Golden Opportunity?
Tiny carryout restaurant hangs tough against development
Story and photo by Jennifer Deseo
In downtown Silver Spring, a tiny Tudor cottage sprouts from the asphalt
like a demure daisy. The Golden House--a diminutive Chinese takeout kitchen
at the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street--smiles at passing
cars with its white vinyl siding, and winks at the sun with its bright
yellow roof.
But this quaint, cozy shack is no ingénue. It is 800 square feet
of defiance against design, development and county planners, making the
little Golden House the biggest badass on the block.
 Built in 1974, the structure originally housed a Little Tavern restaurant,
explains Jerry McCoy, president of the Silver Spring Historical Society.
As part of a regional chain of hamburger stands, it encouraged customers
to "buy 'em by the bag." Competition from larger fast-food chains ate
away at Little Tavern's business, and by 1991, the Wayne Avenue kitchen
was closed.
(Its 24-hour sibling on Georgia Avenue and Ripley Street closed in 1999
and later was demolished to make room for the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.)
In 1992, the building was reincarnated as the Golden House Chinese kitchen.
Its interior is a steaming bowl of conformity: a light-gray Formica counter,
countless cartons stacked on a stainless-steel shelf, the same full-color
photos of orange chicken and happy family that appear in pictorial menus
throughout the county.
On the outside, however, the hut wages architectural warfare with its
neighbors. The exterior sports a gold gabled roof and mod vinyl siding
in an estranged marriage between Old World and old school. The delivery
car--a gold Honda Civic with a black front fender--rests in the parking
lot and serves as landscaping.
Moreover, with only one floor, the Golden House stands out as the shortest
building on that stretch of Wayne Avenue. Across the street, the year-old
Courtyard Marriott hotel has ten floors. A nearby public garage measures
seven stories. To the west, the Crescent condominium under construction
has roughly 14 floors.
While the Golden House's appearance garners public admiration (and scrutiny),
the 7,200-square-foot lot it occupies beckons real-estate developers and
county planners. In September 2001, Montgomery County officials announced
the relocation of the Silver Spring public library and the additional
construction of a 160-unit apartment building. The proposed site: the
southwest corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street, currently occupied,
in part, by the Golden House.
"We have seven pieces [of land] to acquire," says Gary Stith, director
of the Silver Spring Regional Center.
Property owners have already been offered prices based on county-commissioned
appraisal, he explains. Last summer, the state department
of assessments and taxation estimated the value of the Golden
House lot to be $332,500, or $46 per square foot. By comparison, the neighboring
Crescent condominium lot was assessed prior to construction
at $3.4 million, or $165 per square foot.
Montgomery County's capital budget has placed the library's relocation
on a tight schedule, with design submissions to begin in 2008 and construction
completed in 2010. That schedule may chage, Stith says, but the county
is prepared to claim eminent domain if property owners' reluctance to
sell blocks development.
"The county has the ability to condemn the property and go to court to
acquire it," Stith says. However,he admits that it would be an option
of last resort.
So far, property owners--including the owner of the Golden House lot--have
rejected the county's offers, Stith says. Instead, they have decided to
seek appraisals from other parties.
"Sometimes these things drag out," he says. "Hopefully, we can
settle fairly quickly."
Numerous attempts to speak with the management of Golden House were made.
In true badass fashion, none of the calls were ever returned.
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