Van Ness

Check Out Washingtoniana’s final location (until MLK reopens in 2020), with some sweet history to boot!!

By Prince Of Petworth


4340 Connecticut Avenue, NW

From Washingtoniana:

“Since moving out of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in March 2017, Washingtoniana has been ensconced at the Carnegie Library at Mt. Vernon Square (our original home) and at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue,

Our third and final location (until MLK reopens in 2020) is in a former bank. The space we occupy at 4340 Connecticut Avenue NW was originally Columbia Federal Savings, which opened on January 17, 1977.

But even earlier than 1977…going back almost half a century…the space that our collections occupy was the parking lot for the legendary Connecticut Avenue Hot Shoppes. (more…)

What Neighborhood is the 5000 block of Connecticut Avenue?

By Prince Of Petworth


5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW

OK then, looks like we got another neighborhood name battle on our hands. I LIVE FOR THIS. Thanks to Amy for getting the ball rolling by objecting to Chevy Chase (D.C.) as the neighborhood for that new Italian restaurant coming across the street from the original Politics and Prose. So let’s settle this once and for all. hahaha just kidding, but let’s do our best to get a consensus. Now I don’t consider google the arbiter of neighborhood boundaries but I will note that they consider this Chevy Chase. I asked earlier today on twitter and folks seem pretty split between Van Ness and Forest Hills. Originally I was firmly in the Chevy Chase camp but now I’m honestly undecided. What say you?


Today’s Rental is an “IDEAL ‘Secret Garden’ Apartment near Van Ness Metro”

By Prince Of Petworth

This rental is located at 30th St NW at Brandywine. The Craigslist ad says:

“$1450 / 1br – IDEAL “Secret Garden” Apartment near Van Ness Metro

Newly renovated 1 bedroom English-basement apartment in single family home located in a diverse, safe, family-friendly neighborhood blocks from Van Ness metro station and Conn. Ave. restaurants and shops. Abundant street parking. Private, garden entrance. (more…)

Surfside 24 Hour Taco Stand coming to Tenleytown!! (and The Wharf)

By Prince Of Petworth


4200 Wisconsin Avenue, NW at Van Ness Street

The long vacant Firelake Grill (OG Ruby Tuesday and once planned for Guapo’s and Five Guys) will finally have a new tenant – Surfside!! Eater DC reports:

“Ten years after Surfside first brought its gourmet tacos and margaritas to D.C., restaurateur Bo Blair is ramping up expansion plans by opening at least two more locations next spring.

Blair recently signed a lease for a new Tenleytown spot at 4200 Wisconsin Avenue NW, he tells Eater. Another deal is close to being closed at the Wharf across from the historic Maine Avenue Fish Market.”

In an email Bo shares a few more details with me:

“We are going to do a 24 taco stand, like Dupont. It will be fast casual with no waiter service. We will be serving Margaritas, beers and specialty cocktails. We are shooting for an April 1, 2019 opening. The outdoor patio will be killer.”

Check out their menus here and STAY TUNED.

This Might Be The Greatest Nextdoor Message of ALL TIME

By Prince Of Petworth

God bless my neighbor for sending this from the North Cleveland Park Nextdoor message board.

The accompanying text said:

“Did any of you leave a potato in the garden of my apartment building? Why would someone do this?”

Yes, why? WHY would someone do this indeed. And with this a new bar has been set. So keep your flower thief messages on hold but keep your eyes peeled for more potatoes please.

Cool Yuma Street House Transformation

By Prince Of Petworth

There’s a whole block of Yuma Street near UDC that it looks like it came straight out of the Brady Bunch set. Most of the houses look like the example above. Check out the cool renovation of one of these:

We’ll revisit when it’s finished. In the meantime – think it’ll be a nice transformation or too early to tell?

Whittle School & Studios, “designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano”, coming to that Crazy Looking Building in Van Ness

By Prince Of Petworth


Van Ness and Connecticut Ave, NW

Where the first atomic clock was developed!!

From a press release:

“Whittle School & Studios, the world’s first global school, today announced their Washington D.C location, the first of two campuses. The other, located in Shenzhen, China, will be announced in March. The global PreK-12 school, headed by educational pioneer Chris Whittle, is slated to begin classes in the Fall of 2019.

Whittle School & Studios will be one school with campuses in more than 30 of the world’s leading cities. At capacity, they will boast a diverse student body of more than 90,000 full-time students and hundreds of thousands of part-time students, with a single faculty of over 10,000, tied together by a common curriculum that will be adapted to local laws and needs. The campuses will all work collaboratively through constant exchanges and online activities supported by a unique global headquarters, creating an organization linked with a new collective intelligence unlike any single-site institution in the world. (more…)

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