I love the Russian Orthodox Cathedral Of St John The Baptist at 4001 17th St, NW. I’ve shown it before but it was looking so good last weekend I couldn’t resist sharing again.

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title or upload to the PoPville flickr pool.

Photo by PoPville flickr user mosley.brian

And a reader has a very serious question:

“Help! Despite regular use of Frontline Plus (topical flea & tick stuff) my coolest dog has fleas! After a week of scratching and much examining for a week I saw one actual flea about 3 weeks ago. I applied her regular does that day, a few days early, washed all her bedding etc. but it did not seem to do a thing. Yesterday my vet said I could apply another dose, and I’ve been washing bedding, vacuuming everywhere since then.

Has anyone else had flea trouble despite using Frontline? Any luck ridding the house permanently?”

Winston helping at the keyboard

Photo of Princess Mia by PoPville flickr user jkpeugh

After the jump a found puppy from Allison and Illinois Ave, NW (more…)

This rental is located at 1126 11th St NW:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“Fantastic efficiency located on the 3rd floor available now! Walking distance from Mt. Vermont Sq 7th St – Convention Center (Green and Yellow lines), McPherson Square Station (Blue and Orange lines), Logan Circle. Chinatown and near cross-town/downtown buses; Latin American Restaurant across the street, and more! Unit was recently renovated and has wood floors.”

Does $1200 sound reasonable for an efficiency at this locatoin?

Photo by PoPville flickr user AWard Tour

“Dear PoP,

I am trying to locate relatively quiet options (bars, restaurants) for watching NFL games on Sunday. My father likes to watch his team (the Steelers) but has hearing sensitivities that make watching in loud places a problem. Places in the Silver Spring-DC-Bethesda triangle preferred. Many thanks.”

We spoke about general spots of where you watch your football at the end of August. But does anyone have any suggestions of a calm place to watch for someone that has hearing sensitivities?

Photo by PoPville flickr user amarino17

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rukasu1

“Dear PoP,

In my mind, this is a pretty clear cut case of cars being dangerous, bikes being vulnerable, and infrastructure failing to mediate the situation, but the first comment on YouTube was a bike hater saying I should ride on the sidewalk. I’m hoping this video will draw attention to the danger at this intersection, but am also curious how your readers will respond.”

For folks who use the bike lanes – do you share these experiences? If so do you think they require barriers like 15th St, NW. Are there other barriers that can be put in place. Or is this just the reality?

This house is located at 505 Allison St, NW:

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The flier says:

“Gorgeous property, Open floor plan with lots of natural light; newly renovated; updated kitchen with modern cabinets, top of the line appliances; all new bathrooms; gorgeous master with bath and walk in closet; hardwood floors throughout; spacious basement with separate entrance; large den; breakfast area; large main level sitting room; beautiful deck with barbecue/ car park space; Petworth Metro”

You can find more info here and photos here.

What do you guys think of the renovation? The reader writes that this property had been vacant for 2 years. Do you think $489,000 sounds reasonable for this 4 bed/3.5 bath?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rukasu1

“Dear PoP,

I’ve been summoned for grand jury duty to the US District Court for the District of Columbia (not to be confused with regular DC court jury duty). The summons specifically says that full time employment is not a hardship excuse. It just seems crazy to me that anyone would be expected to take this much time out of their life – I have really demanding full time job working on policy, and during this 18 months there will be at least one major piece of legislation that I need to be available to work on. There’s no way that I can competently do my job, which will involve 60-hour + work weeks when I’m working on this bill, 3 days a week. My employer will continue to pay me for full time work, which I am really grateful for, but I’m still really worried about the long term impact this is going to have on my career (and my sanity). I’m all for doing my civic duty, but this is nuts!”

Holy cow! I’ve never heard of 18 month jury duty before. I bet it is an interesting case… Apparently the duty is for ‘only‘ two days per week. Do you think the two days a week are rotating? Anyone else ever hear of something like this before? What would you do if you got summoned for 18 month jury duty?

Photo by PoPville flickr user katiecampbell

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. So anything good happen to you this week?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, (a PoP advertiser) is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, include ‘legal question’ in the title and each week one question will be featured. I was curious about the following questions:

Question:

What happens when a “city tree” falls on your property? What happens when
a neighbor’s tree falls on your property? What happens when a neighbor’s tree
damages your property? Are there any rules on trimming a neighbor’s trees?

Answer:

The law regarding trees is rooted in ancient common law and there are no statutes in the
District of Columbia dealing with this topic.

Damage from falling branches may seem like an issue that would be more prevalent in
the suburbs, where yards are bigger and can support more trees. However, many of the
cases we found that address the law of trees actually take place in urban settings like DC
due to fact that people live close to one another, cars are typically parked on the street
and pedestrians abound.

Under common law, a landowner is held to the duty of common prudence (not strict
liability) in maintaining his/her property, including the trees thereon, in such a way as to
prevent injury to a neighbor’s property and people in the adjoining public right of way.
This rule applies to private landowners as well as governmental bodies. Therefore, if a
branch or entire tree falls on your property (or you) and causes damage, the person who
owns the tree is not automatically liable for your damages. Even the sturdiest looking
tree is capable of being knocked over given the right circumstances, so a court will not
fault the owner of the tree if the unthinkable happens. However, if the neighbor was
negligent in maintaining the tree (ex. the tree was obviously dead and leaning toward
your house), the neighbor would be liable for any damage caused by his/her negligence.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Voted one of the best real estate agents in DC by the Washington City Paper Readers’ Choice Poll in 2009, hipchickindc aka the not-so-hip Suzanne Des Marais is an Associate Broker with Urban Pace. She lives (and sells a lot of houses) in Bloomingdale, but works all over DC, with everyone from first time buyers to highly regarded developers. 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: 70 Rhode Island Ave NW #401
Original List Price: $324,900.
List Price at Contract: $299,000.
List Date: 03/18/2010
Days on Market: 96

Settled Sales Price: $265,000.

Settled Price Per Square Foot: $345 No Parking Included
Settlement Date: 09/03/2010
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional through NACA

Original GDoN is: here.

The Listing can be seen: here. To see pics, after opening the listing link, click on the main pic and scroll through.

Prior to 2003, there was a grand total of one building of condominium ownership in all of Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park, at 5 Rhode Island Ave NW. This Good Deal or Not (GDoN) condo is located at 70 Rhode Island Avenue NW, and was one of three buildings developed as condos to come to fruition that year. All three had been rental apartments up to that point. Originally marketed as “The Ember”, residents swiftly revised this ominous moniker to “The Providence”. (The building at the corner of T St NW and 1st NW, where Rustik is coming in, was known as “The Green Ember” and was condo’ed during the same era.) The entire building had been gutted and renovated in 2002-2003. Each unit includes a gas fireplace, and even the small units typically have an open feel to them.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

It’s been a long long time since I’ve featured a comment of the day. Maybe because yesterday was so contentious when I read the following comment about the G Spot Tavern, I couldn’t stop laughing. ‘notolp’ writes:

“Good luck finding it.”

After many false starts and teases, the day has finally arrived! Rustik Bloomingdale’s first Tavern opens up tonight at the corner of 1st and T St, NW. You can see their menu here. You can see their Web site here Rustik sends word in a newsletter:

“We are opening at last!

Starting, Friday, September 24th, at 9:00pm, Rustik Tavern will be open to the public.
This is a soft opening, therefore we apologize for any delays in service that you may encounter or random mishaps that may (and will) take place.”

Based on the buzz coming from twitter, I’d say the place is gonna be smashed crowded tonight. But that is understandable given all the anticipation. It is a great day for Bloomingdale.

And don’t forget Boundary Stone another Tavern is still slated to come to 116 Rhode Island Avenue NW. I’m hearing that they are now shooting for a February opening.

Well Bloomingdalians enjoy your beer and pizza tonight, you’ve earned it!

Photo by PoPville flickr user K’s Clicks

I guess I’ve always known DC has been a festival city but I never really appreciated just how many festivals we host until this year. Just off the top of my head – H St, NE, Adams Morgan, Barracks Row, Cleveland Park, Mt. Pleasant Fiesta, Georgia Ave/Caribbean Day, Crafty Bastards, Greek Festival, Turkish Festival, Cherry Blossom, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Capitol Jazz Fest, National Book Festival, Capitol Pride, Fiesta Asia!, Dance DC Festival, Festa Italiana, and Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. Many are listed here. Did I leave any big ones out?

Perhaps picking only one is impossible, if that’s the case, what are your top three?

I’m gonna vote Georgia Ave/Caribbean Day, Mt. Pleasant Fiesta ( this Sunday) and Folklife Festival. You?

Photo by PoPville fickr user pablo.raw

Congrats to Murdock with:

“The most interesting man in the world doesn’t always take the bus, but when he does, he prefers the X2.”

Runner up to Darth Fabulous with:

“I still can’t see the sailboat.”