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Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant.

Outdoor Movie Screening at Hillwood Estate on Friday

Have you been to Hillwood Estate? This Friday night might be the perfect time to go when Hillwood hosts Divas Outdoors, a screening of Queen Bee in conjunction with Capitol Pride week.  Drinks will be for sale and competitive picnicking is on tap with a prize for the best/most lavish set-up.  Tickets are $15 ($10 under 18) and include entry to the mansion [4155 Linnean Avenue, NW]

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Snuggled up against Rock Creek Park, Hillwood would make a great daytime date or interesting brunch spot as the cafe serves lunch and adult beverages.  I can’t vouch for the food, but it’d certainly be off the beaten path.  The lavish grounds and mansion are a photographer’s paradise with a 50’s era Mad Men-style putting green, Japanese garden, Russian house, and creepily elaborate pet cemetery, among many others.  Inside, the mansion is a monument to what a person buys when she’s run out of things to buy.  If super lavish gardens and Faberge eggs aren’t your thing, you might want to skip this one.  Otherwise, this is an often overlooked gem that’s worth it for a walk around the grounds alone.

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Thanks to a reader for sending word that the massive renovation at 2867 Tilden St, NW was completed.

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You like the way it turned out. Here’s an image from google street view to give an idea of what it used to look like:

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It went under contract with a listing price of $2,195,000. You can see what it looks like on the inside here.

And nearby the reader sends in some awesome house porn from 2604 Tilden Pl, NW. Check out this virtual tour. It’s yours for $2,495,000.

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4532 Broad Branch Road Northwest

This rental is located at 4532 Broad Branch Road, NW:


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The listing says:

“Best Nature/City mix. Walk to metro through an easement in 15 minutes, drive or bike to work through Rock Creek Park and avoid traffic. Park setting views from wall to wall windows, deck and balcony. High ceilings and open modern floor plan. Big kitchen with breakfast room. Separate dining room. Tiled walk out basement connects to garage and driveway where you can park 2 or 3 cars. 4 big bedrooms”

This 4 bed/3.5 bath is going for $4,750/Mo.


This rental is located at 4701 Connecticut Avenue, NW:


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The listing says:

“This unit has a huge, private patio/garden and is located in walking distance to the Van Ness Metro! Parking included!Convenient to Rock Creek Park. Unique floorplan with modern kitchen (double fridge, double dishwasher), dining-room with marble flooring, pergo floors in living areas. Glassblock walls. Renovated bathrooms & powder-room.”

This 2 bed/2 bath is going for $2,400/Mo.


This rental is located at 5135 Linnean Avenue, NW:


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The listing says:

“SPARKLING SERENE OASIS in the middle of the city. 3bed/2.5 bath w/chef’s kitchen, HWFs,fireplace,3 season sunroom,family room w/built ins,and garage on 1/4 acre backing to woods and only blocks to Conn.Ave shops,CVS &Politics &Prose. Walk to Van Ness/UDC RedLine Metro. Two year minimum lease. No pets. Owner/Agent is 5 minutes away for easy showing by appointment.”

This 3 bed/2.5 bath is going for $4,250/Mo.


This rental is located at 4607 Connecticut Avenue, NW:


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The listing says:

“GREAT BLDG ON CONNECTICUT AVE, NW. STUDIO, 1BR & 2BR ALSO MAY BE AVAILABLE. FABULOUS FITNESS CENTER. RENTS VARY PER FLR/VIEW/PLAN. THE LIST PRICE IS STARTING PRICE. CATS ONLY. 3 BLOCKS TO VAN NESS METRO. PHOTOS ARE FOR VARIOUS UNITS. SECTION 8 APPLICATIONS WELCOME.”

This 2 bed/1 bath is going for $2,350/Mo.


I got my Forest Hills fix this weekend. One day I hope I will get to see what this looks like from the inside:


Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 4935 Linnean Ave NW
Legal Subdivision: Forest Hills
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Forest Hills
Original List Price: $2,395,000.
List Price at Contract: $2,395,000.
List Date: 01/20/2012
Days on Market: 30
Settled Sales Price: $2,000,000.
Settlement Date: 04/13/2012
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. Here is the virtual tour.

What we’re seeing throughout the District of Columbia real estate market right now, at all levels, is that the historically low mortgage interest rates are making monthly payments more affordable, thus allowing many people to enter higher price points than they would been able to a couple of years ago. This is particularly interesting to me because following the post-bubble lending crisis, there were a lot of concerns within the real estate community about access to what is often referred to as “jumbo money” (basically really large mortgage loans). Lending standards for documentation of assets and income have definitely increased, and fortunately DC seems to abound with high income earners with good credit. Hence, we are actively engaged in a robust Spring real estate market.

The neighborhood of Forest Hills includes a wide range of properties, including condos and co-ops, attached rowhomes, modest detached homes, and some quite grandly sized detached homes. A detached single family home in the neighborhood could range from as low as the high $600’s to well into seven figures. Homes in this area are typically not as old as those in the downtown neighborhoods and range quite a bit in age.


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