Out and About - The pleasures of Petworth

The Petworth subdivision in Northwest resulted from the combination of large rural tracts at the end of the 19th century, becoming one of the city's largest and earliest suburban subdivisions, according to DC North, from which most of this history (okay, virtually all of it) is shamelessly plagiarized. Generally bounded by North Capitol, Rock Creek Church and Kennedy streets as well as Georgia Avenue, the neighborhood's fortunes have waxed and waned over the years and the area has gained high popularity only relatively late in the recent real estate boom.


In October 1886, a real estate syndicate paid $260 per acre for the 183-acre country estate of Marshall Brown. A separate syndicate, though with some of the same members, then purchased the adjacent Petworth estate. Half of Petworth was purchased in early 1887, the other half in June 1888, both from heirs of Washington's famous Tayloe family. In all, Petworth's 204 acres sold for about $1,100 per acre. (It was Col. John Tayloe, the city's wealthiest resident in its early days, who built the Octagon as his own home, as well as the building which eventually housed the original Willard Hotel.)

Petworth's streets were laid out as an extension of L'Enfant's plan for the original City of Washington (south of Florida Avenue), and the developers took the unusual step of adding diagonal state streets (Illinois, Kansas and the extension of New Hampshire). Also, they designed Petworth to boast one of the few places outside of the Old City with large traffic circles (Grant and Sherman) where the diagonal avenues cross.

Despite improvements made to the area, sales and development were slow. The 1893-1894 tax assessment shows that no lots were sold and only three houses were erected. The developers sold much of Petworth to Horace S. Cummings in the mid-1890s for a reported $2,500 per acre. It was around 1900 that development occurred mostly at the southern edge of the Petworth subdivision and consisted mainly of detached houses. Slowly, developers began to build duplexes and rowhouses as demand for housing increased.
A housing shortage in the early 1920s sent them into overdrive, building high-density housing throughout the district. Petworth was rapidly built-up with long chains of rowhouses and apartment houses and stores along Georgia Avenue. Dozens of developers were active in Petworth in the 1910s and 1920s, but chief among them was Morris Cafritz, who built hundreds of rowhouses in Petworth in the mid-1920s. In the years since then, there have been profound demographic changes.

But no matter who populates the subdivision, Petworth stands out as an enclave with streets that often are wider than usual in the District, strips and squares of green that are more numerous than usual, and renewed development activity that is turning many properties that have grown tired with neglect into what sometimes are showplaces that attract diverse purchasers. Gentrification and its issues aside, the charms of Petworth and the folks who still reside there are undeniable.

A look at a number of Petworth rowhouses last week provided ample evidence of the neighborhood's desirability and the value that can be found there compared with other parts of the Northwest that are viewed as hotter. Consider, for example, the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath semi-detached home that has been well renovated to include a kitchen with island, stainless and granite, plus a new deck, new engineered hardwood floors downstairs, carpeting upstairs and a fully finished basement that is equipped as an in-law suite, albeit with ceilings lower than legal height for rental. With its price just reduced $10,000 to $489,000, this 1923 property lacking central air conditioning deserves to find a buyer.

At the other extreme is a semi-detached rowhouse in search of a new owner who wants to live in a sadly rundown dwelling while taking on major renovations. Someone died after a long life while owning the house, and doubtless the depressing environment hastened her departure from the world. Still, the place is a block from the Petworth Metro station, has parking for two cars and possesses the opportunity to restore while modernizing. The price implies less of an investment than a do-it-yourself opportunity. Asking $395,000 for this three-bedroom, one-bath 1910 residence is asking a lot, especially with the added feature of a leaky oil tank above ground.

A few of the other viewed Petworth properties that other agents are listing:

• A corners-cut renovation of a three-and-a-half-bedroom, two-bath 1923 attached rowhouse with two-car parking, new roof, a kitchen that pretends to glamour, and baths with questionable taste in tile. The bedrooms and bath include the in-law suite, which has low ceilings, leaving just one bath for both upstairs floors. Rooms are small, and there is carpeting upstairs. Reduced from $499,900 when originally listed last November to $449,000 last month, this house is nonetheless priced within the range of reason.
  
• Another renovation that needs to be rethought. With three bedrooms and two and a half baths, this semi-detached rowhouse has a feature impossible to ignore: New ceilings that resemble a forest of stalactites. Because of them, seeing the rest of the place seemed pointless so you'll get no further description. The house went on the market three months ago at $550,000 and had its price cut to $519,999 a few weeks ago, since when it has languished for good reason.
  
• An inoffensively renovated attached rowhouse that has four bedrooms and three baths, including the lower level. The modestly finished kitchen does have granite and stainless, and the place does offer central air conditioning, a detached garage and hardwood floors that are mismatched in more than one place. After being on the market since the beginning of December, the owner reduced the price from $570,000 last month and, more recently, way down to $558,000. That'll do the trick, oh yeah.

Of course, Petworth is not immune to the changing market. Developers – wouldn't "speculators" be a more accurate term- snapped up properties at their top prices last year, poured bucks into renovating them and had visions of big checks dancing in their heads. Now, they can count themselves lucky if they walk away with any profits at all and, therefore, tend to cling to prices that buyers these days are perfectly willing to reject. The phenomenon occurs citywide, so Petworth is naturally no exception. Even so, prices there are significantly lower than in neighborhoods that have more convenient transportation and more panache. For some buyers, moving away from yesterday's trend and creating their own may well mean more for their money.


In addition to Petworth properties, here are some others that the members of the Service You Can Trust team have seen in the past week:

• In Arlington's Ballston neighborhood, a doll house about to be listed at approximately $590,000. This brick colonial has three bedrooms and two baths. Nicely maintained, the dwelling has an inviting back porch and has been generally updated over the last 5-10 years. But it is on a thoroughfare, and its small bedrooms, however quaint, are liabilities.
  
• An expansive Dupont Circle 1,043-SF condo with two bedrooms, two baths, high ceilings, red pine floors, handsome modern kitchen, fireplace, in-unit washer/dryer and excellent flow. The closet space is ample, too. The problem with this apartment is its first-floor location, so the price was reduced just this week from $615,000 to $585,000, where it ought to sell pretty quickly.
  
• In Logan Circle, a three-bedroom, two-bath corner condo that shows beautifully in a 2004 building. Open and airy, the unit has maple floors, gas fireplace, the usual first-rate kitchen with an island, nice closet space and garage parking. It is offered competitively at $725,000, but it is not clear whether today's buyers will pay that much.
  
• Another doll house in North Arlington's Ballston, but with great curb appeal. Its inviting porch, beautifully landscaped garden and wooden porch swing are the best things it has going for it. Listed at $599,800 and not even a week on the market, this two-bedroom, two-bath home is overpriced, largely because there is no upstairs, just an unfinished attic space. Moreover, the basement is large but needs a lot of updating. Although the house has a friendly retro appeal, it is tiny, tiny, tiny.
  
• In Chevy Chase, D.C., a luscious 1932 side-hall brick colonial with a sweeping backyard, formal living room with tray ceiling, elegant dining room, inviting two-level deck, spacious center-island white kitchen open to an added family room that has cathedral ceilings, three bedrooms and two updated baths upstairs, appealing rec room in the lower level, two heating and cooling zones, and an attached two-car garage. The attic has been transformed into a playfully designed bedroom or office with slanted ceilings. This newly listed house is a winner at $1.245 million.
  
• A Mount Pleasant rowhouse with a welcoming front entrance and discouraging rear exposure, which faces a hulking school and its yard. The nice square kitchen is improved but not designed to be impressive, and the rest of the 1910 dwelling without central air conditioning also is modestly appealing – two bedrooms plus den and a single bath upstairs, skylight, decent living and dining rooms, high ceilings, heart of pine floors and original mantels. The price of $629,000 is correct.
  
• In the eastern reaches of Capitol Hill, a two-bedroom, two-bath condo. At $399,900 and 40-plus days on the market, the best thing this unit has going for it is its parking space and its low $176 per month condo fee. The unit feels more like a rental apartment than it does a condo, in need, as it is, of updating. It could use an extra 300 square feet to call it home.
  
• A bi-level Dupont Circle, two-bedroom, one-bath condo accessed only via a lonely alley. This apartment was purchased last year to renovate and flip. Buyers are unlikely to flip over the awkward cramped space, which will be difficult to furnish. There are not a lot in the way of closets or, in the kitchen, drawers, of which there are zero in that second-rate renovation. The asking price of $429,900 is not out of the question, but it's a lot for the knowledgeable buyer to offer gladly. The monthly fee of $394 covers all utilities in the pet friendly 1985 condominium.
  
• Just blocks from Eastern Market, a well-done condo conversion. The two-bedroom, one-bath unit boasts stainless steel and granite, cherry hardwood floors, washer and dryer in the unit, a deck off the master bedroom and a shared brick patio with the other three units in the building. The condo fee is a reasonable $244 per month, and the apartment is listed at $479,500. It is still on the market after more than a month.
  
• An extraordinarily stylish renovated attached rowhouse a bit north and east of what is normally considered the U Street Corridor. Closer to Columbia Heights, this exercise in architectural innovation has transformed a rundown 1890 rowhouse into something called "functional minimalism." The top floor of the impossibly narrow dwelling is a master suite featuring an aluminum ladder to the roof deck, and a mod bath with cement-topped vanity. The sleek second floor of necessity has a Murphy bed in the guest room. Other features encompass a dramatic open kitchen that has been inventively designed, a three-story glass wall that is best used to filter light through the shade, blocking close-up views of other undeveloped properties, and not much in the way of entertainment space. If this were a graduate student's final project, the grade would be A-plus. But $799,000 is far too much money for this 1,150-SF property in an out-of-the-way location, no matter how successful the execution.
  
• In Dupont Circle, a true basement apartment that at least provides both sufficient space and an exceptionally convenient location. The open kitchen in this long, narrow condo is a bit cheesy but clean, and the bath is unremarkable. But there are a wood-burning fireplace, central air conditioning, hardwood floors in a herringbone pattern, breakfast bar and crimson walls to distract the new owner from a lack of much light. The monthly fee in this pet friendly building is $394, and the price of $339,000 is about right.