Interesting article today in the Post by UMD Architecture professor Robert Lewis about the delicate balance between historical preservation in the suburbs where choosing worthy structures isn’t so cut and dry. In urban areas the targets of preservation are (in most cases) obvious choices, however in the suburbs, the buildings are less visible and not as well known like farms and civic buildings.
There is certainly a delicate balance between what needs to be preserved and what needs to go to make way for progress and the message seems to be that the key to success is making sure communities have input and have a historic preservation plan, what do you think?
[Photo: Jason E Powell (we’ve been looking for an excuse to use another one!)]
The project included over 100,000 sq-ft of office, residential, and a 200 spot parking garage. There was a package worth almost $30 million in subsidies put together to make this project happen, but at least in the immediate future, even that ended up not being enough.
If you haven’t been over to the Washington Design center in SW lately a couple of events over the next two months may just be reason enough to go. First up is an event a la the show Top Design where over 30 WDC showrooms will be transformed to display their finest in outdoor living. Patio furniture and outdoor fabrics will be the center of attention March 22-26…
The event which really caught our attention though is the Find-A-Designer Day event, April 29, 2pm – 6pm. Attendees will get the opportunity to peruse over 60 of the designers showrooms and receive a free 30 minute consultation with a design professionals. The even is free and there will be a cocktail reception, so you know we will be there, what could be better than browsing the latest in interior design while sipping a cocktail?
In this week’s edition of Best Open Houses we feature a revamped two-bedroom row house for under $400K in Capitol Hill and a “classic star” up in Brightwood.
Year over year the District recorded the biggest jump in housing prices in the entire country! That’s right, the latest report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed average prices in the Washington area were up over 10%. This is good news considering on average prices are still falling across the country.
The announced closure of the downtown DC location of the West Elm in the beautiful old Woodward & Lorthrop building has rightly been getting a lot of attention this week across the area. The news was surprising considering all the financial incentives the District provided to lure the store to the location on G Street…
We were worried about having another huge block long empty store front, but are happy to have gotten official confirmation that there is already a new tenant lined up for the space. Joining the fray of low cost high fashion retailers in that area will be a massive Forever 21 store. What do you think, improvement or regression?
The Dupont ANC just this week approved plans from architects FORMDesign to develop a mixed use project right in the heart of Dupont. The project at 1737 Connecticut Avenue will include adding an additional story to the building, adding residential space and expanding the retail space in a building which originally dates back to the 1950s.
Looks for work to start in the summer and finish up in 2011, the real question is what type of restaurant will occuppy the two story redesigned space.
Well look what we have here, another floor plan for your drooling pleasure. The layout of this 6,700 sq-ft home in Forest Hills NW is just about as classic as you can get. Foyer surrounded by sitting room, and dinning room, kitchen in the back, central staircase, just multiple the dimensions of normal rooms by two and you have an idea of how this house looks.
There is the requisite maid’s suite, billiard room, gym, and media room in the basement. Also there are 6 bedrooms in this thing, so either you have to have a really big family or lots of skeletons to fill all those closets. Matching with the classic floor plan is a classic Georgian Brick exterior all for just over $5 million.
As always, click on the floor plan for a closer look!
Still following along? Clearly this is going to be the last chapter in this saga to build the 1,167-room Marriott Marquis on Ninth Street NW right next to the new Convention Center. After all… there really isn’t anyone left to sue!
We understand that this row home in Kalorama doesn’t exactly have the best curb appeal (it’s the white house in middle), but the price chop on this restored 1912 townhome seems a bit extreme to us! The listing has been reduced by $350,000, which is an over 15% reduction.
Come on guys this is right in the heart of all the embassies and steps from all the restaurants an shops on Connecticut Ave with over 4,000 sq-ft for what is now well under $2 Million.
With the coming redevelopment of the core center of Rosslyn, it makes sense to take the opportunity to reconfigure how people access the metro station. Currently the area is a confusing mess of overhead walkways but as you can see, the reconfiguration of the metro entrance will allow for the creation of great looking pedestrian plaza which will be surrounded by all the new skyscrapers.
Best part of the reconfiguration? It is being paid for by JBG as part of their construction of the adjacent 31 story Rosslyn Central Place development.
You know how much we love timelapse videos, so this one of the work being done to retore the old historic Howard Theater really caught our eye! The video shows the removal of the old siding, and the exposure of the original 1910 facade. Very Cool!
Logan Circle - A scourge of graffiti has popped up around the neighborhood on storefronts, alleyways, and homes! [14th and You]
Golden Triangle - The DC region was awarded a Tiger Grant this past week, but one project left noticeably unfunded was the K Street Transitway. [Beyond DC]
