Basic services were not available to Cleveland Park residents until the 1920s, when commercial activity expanded rapidly along three blocks of Connecticut Avenue. Although the business area is generally characterized by three-story limestone structures, the most notable building is this Park and Shop, the earliest suburban shopping center with its own off-street parking in the city. It was designed as a low, L-shaped complex, where several shops are unified by a continuous overhanging roof to shelter pedestrians moving from shop to shop. This convenience and its simple vernacular Colonial Revival style barnlike structure are elements long associated with markets in America. In 1934 the Park and Shop was featured in an article in the Architectural Record by noted planner Clarence Stein, where it was cited as an excellent example of this new type of retail complex.