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Greenwich Forest's efforts to become a historic district may come just three weeks too late to prevent the neighborhood's "crown jewel" from becoming history.

John Jessen, co-president of the Greenwich Forest Citizen's Association, said the organization's push to gain historic status for the Bethesda neighborhood was galvanized by the proposed demolition of the house at 8001 Overhill Road, a house he deems both a historic and horticultural treasure.

The French-eclectic style home was long occupied by Dr. Frederick Coe, a horticulture enthusiast whose now-abandoned garden still contains rare trees from China, unique hybrid azaleas and even a Franklinia alatamaha, an American species of tree that has been extinct in the wild since 1803.

It is also a prime example of the neighborhood housing stock, which was built in the 1930s by Morris Cafritz, who set out to create a commuter suburb in the forest without disturbing the trees or lay of the land, Jessen said.

"He only took down trees in the footprint of a house," explained citizen's association co-president Christine Parker. "Morris Cafritz was a visionary."

Parker and Jessen want to preserve that vision, and ballots will be cast by early July to see if the neighborhood has a consensus on the measure to make Greenwich Forest a historic district. The vote is consensus based and does not require a majority. If it passes, Jessen said the group would lobby to get on the Historic Preservation Commission agenda on July 22, followed by the Planning Board on July 23 or July 30.

But the house at 8001 Overhill is slated for demolition by CAS Engineering, a Mt. Airy engineering firm, which could obtain its permit much sooner — too late for protection from any potential historic designation.

Becoming a historic district would mean those in the neighborhood wishing to make changes to designated property would need to obtain a special permit from the county, which would have to be approved by the county Historic Preservation Commission. Under that process, if the Overhill house were deemed a significant enough historic building, it would not be demolished.

"We could know as early as July whether we're worthy of a historic district," Jessen said. "The irony is that we've worked on this for years and we're three weeks away."

Four years ago Parker and Jessen began working on getting the neighborhood designated a Conservation District, a measure seen as more flexible than Historic District status by residents surveyed there. But the legislation to create such a status stalled, frustrating the efforts of the citizens association to create any kind of guidelines for the neighborhood.

When they heard the Overhill house was slated to become three new ones, "we had to scramble to find other ways to protect the neighborhood and protect in part, this house," Jessen said.

The home is listed by county tax records as being owned by Carla Fenves of Bethesda. Neither Jessen nor Parker say they know who she is, and attempts by The Gazette to locate her, including inquiries addressed to CAS Engineering, have been unsuccessful.

However, Jessen and Parker said they were contacted by Gavin and Monica Abrams of Bethesda when the house was first purchased a few years ago. Fenves' listed address is the same as the Abrams. When contacted, a woman identifying herself as Monica Abrams quickly asked The Gazette to call back, then did not answer.

Reginald Jetter, division chief for casework management at Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, said the neighborhood was originally told the demolition permit could be issued no sooner than July 6, but now said the only thing still needed from CAS Engineering is more information about the scale of the land to be disturbed, which might be provided earlier. Unless the neighborhood was put on the county Locational Atlas or Historic Master Plan, steps in the historic designation process, permitting services would not consider where in the process the neighborhood might be in trying to gain historic designation.

"We don't follow it," Jetter said. "That wouldn't have any effect on reasons for us to issue it."

Getting historic status for the neighborhood may not be a slam dunk anyway. An anonymous letter signed "Your Concerned Neighbor" dated June 23, 2009 was distributed through Greenwich Forest decrying the effort, claiming it would hurt property values and stymie renovations and additions.

Beverly Glover-Wood, a resident who supports making Greenwich Forest a historic district, called the treatise "a poison pen letter," but said she has already heard feedback from a neighbor who agrees with it.

She said she is skeptical of the letter because it is anonymous, and attempts to contact the author at a listed e-mail address (also tried by The Gazette) bounce back as invalid.

"It's just fear mongering," Glover-Wood said.

Tony Dove, a horticulturist brought in by Jessen and Parker to look at the gardens on the property, said what he could see from the road included an American Holly more than 100 years old, a Chinese Handkerchief Tree, "one of the world's rarest and most admired trees," and the extinct-in-the-wild Franklinia.

Dove said to identify everything in the garden would take more than a view from the road and several seasons, but "I would venture to say there are plants there that may be extremely rare and should be preserved."

Parker said the architectural individuality of the house is just as unique, but the chances of preserving either are slim.

"You cannot appeal a demolition permit until it's been issued, but the minute they get the permit they can demolish," Parker said. "After all this work, after all these years, we're asking for a few more weeks and to get on the Planning Board calendar to do this."