
We will be moving to suburban Maryland. Our children are still young and have not yet started school. Education is very important to us. We don't necessarily have to send our kids to the best schools but would like them to receive a high quality education. Our home budget is about $1 million and we prefer newer construction single family homes. We were originally looking into Bethesda but I think we may get more bang for our buck in North Bethesda or Rockville.
Any insight on the neighborhoods or home communities in these neighborhoods would be really appreciated. My husband will be working in Bethesda and we are open to anything within a 30 minute drive in Maryland. We drove by Rockville and really liked the feel of some of the new home neighborhoods. I've read on here that Rockville's vary in quality. Which neighborhoods are better for elementary and high school? Any schools we should avoid? |
The North Bethesda section of Rockville is in the Walter Johnson High School cluster. Neighborhoods include Tilden Woods, Old Farm, North Farm, Luxmanor, Old Georgetown Estates, etc.. Then you have parts of Bethesda -- Ashburton, Wyngate, etc. that are further from DT Bethesda and also in the WJ cluster. Kensington and Garrett Park would also be possibilities for you (also in WJ cluster, though some of Kensington might be Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS). Closer to the center of Rockville, the high school is Richard Montgomery, which I don't know tons about, except it is supposed to have a good IB program. But I would argue that WJ has a better reputation in this area. Another possibility for you is parts of Potomac that are a bit north from the town center -- neighborhoods off of Seven Locks Rd. and Falls Road. The high school is Churchill and has an excellent reputation. As you head up these roads and enter Rockville, the high school is Wooton, again a school with an excellent reputation. It is known for having a large Asian demographic (30 percent or so). You definitely could find a house in any of these neighborhoods in your price range, but I don't know about new construction. |
I was just googling around and Bethesda Chevy Chase HS, Wooton and Winston Churchill seem to have very strong reputations.
We currently live out of state and were in DC for the weekend to do a rough drive by. Our kids are young so I was looking at nursery schools. When we buy a home, we are looking more long term but in the near future, I did like the North Bethesda White Flint area. What high school do kids from White Flint attend? We drove by some newer looking rental bldgs (Indigo Crossing I think) and realized Georgetown Prep was right there. I wonder if it would be better for us if we just rented for a year so we can get a feel for the neighborhoods. I feel like Maryland has much too many fantastic housing options, which is one of the reasons we would like to move there. |
White Flint area would be Walter Johnson. Behind White Flint Mall is actually the town of Kensington. There is a whole new development project going on in the White Flint area, starting with the North Bethesda Marketplace. You can read about the project here:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/whiteflint/ |
Thank you so much for the very helpful information.
I personally love convenience and liked having everything so close in proximity. I am really liking this new development plan for White Flint. I loooooove Whole Foods. =) Is there a broker that is best to use for Rockville/North Bethesda? i.e. Prudential or REMax I would love to get a home that is less than 5 years old with about 3,000 sf. Hoping we will be able to find a home for the long run in our $1 million price range. |
I would echo everything 21:16 said. There isn't a ton of new construction other than houses that have been torn down and re-built and I think I've seen those run around the 1.2-1.6 million on average. Places that are a little further out (like Potomac - feeding to either Wooten or Churchill HS, the FallsMead area - feeding to Wooten, or the Old Farm/Luxmanor/Tilden Wood - feeding to Walter Johnson) have a little more land, a little more house space, and you are more likely to find a two car garage, true master bedroom and master bath, big kitchen etc. that was built with the house. Closer in, I've heard good things Kenwood Park. Again, it won't be new construction, but I think you can get a house with the space (but maybe not all the updating) that you want for under 1 million. The only subdivision I can think of that is somewhat new (build in the 1980's) is Al Marah in Bethesda. I am not sure of the house prices - they may be over a million, but here is the post article about the neighborhood. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042900657.html
There are so many great areas that it will depend on what is important to you. One thing I am happy to have is sidewalks. I didn't realize the value when I purchased the house but now that I have kids I am so happy the neighborhood has sidewalks. We can go walking, the girls can ride their bike or use their scooters, they can also walk to the elementary school. While we didn't enjoy the shoveling of said sidewalks when there was over 2 feet of snow this winter, for the most part it adds to the beauty of the neighborhood having the tree lined canopy of trees between the sidewalk and the street and enjoyable for me do things with the kids and not have to worry about cars coming other than crossing the streets. The only other thing I wish I had done differently is maybe look into one of the elementary schools in Bethesda or Potomac that have special programs that are only open to in-boundary kids for example the Arts Integration in Kensington Park Elementary http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/bulletinpreview/article.aspx?id=71910 or the Arts Integration and Chinese Immersion available at Potomac Elementary http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/potomaces/chineseimmersion.html |
Long & Foster pretty much has a lock on that area. Houses less than 5 years old in North Bethesda are pretty rare, although Kensington has some where people have torn-down and built up - but look at school boundaries, as there is a difference between Walter Johnson cluster and Einstein cluster. Luxmanor also has some new construction, but those are truly large $1.5MM+ homes. There are many completely renovated homes in the area, as well, so don't box yourself in with the desire for totally new construction. Under $1 MM shouldn't be difficult at all for 3000 sf. in that area. Full disclosure - I live in White Flint area, and I am SUPER-excited about the new development, and I can't wait for Whole Foods to open! |
Timberlawn in North Bethesda off Edson Lane was also built in the 80s - and those are in your price range, although may be larger than what you're looking for (with basement, they are 4500+ sf) |
There is also an enclave of new homes being built on Tilden Lane -- Holly something? But so far, all they've managed to do is clear the land. |
Ok, we will be sure to meet with Long & Foster. I knew that most areas have a favored broker. When we were driving around, it seemed like we saw a ton of newer homes in Rockville and North Bethesda. Maybe they are not so new and just are very well kept? We were literally just randomly driving around though on our way home from the Cherry Blossom Festival. 3,000 sf seems huge to me. We currently live in NYC in about 1,000 sf! I cannot even fathom living in a home that is more than 3,000 sf but I'll take it. |
I just went on Long and Foster's website.
Travilah Road in Rockville seems to have the kind of house I am looking for. The houses are in the Wooton HS district. They're a little more expensive than we wanted though. Hopefully their prices are negotiable. Wooton is considered one of the better high schools, correct? How does it compare to a place like Bethesda Chevy Chase or Robert Montgomery? I can't believe I am thinking about high schools already. My son isn't even in preschool yet. |
Is Luxmanor the same as Lux Lane?
This area also looks fantastic but out of our price range. =( |
Wooten is one of the best HS in Montgomery County, and Montgomery County has a few "best" High Schools. What I was told when we were looking is you look to the four Ws - Winston Churchhill, Wooten, Walter Johnson, and Whitman - and throw in B-CC for good measure. Richard Montgomery is also in the mix, and others are nearly as good (and in some cases better if your talking magnet programs - like Blair's Science program).
Luxmanor is Lux Lane and surrounding area - 20852 area code. Not everything is $2.5MM - but the stuff that isn't is not brand new. And yes, most everything that you saw that looked "new" in that area, for the most part, may be just particularly well-kept, especially if not a mega-mansion and if brick. If hardiplank siding, then more likely to be newer construction. Also, think hard about whether you want to go true suburban or whether you want to be closer to public transportation, stores, and what not. There's a definite trade-off around here when looking at that. |
Lux Lane is a street in the Luxmanor neighborhood, which is in North Bethesda/Rockville. Luxmanor Elementary is very well-regarded. Middle School is Tilden, and then Walter Johnson HS. |
Is Luxmanor supposed to be the "nice" part of N Bethesda/Rockville? |