The Georgetown Metropolitan

It’s a weird time. And there’s not a lot of Georgetown news. And if you’re stuck at home, looking for a break from Netflix, GM is going to re-run his Field Guide to Georgetown Homes series. Hopefully it will be a bit informative for you. Enjoy!

If there’s one constant in Georgetown real estate listings, it’s that every house, no matter its shape and style, is described as “Federal”. The problem is that only a small percentage of homes in Georgetown could fairly be described as “Federal”.

Georgetown represents a cross section of 19th century architecture. It has buildings of just about every major style from that time period. To help his readers better appreciate the wealth of architectural styles in Georgetown, GM is going to take a shot at writing a field guide to Georgetown homes.

First up: Colonial and Federal Homes

Continue reading →

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Some updated information on the BID’s store/restaurant status list.
• Not really news, but just an observation GM’s made: After a week of it being the go-to photo for local Covid-19 stories, Christ Church has finally slipped off the newspapers. Silver lining, people!

1500 block of Wisconsin Ave.

Photo by Jon Hayes Photography.

If you’re looking for something to be cheerful about these days, consider this: Mother Nature doesn’t have to quarantine herself. The spring can keep coming, regardless of what humans are doing, or not doing. Life, for humans, will eventually go on. But life for everything else isn’t going to stop in the first place. And for no creatures is that truer that it is for trees. Soon they–at least the street ones–will need your help. And if you’re looking for something productive to do, get you and your block ready to care for its trees once the leaves sprout!

Until then, you don’t need to start watering. But it will become necessary sooner than you think. So if you have a young tree on the sidewalk in front of your house or apartment, please, please keep it in mind this summer and water it. This is especially true if it was newly planted (and the city just finished with its planting effort). The basic goal you should have is to water young trees at least once a week, so long as you get a good 20-25 gallons of water. If you can’t water the new trees, try to find a neighbor who can.

The preferred watering device is the ooze tube (the bags that go around the bottom of the trees). You can differentiate them from the not-preferred gator bags because the gator bags have zippers. (They’re not preferred because they can create an unhealthy environment around the trunk and you have to remove them after each use.) With the ooze tube you can just fill it up and let it go. Continue reading →

Photo by Angela N.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown Hospital getting ready for the deluge.
• Georgetown University student was diagnosed with Covid-19.

1000 block of Cecil Place

A lot of Georgetowners are wondering right now what they can do to support the shops and restaurants that are getting especially hammered by the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, some might be wondering where they can go for help themselves. GM will try to provide what information he can as he finds it. So consider this a first in a series.

First: shops and restaurants. While restaurants and bars can’t allow you to eat on premises right now, you can still order their food for take out. The BID has helpfully compiled a list of restaurants in Georgetown that are still open for business for this purpose. As of Tuesday night, the list included 32 establishments. It also lists information for gyms and retail shops, who have shifted over to solely internet-based services for now. Continue reading →

Photo by Kevin Dooley.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Jack Evans is withdrawing his candidacy for the special election, but not for the primary. He claims it’s to show his regret for his transgressions, but by staying in the primary, it really shows that his regret is only skin deep.
• GM’s had some spotty Internet (via Fios) since Monday, how has your service been handling the increased home worker load?

3100 block of Dumbarton St.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is considering a sadly relevant topic: a Georgetown hospital in a time of crisis. Specifically it’s a photo from the Library of Congress of the Seminary Hospital on Washington and Gay (30th and N nowadays).

The building was originally Miss Lydia English’s Finishing School for Girls. As this writer recounts:

From 1820 to 1861 this was “Miss English’s Seminary for Young Ladies”. Many of the daughters of Washington’s elite families were educated here under the direction of Miss Lydia Scudder English.

Miss English wrote in her brochure that she would provide girls with “that amount of mental and moral culture necessary to render them amiable, intelligent, and useful members of society”.

About 140 girls boarded each year at Miss Lydia English’s Georgetown Female Seminary. One of the most famous was Harriet Williams, the teenage bride of the middle aged Russian nobleman whose marital home is at 3322 O St. NW. Continue reading →