1940s

Luxmanor Grows

In 1946, the builder R.L. Willis developed a row of new houses on the 6100 block of Roseland Lane (Roseland was a “Lane” then; it is now Roseland “Drive”).  They were typical of much postwar construction:  built quickly and inexpensively of cinderblocks and bricks, with no basements. 

These homes cost about $10,000 when new.  Mr. Willis, who lived on Poindexter Lane, went on to build several more houses on that street.  He also laid out a new street called Stephalee Lane – named for his daughter Stephanie and his son Lee.  [S, M]

The original homeowners on Roseland Lane were the Benbow, Bukowsky, Lucino, Fink, Tipton, Rigby, Matchett, Hopgood, Morgan, Steel, Ventry, and Gray families. 

Interesting residents at the time included the Bayh family, which lived on Sedgwick Lane.  Col. Bayh was the family patriarch and a son, Birch Bayh, later became a prominent senator from Indiana.  [Q]

Sedgwick Lane was planted with the cherry trees that continue to distinguish it in the early spring.  [S]

By 1949, the neighborhood and its environs had expanded to the point shown in the map below. 

As can be seen, Luxmanor consisted of a triangle whose sides were Old Georgetown Road, Tilden Lane and Poindexter Lane. 

Other close-by neighborhoods were like separate city-states, not part of Luxmanor.  The largest of these in terms of acreage was Old Georgetown Estates, whose prominent feature was the circular road comprised of Danville Drive and Cushman Road (today also including a portion of Marcliff Road).  This area was connected to Luxmanor only by Tilden Lane. 

Another autonomous region was Marcliff Road, which then grew off of Tuckerman Lane but was unconnected to anything else.  [AM1]

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All photos: Library of Congress

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