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Preservation Month: Greenbelt's Housing


The month of May is Historic Preservation Month! Let's talk about the types of homes in historic #Greenbelt, Maryland! The original 1937 houses and apartment buildings remain. Influenced by Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities, they were grouped aesthetically with courts to catch prevailing breezes.

There were four types of houses in Greenbelt: Cinder block, Brick, Defense and Parkbelt. Cinder block houses (our Historic House is one) are 44% of the existing original 1937 houses. They are considered International Style and influenced by Modernist functionalism philosophy.

Like the cinder block houses, the 1937 brick houses were also two-story homes. They make up 51% of historic #Greenbelt houses. The brick houses have gabled roofs instead of the flat ones of the cinder block houses.

Also part of the original 1937 housing in Greenbelt were 12 apartment buildings with similar Art Deco/International styles as the cinder block homes. Previously considered "industrial" materials such as glass blocks and steel sash casement windows were used.

In 1941, frame "Defense" houses were constructed in response to WWII demand. After the war, the Greenbelt Veterans Housing Corp. formed to buy them from the federal gov't in 1952. This group became GHI, Greenbelt's housing cooperative.

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VISITOR INFORMATION 

Historic House  

 

10B Crescent Rd.

Greenbelt, MD 20770

Open Sundays 

Tours on the 1/2 hour

1pm to 4:30pm

Admission $5

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Exhibition Gallery  

 

Lenore Thomas Straus Exhibit

Greenbelt Community Center

15 Crescent Rd. 

Greenbelt, MD 20770

Open M-Sat 9am-10pm, 

Sundays 10am-7pm

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Greenbelt Museum Office


15 Crescent Road

Greenbelt, Maryland 20770

301-507-6582 

info@greenbeltmuseum.org

Community Pledge

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The strength of Greenbelt is diverse people living together in a spirit of cooperation. We celebrate all people. By sharing together all are enriched. We strive to be a respectful, welcoming community that is open, accessible, safe and fair.

Preserving and sharing the New Deal history of an experimental planned community built by FDR in suburban Maryland in 1937 and still thriving today.

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