The town limits of Kensington, Md., are small — about a half a square mile of land sits within its boundaries. Its official population is also small, with about 2,000 residents, according to the latest Census tally.
By Jillian Atelsek
“They think of us as their downtown,” said Tracey Furman, who has lived in Kensington since 1980 and has been mayor since 2016. “This is where they come to shop, to eat, to use our parks, to see concerts.”
Located east of Rock Creek and southwest of Wheaton, Kensington was incorporated in 1894. It was settled about 20 years earlier, mostly by farmers, and grew when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad built tracks from D.C. to Point of Rocks, Md., in 1873. Kensington Station, originally know as Knowles Station, is one of the oldest active train stations in the country and now part of MARC Train’s Brunswick Line.
Other landmarks include the town hall, built in 1927, and the 130-year-old Noyes Library for Young Children, which, according to its website, is the oldest library building in the Washington region and one of only a few libraries nationwide dedicated to kids.
The town has an “eclectic housing stock,” Furman said, with 580 single-family houses — including many historical Victorians — plus two high-rise apartment buildings, some garden apartments and condominiums.
Paul Ceruzzi and Diane Wendt, who raised children in Kensington and have lived there for about 40 years, said they were first drawn to the area by the easy access to the MARC train.
The pedestrian-friendly nature of the town is one of the biggest reasons they’ve stayed.
“We can walk to everything,” Wendt said. “That’s a big thing for us.”
Furman agreed: Her daughter, who has a disability and does not drive, is able to access a full life in town without a car. She can walk to the grocery store, to the gym, to church.
Walkability and commuter access are often key features that attract buyers to Kensington, said Tamara Kucik, a real estate agent with the Tamara Kucik team of RLAH @properties.
She and her family have lived in Kensington for 12 years. They moved there from Silver Spring. Though the Metro access in their current neighborhood isn’t quite as easy as it was in their old one, Kucik said it’s not a big deal — accessing downtown Washington is as simple as a “straight shot down Connecticut Avenue.”
She values her home’s proximity to Rock Creek Park and the neighborhood’s stock of essentials, like a Safeway that she joked is the envy of some Silver Spring residents.
“We don’t have the huge selection of stores and shops and restaurants that Rockville does, but it has a nice feel to it,” she said. “Everything that we need is there.”
Kensington’s historical Antique Row is home to many small businesses selling vintage furniture, books and jewelry. On a recent Sunday afternoon, bells jingled up and down Howard Avenue as shop doors opened and closed, welcoming and bidding farewell to customers. A sign in a window across from an old-style gas station read “Watch Maker On Duty.”
Jon Gerson, who has spent nearly all 60-plus years of his life as a Kensington resident, echoed the sentiments of his neighbors, praising the area’s leafy streets and charming shops. But what really makes the town notable, he said, is the community spirit of its residents.
“There are a lot of other communities with red-brick sidewalks and big trees,” Gerson said.
It’s not uncommon for Gerson to run into people on walks around town who have known him since he was a little boy. In recent years, he said, the town has implemented “intentional, deliberate initiatives to help people who might feel isolated.”
In the decades he’s spent in town, he said, he’s seen it grow more diverse and inclusive.
“Kensington is indeed a great community, and it’s genuinely better today than it’s ever been in my lifetime,” he said.
The area has lots of community events — including an annual “Day of the Book” festival, a Juneteenth celebration, a train show, a bike parade on the Fourth of July and farmers markets.
Elisenda Sola-Sole, who owns Kensington Row Bookshop, said Kensington has an often-overlooked “literary identity.” Her store is one of three bookshops in a three-block radius. One focuses on materials in Russian and other Eastern and Central European languages, and another focuses on French materials. Sola-Sole’s shop offers a Spanish book club.
“I think the town is heading more in an artsy direction,” Sola-Sole said, “which I think has really added to the energy and the vibrancy.”
Since the town began allowing alcohol sales in 2007, the business and dining communities have expanded, said Furman, the mayor. One of the most popular additions is BabyCat, a brewery built in an old auto-repair shop.
It’s a kid-friendly place, Furman said, joking that she and her friends often decide what time to go — before 7 p.m., or after — based on whether they’re in the mood to be surrounded by rambunctious little ones.
“I love seeing the different generations just hanging out together, kids running around — it’s so small town-ish,” she said.
Living there: In the first nine months of 2024, 134 homes sold in Kensington, at an average price of $905,693, Kucik said. The least expensive was a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo that went for $174,000. The least expensive detached home had two bedrooms and one bathroom and went for $360,000. The most expensive detached home had six bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, and it sold for $2.4 million.
Twenty-three homes are on the market in Kensington, Kucik said. The least expensive is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo listed for $190,000. The most expensive is a house with seven bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms listed for $2.4 million.
Schools: Children living within the boundaries of the town of Kensington attend Kensington Parkwood Elementary, North Bethesda Middle and Walter Johnson High School.
Children who live outside of the municipality but still reside in the greater Kensington area attend schools in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School or Albert Einstein High School feeders.
The school boundary that a home falls into can make a big difference in how much it sells for, Kucik said, with homes in the sought-after Walter Johnson and Bethesda-Chevy Chase attendance areas tending to fetch high prices.
Transit: The MARC’s Brunswick Line stops in downtown Kensington and reaches Union Station in about 30 minutes. The Grosvenor-Strathmore and Wheaton Metro stations, situated on opposite sides of the U-shaped Red Line, are each about an eight-minute drive from the town center.
Kensington is served by Montgomery County’s Ride On bus routes 4, 5, and 37, as well as WMATA’s L8 route. Walkers and bikers can make use of the Rock Creek Trail, which runs alongside the neighborhood.
