Leisure World is a census-designated place and unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is an age-restricted, gated development primarily inhabited by retirees. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 9,215. Leisure World was known as the Rossmoor census-designated place for the 2000 census.
History
Development
In 1963, developer Ross Cortese applied for a zoning amendment in order to build a 1,000-acre community of semi-detached homes, townhouses, and apartment buildings south of Norbeck, Maryland. Cortese's company had acquired the option to buy the 1,000 acres of land, formerly known as the Nash tract, for $5,000,000, and Cortese expected it would cost another $750,000 to build the development according to the plans. and he was then building Leisure World Laguna Hills in Laguna Hills, California, and another Leisure World in Walnut Creek, California. The one dissenting council member was Kathryn E. Diggs, who said she was skeptical that the development would be economically successful. Within a few months, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission approved 28,000 feet of water and sewer lines for the development. The architecture firm of Collins & Kronstadt designed the housing units and the community buildings. Thurman D. Donavan designed the landscaping, which received an award by the industrial landscaping committee of the American Association of Nurserymen in November 1966. A large rotating globe was installed at the front gate. Loy Sigmon was the interior designer of the original seven model homes. J. Robert Conybeare served as general sales manager, and Angus T. Johnson was named the first administrator of the community.
The community was marketed to people who wanted to stay active while living there. Leisure World allowed people of all races to live in the community. with former Under Secretary of the Navy Kenneth E. BeLieu as its first president. Homes were sold as co-ops, with prices starting at $15,000 and ongoing monthly maintenance payments of at least $85. Within six months, 400 home units had been pre-sold.
Shopping center
Plans for Leisure World's 100,000-square-foot shopping center were announced in October 1965. The plan was to sell 9,200 residential units within five years, enough space for approximately 15,640 people to live. Commercial leases were signed with Safeway, Peoples Drug Stores, Hot Shoppes cafeteria-style restaurant, and Maryland National Bank for space at the adjoining shopping center.
First residents
The first residents moved in on August 15, 1965. The community held a welcoming ceremony at the eighteenth hole of the golf course for the first residents.
Slowdown on sales
In early 1967, Leisure World changed its marketing focus from that of a retirement community to that of a country club community for adults. Sales of units at Leisure World were suspended in September 1967 after a tight mortgage market significantly increased prices and lower than expected interest. Sales were still slow, the developer's carrying costs on the remaining vacant land were large, and the U.S. state of Maryland had prohibited further development in the area until a new sewage treatment plant was built, all of which temporarily prevented additional construction. Five months later, Leisure World offered the units for sale again at increased prices. In September 1976, the developer agreed to build the 300,000-gallon wastewater treatment plant. Almost one year later, the developer sued the state of Maryland, saying Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission failed to complete a 1965 contract to provide water and sewer connections to the area because the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had ordered a halt to sewer connections in 1973. The developer also said it was strong-armed into building a sewage treatment facility by the Montgomery County government in order to avoid significant financial losses. That agreement was broken four months later by mutual consent. In February 1970, Zero Manufacturing Company agreed to buy Rossmoor Corporation, the developer of Leisure World.
Fires
On March 1, 1968, there was a fire in a model two-story townhouse on Gleneagles Drive at Leisure World. Approximately 100 firefighters reported to the fire. In May 1976, there was a fire in a three-story apartment building on Glen Eagle Drive. One-hundred firefighters reported to the fire.
Changes in plans
Leisure World asked Montgomery County for approval to reduce its resident age minimum from 50 to 40 years old, but Montgomery County disapproved the change. On August 12, 1968, Leisure World asked Montgomery County Planning Board to remove the age limit altogether, but the Montgomery County Planning Board disapproved the change. On August 23, 1968, Leisure World made another request to drop the age limit for almost half the land, and Montgomery County Planning Board disapproved the request again. Montgomery County Planning Board had agreed to change the land's zoning from low density to higher density on the condition that all residents would be of age 50 or older and, in a vote of 4–1, Montgomery County Planning Board would not let Leisure World out of its agreement. A part of the negotiation, Leisure World agreed to develop the unrestricted portion of land as a separate development. In February 1971, three families living nearby filed a lawsuit to prevent construction of about 2,500 homes.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the place has a total area of , all land.