Prince George's County holds joint hearing on proposed historic site designations for two District 3 houses

Prince George's County Council and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission planning board held a joint public hearing to receive testimony on proposed Prince George's County historic site designations for the Marylinder Hughes House at 4615 Clemson Road in College Park and the Clarence and Edith Pierce House at 660540 Fourth Avenue in University Park.

The hearing featured staff presentations from the Planning Department's Historic Preservation Section; no members of the public signed up to testify during the allotted public-comment period. The record for written comments will remain open for 15 days, with a deadline listed on the agenda of July 1, 2025. The planning board will review testimony and staff recommendations and forward its recommendation to the district council; final action by the district council will occur within two months of the planning board's recommendation.

Tyler Smith, Planner II in the Planning Department's Historic Preservation Section, described the Marylinder Hughes House as “a 1946 or '47 two-story colonial revival dwelling” at 4615 Clemson Road in the Calvert Hills section of College Park. Smith said the house retains original eight-over-eight double-hung wood sash windows and an entry portico and noted a single-story frame addition and a two-story rear addition built circa 1990. Staff reported the property is documented as property 6603751 and assessed at 0.148 acre in its environmental setting.

Staff told the boards the Marylinder Hughes House reflects mid-20th-century suburban development tied to the expansion of the Maryland Agricultural College and nearby College Park Airport. William and Marie Marylander were identified in staff research as the house's first owners (purchased from the College Park Building Corporation in 1947); George and Louise Hughes purchased the property in 1956 and owned it until 1980. Staff said the house is a contributing resource in the Calvert Hills National Register Historic District and that domestic architecture of this type is underrepresented in the county's inventory of historic resources.

Daniel Tanner, Planning Department staff, presented the Clarence and Edith Pierce House, documented as property 66-029-10 at 660540 Fourth Avenue in University Park. Tanner described the Pierce House as a circa-1935 two-story colonial revival dwelling of the Dutch colonial subtype with a side gambrel roof, full-width shed dormers, original wood clapboard siding and original wood double-hung sash windows. Staff reported an environmental setting of 0.206 acre and noted the property is a contributing resource in the University Park National Register Historic District.

Tanner traced the Pierce property's ownership history through 18th- and 19th-century land descriptions (Edmondston's Pasture and subsequent Deakins family ownership), to subdivision and development by the University Park Company in the 1920s and to occupancy by the Pierce family by 1935. Census entries and chain-of-title details were cited in staff research; staff said current owners Kristin Norton and Robert Zellum purchased the property in 2024.

For both properties, staff reported that the Historic Preservation Commission concluded at its April 15, 2025 public hearing that each house meets three of the nine criteria in Subtitle 29-104(a) (criteria listed in staff reports as 1A4, 2A1, and 2A5) and recommended designation to the planning board and district council. The presentations described the degree of alteration as low to moderate and said each property retains sufficient integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association to convey its significance.

During a brief question period, a council member asked whether staff research tracks covenants on early subdivisions. Tyler Smith said staff begin with a chain-of-title search and read covenants as part of property research. Tom Gross, supervisor of the Historic Preservation Section, added, “When it is part of the property history that we are evaluating for — where there were racially restrictive covenants — we do try to recognize that fact in the research and in the presentation of it.”

No public speakers were recorded for the hearing. The council and planning board closed the presentations, and a procedural motion to adjourn was made and passed by voice/hand vote.

Next steps outlined at the hearing: the record remains open for written comments through the date listed on the agenda (July 1, 2025); the planning board will review testimony and forward its recommendation to the district council; the district council will consider the planning board's recommendation and the hearing record and will take final action within two months of receiving the planning board recommendation.