these kids werent’ rich in todays terms.... downtown Bethesda for example was originally a very blue collar area. So no one would have been taking a cab. Unless you lived in the area of Bethesda next to Potomac, like Kenwood, housing would have been pretty normal sized... average 3 bedroom 2 bath.
People without wealth did not usually belong to that Country Club or go to very expensive Holton Arms. Some of the houses in that area were not large but they cost a lot more than if they had been in a less desirable neighborhood.