This home is located at 1312 Sheridan Street, NW:

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The flier says:

“Beautiful Tudor-style brick rowhouse, move-in condition. 3br, 2.5 baths, skylights, CAC, hardwood floors, garage parking w/ remote, working fireplace, large rooms. Walk to Takoma Metro/shops. House has been very well maintained and sits on a charming street in Brightwood, blocks to Rock Creek Park, downtown, Walter Reed.”

More info and a virtual tour found here.

I’ve always been curious about these brick rowhouses. This one seems to have lots of nice original details. I guess my only complaint is that the kitchen looks like it could use some updating. But otherwise the house looks pretty fresh. Do you think $424,900 sounds reasonable?

Michael Jackson, originally uploaded by houlouis.

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday. Anything good happen this week?

Sonja on film, originally uploaded by Matt.Dunn.

Matt Dunn, originally from the Bronx, NY, lives in Shaw and has been a freelance photographer since June 2000. Matt’s work has been published in the New York Times, Spin Magazine, Mother Jones, Washington City Paper and other publications. He has work on photo projects internationally in Haiti, Cuba, India and Uganda.

The series of portraits are all from 2009 and loosely called “TOUGH”, in a homage to NY street photographers Joel Meyerowitz and Gary Winogrand.

In the book “Bystander: A History of Street Photography”, Joel Meyerowitz talks about shooting with Gary Winogrand.

Meyerowitz talks about what makes an image “Tough”.

“Tough” was a term we used to use a lot. Stark, spare, hard, demanding, tough: these were the values that we applied to the act of making photographs.

Tough meant the image was uncompromising. It was something made out of your guts, out of your instinct, and it was unwieldy in some way, not capable of being categorized by ordinary standards. So it was tough. It was tough to like, tough to see, tough to make, tough to draw meaning from. It wasn’t what most photographs looked like. … It was a type of picture that made you uncomfortable sometimes. You didn’t quite understand it. It made you grind your teeth.

At the same time, though you knew it was beautiful, because tough also meant that – it meant beautiful too. … The two words – “tough” and “beautiful” –became synonyms somehow. They were what street photography was all about.

Matthew, Cowboy. 7th and H, Chinatown, DC, originally uploaded by Matt.Dunn.
Final portrait after the jump. (more…)

In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 1016 T St NW

Original List Price: $720,000.

List Price at Contract: $695,000.

List Date: 11/13/2008

Days on Market: 128

Settled Sales Price: $590,000.

Settlement Date: 05/08/2009

Seller Subsidy: $0

Bank Owned?: No. This was part of an estate.

Type Of Financing: Conventional

Listing History: No previous history available via the multiple listing system or tax records. Given that it was part of an estate, it may have been owned for a long period of time.

Original GDoN Post is: Here.

Recent Listing is: Here. To see pics, click the arrows on the main picture.

At the original list price of $720,000, most Good Deal or Not (GDoN) commenters gave this home, which needed quite a bit of work, a thumbs down. Although it’s not going to work all the time, this looks like a good case for putting an offer out there for what you actually think a property is worth, despite the list price. While the asking price was eventually lowered to $695,000., it sold for more than $100,000. below that.

I didn’t have an opportunity to get inside this property while it was listed, but I pass by it frequently. It is unusual to find a fully detached single family home in this part of the city and I find the architecture quite intriguing. The interior pics suggest some interesting original details and I really hope that this turns out to be a thoughtful renovation.

We’ve spoken about the DC Government’s ANC structure in the past but I received an email from Rob Goodspeed of the Goodspeed Update that is worth reading. He suggests four avenues of reform:

“1. Modify the structure of Single Member Districts,
2. City government should enforce greater transparency and consistency in operations,
3. Reduce the number of ANCs or enlarge SMD sizes, and
4. Term Limits for ANC Commissioners.”

Read his full post here.

I feel pretty lucky in that my ANC is pretty active and has (mostly) good, responsible, engaged representatives. For the FQoTD – do you think the ANC structure should be reformed? Also, what are your experiences with your ANC representatives? Do they help solve problems you have in your neighborhood? Do you support the way they spend ANC money? And I’m just curious with this one – do you know who your ANC Representative is?

A reader writes:

“After 5 years on Capitol Hill, bocce is coming to more neighborhoods in PoPville. The DC Bocce League recently expanded to parks in Adams Morgan (Kalorama Park) and The West End (Rose Park). Registration is currently open and will remain open for another week. Games will be played on Wednesdays and Thursday at 6:30 and 7:30. The summer season starts in late July and runs through early September. Check out www.dcbocce.com for complete details.”

I gave Howard Theater the Horse’s Ass Award at the beginning of the month. Well, I’ve gotten a few emails that work has finally started! Awesome. One reader sums it up nicely:

“It’s news because they are finally starting the long awaited work on Howard Theater.”

Indeed. And if you have Horse’s Ass Award recommendations please email me at princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com

I’ve mentioned that a new Yoga Studio, Past Tense, is coming to 3253 Mt. Pleasant Street. While still under construction, I was able to get a sneak peek. Some other cool things I learned is that they will be hiring a Spanish speaking Yoga instructor for classes in Spanish. Other neat features, they’ll have a pre-natal and kids class a bit later on (perhaps in the Fall). And on Friday nights they’ll have “Happy Hour” class with music (and perhaps some wine after class). There will be an open house on July 11th and the Studio will open July 13th.

And in other yoga news, Quiet Mind Yoga is also offering some deals:

” We’re offering a summer challenge to feel your best for fall! the idea is that folks commit to 3 days, 4 days or 5 days a week to start a regular practice to keep your mind cool and your body feeling great. (july 1 – august 31)
http://quietminddc.com/summer_challenge.html

We’re also offering a YogaWorks 4-week teacher training in August. the early bird registration ends July 3rd. (August 3-28)
http://quietminddc.com/yoga_works.html

July and August unlimited classes are $150.”

More photos inside Past Tense after the jump. (more…)

Congrats to Matt G who is the reader winner with:

“If its all Greek to you…Call us!”

My selection for winner is Binklesworth with:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega: the beginning and end of your tax problems.*

License and bond certification pending”

And honorable mention goes to Chris, who has now cracked me up 3 weeks in a row:

“A building painted back in the 70’s and not re-painted since then called, it wants its paint job back!”

Hahaha. This one really cracked me up. Definitely has a star trek vibe going on. Or, do not drink the Kool Aid…

And don’t forget your cameras this weekend so you can take some photos of your favorite spot and enter the contest to win a sweet carafe (value $180).

A great example of an older glass door opening up onto a vestibule. And of course some great stained glass…

I love this house and have no problem showing it once a year! This is one of my favorites in Petworth. They’ve also got some great flowers going on.

When did the Public Bar open at 1214 18th Street, NW? Anyone check it out yet?

And Crime Reminder Meeting

From an email:

Fifth District Citizens’ Advisory Council
Metropolitan Police Department
June 2009 Meeting
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Fifth District Police Headquarters
1805 Bladensburg Road, NE
7:00PM

Special Guests:
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton – confirmed
The Honorable Adrian M. Fenty – invited
The Honorable Harry “Tommy” Thomas – confirmed
The Honorable Phil Mendelson – confirmed
Cathy Lanier, Chief of Police, DC Metropolitan Police Department – confirmed
The Honorable Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for DC – confirmed
Joseph Persichini, Assistant Director In Charge, FBI Washington Field
Office, U.S. Department of Justice – confirmed
Salvatore Lauro, Chief of Police, United States Park Police, National Park
Service, U.S. Department of Interior – confirmed

I’m always impressed by folks who go the extra effort for no personal gain. Someone found a bike and decided to post signs to find the owner. I think this is part of what makes a neighborhood/community great.

And finally a condo/apartment name that I like. Kinda reminds me of the simple brilliance of the Irving.