Prewar Architect's Chevy Chase Home Receives Historic Designation

CHEVY CHASE, MD — An Armenian-American architect's home in Chevy Chase has been designated as historic in Montgomery County.

The Montgomery County Council approved the historic designation for the Mihran Mesrobian house (7410 Connecticut Ave.) last week. It follows a year-long process initiated by the Montgomery Planning Historic Preservation Office and approved by the Montgomery Planning Board in July 2020.

"We are so pleased to see the County Council approve this exceptional property for historic designation," said Planning Director Gwen Wright. "This house has represented Mihran Mesrobian's legacy in the Washington area since it was built, and we are glad we can help to preserve that."

Mesrobian, the prewar architect behind D.C. landmarks like the Hay-Adams and St. Regis hotels, designed the house in 1941 as his family's personal residence.

"Although Mesrobian was better known for his Beaux-Arts, classically inspired designs of the 1920s, and Art Deco buildings of the 1930s, both he and his wife, Zabelle, wanted a modernist residence," the county's planning department said. "It was the only house he designed for himself and served as his residence for nearly thirty-five years, until his death in 1975."

In 2017, the whitewashed brick residence was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. On Tuesday, the home received a local historic designation from the County Council.

Such a designation offers a higher level of protection that would require the Historic Preservation Commission review designs for any major exterior changes.