Walk the neighborhoods of Rockville on a map, and you’ll find something strange: a tiny pocket of land in the middle of the city that isn't part of it at all. It's a hole punched out of Rockville's jurisdiction, where city services abruptly stop at the property line.

This anomaly is puzzling. Why would two properties on Hectic Hill Lane, right in the heart of Rockville, remain unincorporated? And why are they listed as Potomac, Maryland, when every neighbor pays Rockville taxes and receives Rockville services? The answer lies in a battle fought nearly 40 years ago by two landowners with deep roots and strong voices.

On Google Maps, the 8-acre Hectic Hill Lane enclave shows up as a mysterious island in the middle of Rockville. *Source: Google Maps. Photo © Google.* Captured September 18, 2025. Arrow added.

What Is a Municipal Enclave?

The anomaly isn't a cartographer's error. It’s what urban planners call a “municipal enclave,” a piece of land completely surrounded by a municipality but not governed by it. In Rockville, this is the only such enclave left. To unravel the mystery of how it came to be, The Montgonion dug into old council hearings, newspaper archives, property records, and family histories.

In the early 1980s, Rockville undertook a systematic review of its boundaries. State law had changed in 1983 to prohibit the creation of new enclaves and make the annexation of existing ones easier. The City of Rockville began identifying unincorporated properties within its borders and holding public hearings to consider annexation.

In 1984, the city turned its attention to Hectic Hill Lane. The two parcels at 8311 and 8321 were among the largest tracts in the immediate area that had never joined the city. With homes built in the early 1950s, the parcels were five and three acres respectively. Their owners, Col. John H. Voegtly, M.D. (Ret.) at 8311 and Lacey A. Gude at 8321, appeared at the hearings to oppose annexation.

Combined, the properties at 8321 and 8311 Hectic Hill Lane comprise 8 acres. *Source: Google Earth. Photo © Google.* Captured September 18, 2025. Boundary lines added based on ArcGIS plat maps.

Why the Landowners Opposed Annexation

The testimony of Voegtly and Gude, documented in hearing records and later summarized in The Washington Post, centered on three main themes:

Cost Without Benefit: Annexation would have added significant expense. City taxes, trash collection fees, and mandatory connection to water and sewer would all have applied. The owners testified that they already received adequate services from Montgomery County, including police, fire, and waste collection—and saw no justification for the added costs. According to The Washington Post, they estimated their annual costs would rise from about $12 to nearly $1,500 if annexed.

Lifestyle and Land Use: Voegtly described his property as semi-rural, used for "raising horses and breeding game birds." Gude’s tract was a similarly large, wooded estate. They argued that being annexed into the city, with its denser development patterns and stricter code enforcement, would erode the character of their land.

Community Character: Both families saw their land as a green buffer—residential estates providing separation between Rockville’s neighborhoods. They claimed that keeping their properties outside the city would help preserve that balance.

Faced with these arguments, the City Council voted not to annex the properties.

The Prominence of the Owners

The owners’ backgrounds lent considerable weight to their arguments.

Col. John H. Voegtly, M.D. (1911–2002) was a retired U.S. Army colonel and physician who served as Executive Officer to the Army Surgeon General in Washington, D.C. After retiring, he settled in Potomac in 1972, living at 8311 Hectic Hill Lane with his wife, Carroll Sheep Voegtly. He continued to serve as a medical adviser to military organizations and was later interred at Arlington National Cemetery. When he appeared before Rockville’s mayor and council in 1984, Voegtly’s background ensured his objections were heard and respected.

Lacey A. Gude belonged to one of Montgomery County’s most storied families. She was the daughter of Adolph E. Gude, Jr., and thus the niece of Rep. Gilbert Gude, a six-term U.S. congressman and leading conservationist who helped preserve the C&O Canal as a national park.

The Gude family legacy was expansive. The A. Gude Sons Co. Nursery, located along what is now Gude Drive, supplied plants and landscaping for decades and left a literal mark on the region’s geography. The family name is memorialized in East Gude Drive and West Gude Drive, roads that trace the footprint of the old family nursery lands.

As with Voegtly, Lacey Gude’s presence at the 1984 hearings carried weight—not due to guaranteed political influence, but because her family’s prominence ensured her objections were given full and respectful consideration.

Aftermath and Current Status

Despite Rockville’s broader effort to erase enclaves, the city respected the wishes of Voegtly and Gude. Their parcels remained unincorporated. In 2004, both properties changed hands: 8311 Hectic Hill Lane was sold by John H. Voegtly, and 8321 Hectic Hill Lane was sold by a Gude family trust.

Today, Rockville’s official maps still show the enclave: two large county-only parcels in the middle of city territory. Real estate listings mark the properties as "Potomac, MD," reflecting their county jurisdiction. Residents pay Montgomery County taxes but no Rockville taxes, and they rely on county services rather than city ones.

A Mystery Explained

The Hectic Hill Lane enclave is the only one of its kind in Rockville, a municipal enclave that resisted absorption when others were annexed decades ago. To the casual observer, it looks like a cartographic error, a bizarre hole in the middle of the city. In reality, it is the legacy of two landowners who spoke up at the right moment, argued convincingly, and had the social standing to ensure their objections were heard.

What remains today is a legal curiosity: two houses in the middle of Rockville that belong everywhere and nowhere. They form a hole in the city's fabric that tells a story about property rights, local autonomy, and the voices of those who refused to be folded into the city.

Sources:

Ann Marimow, “Two Potomac Properties Sit Unincorporated, Surrounded by Rockville,” The Washington Post, May 29, 2012.
City of Rockville GIS and annexation records.
Montgomery County property transaction data (city-data.com, Redfin, SDAT summaries).
Obituary and biographical records for Col. John H. Voegtly, M.D. (1911–2002).
MoCo Show, “East Gude, West Gude, Gilbert Gude,” November 25, 2023.
Washington Post, Obituary for Adolph E. Gude, Jr., May 29, 1979.