Kentlands is a neighborhood of the U.S. city of
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...
.
Kentlands was one of the first attempts to develop a community using
Traditional Neighborhood Design planning techniques (also known as 'neo-traditional new town planning') that are now generally referred to under the rubric of the
New Urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually inf ...
. (The New Urbanism is the concept of building a walkable, mixed-use city neighborhood or new town to provide an attractive alternative to the spread out, automobile-centric, subdivisions common to post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
American suburbia.) Kentlands is built around a farmstead previously owned by
Otis Beall Kent.
The development, begun in 1988, contains buildings from the original Kentlands farm, many varieties of residences, a "downtown" commercial district, open space including protected natural areas and
pocket parks, and civic uses including schools, a church, clubhouse, pool, tennis and basketball courts, catering facility, and an arts center.
Overview
The town has a system of artificial
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s that snakes through the community. There are jogging trails that run through the parks and districts of the neighborhood, and the community's commercial areas and the facilities operated by the Assembly, which include swimming pools, tennis courts, playgrounds, performance spaces, and a large clubhouse, are all within walking distance.
Kentlands is divided into several districts, including "Old Farm", built around the historic mansion and the Kentlands Village Square; "Gatehouse", named after the farm's entry gatehouse, which has been reconstructed; the "Hill Districts"; the "Lakes Districts"; "Kentlands Bluff"; "Midtown/Main Street"; "Market Square"; and "Kentlands Square". The winding street layout is based on a grid pattern, varied as necessary by the requirements of Kentlands topography. Multiple open green spaces and pocket parks have been developed where land was available between the districts or in odd spaces near buildings and dwellings.
Market Square, Kentlands Square, and the Boulevard Shops are commercial districts with
grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...
s,
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
s, boutiques, offices, stores, dozens of
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s, and a 10-screen cinema cafe. Main Street is a mixed-use area with distinctive "live-work" buildings with retail and office uses on the lower floors and residential uses on the upper floors. City planners, public officials, business owners, and neighborhood residents recently worked with urban designers from the HOK global architecture firm at the 'Kentlands Commercial District Charrette,' in which a plan was developed for an intensified mixed-use and transit-oriented 'Downtown Kentlands.' The proposals developed in the charrette are now winding their way through the City of Gaithersburg's master planning process.
![JackAndJillTruck](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/JackAndJillTruck.jpg)
Kentlands, along with its sister community
Lakelands, is among the largest and arguably most successful of the New Urbanist projects. More than 8,000 residents now live in Kentlands and Lakelands, with office and commercial development totaling more than .
Rachel Carson Elementary School is at one entrance to the community and Lakelands Park Middle School divides the newer development of Lakelands from the former
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
complex that is adjacent to it, now occupied by Montgomery County Regional Services Center and the Montgomery County Liquor Control Board Warehouse.
Throughout the year, community events take place in and around the Kentlands organized by community members. These include the Kentlands/Lakelands
5K race, the
Oktoberfest
The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...
in the Kentlands, the
Fourth of July
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
Parade,
film festivals
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
, and
acoustic jams.
History
Kentlands is built on a former farm estate that had its origins in a 1723 land grant to Joseph West. In the mid-18th century, Henry Clagett, a prosperous farmer, acquired much of this land for his holdings. When Clagett died in 1777, several sections of this property passed to his son, Joseph.
The Tschiffely family began to farm the land in 1852, when Frederick A. Tschiffely, who owned a prominent wholesale pharmaceutical business in Washington, D.C., purchased more than of land from the Clagett heirs. In 1900, his son, also named Frederick A. Tschiffely, built the impressive brick mansion, barn, gatehouse, overseer's house, greenhouse and chicken coop that gave the property the nickname of "The Bricks". The family called their estate Wheatlands, after the wheat that was grown on the farm, and raised their eight children in the mansion. Mr. Tschiffely was the largest wholesale pharmaceutical distributor in the Washington area and owner of Washington's best-known pharmacy. His daily commute to Washington began with a horse and buggy drive to the Gaithersburg train station.
In 1942, the Tschiffely family sold the land to Otis Beall Kent. Kent, a wealthy tax lawyer, renamed the land 'Kentlands Farm', and he set about to create a gentleman's estate and wildlife sanctuary. In the 1960s, part of the land was given to the
Izaak Walton League
The Izaak Walton League is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect fi ...
and the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
with conditions of maintaining much of the land as a
wildlife sanctuary
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
. Mr. Kent bequeathed the remainder of the property to his adopted daughter,
Helene Danger Kent
Helene or Hélène may refer to: People
*Helene (given name), a Greek feminine given name
* Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda
*Helene, a figure in Greek mythology who was a friend of Aphrodite and helped her seduce Adonis
* Helene (A ...
. That portion was annexed into the city of Gaithersburg and was sold in 1988 to the town creator,
Joe Alfandre.
Alfandre, a developer, brought in
Andres Duany
Andres or Andrés may refer to:
*Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US
*Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France
*Andres (name)
*Hurricane Andres
* "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7
See also ...
and
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (born December 20, 1950) is a professor at the University of Miami's School of Architecture and an architect and urban planner in Miami, Florida.
Plater-Zyberk is considered to be a representative of the New Urbanism scho ...
(partners in what was then called
DPZ), urban planners credited with designing the town of
Seaside,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. After the June 1988 Kentlands
charrette
A charrette (American pronunciation: ), often Anglicized to charette or charet and sometimes called a design charrette, is an intense period of design or planning activity.
The word ''charrette'' may refer to any collaborative process by which ...
, several historic buildings were donated to the city. The neighborhood was built in a process that involved several additional charrettes. As the project was nearing completion, a sister development, named
Lakelands, was built adjacent to Kentlands. Lakelands also was designed in a charrette process including the DPZ team, the city staff, and local residents.
Construction started in 1989, and the first model homes opened in mid-1990. The first Kentlands residents moved into new homes in 1991.
A number of
historic landmark
A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...
s from the original Kent Farm were refurbished and donated to the city. The Kentlands Mansion, the main residence of the farm owners and the center of historic Kentlands Farm, is now a city-owned venue for art exhibits, concerts, and public events, and is available as a rental for private parties and meetings. The Kentlands Barn has been converted into a public arts center with studios, exhibit space, and a 99-seat theater used for theatrical performances and concerts. The former farm manager's house has been transformed into a private residence, another farm building into the town architect's office, and another building was sold to the Kentlands Citizens Assembly — Kentlands' administrative body — which converted it into a meeting place, exhibit hall, and the headquarters of the Kentlands Community Foundation. The old Kentlands Firehouse, garden buildings, a "peacock house," and other historic artifacts have not yet been restored, while some ruins have become part of privately owned property or city parks.
Near the end of the 2010s, the Market Square began to undergo major redevelopment. In early 2018, the center's
movie theater
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
, Paragon Theaters Kentlands, closed in favor of a new, premium theater that is part of the Mexican
Cinepolis luxury theater chain, which opened the following year.
References
External links
*
Kentlands - New Urbanism
{{Montgomery County, Maryland
Populated places established in 1991
New Urbanism communities
Neighborhoods of Gaithersburg, Maryland
1991 establishments in Maryland