House: 271 College Road

Date: 1924-25 (NB 3121-1924)

Original Owner: William L. Kiefer

Style: Mediterranean Revival

Stories: Two-story main body with a one-story south wing

Structure/Materials: Terra-cotta block covered with whitewashed cement stucco.

Major Alterations: Not apparent

Notable Site Features: House built into the sloping lot; fieldstone retaining walls and steps; wrought-iron railings; asphalt driveway; fieldstone walkway; mature trees.

Description

Main (east) Façade (overlooking College Road): Irregular bay arrangement, with four bays at the first floor, not including the south wing; paneled, square-headed wood main entrance door set within a segmental-arch-headed recess; metal wall light fixture north of door; non-historic paired floodlight over door; recessed secondary entrance with a wood-and-glass door at the basement level; two window openings, one with a historic two-pane casement sash, and the other with five historic eight-pane casement sashes, south of the main door at the first floor; window with three historic eight-pane casement sashes north of the main door at the first floor; one pair of historic eight-pane casement sashes at the southernmost second-floor window opening; single historic six-pane casement sash at the second-southernmost second-floor opening; eight-pane casement sash at the northernmost second-floor bay; all windows on the south façade have projecting header-brick sills; projecting wood balcony at the second floor with hewn-wood beams, a balustrade, and square columns with molded capitals supporting the overhanging roof eave; historic multi-pane wood balcony door. Roof: Clay-tile-covered gable roofs over the main portion of the house; clay-tile-covered shed roof over the south wing; overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails; chimney with clay pots; historic metal gutters and drainpipes. South Façade: One bay; one pair of six-pane casement sashes at the second floor; rectangular louvered opening with a projecting header brick sill at the attic story. South Wing: Single garage-door opening at the basement level on the east façade, containing one pair of historic paneled, wood garage doors; clay-tile-covered hood covering the garage entrance and the secondary, basement-level entrance door; large half-round window opening at the first floor on the east façade, with single-pane sashes flanking a non-historic jalousie window; opening above a balustrade-like wood base, and with a hewn-wood lintel, filled with three jalousie windows on the south façade. North Façade: Window openings with header-brick sills; through-the-wall air-conditioning unit at the attic story.

History and Significance

With its stucco-coated façade, clay-tile covered roofs with overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails, and hewn-wood balcony, this house is a substantially intact example of Mediterranean Revival style residential architecture. Designed by Julius Gregory for owner William F. Kiefer and completed in 1925, it is representative of the houses built during the period in which the Fieldston neighborhood was being developed with homes in a variety of picturesque styles following the strict design guidelines of the Fieldston Property Owners Association.