By Franklin SchneiderThis newly-built, imposing three-story house, just a couple blocks
from the New York Ave. Metro, is known as Capitol Overlook Phase III/IV (Phase V involves launching the house into orbit). Fronted by beautiful, massive windows, the row house has legitimate two-story cathedral ceilings - the living area is so huge, you could fly a kite within, or erect a trapeze. Upstairs, a sort of catwalk partially encircles and overlooks the first floor, and there's an oversized stainless steel ceiling fan that looks strong enough to power a small plane (I mean that in a good way.) It's a dramatic space; for the first time ever, I didn't feel foolish wearing sunglasses indoors. Two large bedrooms with notably generous closets – a big plus if you're a clothes horse like me – and two baths, sunlit den,
on-site laundry, and more.Reading back over my description, I fear it doesn't quite do justice to the place. It's newly-built, and as much as I love the “old bones” of a renovated classic, you've got to love something that was designed and made right now. There are a dozen little touches in the house –the light fixtures in the kitchen, the offset planes of the front of the house, the aforementioned catwalk – that strike you as utterly new, but also totally sensible. Why aren't all houses like this? It's the sort of thing
you really should see for yourself.Also, if you haven't been to the area in a while you might be surprised by how much stuff is already over there; coffee shops and a Potbelly and a new Harris Teeter, even a new Capital Bikeshare station. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor and win the nonexpiring privilege of looking down your nose at everyone who moves into the neighborhood after you. I was the first gentrifier on my block in Shaw, and I work that little fact into every single conversation I have with my neighbors. They don't invite me to cookouts anymore, but then that's not the point, n
ow is it?!233 R St. NE Unit A
Washington, DC
2 Bdrms, 2 Baths Parking
$429,900
3 comments:
It looks cool. But also really out of place. Like a giant middle finger to the neighborhood.
Agreed, totally out of place by dwarfing the things around it. Sucks that one tasteless developer can kill a neighborhood, the only saving grace is that its an ugly neighborhood anyway, but that little strip was the only positive on the street. Not any more.
You might want to look at the street it's on. There are about ten modern looking buildings that are even taller only 2 houses down. And that same block is about to get a 600+ unit building right behind them. I don't really think it looks out of place. It's just a weird block in general.
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