Renting in downtown Bethesda or Friendship Heights with teen

[Anonymous]

Hello. We plan to move to the area and want to be on the Metro Red Line in one of these two locations. We want a reasonably high-end building that is pet friendly. We have a teenager who will attend a private school and it would be nice for her to have peers in the building. Are there buildings you can recommend that aren’t just twenty-somethings? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Are you moving here from NYC?

We did private school in an apartment here. It was something that we had to continuously defend to our neighbors (“Too good for public? Bad plan to spend money on tuition rather than a mortgage.”) AND DD’s classmates (It’s soooo small. Come to our house where we have a family room and yard?” )

We liked it, but the comments from both sides got old.

[Anonymous]

In Friendship, you'll find that that the largest population in the buildings are senior citizens, not 20 somethings. But there are also plenty of teenagers. My mother lives in the Willoughby, which would be a good fit except that it doesn't allow pets, and when my son spent the night there was an entire school bus full of students heading to Westland Middle School from there. We were in another building, that did allow pets but wasn't "higher end" and we had plenty of kids as well.

I'm not sure which buildings allow pets, but you'll definitely find community in those neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

There are a number of new/newish buildings in Bethesda.

(TBH I am not sure who their market is but I would be surprised if there were a lot of families sending their kids to private)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you moving here from NYC?

We did private school in an apartment here. It was something that we had to continuously defend to our neighbors (“Too good for public? Bad plan to spend money on tuition rather than a mortgage.”) AND DD’s classmates (It’s soooo small. Come to our house where we have a family room and yard?” )

We liked it, but the comments from both sides got old.

Yes, we are. We don’t want to deal with the requirements of a house and we are away about a quarter of the year so we’d prefer a lower maintenance, lower risk situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a number of new/newish buildings in Bethesda.

(TBH I am not sure who their market is but I would be surprised if there were a lot of families sending their kids to private)

I just don’t want our daughter to be the only teenager in the building if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Friendship, you'll find that that the largest population in the buildings are senior citizens, not 20 somethings. But there are also plenty of teenagers. My mother lives in the Willoughby, which would be a good fit except that it doesn't allow pets, and when my son spent the night there was an entire school bus full of students heading to Westland Middle School from there. We were in another building, that did allow pets but wasn't "higher end" and we had plenty of kids as well.

I'm not sure which buildings allow pets, but you'll definitely find community in those neighborhoods.

This is helpful, thank you. Your mom’s building looks nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you moving here from NYC?

We did private school in an apartment here. It was something that we had to continuously defend to our neighbors (“Too good for public? Bad plan to spend money on tuition rather than a mortgage.”) AND DD’s classmates (It’s soooo small. Come to our house where we have a family room and yard?” )

We liked it, but the comments from both sides got old.

Yes, we are. We don’t want to deal with the requirements of a house and we are away about a quarter of the year so we’d prefer a lower maintenance, lower risk situation.

I think you should try to be in whichever place is closer to the school.

[Anonymous]

This is a fairly unique ask. I lived here from NYC too and it just isn’t a thing in the same way.

There are some solidly middle class buildings in Chevy Chase DC with kids, but they are not really upscale buildings, with an exception or two — the new one at military for instance. But it is a very nice area.

Also, Cathedrals heights near St. Albans/NCS has some good options. Neat neighborhood but no metro alas.

There are plenty of newish upscale building in Bethesda, but they are geared more toward singles and childless couples. At the same time, there is a lot more teenager stuff to do in downtown Bethesda. Shops, people watching, food.

Friendship (on the Maryland side) is like the oldest zip code in the USA. And there is less teenage energy around Mazza then there was a few decades ago sadly.

As pp said, you will unfortunately likely spend a lot of time explaining why you chose apartment living. But no big deal if you don’t mind

[Anonymous]

Topaz House in Bethesda on East West highway has a decent amount of kids. The new trendy buildings in the area attract rich empty nestors, singles and folks who are transient.

Granted Topaz for DC is an older building. But units are larger for the rent. The rent is fair. Right near bethesda metro.

Does have doorman, gym, pool, parking. It is right by Bethesda Chevy Chase HS. I would at least look at their website as that is good rent for a full service building and will be a good benchmark

[Anonymous]

https://topazhouse.com

Added website -

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a number of new/newish buildings in Bethesda.

(TBH I am not sure who their market is but I would be surprised if there were a lot of families sending their kids to private)

I just don’t want our daughter to be the only teenager in the building if possible.

You might get lucky, but there’s not many teen friendships across the public-private divide outside of highly competitive sports or kids that have known each other since they were little. It’s one reason we switched from private to public when we did. I wanted the freedom of neighborhood friendships once the kids get to late middle-early high.

[Anonymous]

OP this is a different town than NYC, where my spouse grew up--you’re not going to find any apartment buildings in those areas with many teenagers. Most people around here with means prefer more suburban settings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a fairly unique ask. I lived here from NYC too and it just isn’t a thing in the same way.

There are some solidly middle class buildings in Chevy Chase DC with kids, but they are not really upscale buildings, with an exception or two — the new one at military for instance. But it is a very nice area.

Also, Cathedrals heights near St. Albans/NCS has some good options. Neat neighborhood but no metro alas.

There are plenty of newish upscale building in Bethesda, but they are geared more toward singles and childless couples. At the same time, there is a lot more teenager stuff to do in downtown Bethesda. Shops, people watching, food.

Friendship (on the Maryland side) is like the oldest zip code in the USA. And there is less teenage energy around Mazza then there was a few decades ago sadly.

As pp said, you will unfortunately likely spend a lot of time explaining why you chose apartment living. But no big deal if you don’t mind

Thank you. I used to live in DC and I figured this would be an odd ask. Thing is, we are gone a lot and we’ve already done the suburban house and yard thing. Then we lived overseas and now in the city and we are used to being able to walk everywhere and take public transit. Don’t want to be tethered to a car and a big house and yard and people to take care of them. Will look at downtown Bethesda more this weekend, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://topazhouse.com

Added website -

Thanks much!