I think I forgot last week. Anywho. I pick 1603 New Jersey Avenue as the house of the week. Well the reasons why this house deserves a look, especially from you all who live in Eastern Shaw/ Truxton Circle and can walk by, is the top of the house. That little upstairs porch (or whatever you call it) is to die for. I’ve always thought it was the cutest thing ever, even before it was renovated.
Just imagine waking up, going outside on a glorious morn and looking down upon New Jersey Ave… ooh! A drug bust! No, really, that would be cool. Just to sit out there, above the traffic and have a private (no other balconies on the neighboring houses) view of the city below. Cool.
Tag: houses
Good R-key-tex-ure
Ran round Shaw taking pictures for a project I will never finish (at this rate). As I snapped, or in the case of the mix of the digital cameras, pressed-waited-snapped I noticed some pretty cool buildings on the borders of Shaw. The image above is a firehouse, turned warehouse(?) on New York Avenue. I would have the whole image, but I forgot I left it on zoom. A little paint, new windows, total rehab, it would make a supercool loft. All the old firehouses would make supercool lofts. There is a firehouse, a block north of Shaw in Eckington on North Capitol, that is just begging for something to be redone. It did get a paint job, raising hopes that they’ll be more improvement, but alas, no.
Beyond firehouses there were homes with turrets and homes with built in porches (see below). Luckily there are some that remain open. I’m thinking of at least one house that barred the porch and it looks just horrid.
House of the week
I don’t know how often I’ll do this but I have mentioned this house before. I see it as a good example of adding more squarefootage without looking ghetto or butt ugly. On the corner of R and 5th you’ll see a house with the extra floor.. From the street you can sort of see the 3rd floor addition but when looking at the adjoining houses it doesn’t look too out of place.
Pix 1
Pix 2
Funky peace house for sale
632 Q St. is up on the block for 1/2 a milllllllllon dollas ($500K). Crack. Serious crack the Realtors must be smoking.
Nothing wrong with the peace house. I call it the peace house because of the big honking peace sign that has been hanging on the outside for the past year or two. But really.
I remember thinking, seeing a bike locked to something that they really need to lock both the tires. Well parts began to disappear from the peace house bike, till one day the whole thing went away. But the thing that bugged me, long standing X-mas lights.
So enquiring minds want to know. Will the peacenixs remain in the peace house? Will they remain as renters? Will the lights come down?
House P-rn
Note: The title was changed as it kept attracting questionable searches. 6/17/08
Not Penthouse but This Old House.
Stuff that excites, titillates, but has no resemblance to your reality. This is house porn or decorator porn. Face it you don’t have the money, time, or skill (in my case a lack of skill and money) to get the same look that you saw on HGTV.
Ah, HGTV. The good reason I don’t have cable. When I am in a hotel or visiting a place with cable I am glued to HGTV. It is the Playboy channel for me. My mother, the worst homemaker in the world (but I love her anyways) did not really understand this whole business of wanting to go through the trouble of painting and pasting and building just to change the “look” of a room.
I have a whole bunch of decorating DIY magazines littering the house, some stuffed under my bed so I can go to sleep with house fantasies in my head. I need to weed my house of these things ’cause the truth with house porn, as with most porn, it ain’t gonna happen. I am not putting on addition anytime soon. The spiral stair idea is not right for my house. Open space, well I’m going to hire people to do that and I’ll need the $$$$$. Kitchen, done, can’t do no more. Bathroom, see open space. Can’t even do some of the garden ideas due to lack of space and sun.
Like most porn, it just leaves you frustrated.
Realtors on Crack
I’ve been looking at what’s for sale in my section of Shaw. And I must say someone has been smoking some serious crack when they thought of the prices for some of the homes.
Let’s look shall we.
MLS #:DC4805985 – 611 S St.- I pass it all the time. It is close to the metro, about one block, so yes, that counts for something. But 335K? It’s a little wooden detached (it’s wood, everything else is brick) with no basement. Nothing special about the house, slightly on the ugly side. I remember when it was around 100K 3 years ago.
MLS #:DC4795165 – 1254 NJ Ave. It’s short, it’s got a big front, it’s $695K. Over half a million dollars and you’re still in the hood! On a busy street… over 1/2 a mil, crazy crack.
MLS #:DC4790758 -1718 4th St- On a block I don’t even like walking down in the daytime. Nearly 1/2 a mil at $485K. Yes, nice rehab, but for that price?
Serious. Crack.