Comments on: Round House Nominated for a DC landmark status in Brookland

By: J. Doherty

J. Doherty — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:35:34 +0000

Dear Prince, I was googling ‘Edward Woltz’ when I came upon your blog. Can you give me some internet leads on Woltz?
There is a historic (circa 1894) Victorian manor in Kensington, MD which one source thinks might have been designed by Woltz. It was built for Brainard Warner, a prominant Washington DC citizen who developed the Kensington Park Subdivision around the turn of the century. He was associated with Washington Star editor Albert Noyes. The House and a number of Victorian beauties in the neighborhood are part of the Kensington Historic District. The house and grounds (4.5 acres), including a large carriage house, were bought by the County in 2005 and are now being preserved as the Warner Circle Special Park.
We would love to be able to establish who the architect was. Would appreciate any leads anyone can offer on Woltz and Warner.
Thanks

By: Apple Pie

Apple Pie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:58:27 +0000

I remember passing this house everyday walking to school when I was a little kid. It was always my favorite. I would love to see how it looks inside.

By: househistoryman

househistoryman — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:06:12 +0000

You are misinformed. Paint colors are NOT reviewed in DC. Maintenance in kind is also not reviewed. The majority of historic homeowners in DC are all ready withing historic districts, making them eligible for both facade easements and significant tax relief for major renovations. Most buyers want the protection, as it saves them from having to worry about a tear down or large apartment building of neon, glass block and chrome being built right next door…See the studies done by the National Trust for HP to verify that HD’s actually increase property values, revive commercial districts, and create a safe and stable neighborhood.

By: progentrification

progentrification — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:58:51 +0000

The two houses you are talking about were not done by the same developer as the one who bought the round house. Those “cheap reno[s]” you refer to were Menkiti projects. Word on the street is Ditto purchased the round house. He just updated a foreclosed crumbling bungalow on 15th, not the farm house at the corner, and did a great job. A deteriorating foreclosed bungalow was replaced with an expanded bungalow that looks good, has solid modern amenities, and sold for over 600K. That’s the kind of development my neighborhood needs.

By: jcm

jcm — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:24:24 +0000

Most studies discuss districts rather than individual houses, but here’s one for individual properties. It’s from California, where the historic designation reduces the property tax rate by 1%. It found that the housing values increased more than the cost of the capitalized property taxes.

Now do you have any data showing that it decreases the market value of houses? You are, after all, the one who made the original assertion.

By the way, I agree that the designation process is sometimes abused by NIMBYs. That doesn’t make the entire process counterproductive.

By: Denizen of Tenallytown

Denizen of Tenallytown — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:23:15 +0000

How about the Ontario Theatre that Adams Morgan NIMBYs are trying to heavily associate with Latino history in order to keep the abomination of a building intact… It’s embarrassing.

By: nosleeptillbrookland

nosleeptillbrookland — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:08:18 +0000

to add.. restoring an old or lets say in this case a historic home, is a labor of love, not always just to make money. I think there is major difference between single family homes and commercial real estate as some are bringing up.

By: nosleeptillbrookland

nosleeptillbrookland — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:01:32 +0000

house is on 10th and Irving… although it is a bit strange somebody else can nominate a property, for reasons like this house is why you can. A developer picked up the house and from my knowledge was gonna flip it and build a large addition on the back. Probably cheap. But because of this person the developer now has to actually keep the integrity of this extremely unique home. Only one in the city. I think it is wonderful and DC needs more of this. If you live in Brookland take a look at tghe home at the corner of 15th and Kearney. This house was bought by a developer, property was split in half to squeeze in another home and the house itself was givin a rather unfortunate cheap reno. Go two blocks south on 15th and find the same exact same reno by the same developer. These ruin the integrity of Brookland. The Round house was gutted and stripped for a quick reno, but because of this it is now boarded up and getting run down. I hope the developer, who has the money, resposibly restores the hope and it will sell to whomever is looking for a uniqe home. More historic buidlings like this make them, themselves more valuable and then in turn all the homes around them worth more to, and most importly keep Brookland as well as other parts of the city the gems that they are.

By: joker

joker — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:55:56 +0000

Then please link them here.

I could point you to 3 or 4 homes on the Hill that sold significantly less than the comps (as in 12-15% less) in the past 24 months specifically because it was historically designated. Who wants to spend 6 months and thousands of dollars petitioning a Preservation Organization every time you want to paint your shutters, or “gasp” replace a leaky or broken window? Call any realtor you like and ask them if historic preservation weighs or buoys the sell price.

Historic Preservation is a deathnell to commercial real estate development which is why it has become the local weapon of choice for Nimby’s to attempt to kill a project. The Wisconsin Ave Giant and the 3rd Church of Christ downtown are two top of the mind examples.

By: jcm

jcm — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:44:14 +0000

Well, it also preserves historic properties. As far as the effect on property values, I know of several studies that have found the designation actually raises the property value.