Is AU Park the next Bethesda?

[Anonymous]

There are alll these little SFH on decent size lots. Will they all get torn down like Bethesda?

Do you think DC will do anything to prevent mcmansions from getting built? It seems like the current mayor is very pro-construction.

[Anonymous]

You can't build a McMansion on an average AU Park house lot. The old bungalows and center hall colonials in AU Park are pretty crappy, so tearing down & building new regular sized houses is not a terrible idea.

They didn't build great houses in AU Park in the first place IMO. Not of high quality, architecturally boring and bad layouts.

[Anonymous]

+100 houses in AU park are ugly.

[Anonymous]

I mean yes. And good riddance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are alll these little SFH on decent size lots. Will they all get torn down like Bethesda?

Do you think DC will do anything to prevent mcmansions from getting built? It seems like the current mayor is very pro-construction.

Most of Bethesda has not been torn down and re-built.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't build a McMansion on an average AU Park house lot. The old bungalows and center hall colonials in AU Park are pretty crappy, so tearing down & building new regular sized houses is not a terrible idea.

They didn't build great houses in AU Park in the first place IMO. Not of high quality, architecturally boring and bad layouts.

NP here. Also there's a difference between Bradmoor and Wood Acres lot sizes. When we rented in AU Park I was shocked by our utility costs due to badly-insulated, drafty houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't build a McMansion on an average AU Park house lot. The old bungalows and center hall colonials in AU Park are pretty crappy, so tearing down & building new regular sized houses is not a terrible idea.

They didn't build great houses in AU Park in the first place IMO. Not of high quality, architecturally boring and bad layouts.

Why can’t you build a McMansion there? I just looked at some brick colonials on 4500 square foot lots. They put McMansions on lots that size in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't build a McMansion on an average AU Park house lot. The old bungalows and center hall colonials in AU Park are pretty crappy, so tearing down & building new regular sized houses is not a terrible idea.

They didn't build great houses in AU Park in the first place IMO. Not of high quality, architecturally boring and bad layouts.

NP here. Also there's a difference between Bradmoor and Wood Acres lot sizes. When we rented in AU Park I was shocked by our utility costs due to badly-insulated, drafty houses.

You mean not insulated. Many of the homes don't have insulation at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are alll these little SFH on decent size lots. Will they all get torn down like Bethesda?

Do you think DC will do anything to prevent mcmansions from getting built? It seems like the current mayor is very pro-construction.

Most of Bethesda has not been torn down and re-built.

Have you been to Edgemoor recently? Very few houses left that were from the original stock build a century ago. It is just a mcmansion hellscape now.

[Anonymous]

There are large swaths of AU Park, Chevy Chase, Shepard Park, the Portals and Colonial Village that will likely get demolished and rebuilt over the next 20-30 years and land costs reach the tipping point. You are already seeing in in certain parts of Chevy Chase, DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't build a McMansion on an average AU Park house lot. The old bungalows and center hall colonials in AU Park are pretty crappy, so tearing down & building new regular sized houses is not a terrible idea.

They didn't build great houses in AU Park in the first place IMO. Not of high quality, architecturally boring and bad layouts.

Why can’t you build a McMansion there? I just looked at some brick colonials on 4500 square foot lots. They put McMansions on lots that size in Bethesda.

Agree— often what makes them McMansions is that they are 5500 sq ft houses on 4400 sq ft lots.

[Anonymous]

AU Park is mania for people who need a (WOTP) DC address...

Very few lots could take a mcmansion. But there should be an attempt to improve the housing stock, especially for reduced energy usage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't build a McMansion on an average AU Park house lot. The old bungalows and center hall colonials in AU Park are pretty crappy, so tearing down & building new regular sized houses is not a terrible idea.

They didn't build great houses in AU Park in the first place IMO. Not of high quality, architecturally boring and bad layouts.

NP here. Also there's a difference between Bradmoor and Wood Acres lot sizes. When we rented in AU Park I was shocked by our utility costs due to badly-insulated, drafty houses.

You mean not insulated. Many of the homes don't have insulation at all.

I don’t share the negative of this experience. I have an older AUPark home but it is solid stone/brick. None of the new wood and weak crap. There is some insulation but not much, but to us, it’s never an issue at all. I can’t tell you how much I value never having a water issue, never needing a dump pump, and never having to worry about mold and pests and insects as a result of rot. Our house is like a fortress against all of that. Cant be beat IMO

[Anonymous]

The lots in Bethesda are much larger sq feet in general than AU park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lots in Bethesda are much larger sq feet in general than AU park

“Bethesda” probably encompasses 6 or 8 neighborhoods the size of AU Park so generalizing like that is pretty useless.