About Friends House Retirement Community

In 1946 a group of Quakers from the Friends Meeting in Washington, D.C., incorporated a dream for starting a home for the elderly. It took another 21 years before construction was completed and the original building, a 100-unit apartment, was ready for occupancy in late 1967.

After the initial incorporation in 1946, the support for the project grew. A wider group of Friends Meetings known as Potomac Quarterly Meeting joined with the project. By the time Sandy Spring was considered for the site, the project had come under the care of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting which represents over 40 Friends Meetings in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.

The first building was constructed from a loan by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program. After its completion, efforts were begun to design a 45-bed nursing unit. This was completed in 1972 and was later named Haviland Hall in honor of Elizabeth Haviland, a former Clerk of the Board.

The first private pay independent living Cottages were added in 1967 on Quaker Lane. In 1984 additional Cottages were built on Quaker Knoll. The last duplexes were added in 1996 on Friends House Road. Except for the most recent constructed duplexes, all the Cottages are unique in design having been constructed by the original resident. When the need arose for private pay apartments attached to the main building, construction of a new wing resulted in the addition of 5 studio and 1-bedroom apartments in 1995.

In 1979, additional nursing home beds were added forming what is now called Stabler Hall. Thomas Hall, a special Alzheimer’s care unit, was added to Stabler Hall in 2005, adding 28 beds.

In February 2005, Haviland Hall was converted from a skilled nursing center to an assisted living program capable of serving 21 older adults. The conversion allowed Friends House Retirement Community the ability to provide older adults a full continuum of care from independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care.

Today, Friends House Retirement Community is home to approximately 260 residents. Although a preference is given to Quaker residents in the private pay, independent living Cottages, residents living at Friends House come from various backgrounds and locations.