DSCN6669, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

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…

DSCN6720, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Another good example of some incredible stonework.

DSCN6748, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

More props to 16th Street Heights. I was struck by the double chimneys.

This sculpture actually creeped me out, truth be known. But it always amazes me how I can walk past something so many times without noticing it and then one day I’m like “what the hell is that?”. Wild. So here’s the real question – does anyone recognize where it’s from?

At first glance it’s not the greatest sign. But if you take a closer look you’ll see that “Wing King” is trademarked. Fantastic! Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever asked where are the best wings in town?

I had no idea the building housing West Elm (1020 G St NW) downtown had so many cool details.

Sweet building, yeah? Incidentally any fans of West Elm?

the crepe man, originally uploaded by hellomarkers!.

This great shot of “the crepe man” is from hellomarkers!.  I like the action shot.  Hmm, here’s a good question – do you prefer savory crepes or sweet crepes?  That might be an impossible question to answer…

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here.

This home is located at 4714 15th Street, NW:

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The flier says:

“Lovely three level town home located in prestigious Street Heights community. Complete with large and private master bedroom, open kitchen, and covered patio that overlooks historic community. Conveniently located near major commuter routes, quality schools, and plenty of shopping and restaurants. NOTE PROPERTY HAS NO HEAT OR AC”

More info and photos found here.

I was super intrigued by this house and thought for sure this was gonna be a good one. Then I read the last sentence – “Note Property has no heat or ac”. There’s always a catch, yeah? Well, I’m still curious to know what you think. Was this a renovation that ran out of money? Anyway, the asking price is $389,000. What do you think?

Bistro D’OC is located at 518 10th St, NW:

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You can find their menus here. The place looks pretty sweet from the outside. Any fans out there? In addition to the food what’s the atmosphere like?

At PoP’s request, I went to the National Building Museum. In the afternoon. In jeans. No ballgowns or tuxes in sight. Weird.

I had never been there during the day before. Well, I had once, but that was to tour the space for a fundraiser I was throwing. (we did not ultimately use the venue) But other than that, the Building Museum has always been to me a place where obligatory, formal-wear-required parties and balls and benefits take place, where all that there is to look forward to is the open bar and the hope that there will be passed hors d’oeuvres more interesting than mini-crabcakes. So when PoP asked, I gave an enthusiastic “Sure!” – especially since the very next day, I was meeting a friend for lunch at Eat First.

After lunch on Friday, we wandered over there. My friend, an employee at the GAO, said that she’d been inside many times. After all, on cold nights, it was an excellent (and warm) shortcut from her office to the Judiciary Square metro. And of course, those cookies at Firehook are fantastic. I asked if she knew what sort of stuff was in there, and other than the fountain and the columns, with which I was already familiar, she didn’t have much more of a clue than I.

To be fair, a former colleague’s wife works there. I’ve never met her, but I asked him once, “So what kind of stuff is there,” and he said, “You know, architectural stuff. An exhibit on DC. A ton of empty office space that they’re looking to rent.”

When we walked in, it was clear they were setting up for an event. Not the kind of black tie thing I was fairly used to, but something else, with a lot of booths. We later found out that it was for Discover Engineering Family Day, an event put on my the National Engineers Week Foundation and the Museum. Not ever having been especially prone to science, or math, or anything engineer-y, my response to learning this was, “Seriously?” In reality though, I wish I’d known about this in time to let all of you know beforehand (the event took place on Saturday the 21^st) because it looked really cool. The woman I spoke to was from the National Science Foundation. They were in the process of constructing a tank where they would be simulating tsunamis! AND, where you could construct your own mini structures, to put in the line of the tsunami to be destroyed! When I excitedly explained how that was pretty much the coolest thing ever because tsunamis are my favorite natural disaster, the nice lady invited me back for the event. Unfortunately my extreme discomfort in the presence of one child, let alone hundreds, prevented that from happening – but damn, it seemed cool. Continues after the jump. (more…)

DSCN0394, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Thanks a million to a reader for sending the following response to his inquiry:

All of the necessary infrastructure work, as well as construction work on the entire lower level of the park, were completed over a year ago.
Construction of the lodge house on the upper level has been completed and was inspected last week. That inspection revealed a few items that need to be corrected by the contractor before the Park Service accepts the building. Until these corrections have been made and the building is occupied, the fencing and plywood around the lodge house will remain in place to prevent vandalism.

The lawn areas on the upper level of the park have been regraded and sodded, and are under contractor warrantee. This means that the contractor is responsible for maintaining the lawn areas for 1 year and turning over a well established, lush lawn to the Park Service at the completion of the contractor maintenance period. The contractor has the option of leaving the snow fencing up during this maintenance period, and we expect them to do so since the contractor will face a substantial financial burden should the lawn areas be damaged.

If you are concerned about the amount of available space, the lower level is open and has not been affected by construction on the upper level.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Coleman
Superintendent, Rock Creek Park
National Park Service

DSCN6729, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I know it’s a memorial to Francis Asbury and all but did they have to capture the horse biting his knee or shooing a fly or something. I mean how ’bout some dignity for the horse too. I can just imagine the horse thinking: “Man I stood still for 4 hours for the artist, I have one moment of weakness, and that’s the pose I’m immortalized in? Horseshit!”

Fire Engine at Watergate, originally uploaded by Vicki’s Pics.

I was contacted by the writer behind 2bars3stars who wrote about his experience in the Harvard Hall Apartment fire Sunday night. He writes in his blog:

“It’s a little after 2 a.m. E. and I are sound asleep, then startled awake. Our neighbor, a close friend, is pounding on the front door of our Adams Morgan apartment, alerting us to a fire raging down the hall.”

In an email he writes that he’d like to:

“Uncover the facts of last night’s Adams Morgan apartment fire, in which no fire alarms were heard during the fire. Harvard Hall is a huge building, 7 floors. It was unbelievable to see so many people leaving the building a half hour after us, having slept through the blaze. The building manager manages lots of old buildings in Adams Morgan and, if HH is par for the course, a catastrophe is easy to imagine. If the fire had been on the scale of the mt. pleasant apartment fire last year, and the alarms failed, lots of people could’ve died.”

There was coverage of the fire in the City Paper and the Post.

Any readers out there residents of this Harvard Hall Apartments in Adams Morgan? Did you hear any fire alarms?

DSCN6694, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I’ve always wondered how such a prime property could be left in such a rundown condition. I was happy to see a permit saying that the Embassy of Spain is seeking to use this space for a chancery annex that will be used as a Spanish Cultural Center. Nice. I hope they are able to salvage some of the beautiful buildings already on the property.

DSCN6771, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I was going through a bit of withdrawal. This one is located at the school on Upshur just east of 14th Street.