The First Time Ever I Saw Your Place: Roberta Flack’s Unique Hollin Hills Home is Open on May 16
Any number of talented artists have passed through Hollin Hills over the decades — but perhaps none so celebrated as the singer Roberta Flack, who lived on Marthas Road in the early 1970s. Flack passed away last year, sadly; but fortunately for us, her striking, custom-designed home — which includes a wood-paneled room that served as her music studio — lives on. And anyone interested in Hollin Hills history, Charles Goodman’s architecture or the remarkable Flack herself, might want to drop by the house on Saturday afternoon, when it will be open to the public. For this historic home has come on the market for the first time in over a decade.
Roberta Flack released “Chapter Two” while she lived in Hollin Hills.
What makes the Flack house such a must-see? Part of it, of course, is the aura of the singer herself. Flack had just released her debut album, “First Take” in 1969, and was playing at Mr. Henry’s Restaurant in Capitol Hill to make ends meet when she moved to Hollin Hills. She was a friendly, warm presence in the community (she even sang at the wedding of her Marthas Road neighbors Larry and Jolande Goldberg), and by the time she released “Chapter Two” in 1972, her career was taking off. Sadly, her marriage was ending as well, and she moved out of Hollin Hills at about that time (though the house, curiously enough, was later the home of jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron, best remembered for his iconic 1969 work, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”)
The hillside home uses a split-floor approach to dramatic effect (all house photos by Tammy Loverdos)
But the Flack home is worth seeing just on its own merits. Constructed in 1951 (with two later additions), it appears to be a unique design by Hollin Hills architect Charles Goodman — maybe even his first custom home here. Built into a steep hillside, it’s notable for its dramatic “split” layout; you enter on the upper floor and look down, as if from a balcony, over the lower living area. But the most impressive element is the epic, two-story wall of windows that runs the entire length of the wall, giving a panoramic view of the terraced patio and swimming pool below, and out into the woods beyond. With the light coming in from windows all around you, it feels almost weightless — as if you’re floating through the house.
And, while the house has all the defining elements of a Hollin Hills design — the low-profile appearance from the street, the blocky chimney in recycled brick, the integration into the landscape, and of course the trademark expanses of glass — the architecture reworks those elements in surprising and imaginative ways. It’s well worth a look for anyone interested in Goodman’s creative process.
Also worth seeing is the sophisticated updating of the house and gardens that the current owners undertook after buying the home in 2015. They restored such classic features as the original oak parquet floors, and uncovered hidden treasures: pulling up the shag carpeting in the wood-lined music studio (which appears to be a 1971 addition built for Flack) revealed a beautiful cut-slate floor. The kitchen, baths and much else were updated to 21st-century tastes as well, in a fresh and jazzy style.
The owners have also brought a distinct but subtle Asian feel to the house, particularly in their wide-ranging art collection, which runs from Chinese antiquities to modern watercolors from Myanmar. But you see it even more vividly in the landscape, from the stone Buddhas and traditional garden lanterns to the many Japanese maples (including an enormous one by the front door that cascades, Rapunzel-like, down to the lower level), which add a quiet sense of grace to the garden. The Asian look is enhanced by the scorched cedar siding that the owners adopted for the home’s exterior — an ancient Japanese preservation technique now being used by contemporary architects not just for its dark, smoldering good looks, but for its natural resistance to the elements.
Anyway, we could go on and on — but even if the $1,890,000 price tag is a smidge over your budget, this is a house worth seeing just for its place in the cultural and architectural history of Hollin Hills. The address is 1927 Marthas Road, the open house runs from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Saturday May 16, and the Poole Braun Team is the agent — you can see more of Tammy Loverdos’s great photos (and all the real estate nitty gritty) on their website.
— Stephen Brookes
A part of community history: Hollin Hiller Roberta Flack sang at the wedding of her neighbors Larry and Jolande Goldberg