Update on 1800 Fourth Street?
4 01 2010Last July when we checked in on the beautiful corner property at 1800 Fourth Street, things were beginning to look like it wouldn’t be long before the facade was restored back to its former glory. Well five months have past and other than covering the roof details in gray paint (pictured), we unfortunately don’t have much else to report.
As you can see, there are still empty windows and the incredible cornice detail along the roof line is untouched. Further more, despite being told by the owners back in July that the building was under contract, there is still a banner proclaiming it being on the market. Considering how beautiful and historic this building is, we hope it gets some more of the attention it deserves soon! We will be sure to keep you posted. [Photo: army.arch]
Please don’t loose that building. What a glorious confection!
Why exactly did they paint over the roof details in that horrible gray? I remember it being brick and copper. Seeing it painted over so callously doesn’t hold well for how the rest of the restoration is going to go!
The gray could merely be an accent color. It may look bad on its own, but I’m willing to withhold judgment on it until I see the finished product. It may come around and look OK.
What a beautiful building!
it needs a bit of syrup. that’s not me talking, it’s the fake canadian inside my temporal lobe. that’s all.
My wild guess is that it’s rust-resistant paint.
remember when they were repainting the cast iron details on the old woodies building?
that same grey color was used as primer.
anyone know what this building used to be?
you know.. other than empty?
This property and 403 Florida used to be one parcel. As I understand it, 403 Florida was built first as a residence and then the owner built an apartment house on the corner lot for some family income. They are now no longer owned by one person. It really is a misnomer to call it a building. It is far, far smaller than you think as its an optical illusion. If you look at a sky view you will see that the size is really only as big as a typical sized town house - it just looks massive because of the stonework. I think that is why this property is so problematic…the owner wants to make apartments but they would end up being tiny and in this market the owner probably couldn’t break even. The funky little attached building on the side of this property is actually owned by 403 Florida Ave. Unless the market substantially turns around I think this property is going to sit as is for a very long time. The cost to replace the sandstone stonework is probably in the tens of thousands of dollars. I’m surprised that the owner still is sitting on it because not only is it taxed at commercial rate, but hopefully it is also being charged as abandoned property. Its such a shame as it really is the gateway to the city coming from the west…it instantly tells people that DC is still suffering….its a very bad first impression to our city
they’ve installed new windows that don’t fit the original window spaces. this building is in the ledroit park historic district, so i don’t know how they can get away with that.