Indicative of Washington-area architects' fascination with “California contemporary” or modern houses, the Pine Spring development would look more at home on the West Coast than among the red brick colonials that make up the Washington suburbs. The design was also influenced by Hollin Hills (see below), on which Francis Lethbridge, who was the principal designer for this project, had worked. The developers, Gerald and Eli Luria, directed the architects to lay out a community that would respect the terrain. The result was a 130-unit development with no through roads, a series of culs-de-sac, and houses sited to take advantage of the rolling terrain and tall trees. The houses are largely one story, of post-and-beam construction, with large floor-to-ceiling windows and cathedral ceilings. As Lethbridge explained: “It was almost a fetish with us, the conviction that superficial decoration should be abolished. And it did save money, as well as making a clean, honest, if rustic, structure.” Although some of the houses have been altered and the carports enclosed, the original concept is still visible.
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Pine Spring Housing Development
1952–1954, Keyes, Smith, Satterlee and Lethbridge. Cedar Hill Rd., Woodberry Ln., Pine Spring Rd. (across from National Memorial Park, adjacent to Lee Hwy. [U.S. 29], or Arlington Blvd. [U.S. 50]), Fairfax County
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