321 Nordok Place and 2407 Brentwood Place.
57 AWARD
floor plan
elevations
alcoa house (1957)
model: alcoa
care-free home
date: 1957
size: 1900 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
Alcoa House, past and present; click images to enlarge
Perhaps the most unusual and intriguing home in Hollin Hills is Alcoa House, on Elba Road. Designed by Charles Goodman for the Aluminum Corporation of America (Alcoa) in 1957, it was intended to revolutionize modern home-building by using state-of-the-art materials and construction techniques. Billed by Alcoa as “your Dream House made real”, some twenty-four of them were built across the country before escalating costs put an end to the project. Only about a dozen are left, including the one in Hollin Hills — which has been meticulously restored by current owners Lee and Peter Braun.
When built, the one-level, 1900 s.f. home boasted three in-line bedrooms and two baths, with an open-plan living area that horse-shoes around a galley kitchen in the front part of the house. The living area looks out through a wall of glass onto a patio (to which the Brauns have added a roof), and there is a garage at the other end of the house.
Notable features
Nearly everything about Alcoa House is notable, and reflects Goodman’s inventive approach to architecture. Unlike his wood and brick houses elsewhere in Hollin Hills, Alcoa House was built from 7,500 pounds of aluminum house parts, and incorporated cypress and vinyl panelling, electrical outlets that stuck up from the floor, and the latest kitchen and bathroom appliances, several of which dropped from the walls as a space-saving measure.
The houses featured a futuristic GE “work-saver” kitchen, central air conditioning, and synthetic materials that were going to bring about “a new era of Care-free living amid heart-warming beauty.” The developers billed it as a house that could easily be kept clean with a damp cloth. The house — with its purple exterior walls and greenish-gold front door, is notable for its exuberant use of color, as well.
For a full description of the house, and the Brauns’ meticulous restoration, please click here.
Where to find it
It’s not hard to find Alcoa House. There’s only one, it’s at 7801 Elba Road, and it’s purple.
floor plan
ALCOA HOUSE
Click to enlarge
type 260 (c. 1960)
model: 260
date: 1960
size: 1,420 sf
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
Click images to enlarge
Charles Goodman left the Hollin Hills project in about 1960, and his last design appears to be the Type 260. The house is built on one level and resembles the Type 2 houses quite a bit, but is larger (at 1,420 s.f.) and uses masonry walls to a greater extent. Sometimes referred to as the Type 2B4, it has three bedrooms and two baths.
Notable features
As architect Greg Hunt points out, Goodman used the standard-size window modules in the kitchen/dining area of the Type 260, but in the living room he incorporated a novel, 6-foot sliding glass door flanked by fixed glass panels. He also added an interior entry alcove with a closet, and installed a utility closet for the hot water heater, furnace, washer and dryer.
Perhaps the most unusual new feature of the Type 260, adds Hunt, was “the mammoth brick element consisting of fireplace, chimney, and exterior storage closet that ran along the short living room wall.”
In another new touch, the chimney has a subtle, barely-noticeable splay to it, so it appears to come to a slight angle along its height. This was done, says Hunt, to visually relieve the mass of the chimney.
Where to find them
There are ten Type 260 houses, built between 1959 and 1969. They can all be found on Elba Road at 7601, 7602, 7615, 7527, 7528, 7601, 7800, 7804, 7807, and 7809 (these last two are hybrids with the Mainline).
floor plan
TYPE 260
elevation
the sonoma ranger (1954)
model: sonoma ranger
date: 1954
floors: 1
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
Another unusual home is the Sonoma Ranger, a one-story prefabricated house located at 7304 Rebecca Drive, which Goodman designed in 1954 for the National Homes Corporation. There’s only one Sonoma Ranger in Hollin Hills, and it has a carport and patio extension by Eason Cross, Jr., and a two-story addition by Tom Kerns.
Goodman was one of four “famed architects” hired in the 1950s by National Homes to design homes that could be mass-produced using prefabricated modules and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes. Goodman produced many designs for them, and it’s estimated that over 30,000 homes were built to his plans.
Notable features
The three-bedroom, two-bath house has a rectangular floor plan and a gable roof raised at the center to provide light to the interior. It features a sculptural chimney with a lower and broader brick element containing the fireplace and adjacent wood box.
An early ad for the Ranger says “your every desire for abundant, relaxed living is fulfilled” in the house, which features a family room combining kitchen and rumpus room. “Here Mother can go about her daily work and still supervise the play of her youngsters.”
One striking aspect of the Sonoma Ranger is how it does away with the back yard entirely — Goodman did not even include a door to the back. Noting that he had seen “too many rear living windows looking out on nothing but weeds and refuse,” Goodman surmised that people were just too busy taking care of their front yards to worry about the back. So the Sonoma Ranger just has a patio in front, and the back yard is left to nature and its own devices.
SONOMARANGER
Where to find it
The only example of the Sonoma Ranger in Hollin Hills may be seen at 7304 Rebecca Drive. Eason Cross, Jr. designed the carport and patio extension; Tom Kerns designed the two-level addition.
goodman custom houses
Custom Goodman design, Marthas Road
Several attractive Goodman-designed custom houses were built along Marthas Road and Recard Lane, incorporating ideas from earlier houses and exploring new ideas which were then incorporated into later houses.
Custom Goodman design, Marthas Road
Goodman also designed a new version of the Unit 5B for a site on Rebecca Drive, downhill from the road and with a view over Hybla Valley to the west. A four-bedroom, two-bath house of over 2,500 square feet, it featured a distinctive single-pitch roof of modest slope and an extremely wide overhang toward the west, banks of elongated window modules along the highest rear wall, and grooved plywood panels as the exterior infill.
The house — designed to showcase the extensive art collection of Minnie and Maurice Odoroff — won a National Award of Merit from the American Institute of Architects in 1954. This custom house became Unit Type 5CS.
Custom Goodman design (5CS) on Rebecca Drive
Where to find them
Some of Goodman’s custom designs in Hollin Hills can be found on Marthas Road (2207, 2213, 2215, 2215 and 2219 and 2215) and at 7411 Recard Lane and 7325 Rebecca Drive.
The Odoroff house may be seen at 7322 Rebecca Drive. More examples of Unit 5CS may be seen at 7202, 7204, 7401 and 7416 Rebecca Drive, and 2306 Kimbro Street.
CUSTOMHOUSES
designs by other architects
davenport: the decca (1960s)
An example of the Decca on Mason Hill Drive
Click images to enlarge
model: decca
date: 1960s
size:
floors: 2
bedrooms: 3
baths: 2
After Goodman left the project in about 1960, developer Robert Davenport himself designed two of his own models — the Decca and the Atrium — in order to bring new designs to the marketplace.
His most popular design, the Decca, was a two-level rectangular house with gabled roof that was similar to Goodman's design for the two-level Type 2B42LB. In fact, it’s so similar that it’s often hard to distinguish the two.
The wood-frame dwelling is faced with T-111 siding, has wide overhanging eaves and an exterior-end chimney, and features floor-to-ceiling window walls measuring up to 28 feet wide.
Where to find them
There are about fourteen Decca houses in Hollin Hills, built between 1961 and 1970, but they can be difficult to identify due to their close resemblance to the Type 2B42LB. Many can be found on Kimbro Street (2305, 2310, 2311, 2316); Elba Road (7612, 7616, 7720); Whiteoaks Drive (2201, 2210, 2213); Mason Hill Drive (2101, 2103) as well as at 7423 Saville Court and 7504 Range Road.
DE
CCA
davenport: the atrium
An example of the Atrium on Saville Court
Robert Davenport designed the Atrium, a large one- or two-story model, in the mid-1960s, and five of them were built between 1966 and 1968. They have a square footprint, an open central interior courtyard atrium, and a flat roof with no overhang. Set on a concrete block foundation, the lower level of the two-story Atrium is faced with brick, while the upper wood-frame story is clad with T-111 siding.
The Atrium was U-shaped and open on the ground floor, and you entered the house by walking through the open atrium to get to the front door. The upper level was enclosed and slightly larger than the lower level.
ATR
IUM
Where to find them
Examples of the two-level Atrium can be found at 7422 Saville Court (where the lower level of the Atrium was enclosed by an earlier owner), on White Oaks Drive (2104, 2202) and 7419 Range Road, with a one-level Atrium with multiple adds at 7509 Range Road.
davenport: the type 10
The sole Type 10 ever built, at 2320 Kimbro.
In 1970, Robert Davenport designed the Unit Type 10, a spacious, four-bedroom, L-shaped house based on the earlier Type 8, which Goodman had designed in 1958.
The Type 10 is notable for its large windows; the exterior bays are 12 feet wide and are filled with two sheets of fixed glass, each nearly 6 feet wide, while fixed glass almost 7 feet wide is used on the elongated window modules of the living/dining area.
Also like the Type 8, the Type 10 has a large brick chimney/fireplace in the interior of the home, which serves as a divider between the living and dining areas.
TYPE 10
Where to find them
There’s only example of the Type 10, which was built in 1970 and is located at 2320 Kimbro Street.
kerns, neer and other architects
A design by Tom Kerns at 7405 Rebecca Drive
While Charles Goodman designed the vast majority of the houses in Hollin Hills, there are a handful by other architects, including several who lived in the community — including Casper Neer, Tom Kerns, Tom Kuester and Bob Smith, who designed his own house on Rebecca Drive when he worked for Goodman.
In addition, there are numerous additions by Kerns and Eason Cross, Jr., another colleague of Goodman’s who lived in Hollin Hills.
There are seven non-Goodman designed houses on Rebecca Drive on the slope between Popkins Lane and Kimbro Street, including particularly striking designs at 7405 Rebecca Drive (by Tom Kerns), 7411 Rebecca Drive (by Caspar Neer), and 7418 Rebecca (by owner Sidney Abrahams, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright).
There’s also a very beautiful two-story design with an atrium at 2211 Marthas Road, built in 1959 by its first owner, Brazilian architect Luis Vera. Later additions, first by Tom Kerns and more recently by Michael Cook (photos here), expanded the home.
At 7316 Rebecca, you can find a 1956 house by Scholz Homes, a company that built low-cost, pre-fab homes across the country, often in a modern style.
A design by Casper Neer at 7411 Rebecca Drive
Where to find them
A few of the the notable non-Goodman houses include:
7104 Rebecca Drive (Robert C. Smith); 7316 Rebecca (Scholz Homes); 7407 and 7411 Rebecca Drive (Casper Neer); 7404 and 7405 Rebecca (Tom Kerns); 7320 Rebecca (Tom Wright); 7418 Rebecca (by owner Sidney Abrahams, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright); 7419 Rebecca (by owners Tom and Sharon Kuester); 2211 Marthas Road (by Brazilian architect Luis Vera, with a 2017 addition by Michael Cook).
OTHER ARCHITECTS
A design at 2211 Marthas Road by its first owner, Brazilian architect Luis Vera.
