Potomac couple Mindy Farber and John Camp were planning on having a quiet night in to enjoy Memorial Day weekend last Saturday–until they found their neighborhood clogged with dozens of cars blocking the roads and tour buses dropping off people in swimsuits heading to a house party.
“Men were screaming ‘where are the whores?’ and women were running around in thongs,” Farber said about the scene on Stapleford Hall Road in a neighborhood of multimillion-dollar homes. “You had to see this to believe it. Hundreds of people just kept pouring out of the buses, walking down the road to the party. People were running and screaming down the block.”
It turned out that the house of one of their neighbors was the site of a “Wet Dreams”-themed party that was advertised on social media and Eventbrite as a “mansion pool party.” It is unclear from social media how much it cost to attend, but attendees were able to purchase cabanas with liquor bottle service and hookah for between $1,000 and $2,000, depending on the number of people in their group and choice of liquor.
Government officials who spoke with MoCo360 estimate at least 1,000 people attended the party, which took place from 5 to 10 p.m.
A video that had been posted on NextDoor and that was provided to MoCO360 appeared to show dozens of cars parked on the mansion’s front lawn and lining the street in front of the home.


In the aftermath, county and state lawmakers are looking into how to prevent such an event from occurring again in a residential neighborhood.
Farber and Camp said they contacted state Del. Linda Foley (D-Dist. 15), who lives in Potomac and represents the area. While Foley didn’t witness the party, she said she is very concerned about the prospect of future, similar events and wants to “nip it in the bud.”
“I think it was a sex party,” Foley told MoCo360 in an interview. “There was some talk of additional parties being planned … . I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again. The problem is that our neighborhoods that are residential are not equipped to handle these parties. I am concerned about safety and illegal activity occurring at something like that.”
Foley reached out to County Councilmember Gabe Albornoz to see what the county government could do in response to the incident. Albornoz said in a phone interview the event was “completely illegal.”
“This violated multiple county policies–the noise ordinance, having a for-profit venture in someone’s home,” Albornoz said of the party. “It was egregious and dangerous and a real mess and more than just a disruption and an inconvenience, but a very dangerous one because of the traffic issues. It was just a nightmare for the neighbors that had to endure this and also unsafe for the patrons of this party. That house, I’m sure, was not designed to host 1,000 people.”
Albornoz said he’s been speaking with multiple county agencies to figure out how to prevent future incidents. He said the county’s department of permitting services sent a cease-and-desist letter to the owners of the property, as well as a notice of various violations. The county also contacted Airbnb about the violations.
The person listed in public records as the owner of the house where the party took place did not respond to requests for comment via phone and email from MoCo360 asking for confirmation that the person owns the home and whether they were aware of the alleged activity going on.
The pool party appeared from social media posts to be organized by a group called Swag and another group called Fresh Geek Events, which could not be reached for comment. It is unclear who is behind these groups.
Farber and Camp told MoCo360 they witnessed illegal drug use and illegal fireworks at the party as well.
“You could smell the drugs all the way to [nearby] River Road,” Farber said. “It was like Woodstock … so much drugs and liquor.”
The couple called county police, but were not satisfied with the response. They said the one officer who responded was helpful and listened to their concerns, but said he wasn’t able to do much.
“The police should’ve shut this thing down,” Camp said. “We’re really darn lucky an incident didn’t happen.”
County police spokesperson Shiera Goff told MoCo360 in an email this week that the department was aware of the incident and investigating but she could not provide further details.
Farber said she was concerned the sheer number of the cars of party participants could have hindered people from leaving their homes or prohibited emergency responders from reaching residents if needed. She said she was particularly concerned for some of her elderly neighbors.
Albornoz said partygoers were told by party organizers that they could park at the Potomac Community Recreation Center at 11315 Falls Road, and people were being shuttled from there to the party, which was “completely unauthorized.”
“We were made aware that there was some trash at the center, which was promptly cleaned up Sunday morning by an individual connected to the event,” Monika Hammer, spokesperson for the county recreation department, told MoCo360 in an email Wednesday.
Foley said she’s considering what potential legislation she could bring forward to the General Assembly during next year’s session that would prevent these events.
“I want to figure out how to stop like this from happening without impacting, for example, people who want to have a wedding at the house, they should be able to do that. Or if they want to have a fundraiser,” Foley said. “But something like this is out of hand.”
Farber and Camp also said they don’t want parties to be banned from the neighborhood. They said they have hosted parties of up to 90 people, including a wedding, at their home, and they want their neighbors to be able to do the same. They said their concerns were mainly about potential illegal activity, the number of people at the party and how that poses safety concerns for the neighborhood.
“I don’t want people to think this is about rich people who are angry about city people coming in. We want people to have fun,” Farber said. “But this was paralysis, this was a nightmare, and it was unsafe. And it could happen anywhere.”