Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Mmm mmm! There's nothing like the smell of a newly-constructed property! You know what it smells like? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No previous tenants cooking cured meats with the windows closed, no smokers, no pet traces "covered up" with a dousing of carpet perfume. Nothing. As someone who lives in an ancient never-renovated apartment that smells like a cross between a hot barn and a flooded carpet warehouse, this is something I can really appreciate.

Of course, absence of odor (as wonderful as I'll maintain that is) is the least of this U street penthouse's appeal. There's a whole lot more to like, from the open riser staircase in the living room, to the massive bay windows that floods the loft with light, to the ridiculously spacious walk-in closet (with a window! I bet even Kanye's walk-in closet doesn't have a window), to the deep red cherry floors throughout.

There's a gourmet kitchen with huge stone countertops and an awesome floating glass breakfast bar. Also, it's a two-level unit, so upstairs you have the bedrooms - towards the front is the master suite (location of the remarked-upon walk-in with window), with an beautiful master bath that features a double vanity and custom-made glass shower. Towards the rear is the second bedroom which, although slightly smaller, has a balcony from which you can see U Street. In most places, the non-master-suite bedroom is so clearly inferior that if I lived there in the master suite, I would worry that the person who lived in the smaller bedroom would eventually grow to hate me. Not so in this place - you may have the better walk-in, but they get a balcony. If they grow to hate you, it's for entirely personality-related reasons.

Just two blocks from the Green Line, which makes for a painless commute, and only a stone's throw from U Street, which has everything you could possibly want out of life, as long as that means ethiopian food, frozen yogurt, bars, and pay-as-you-go cellphones.

1912 8th Street NW, Unit D
2 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
$599,900

Washington D.C. real estate news