The lasting legacy that R. Robert and Ada Linowes left on the Washington region includes a center-hall Colonial in Chevy Chase, Md.
Bob Linowes’s many and varied contributions include Smokey Bear, the Maryland tax code, Folger Shakespeare Theatre and the location of shopping malls in Montgomery County. He arrived in Montgomery in 1948, fresh out of Columbia Law School and immediately made an impact.
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As a lawyer in the Department of Agriculture, he persuaded the government to trademark Smokey Bear. His firm, Linowes and Blocher, specialized in zoning and land-use issues and played a significant role in the growth of Montgomery.
Then-Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer appointed him to chair the Maryland Commission on State Taxes and Tax Structure, which examined how the state raised and spent money. He was president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Economic Club of Washington. He is credited with rescuing the Folger Shakespeare Theatre from financial ruin and for backing the creation of the Strathmore Music Center.
“His name, while rarely in newspaper headlines, is attached to most major business-driven movements in the region, making him the most out-front, behind-the-scenes man to play power politics in the Washington area in the past 20 years or so,” John McCalla wrote in a 2002 Washington Business Journal report.
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Washingtonian magazine named him Washingtonian of the Year in 1980, and the Baltimore Sun named him Marylander of the Year in 1990.
A Washington Post editorial after his death in 2007 said, “The loss of his distinctive touch will be felt throughout the region, even as his contributions live on.”
His wife of 59 years, Ada, was a native Washingtonian and talented artist who worked in a variety of mediums. Her artwork appeared at many local exhibitions and hung on the walls of the home.
The Linoweses are the original owners of the 1962 Colonial. Their daughters Robin Thomas and Julie Linowes, have fond memories of growing up in the home.
“We would sit at the coffee table — the three girls, I don’t remember what my brother was doing — coloring and watching TV or listening to music,” Thomas said. “Mom was always playing Nat King Cole, Cole Porter or jazz.”
Ada used the third floor as her art studio.
“I certainly enjoyed being in my mother’s studio, hanging out with her,” Julie said.
Bob used the family room to do his work
“He’d sit in a big chair in there, review documents and edit them, make phone calls,” Thomas said.
The family also loved to entertain. Thomas recalled her mother’s bridge parties, big Rosh Hashanah dinners and her own bat mitzvah were held in the house.
“The house was really the hub of family get-togethers,” Julie said. “Everybody would come to our house. The house has such a wonderful flow.”
“It’s just got good vibes,” Thomas said. “The lighting is so beautiful there. It’s very inviting and relaxing.”
The six-bedroom, six-bathroom, 6,500-square-foot house is listed at $1.425 million. An open house is scheduled for Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m.
Listing: 6 Farmington Ct., Chevy Chase, Md.
Listing agent: Alyssa Crilley, Washington Fine Properties
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