Buckingham Historic District

Buckingham is a planned apartment community in Arlington, Virginia, just south of Washington, D.C. Fifty-two brick buildings, built in 1937 and 1938 by Paramount Communities, Inc. to designs by architect Henry Wright, make up the district. Most are two-story Colonial Revival buildings with slate or hip and gable roofs, cast concrete door surrounds and brick quoining. One three-story building was built in a modern style to test its appeal. Buildings sit close to the streets, leaving large open courtyards at the rear for residents' recreation. The layout produced a density far lower than comparable communities. The district is listed for its architecture, its community planning and its landscape design. It is regarded as a well-preserved example of garden-style housing for middle-class workers and as a marker of Arlington's growth. Later changes include replaced windows and some replaced roofs, and a major rehabilitation was under way. Two buildings, a 1996 community center and an earlier house, do not contribute.