The destruction/construction of the home at New Hampshire and Upshur, sadly, continues. Well, if it’s gonna be a disaster it might as well be a completed disaster instead of just an empty wreck. Though, every time I walk past this home I lose a day of my life because my blood pressure shoots up and I involuntarily start cursing…
February’s book was ‘The Gargoyle’ by Andrew Davidson. We chose the read for its romantic nature, and really, who doesn’t love a little love in February?!? The Gargoyle tells the story of a man at the height of his not-so-moral life who loses it all in a sudden car crash. From the first chapter, you get sucked into the story, following the man though his graphic burn treatments, to the vivid tales that his new friend, a psych ward beauty and stone carver extraordinaire, shares with him about their past life together. The book club gave ‘The Gargoyle’ 4 out of 5 frogs. Pick it up next time you’re at your local library…you won’t be disappointed!
Our next book is a work by Irish dramatist Martin McDonagh, titled ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays’. It’s sure to be a great read, so grab it, and enjoy it with a pint, then be sure to join us for our next meetings in March- Monday 3/2 at 7:00pm at the Red Derby, and Monday 3/23 at 7:00pm at the Petworth Library.
Final note – We previously read ‘The Watchmen’ with the intention of getting together for dinner and a movie when it came out in theatres, which will be the first weekend of March. We will be setting a time and date for our PoPville Book Club field trip at our next Red Derby meeting (3/2, 7:00pm) so be there!
Of course, as with all scuttlebutt, the following is not 100% confirmed. This comes from a very trusted source and I’m going to standby my record of previous scuttlebutt that has turned out to be true. Ok, you ready?
The folks behind the highly successful restaurant/bar, Marvin, located on 14th Street just north of U, are planing to open up another spot. In Petworth!!! I wasn’t able to confirm the exact location but suffice it to say it will be near the metro (not in the Park Place building above the metro). But likely on Georgia Avenue.
Given that this is still in the scuttlebutt phase I don’t want to get too excited but I’ll say I’m super optimistic about the prospects. Now, I know some folks are going to say that it is too expensive. And believe me, I’m an aspiring full time blogger that will surely be eating a lot of ramen noodles when it opens but I still think this is a phenomenal addition to Petworth. If you told me a place like this would open up on Georgia Ave in Petworth 5 years ago, I would’ve looked at you like you were absolutely crazy. Now, it makes perfect sense to me. This is going to be a great sit down dining option and bar that will surely signal Georgia Ave’s return to greatness. Ok, great, now I’m crying. Tears of joy but still…
Update: I can now say the location is 3815 Georgia Avenue, NW.
Remember this? Remember all that debate about a public park? I guess it was all for naught.
The Washington Post had the big story on this yesterday. They wrote:
“The sagging real estate market has prompted the Armed Forces Retirement Home to freeze an ambitious plan to build housing, a hotel, a supermarket and medical offices on a sprawling portion of its Northwest Washington campus.”
Wow. This is really big news. I know this development was super controversial because a lot of green space was going to be developed. So I’m super curious to find out what you guys think – glad the development has stalled or will miss the development?
Thanks a million to Mr. T in DC for sending the info. From Shorpy:
Washington Post, Jun 1, 1919
Harry M. Crandall Constructs the York in Petworth
The York Theater, eighth link in the chain of photoplay houses operated in the Capital by Harry M. Crandall, is now in course of construction on Georgia avenue, occupying the entire area between Princeton and Quebec streets. The newest of the Crandall theaters will have a seating capacity of 1,000 on one floor, no provision having been made for a balcony. The total floor area will be 10,000 square feet.
Entrance on Georgia AvenueEntrance to the York will be from Georgia avenue into a foyer fifty feet long and twenty feet wide, with a ceiling height of twenty-five feet. The lobby walls will be of marble with inset, self-lighted poster panes. Lighting will be of the indirect, self-diffusing type.
The exterior of the theater will be golden brown brick laid in white mortar, with cornice, coping and clerestory walls trimmed in gold.
Silk Canopy InsideThe entrance will be surmounted by a marquee of wrought iron, copper and Tiffany glass, to harmonize with the color treatment of the building, which will extend to the curb line and be fitted with brilliant flood lights, bathing the entire front of the structure in bright light.
The decorative scheme utilized throughout the interior will be in silver, black and gold. One interior feature deserving mention is the treatment of the proscenium, which will be built in three arches under a silk canopy extending over the audience beyond the orchestra platform. The screen and side curtains, as well as the overhanging canopy, will be of gold silk, further beautified by concealed colored lighting making possible many extraordinary effects. There will also be elaborate balloon fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
Of special interests will be the ventilating and heating system specially designed for the theater. The unique feature of the new system will be that heat will be blown in from the ceiling. The same system will serve to introduce cooled air during hot weather and is capably of completely changing the atmosphere of the theater every thirty seconds.
Crandall’s York Theater was designed by, and is built under the personal supervision of Reginald E. Geare, who also planned and supervised construction of Crandall’s Metropolitan and Knickerbocker theaters.
The York will open about October 15, and will be devoted to exclusive showings of photoplays of the highest grade. The completion of the York will give Mr. Crandall three houses of the first rank in the northwest residential portion of Washington, the Knickerbocker and the Savoy being the other two.
See what the theater looked like in 1920 here.
Every now and then you just got to try something new. What is life without a bit of risk, yeah? So welcome to a new video feature called – PoPtrekker. PoPtrekker was inspired by the PBS program globetrekker and I thought, hell, I should do something like that around DC. And here we are. As this is the first episode it is a bit rusty in spots and was pretty much filmed all in one take and for the most part was improvised along the way.
This is a joint Prince of Petworth/Intangible Arts production. My man IA did some great filming/editing and I’m grateful for his time and skills. If you have places you’d like to see featured on PoPtrekker feel free to shoot me an email. Currently this will be a monthly feature but if folks like it, I’ll make it a weekly feature. PoPtrekker Vol. 1 takes place at Rock Creek Church Cemetery.
I seem to recall folks asking about where they can find a good tailor. Well I recently received the following note:
“Lee’s Alterations & Tailoring is awesome. We’ve had three items tailored there and the guy does a great job, has reasonable prices and quick turnaround time. I highly recommend him. We don’t use J’s Petworth Cleaners for our dry cleaning, so not sure about them, but as far as hemming pants or any other tailoring services Lee’s Alterations & Tailoring, located within J’s Petworth Cleaners at 3934 Georgia Avenue, NW, is great.”
This home is located at 4600 13th Street, NW:
The flier says:
“Subject To A Potential Short Sale–One Bank. Professionally Negotiated. “Welcome To Your Potential Kingdom!”Space, Space and More Space!This lovely sun-filled with lots of charm & character has 6BRS. 3FBS. ,detached garage, english bsmt. w/ in-law suite plus so much more. Renovation work was started and it’s ready for your final touches. .. this is a great buy!Submit an Offer Today!”AS-IS Condition.”
More info and photos found here.
A reader writes:
“6 bedrooms, three full baths at the corner of 13th and Buchanan St, N.W. in 16th Street Heights for $349,900. This place is gigantic. Looks like lots of work to be done. Maybe too much. The link has lots of pictures and info. Apparently the renovation has already begun.”
The original asking price was $565,250. So for a house this size do you think $349,900 sounds reasonable given the state it’s in?
I just noticed that the corner spot at 4424 Georgia Avenue is getting a flower shop called Mother Virginia’s (the store is named after the owner’s mother). It is located next to the Ethiopian restaurant, Abol. It hasn’t yet opened yet because they are still waiting for their certificate of occupancy. Ah, you got to love DC’s bureaucracy. They hope to the proper certificate by Valentine’s Day, for obvious reasons, but they’ve been told many times before the documents are imminent. Anyway, I think this is a great addition to Georgia Ave.! I’ll post a note when they open up.
There have been lots of discussions about the property being built above the Petworth metro. First they were going to be condos then we heard they were going to be rentals then there were rumors that they were going to be condos again. Well, the mystery is finally solved. I spotted this sign this weekend:
So rental it is…
