Hollin Hills House + Garden Tour

04/28/2024

Less than ONE WEEK til tour day! Yesterday we hosted volunteer training and today we celebrated our tour homeowners with brunch at .

Each tour, artist neighbor Dennis Carmichael crafts custom sketches of their house for each tour homeowner. It’s a beautiful reminder of the weekend for those graciously opening their homes to everyone!

We’ll be posting all week as we count down to Saturday!

04/23/2024

We’re giving you two tour home sneak peeks per week leading up to the big day on May 4! Today’s video features a dreamy space for entertaining…and for cuddling up on the couch with your fur babies when your social battery needs a recharge. Enjoy!

04/04/2024

It’s exactly one month til Tour Day, and we couldn’t be more excited! To celebrate, we’re bringing you the fourth installment in our sneak peek video series. This week’s video features a killer kitchen remodel that brings warmth, elegance and fabulous modern design to this stunning one-story home. It’s the perfect space for cooking, entertaining...or sharing a toast with a new friend.

03/28/2024

The owners of this week's featured home have lived in five countries and visited 71. The home is a reflection of their passions and those travels. "We have collected things we love, that are authentic to us – our house is our story."

03/20/2024

As many of you know, we've been exploring a resale option for tickets to this year's tour. Here's an update. Thank you for your continued support!

03/18/2024

Spring has most definitely sprung in Hollin Hills!

03/13/2024

Inspired by the concept of leaving communal open space between areas of development, Goodman incorporated several community parks into the site plan for Hollin Hills. The parks followed natural streambeds and were deeded to the community association.

The terrain called for different house types, some to suit lots sloping toward the street, others away from it; some homes entered from the upper level, some from the lower. Goodman’s approach was environmentally as well as cost-conscious, minimizing the need for costly regrading.

In placing each house on its lot, careful consideration was given to sun exposure, maximizing privacy among neighboring houses and to affording owners a view as well as full landscaping and recreational use of their lot. Goodman also provided space for potential future additions to each property.

Contrary to common practice to site houses parallel to the street and maintain consistent side- and rear-yard dimensions, Goodman often set the houses at an angle and so neighboring living rooms would not face each other.

Landscaping was considered essential to maintaining the overall environmental character of the community. Goodman and Davenport enlisted Lou Bernard “Barney” Voight to develop individual landscape plans for each home, sold for an additional $100.

Photos: 1) Aerial view of upper Hollin Hills looking SW shows Stafford Rd. and Popkins Lane in the foreground, with upper Martha’s Rd, Recard Lane and Rebecca Dr. in the background. 2) Goodman site plan for Section 11 (Glasgow Rd), showing several lots and the siting of houses on them. 3) Photo by Eugene Smith commissioned by the American Institute of Architects in 1957 ©The Heirs of W. Eugene Smith; courtesy of Black Star, Inc., New York: Collection, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona.


Photos and content adapted from “A Community of Vision”

03/08/2024

Extra! Extra! Check out this wonderful feature published today in Alexandria Living Magazine on the history of Hollin Hills!

A history of Hollin Hills.

03/07/2024

Rev your engines, we’ve got news! We are excited to once again offer Morning Yoga and Cars and Coffee experiences on the morning of Tour Day, May 4. Both events are free and open to the public.

Cars and Coffee will take place from 9-11 am and is presented by Old Town Festival of Speed and Style. We’ll have vintage cars, coffee and pastries to enjoy.

Morning Yoga will take place from 9-10 am and is presented by Jess Purtell Yoga. This will be an outdoor class suited for all abilities. BYO mat!

Both events will take place at the Hollin Hills Pool on Ft. Hunt Rd. In Alexandria. Whether you’re attending the Tour or just want to take part in some neighborhood fun, we hope to see you there!

03/06/2024

“My creative juices began flowing wildly. It was the kind of land homebuilders avoided.”

When Robert Davenport first brought architect Charles Goodman to explore the tract that would become Hollin Hills, Goodman was immediately inspired and committed to preserving the setting’s natural beauty at all costs in the process of development.

Goodman came highly recommended, and Davenport was familiar with his work since several homeowners in the nearby Tauxemont neighborhood (also a Davenport project) had hired Goodman to design their additions.

A graduate of what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology, Goodman did stints as an architect for the Treasury Dept. and Army Air Force’s Air Transport Command. He designed numerous modernist federal buildings, including National Airport’s original Terminal A.

Goodman’s site plan for Hollin Hills was unique for its time, combining communal open space and allowing the sloping land to dictate the patterns of house sitings and street alignment. His was a practical approach to developing a community on hilly land, taking into account the natural drainage patterns and the slope of standard public roads measured against the actual slopes, so that very little cut and fill was needed to build the roads.

The original site plan included a school and convenience store, the latter of which was never built due to opposition from the surrounding community. The school that was built is now part of the Paul Spring Retirement Community.

Stay tuned for more Hollin Hills history!

Photos: 1) Charles Goodman in his design studio in the 1950s 2) Original development plan for Hollin Hills, ca. 1950 3) Today’s street map of Hollin Hills

Content adapted from “Hollin Hills: Community of Vision”

02/19/2024

We are thrilled to debut the official 2024 Hollin Hills House + Garden Tour poster, designed by world-renowned artist S**g!

S**g developed this limited edition poster exclusively for this year’s tour. It features developer Robert Davenport and architect Charles Goodman, the visionaries who created Hollin Hills, and highlights many of the signature features of our homes and landscape.

Prints of the poster are available for pre-order from the Tickets or Event Details page on the Tour website www.hollinhillsmodern.com. All orders must be picked up at registration on the day of the Tour. If you’ve already pre-ordered or are a VIP ticket holder, you’re all set! All proceeds go to the Civic Association of Hollin Hills.

We hope you love this as much as we do!! ❤️❤️❤️

01/19/2024

Arguably the most distinctive features of Hollin Hills are the walls of windows Charles Goodman designed to bring the outside in.

The windows are used in different configurations depending on wall height, load and the length of spanned space, but you’ll find them in every Goodman-designed Hollin Hills home. In the early morning hours of the second snow day of the week, they’re doing their job just fine…

01/16/2024

It’s a winter wonderland in Hollin Hills! Celebrating (and shoveling) our first snow in two years. Hope you’re staying warm, wherever you may be!

Last three photos contributed by HH neighbor Pj Braun

01/04/2024

A Christmas tree pic in January?! When it's this cool and featured in the fabulous Alcoa House, of course!

We're proud to once again have Modern Christmas Trees as a tour sponsor for 2024. These unique mid-century art pieces were designed in the 1960s by engineer and builder Lawrence Stoecker and can be customized with a range of brilliant color cycles depending on your mood.

Want to bring a bit of modernism magic into your home for the holidays this year? You can take advantage of their after-Christmas sale for free shipping and 25% off all orders. Visit modernchristmastrees.com to learn more.

Do you have one of these trees in your home? Post a photo in the comments -- we'd love to see it!

12/25/2023

Happy holidays from Hollin Hills!