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This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House

  • October 27th 2014

by Lark Turner

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This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House: Figure 1

Bethesda’s Mushroom House hit the market late last week, and it can be yours for $1.2 million.

The house — alternately referred to as the “Flintstones House,” the “Smurf House” and the “Hobbit House,” per Bethesda Magazine — sits on Allan Road less than a block from the DC/Maryland line (map).

This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House: Figure 2

The home was purchased by Edward and Frances Garfinkel in the ’60s. The Garfinkels set about taking what was a “staid, conventional house” and turning it into something more whimsical with a bold addition, according to a 1974 article in The Washington Post. The home was designed by Roy Mason, “the marshmallow architect,” per The Post, and crafted out of polyurethane.

This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House: Figure 3

Building the foam addition wasn’t easy; it cost more than double what the Garfinkels budgeted, and along the way there were mishaps, including the accidental spraying of a neighbor’s car with foam.

Here are the details and a few more photos:

  • Full Listing: 4949 Allan Road, Bethesda, MD (map)
  • Price: $1.2 million
  • Bedrooms: Four, including legal one-bedroom apartment
  • Bathrooms: 2.5
  • Year Built: 1923
  • Listing Agent: Donna L. Wartofsky, Long and Foster

This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House: Figure 4

This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House: Figure 5

This Week's Find: Bethesda's Mushroom House: Figure 6

Photos courtesy of HomeVisit

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this_weeks_find_bethesdas_mushroom_house/9144.

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