Takoma Archives • Diana Kohn
he most visible landmark of
Takoma Park’s Victorian past is
the grand three-story Queen Anne
residence sitting on the hill at the corner of
Eastern Avenue and Piney Branch Road.
Constructed in 1887, it survives into the
21st century thanks to the dedication of
recent owners to preserve this architectural
gem.
In its early decades it was known as
Lucinda Cady’s house, though today it is
popularly called the Cady-Lee, reflecting
the lives of both Lucinda and her daughter.
The story begins in 1886 when Takoma
Park was a fledgling suburb of 100 people
and 16 completed houses. Lucinda and
her husband Henry A. Cady arrived from
Ashland, Virginia, and commissioned Leon
Dessez, an up-and-coming Washington
architect, to create a residence modeled on
their Virginia home.
Local builder Frederick Dudley turned
the design into a family home, with 12-foot
ceilings, ornate mantles, carved woodwork
and an elegant curved staircase.
Takoma Park founder Benjamin
Franklin Gilbert was thrilled to have such
an imposing residence visible from the
railroad tracks acting as a gateway to his
sylvan suburb. A row of large houses soon
joined the Cady along the street then called
Magnolia.
In 1887 Henry and Lucinda settled in
their new house with five young children:
three girls (Mary, Elizabeth, Ida) and two
boys (John and Smith). Henry A. Cady sold
insurance and real estate from offices at
520 10th Street NW, just a few blocks from
Gilbert’s Washington office.
The couple joined other Episcopalians
to organize Sunday services, which
sometimes met at the Cady house. The
November 19, 1888 Washington Post
reported that “A concert to raise funds for
the erection of a new Episcopal Church
at Takoma Park, was held at H.A. Cady’s
residence on Saturday night and quite a
sum realized.” Trinity Episcopal Church
was completed in 1893. Lucinda Cady
would later head the Ladies Guild for 16
years.
Henry died in 1906, and the widowed
Lucinda remained in the house. Several of
the grandchildren, now elderly, remember
spending summers with their grandmother.
As the years passed, Magnolia Avenue
was renamed Eastern Avenue and the
extension of Piney Branch Road claimed
Chestnut Avenue.
When Lucinda died in 1934 at the age of
80, her daughter Mary, a Takoma teacher,
inherited the house. Mary’s husband was
B.K. Lee and gradually it became known
as the Cady-Lee. One of the first things
Mary did was install electricity and indoor
10 VOICE • December 2010
PHOTOS BY BONNIE MOSS
T
The Cady-Lee: Survival of a Grand Old Lady
The Cady family lived in this Queen Anne from 1887-1973.
Portrait of Lucinda Cady
Portrait of Henry A. Cady
plumbing.
In later years, there was little money for
maintenance. After her husband died, Mary
created a three-room apartment for herself
in the first floor ballroom, and invited other
elderly relatives to move into the rooms
on the upper floors. Although the outside
of the residence deteriorated, the lack of
money to make improvements ensured that
the original interior remained unaltered.
Mary’s death in 1973 created a crisis on
several levels. Three relatives still lived
in the house, including Doctor Daniel
Mattingly, the Takoma Park pharmacist
who had married Elizabeth Cady. Mary’s
will named several beneficiaries including
Trinity Episcopal Church, setting the stage
for selling the house.
This was a time when developers were
pushing to tear down the old and modernize
Takoma Park. All the other original homes
along Eastern Avenue had been razed and
replaced by garden apartments. One of the
developers targeted the Cady-Lee, claiming
they were doing the community a favor by
demolishing the old “firetrap.”
Ellen Marsh remembers being alarmed
at the thought of losing this premier
example of Takoma’s heritage. She rallied
her Save Takoma (MD) and Plan Takoma
(DC) friends to fight the impending sale.
They hit upon a brilliant strategy – to
seek National Register status as a way to
protect the house. The application was
submitted and status granted in 1975. It
was the first step in creating the Takoma
Historic Districts. But the Cady-Lee still
needed a buyer to step forward.
Enter Sandra and Gerald Kurtinitis.
“We were young professionals willing to
embrace the challenge to acquire the house
and save a historical treasure,” recalls
Sandra. For $68,000 they became the new
owners in 1975.
Over the next ten years, they tackled the
renovation, one room at a time. “We had
very little money to spend, and did most of
the work ourselves,” Sandra said. “It was
incredible how much stuff was still there.
The ballroom mantle had been moved to
the basement when Mrs. Lee divided up the
ballroom. The three family portraits were
The Cady family gathered on the steps
of the house for this 1920s portrait.
Lucinda Cady is in the back row on the
right, next to her sister Mrs. Noelle.
Middle row: B.K. Lee, Smith Cady, his
wife Ruby, Dr. Daniel Mattingly (in black
suit), his wife Elizabeth Cady Mattingly,
Walter Groansell (in white hat), sitting
behind his wife, Ida Cady Groansell.
Front row: Mary Cady Lee (the second
owner) and Mida Cady, sitting next to her
husband, John Cady. Photo Courtesy
of Historic Takoma
on the walls.” But the years took their toll.
“We pulled it back from the brink, but a
house like that needs ongoing attention,
especially outside.”
In 1985, Sandra took a job in Massachusetts, and Gerald struggled to maintain the
progress they had made. When Frances
Phipps, who specializes in house rescue,
approached Gerald in 2000 offering to buy
the house, Gerald agreed.
Frances could afford the kind of repairs
that were beyond the Kurtinitis pockets.
She found a Hungarian craftsman to repair
the stained glass window on the staircase
and gave serious attention to the exterior
repairs. But Frances did not intend to take
up residence in the house.
“It’s not enough to love a house,”
Frances explained recently, “You have to
find a new economic life for it. There can
only be so many house museums.” Frances
looked elsewhere — to the many nonprofits that proliferate here. She found a
solution two blocks away.
Frances had recently renovated a house
for Karen Pittman on Holly Avenue,
Karen ran an “action tank” non-profit
with Merita Irby called Forum for Youth
Investment. They had worked together
on youth issues since 1990, and realized
that creating effective youth programs
would require a unique kind of mindset,
working across traditional bureaucratic
divisions. They set up the Forum in 2000
to assist communities looking for cohesive
ways to frame youth projects: evaluating
what assets already existed, what else was
needed, where the stumbling blocks were
Happy Holidays from
THE BRADY-YOUNG TEAM
Together, to better serve you • 301-388-2600
GAIL YOUNG LISA BRADY
301-388-2620 / 301-257-7675 (cell) 301-388-2781 / 301-742-5472 (cell)
[email protected] [email protected]
The main staircase
PHOTO BY BONNIE MOSS
and how to bring disparate agencies under
the same tent.
The Forum purchased the Cady-Lee in
2002, and moved its 25-person staff into
the space. Merita’s brother, Galen Irby,
took on the role of protecting the building’s
heritage as he dealt with configuring office
space or removing the 100-year-old dead
oak from the front yard, or, most recently,
the need to replace all the copper gutters
along the curved porch and repair the roof
tiles.
After more than 120 years, this grand
old lady continues to grace the Takoma
Park community.
Diana Kohn is President of Historic
Takoma.
Jequie Park renamed to honor
Belle Ziegler
JUST LISTED
IN SILVER SPRING!
End unit townhouse, 3BR,
1.5BA, eat-in kitchen, formal
living and dining rooms, lovely
large deck overlooking woods,
walk-out lower level to private
back yard and patio. Well maintained by original owner. Very
affordable at $259,000!
A sampling of our 2010 sold listings
2911 Burtonhill Drive, Kensington
904 Devere Drive,, Hillandale
11232 Watermill Lane, Silver Spring
4405 Tonquil Street, Beltsville
8306 Haddon Drive, Takoma Park
7203 Garland Avenue, Takoma Park
2400 Hildarose Drive, Silver Spring
PHOTO BY JAY KELLER
On November 15, friends and family of
Belle Ziegler were joined by city officials
at the park formerly known as Jequie, to
unveil a new sign renaming the park in
her honor. Belle was being recognized for
her community activism, most notably her
work on the Independence Day parade.
Helping with the unveiling is Henry
Zimbrunes (at the podium), one of the
original exchange students from Jequie,
Brazil, flanked by Belle’s daughter Dolores
and son Doug.
For more on Belle’s story, see the
August 2010 Takoma Archives online at
takoma.com/takoma_archives.
The Brady-Young Team—#1 Team in the White Oak
Silver Spring Long & Foster Office,
and among the top 10 teams
in the Washington, DC/Maryland Region
301-388-2620 • www.gailyoung.org
December 2010 • VOICE 11