![[award for addition]](images/4910.cumberland.sm.jpg)
thirty-one,
built before 1915, are considered "primary resources".
Two, pictured here, have received awards from Montgomery
Preservation Inc. for major ![[award for renovation]](images/5810.warwick.sm.jpg)
renovations,
If you walk the streets of the 5700 and 5800 blocks of Warwick Place and
Surrey Street or the 4700 and 4800 blocks of Dorset Avenue and Cumberland Avenue, or the north side of the 4700 block of Essex Avenue you may notice the plaques that some homeowners proudly display on their homes to show that they are historic properties.
Historic preservationists believe we are custodians of the buildings, sites, and structures that define our history. State law establishes preservation of historic resources throughout Maryland as a public goal of the public good. Thus just as the Somerset historic district belonged to those who came before, it will be preserved and belong to those who come after us. This doesn't mean that homes in the district may never be changed, it means that special care and attention is paid to ensuring they are preserved, rather than demolished, and that modifications, renovations and additions are appropriate.
You will see that the houses in our historic district are not frozen in time. Many changes took place before historic designation occurred; many have taken place since; and constant construction work throughout the historic district suggests there will be many more to come. The County Historic Preservation Commission reviews all proposed changes, and in making its decisions it follows the requirements of the Historic Preservation Ordinance and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
As you will read in the history written for our Diamond Jubilee (70th) Somerset was founded as a prosperous trolley suburb of Washington D.C. in the late 19th century. It has remained a desirable residential community to this day. As you wander through our streets, you will notice they have retained their suburban residential scale, uniform setbacks, and landscape. Trees line each street and the sidewalks, now concrete rather than plank (as they were until 1925), are maintained on one side with a grass area separating walk and street.
Four major building periods illustrate the town's development.
1. Between 1890 and 1904
charming wood frame 2 story Victorian structures with
Italian or English picturesque influence were built
on large lots. The
buildings exhibited complex massing and roof forms created
by wings, bays, and towers radiating from a central
core and often a hipped roof and wrap-around verandahs
and porches. Several remain today, although this home
at 4723 Dorset Avenue [left] was demolished in 1965.
2. Between
1900 and 1915 Richard and William Ough (pronounced
Oh) built standardized houses for speculators
Miles Fuller, Richard Halliday, and others. Many
of these are along Cumberland Avenue and Warwick
Place
but you will find others scattered throughout
the streets of Somerset if you look for them.
They are on smaller lots than the grander Victorians
built earlier. These homes are 2 story wood frame
houses with a three-by-four bay square with a
mitered bay corner "tower" wraparound porch, and
often a front gabled roof with a dropped hip,
leaving the tip of the gable exposed in the form
of a triangular fanlight or vent. Common ornamental
details include turned
porch posts, square on top and bottom with sausage-shaped
middle relieved in some cases by several inscribed
lines, plain stick and rail balustrades, similar
stick and rail curtain valance, and shaped pierced
corner brackets.
3. Between 1915 and 1940 more compact brick 1 to 2 story houses in the Colonial Revival style were built. Most prevalent in the 2 story side-gabled Georgian revival, but you will also see Dutch, Federal, Cape Cod, and some eclectics.
4. From 1940 to today vacant lots and demolished houses made way for modern contemporary designs including French Provincial, Modern Victorians, and Colonial style houses built in brick, natural wood, or with synthetic siding.
In addition to these four styles, you will find several small tenant houses, a Sears Catalog house, a log cabin, a converted barn, and a former farm house that are also of interest.
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