The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Jim Barton.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Graham Hotel sells for $37 million.
• An interview with the experts looking into the gondola.

Georgetown University

GM was recently given one of those Georgetown-themed tote bags that J.Crew has been selling for the last couple years. It was the first time GM actually looked at it up close, and he realized it’s covered in icons for various spots around the neighborhood. But some are a bit of a mystery to GM.

The first thing that caught GM’s eye was the alarming face of Linda Blair near the corner of 36th and Prospect, the ostensible location of the Exorcist house:

A little below that you see crew oars for the Tombs restaurant and the profile of some runners for the C & O Canal:

Further down M St. you’ll see a trumpet for Blues Alley and a cupcake for Baked and Wired. Teddy Roosevelt bestrides his island.

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Photo by Jim Barton.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Large Georgetown home jumps $1.7 million in price after renovation.
• Reminder: meeting tonight in Rosslyn about the gondola study.

Key Bridge

This week on Now and a Long Time Ago, GM visits M and Wisconsin Ave. The old photo was taken from a photo recently tweeted by the Georgetown Business Association. It shows the intersection as it was in 1915.

Two things immediately jump out. The first is how little the building on the northwest corner has changed (although an entrance facing Wisconsin has been since removed). It was originally built in 1850. In 1904, the Potomac Savings Bank bought the property. The bank at the time was located at the southwest corner of N and Wisconsin. The building at M and Wisconsin burned in 1909. The bank rebuilt and remodeled the property and moved back in in 1910.

The bank itself failed in 1933 (it was a bad time for banks). The property was shortly thereafter occupied by the Hamilton National Bank. That bank merged with the National Bank of Washington in 1954. It was the Georgetown branch of the local bank, and that’s why it still says “Georgetown Branch” over the door. Here it is in the 1960s:

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Photo by Jim Barton.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Condo planned for the Domino’s property is reduced significantly.
• Johnny Rockets now looks different. Can you tell the difference? GM can’t.

2900 block of Dumbarton St.

GM has written about Airbnb several times in the past. The service enables people to rent out a room or a whole house on a nightly basis. GM first wrote two years ago about how the service had arrived in Georgetown. Later that year GM wrote about how it appeared that more investors were buying Georgetown properties with the intention of renting them out on Airbnb. And then last year, GM wrote about how the city was taking its first steps towards cracking down on the service.

Not too much has changed since. But GM has been hearing increased complaints about the service from residents who don’t like seeing neighboring properties rented out this way. GM hasn’t heard any stories of houses being rented out as party houses, but people still object to the steady stream of new people appearing then disappearing on their block. Continue reading →