Story by Carrie Madren

Photos by Naomi Brookner

Tucked inside the Beltway, Maplewood feels like a quiet small-town community. Calm neighborhood roads are lined with moderately-sized, older homes. Most are brick, single-family ranchers or two-story homes, many of which have taken on character through the years ― such as added sunrooms and elegant landscaping.

Some newer homes can be spotted, too, like the elegant townhomes off of Cedar Croft Drive and Cedar Croft Lane. In all, the nearly 1,000 homes of Maplewood make up a neighborhood of quiet respite from the hustle and bustle in nearby urban areas.

Bounded by the Beltway to the north, Cedar Lane to the South, and Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike to the east and west, this pocket community has stayed nearly the same for decades.

As in most established communities, mature trees ― many oak ― offer an abundance of shade to homes and sidewalks. Residents take care of landscaping and most yards offer carefully planted and maintained gardens. Speed bumps abound on many streets, which wind up and down rolling terrain.

Set in the center of the community is Maplewood-Alta Vista Park, off of Alta Vista Road. A small community center in the park offers one meeting room with a kitchenette and bathrooms. Outside, the park has two baseball fields, a football field, basketball court, two lighted tennis courts, a full playground ― complete with slides swings and rings, as well as a giant climbing structure ― plus cement animal sculptures for kids to climb.

It’s a community of both families and older retirees. "This is a transitional area because residents came in as young people, and are now reaching an age where they can’t sustain themselves and move out, and younger people are moving in," said Maplewood Citizens Association president Allen Myers. "In Maplewood, there are still some residents that are first generation."

Politico-philes may appreciate the fact state legislators Del. Susan Lee and Del. Bill Bronrott live in the Maplewood community.

For the past five years, the Maplewood Citizens Association has brought neighbors together for an annual spring social at the park ― an afternoon of face painting, clown antics, fire department demonstrations and food. Civic meetings are held five times a year, and offer residents a chance to voice concerns or help plan events.

Major issues for the community include BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) and infill development, new areas that are not built out yet. Such are typical concerns for areas near military sites and growing suburbs; both pertain to centrally located Maplewood.

"Though you have to drive, we’re sort of situated where everything is equidistant ― you can go into downtown Bethesda, Rockville, Chevy Chase," said Myers. The community is just off the Beltway and Interstate-270, as well as other major routes such as Connecticut Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue.

"We have the convenience of a residential area nearby an urban area," Myers said, "but it’s still residential enough. We aren’t surrounded by tall buildings, but you can get to all the conveniences of a small city, in nearby Bethesda."

Though Maplewood is close to metropolitan amenities, it maintains a neighborhood atmosphere.

"A fair number of people here get to know their neighbors," said Eugene Roseboom, who has lived in Maplewood for 38 years. He resides in the second oldest house on Beech Avenue, which was built in 1913.

Roseboom likes Maplewood for the nearby bike path, a trail converted from an old streetcar route. The path follows the western side of the community, and takes cyclists and pedestrians across the Beltway on a pedestrian bridge. There’s also a great advantage to having the YMCA in the neighborhood, he said.

Maplewood’s location is what makes it a great place to live, agrees Hugh Barteman, who’s lived in his Benton Avenue house nearly all his life. “It’s near National Institutes of Health, the Naval Hospital and near Suburban Hospital.” Barteman moved to Maplewood with his parents in 1961 ― when they bought it brand new; then Barteman purchased the house from his parents.

He describes it as a neighborhood of working professionals, with some retirees. There’s also a love of football within the community, he said.

"Maplewood football is big here," said Barteman, who recalls that the University of Maryland’s star quarterback two years ago started out on the Maplewood team. Residents often attend home games, held at the park, where they feast on barbeque turkey legs as they watch the game.

With football crowds, however, come traffic. That’s a problem that residents have voiced increasing concern over ― both within the neighborhood and on the major roads that surround Maplewood.

But for a community so close to Washington, D.C., Bethesda and Rockville, a little traffic is a small inconvenience for prime Montgomery County real estate in a hometown neighborhood setting.