Garrett Park, an incorporated town located west of Kensington, offers impeccably preserved Victorian homes and “Chevy houses” of the mid-1920s. The entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places. Hallmarks include the towering trees and manicured gardens that led the town to designate itself as an arboretum in 1977. One quirky tradition is the lack of home mail delivery, which means that residents must pick up their mail—and interact with their neighbors—at the town post office. In 1982 it became the first nuclear-weapons-free zone in the United States after a town vote.
Quick Facts
- Population
- 816
- Education
- High school graduate or higher: 100%
- Bachelor’s degree or higher: 89.8%
- Income
- Median household income: $250,001
- Housing
- Median value of owner-occupied housing units: $909,300
- Commute
- Mean travel time to work: 28.4 minutes
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
- Mean travel time to work: 28.4 minutes
“When my wife and I first stumbled upon the town, passing through by accident, we were instantly enamored by the verdant and abundant trees, which the town proudly maintains as an official arboretum, and we were amazed at the cohesiveness of the place. We knew we had to live here, so we sold our house, moved into an apartment and waited for an opening.”
—Stephen Welker, attorney with the Internal Revenue Service (pictured with his wife, Suzanne, an equine veterinarian)
#3 Wealthiest ZIP Codes in Greater Washington, D.C. (20896)
Washington Business Journal 2023
This story appears in Bethesda Magazine’s 2024-2025 Insider’s Guide.
