In 1698, Thomas Sprigg's acquired 500 acres of what was then known as the forest of Prince George's County in the Crown Colony of Maryland. Approximately 90 years later, Dr. Isaac Duckett, husband of Sprigg's granddaughter, inherited and enlarged the estate to over a thousand acres. On this property, he built a beautiful two-story brick house, which he named Pleasant Prospect.

The Duckett estate was later bequeathed to a son-in-law, John Contee, often described as a"dashing" Naval Officer. Lucky in love, but unskilled in business matters, Contee became hopelessly mired in debt and sold Pleasant Prospect to the Bowie family, perhaps the area's most prominent landowners. The Bowies, in turn, sold the property to the Walkers who ran a lumber business in Washington D.C. and were probably the area's first serious commuters.

Today, Pleasant Prospect, owned by the Estate of Edward S. Walker, still stands at 12806 Woodmore Road. The name Pleasant Prospect has also been given to the name of the main road through the elegant and exclusive community of Woodmore.

Building the Woodmore Community
The current Woodmore community was first organized in October of 1981. It was planned as a blend of attached homes arranged in six Theme Villages with approximately 200 custom-built detached homes on 1-5 acre lots contributing to the upscale nature of the entire development. During its original development and for a short period afterward, each Village was governed separately from both the detached homes and the other Villages. While the resulting seven separate homeowners' associations cooperated to enhance Woodmore.

Merging the seven homeowner associations was a difficult process that took approximately three years. It succeeded with a large measure of goodwill, a great deal of patience, and a real sense of community. The process consisted of four phases: concept development, planning, marketing, and implementation. The process blended the need to operate as a whole community with the need for each Village to make individual improvements specific to their needs.

The President's Committee and the Woodmore Board of Directors clearly recognized the logic and tremendous benefits of merging. Costs have been reduced across the board and the Woodmore community has become more closely knit. The Woodmore Merger was completed on January 1, 1996. It was believed to have been the largest and most complex merger of homeowner associations ever undertaken in the state of Maryland.

The merged Woodmore has a Board of Directors consisting of a representative from each Village and four representatives from Single-Family homeowners. Our Committees are comprised of roughly the same mix of volunteers. We have preserved separate Reserve Funds for the original villages allowing each village the independence to fund its own improvement decisions without requiring a vote from the entire community. We have Common Reserves for the community as a whole. We pool the cash flows of these separate component Reserve Funds to more efficiently finance the needs of the entire community. We operate as a homogeneous community having one management company, combined professional services (e.g., insurance, auditing, and legal), and combined security and groundskeeping services all operating from a consolidated budget. Association costs have been reduced and services have improved. Following the merger effort, the Woodmore community spirit is alive and well.