Bethesda Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Bethesda, strictly speaking, is an election district rather than a formal town or city. There is no mayor or local Bethesda government.  Downtown Bethesda is managed by the Bethesda Urban Planning District, aka the Bethesda Urban Partnership, a non-profit organization. According to the 2010 census, Bethesda is the best educated city in the country and has a population of over 60,000. The median household income is $126,414.

Early on, in another century, it was merely a stop in the road which ran from Frederick, Maryland all the way to Georgetown and the Potomac River port. The name Bethesda was taken from the little Presbyterian Church out on the road to Rockville which burned down and later was rebuilt. The area is steeped in history from the earliest settlement days through the Civil War with local skirmishes and even appearances, keeping in mind that Maryland seceded from the Union, by John Mosby "The Gray Ghost". Musketballs can still be dug out of trees in some of the forested areas of Bethesda. The first landmark to appear along the road from Frederick was the Bank of Bethesda, built at the juncture of the current Wisconsin Avenue and Old Georgetown Road, when there was no paved road east of Wisconsin Avenue at that location. Around the turn of the 20th century there was a trolley line running all the way out (Old) Georgetown Road to Rockville. One of the earliest neighborhoods (Alta Vista) was built along this road.

The history of Bethesda includes a plane crash. In 1943, a member of a group of single-engine trainers that became lost one overcast evening, after buzzing around Bethesda for over a half hour, crashed in a yard on Davidson Drive, just of Wisconsin Avenue, across the street from the Chevy Chase Country Club.

Two of the largest employers in Bethesda are the National Institutes of Health and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The area's public school system includes Walt Whitman, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson High Schools; Thomas W. Pyle, North Bethesda, Westland and Tilden Middle Schools; and Burning Tree, Bannockburn, Woodacres, Carderock Springs, Wyngate, Bradley Hills, Westbrook, Ashburton and Bethesda Elementary Schools.

In April 2009, Forbes ranked Bethesda second on the list of "America's Most Livable Cities".

In 2011 there were 763 sold single family homes and townhouses sold in Bethesda with the average sold price being $957,419 and the highest sold price being $10,000,000.

To do in Bethesda:

The annual Taste of Bethesda festival with dishes from scores of the local restaurants and live entertainment.

Downtown Bethesda was designated as an Arts & Entertainment District in 2002 with special tax incentives benefitting artists and developers and producing such things as the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, the Bethesda Art Walk, the Bethesda Artist Market, Dance Bethesda and more.

Bethesda Row

Previously, the Woodmont Triangle area and the shops on Wisconsin Avenue were the centers of the evening activities in Bethesda. Historically, the Hiser Theater, which later became the Baronet Theater, and the Bethesda Theater on Wisconsin were the main areas of entertainment in Bethesda, except for the Hot Shoppes at the corner of Wisconsin and East West Highway which was a magnet for teenagers who drove laps around the teletray area on weekend evenings. Later, the theater selection was updated with the Regal Bethesda on Wisconsin and then with Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema after Federal Realty developed Bethesda Row which opened up a whole new center of activity in Bethesda. Theater, shops, a number of fine restaurants, a Barnes & Noble all on or around Woodmont Road on the other side of Old Georgetown Road from the Woodmont Triangle have given rise to a younger, more popular brand-new face to Bethesda.

Strathmore Music
At the north end of Bethesda out the Rockville Pike, the Strathmore Music Center sits on an 11acre estate - a beautiful music venue in a mansion on an 11-acre estate featuring major international artists of folk, rock, blues, jazz, R&B, classical and show tunes.

Bethesda Circulator
The Bethesda Circulator is a free shuttle service which runs around Bethesda every day except Sunday making 20 stops.

Round House Theater
A 400-seat theatre with 200 theatrical perfomances produced each year. On East West Highway just off Wisconsin Avenue, near the Bethesda Metro stop.

 

 

Bethesda Upper Bracket Homes ($5,000,000 - $10,000,000)

Bethesda Extraordinary Homes ($2,000,000 - $5,000,000)

Bethesda Luxury Homes ($1,000,000 - $2,000,000)

Bethesda Fine Homes ($1,000,000 - )

Bethesda Homes with Pools

Bethesda Townhomes

Bethesda Condos

Bethesda Homes within a Mile of Metro

 

Video Introducing Bethesda - You might want to turn your sound on

 

 

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