Newly married Cornelia Haggart wanted her children to experience a childhood similar to her own, so in early 2008 when her mother offered her the chance to move back into the home where she had been raised, she and her husband jumped at the chance. They packed up the contents of their Germantown condo and returned to the old neighborhood. With its wide, tree-lined streets and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, the quiet neighborhood of English Village near the heart of Bethesda remains the kind of community where neighbors stop to chat or share a cup of coffee.

“Its beautiful here and also a very safe neighborhood. And the schools are great. The neighborhood seemed pretty much the way I remembered it,” Haggart said. “And the house had a lot of pluses. We have a huge backyard now, and it’s just 10 minutes to the Metro, but it was weird sleeping in the master bedroom!”