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The real estate industry fudges on a lot of topics. Geography is the most common. Desirable neighborhood names have a way of spreading way beyond their boundaries. But one thing that particularly annoys GM is how poorly real estate listings are in understanding historic architectural styles. And nowhere is that weakness more on display than in the way that just about every oldish rowhouse in Georgetown gets called “federal”.

They almost never really are.

GM has written a whole series on the dominant architectural styles in Georgetown, but here’s the quick and dirty version:

Technically speaking, “federal” refers to the short period of architecture that flourished after the Revolution but before the emergence of Greek revivalism in the 1820s. But the federal style is fairly similar to the Georgian style that preceded it, so it’s good enough for government work to throw them together.

So what makes this style?

Look for a paneled front door surrounded by what look like flattened columns (they’re called pilasters). Above the door is often a simple row of three or four small windows. The top of the doorway will be either squared off or have a more elaborate triangular pediment:

The front of the house will have relatively plain windows with a simple lintel (that’s the row of bricks or block of stone across the top). Often the lintel has a keystone in it:

The roof line often has small dentils (little blocks in a row) like this:

This is a tricky point, because other styles use dentils (like Greek revival and Neo-classical) or use elements somewhat like them. But GM will explain that below.

The thing is with federal/Georgian styles and Georgetown, there just aren’t many of them. Yes, Georgetown was founded in 1751 and a bustling port town during the height of these styles. But most of the first generation of homes built in Georgetown were torn down.

The reality is that most homes in Georgetown are actually Victorian. And two Victorian styles stand out in terms of being mistaken for federal: Italianate and Queen Anne.

If you close your eyes and picture the sort of Disney Main Street U.S.A. sort of architecture, you’re probably thinking of Italianate. It was a hugely popular style that reigned from 1840 through 1885.

When trying to identify Italianate houses, above all else the thing to look for is corbels. These a chunky brackets that show up on roof lines like this:

Notice, these corbels kind of look like the dentils of the federal period. But there are some key distinguishing features. Dentils a straight and square. Corbels look like elaborate book ends flipped upside-down. They are also generally larger and more spread out than dentils. Continue reading →

Photo by AJ Delos Santos.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• How Sweetgreen got its start in Georgetown.
• Honestly that’s about all the news GM can find. It’s a little tough to find “Georgetown” news these days that doesn’t have to do with Georgetown Prep….

Dumbarton Oaks

Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown is more and more a ghost town these days. The level of vacant storefronts along the street through Georgetown is surely near or at an all-time high. And it just seems to keep getting worse.

The stretch of the road between O and Q Streets has always been a bit of an outlier. For decades this stretch was dominated by cheap suit and jewelry stores. But those are almost entirely gone now. Only a couple remain. And in some cases the formerly decrepit building has been transformed into a beautiful new space. But the space still is mostly empty.

But the vacancies on Wisconsin Ave. are not limited to just these couple blocks. Vacancies pockmark the street from M all the way up to the Safeway. On the lower stretch, GM counts six empty storefronts, including the recent closures of Paolo’s and American/Holiday. In the middle stretch there are eleven empty spaces. Book Hill has a smattering of empty spaces. And Upper Wisconsin, above R, has been struggling with long empty spaces for years. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Alex bar serves a “bath tub” gin in a tiny bath tub.
• The Chase invasion commences (including here in Georgetown)

3200 block of Water St.

Postcards are an excellent source of historical snapshots, both literally and metaphorical. Today, GM wanted to browse through a couple from DDOT’s collection that feature Georgetown.

The picture above is the first, showing an illustration of Georgetown University seen from the old Aqueduct Bridge. The back of the card is here:

The text reads:

From the Aqueduct Bridge, over which funeral corteges of many Army and Navy heroes have passed to Arlington National Cemetery a view of unusual beauty is obtainable. At the summit of the hill is Georgetown University, the original building being over 125 years old. Terraced beneath it at different elevations are the streets of old Georgetown, now West Washington, while reflected in the quiet waters of the Potomac are the Georgetown University and Washington Canoe Club Boat Houses.

The date of the card is probably around the 1920s. That’s because the oldest building on the campus is Old North, which was 125 years old in 1920. Moreover, the Aqueduct Bridge was closed in 1923, and demolished in 1933. (Granted, the card could have been produced more recently than the image depicts.)

A couple other interesting things: the homes depicted on the hillside below the university did exist in the early 20th century, but were torn down. That includes the GU boathouse. The Washington Canoe Club still exists, of course, but it’s green not red.

The second postcard in this group appears to come from the same photograph as the first. This one is clearly more just a reprint of a photo. It also shows Dempsey’s boathouse on the far right, which was excluded in the first postcard. It also shows Washington Canoe Club as red, maybe it really was red back then? Continue reading →

Photo by John Weiss.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Rare 18th century home sells for $6.7 million to institute dedicated to…Calvin Coolidge, what?
• Nice profile of Das Ethiopian owner.

1400 block of 33rd St.

Photo by Daniel Lobo.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Peacock Cafe opening another location in Dupont.
• Martin’s Tavern is 85 years old! Congrats!