Not just any bow...it's a certain style...think Orient Expressed catalog model.

Anonymous wrote:Huh. Thanks for the responses, although they are not too encouraging for our situation! My husband is Catholic (on the liberal side), I'm not Catholic, and I work downtown. Will definitely give me some pause, since we like our current neighorhood so much. Thank you!

We are just around the corner in Parkwood. I see lots of kids coming to and from HR but most of our neighborhood goes to KP. We are non-practicing catholics. Come on over!

Anonymous wrote: Honestly, ccv, byeforde and the neighborhood pool cedar brook are all a bit Stepford IMHO. Little HR girls all wear big hair bows on he side of their heads (I'm not kidding).

OMG bows! Much better that they dye their hair purple like in public school.

Having moved to this neighborhood within the past two years, most of what you read above appears to be accurate to me. My husband and I do wish we had known more about the community make up, in particular the deep ties to HR, prior to purchasing a home in Byeford. That said, we love the location of our house, have met some nice families and we have had a great experience at Rosemary Hills. I would not rule it out.

Best of luck with your decision.

The HR neighborhood has been traditionally unfriendly to people who are not Catholic and don't go to HR.

However, that's changing b/c there are more "outsiders" moving in. Now there are lots of kids that go to public school. Yea!

Many of the kids at hr are from outside the parish boundaries bc they can't afford a house in byeforde or ccv OR they are waiting to buy one. Houses don't turn over frequently. All the parents of the kids I went to hr with back in the 80s still live in their homes in the parish. Don't be fooled, op. The vast majority of kids in byeforde and ccv go to hr or to other (more prestigious) catholic schools. And there's a smattering of opus dei families in the parish. The pp about the pro Obama incident is right on the mark. There was a WaPo article with a map of MoCo with one red area that specifically called out hr parish as the most conservative part of the entire county. Most moms do not work. Most families have money. Many families have beach houses in Bethany (aka Kensington east). If you want to be in Kensington, then try parkwood (better mix of public and private school kids) or the other side of Connecticut (old town area, beach dr area, near Mormon temple). Honestly, ccv, byeforde and the neighborhood pool cedar brook are all a bit Stepford IMHO. Little HR girls all wear big hair bows on he side of their heads (I'm not kidding).

OP. thanks, PP. That is good to hear.

Anonymous wrote:Huh. Thanks for the responses, although they are not too encouraging for our situation! My husband is Catholic (on the liberal side), I'm not Catholic, and I work downtown. Will definitely give me some pause, since we like our current neighorhood so much. Thank you!

I am quite familiar with Byeforde and I don't think anyone was trying to make the impression that you would be unwelcome if you are not Catholic. Originally it was very attractive to families who wanted to live near their church and school and so the kids could walk to school.

I know now that many of the students who go to Holy Redeemer come from out of the parish boundaries.

Huh. Thanks for the responses, although they are not too encouraging for our situation! My husband is Catholic (on the liberal side), I'm not Catholic, and I work downtown. Will definitely give me some pause, since we like our current neighorhood so much. Thank you!

"Not supporting the public schools". Now that is a strange statement.

PP here. Perhaps this was improperly worded, but I meant that the families in the neighborhood do not send their children to the public schools. Maybe "participating" would have been better than "supporting" as obviously as residents their property taxes "support" the schools. Apologies for being unclear.

OP, I should also have added that my sister is Christian and Republican (although her husband is neither) and has never felt like she truly fits into CCV because they are not Catholic and because she works outside the home. From what I have heard Byeforde is more like that than CCV since it is closer to Holy Redeemer.

I have also heard that the neighborhood is more conservative and less tolerant than other parts of MoCo. One friend who moved there got a lot of grief for hosting a pro-Obama event like one of those Move On events) at her house during the 2008 election. Another friend was a member of the church but sent her kids to a Montessori preschool and had a prochoice bumper sticker on her car and had a lot of aggression from neighbors about that, ending in her car being keyed!!

So consider your own tolerance for that kind of environment.

Anonymous wrote:My sister is in Chevy Chase View so I can vouch for what you've heard about Byeford/Holy Redeemer. The neighborhood has a long history of not supporting the public schools - what's now Grace Episcopal was once Larchmont Elementary and was closed long ago for low attendance. However, Rosemary Hills is wonderful and there were a few kids in my daughter's grade there from that area.

"Not supporting the public schools". Now that is a strange statement.

I can speak about Byeforde and Holy Redeemer since I grew up there. I cannot remember one of my neighbors who were not Catholic and I know for a fact that there are a lot of Catholic families still there. My mother's house was purchased by a Catholic family with seven kids and they go to Holy Redeemer. Its only logical that Catholic families would send their kids to an excellent Catholic school such as Holy Redeemer.

I grewup in CCV, and went to Holy Redeemer. Almost all of the HR kids are from those two neighborhoods. I literally knew 2 kids who went to public school. As long as you join Cedarbrook and the kids do swim team, you willbe fine.

My sister is in Chevy Chase View so I can vouch for what you've heard about Byeford/Holy Redeemer. The neighborhood has a long history of not supporting the public schools - what's now Grace Episcopal was once Larchmont Elementary and was closed long ago for low attendance. However, Rosemary Hills is wonderful and there were a few kids in my daughter's grade there from that area.

We are looking at a home in the Byeforde neighborhood of Kensington (west of CT, north of Beach) and friends tell us most of the neighborhood sends kids to Holy Redeemer. I was wondering if anyone knows if this is true? Our kids are in element. school and we would do Rosemary Hills, etc. Thanks!