Out and About - Some like it hot

Have a look at your wardrobe. See that suit from two seasons ago. Still like it? Think back to that must-see movie of 2003 that you stood in line to see. And how about tiramisu - do you crave it now? You probably don’t even remember fruit-flavored vinegars as the must-have bottle in your pantry. So, too, with two- and three-tone cars with big rear fins if you’re old enough to recall them. Let’s not reflect even a moment longer on the popularity of mauve, autumn gold and avocado green as hot colors, on shag as the rug to own or on knotty-pine paneling as the perfect covering for a rec room wall. Does anyone retain a fondness for grass cloth?

To some degree or another, all of us are affected by trends. When it comes to real estate, they are not a trivial consideration. It cannot be irrelevant that anyone with an eye can spot a kitchen that is of a decade, scorning one as oh-so ‘70s, or ‘80s or ‘90s. The unfortunate underbelly of trends is that they inevitably become old and dated, and that is the danger of falling victim to them.

What will we think a decade from now of the kitchens of today? How rare is the new one that is not equipped with stainless-steel appliances, finished with stone countertops and graced with solid-wood cabinets. They are beautiful to be sure, but is the danger not great that we will weary of seeing those kitchens a short time from now and wish we had opted for originality instead of a trend? The betting here is that the answer can be only - yes.

Ponder, as well, our infatuation with hardwood floors, neutral colors, halogen lighting, wall-mounted flat-screen televisions, and great rooms instead of living rooms. Assuming that past is precedent, their time just has to come.

A case in point is a lovely end-unit townhouse in Wesley Heights with three exposures, unfortunately many of them a blaring horn away from Massachusetts Avenue. But the kitchen is everything you’ve come to expect: It has cherry cabinets, granite countertops and high-end, though not brand new appliances. Virtually open to the small dining room, the kitchen is undeniably handsome and unabashedly like almost every one being updated or newly built today. Will it seem so winning 10 years from now? Will you be contentedly driving the same car then?

Still, this brick home has much to praise - among other things, hardwood floors throughout; through French doors, a patio that may not, however, get much sun; nice living room with wood-burning fireplace; a second floor with two smallish bedrooms, each with a private bath; and third-floor master suite with a sitting area that is little more than a big landing. They’ve done what they can with the good-size family room in the basement, but there are zero windows. This 1979 property is listing for a not unreasonable $920,000 with a monthly fee of under $300, which includes only snow removal, landscaping, night guard and trash collection.

Some other properties seen in the past week:

A two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in D.C.’s waterfront neighborhood. The kitchen apparently harks back to the construction of the 1996 pet-friendly building, the baths are out of date, and entry is into a long hall past the bedrooms before entering the expansive living area. But this 1,485 unit with treetop and swimming pool views toward the Potomac leaves plenty of room for improvement. The $499,000 asking price is fair.

A memorable five-level, bayfront 1885 rowhouse in Dupont Circle. This house with very high ceilings, a welcoming reception hall, exquisite millwork, multiple fireplaces with antique mantles, two-car detached garage, two-zone heating and cooling system and an unusually well done rental unit had almost everything. The only defects might be the L-shaped commercial-grade kitchen (with electric bake oven, six-burner Vulcan range and a salamander) and somewhat outdated, generally modest baths. But if this house has so much original, unrestored and gorgeous period details, including those mantles, pocket doors, built-ins and inlaid floors, who cares? It is listed at $1.875 million. Since there is no way to put an objective value on the character of this property, it may well be the right price.

A newly constructed seven-unit condominium in the U Street corridor. These are strikingly stylish apartments in a contemporarily designed building, but they suffer from impractical layouts and little in the way of spacious bedrooms or closets. Offered at prices ranging from $529,900 (for 1,116 square feet, two bedrooms, a bath and something called a balcony within the unit) to $869,900 (for 1,580 square with two bedrooms, two baths, den, balcony and terrace) with condo fees of $299 to $415, these units have been on the market for quite some time; only one has sold. No wonder.

In Cleveland Park, a mundane 855 SF two-bedroom condo in a 1944 garden apartment complex that permits cats and possesses a highly convenient location. The kitchen and bath in this apartment go back a while, the rooms are all small, and the hike to the door is three flights. It is offered at its lowest appraised value of $397,500 with a $276 monthly fee.

Forty units in a condo conversion still under construction just a block or two from the Tivoli development in Columbia Heights. The apartments, of which six have been sold, range from $279,500 for a 625 SF one-bedroom basement unit to $449,500 for a two-bedroom 903 SF condo on the top floor. With the usual glam kitchens and baths, these apartments have decent-size rooms, and the views from the top floor are excellent. It is said that parking spaces can be rented a block away and that monthly fees estimated between $206 and $365 will be paid by the developer for the first year if a designated lender and settlement company are used.

In Kalorama, a semi-detached rowhouse that was renovated a few years ago with commendable taste. Although the laundry is crammed into the basement of this four-bedroom, three-and-half-bath home with an additional two bedrooms in an au pair suite, nothing else warrants criticism – from the show-stopping kitchen and the well-proportioned rooms with high ceilings to the parking spaces for two cars. It is listed attractively at $1.55 million.

Close to Adams Morgan on a charming block in the U Street corridor, a three-bedroom, three-level attached dollhouse with one and a half baths, tired kitchen just at the entrance, wood-burning fireplace, small patio and a Murphy bed that conveys. Officially built in 1900 but more likely a quarter century earlier, this little rowhouse, which lacks parking, is an excellent condo alternative. It is well priced at $599,000.