At long last Smith Commons will be opening up:
“On New Year’s Eve, Smith Commons will welcome guests for dinner on the first floor Dining Room. The Public House on levels two and three has no cover charge and will be open from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am with complimentary hors d’oeuvres from 9:00 to midnight.”

They are located at 1245 H St. NE and you can see their menu here.

Frozen Tropics reports that Sticky Rice had been shut down after a non fatal stabbing their last night:

“There was a non-fatal stabbing incident at Sticky Rice last night, and the restaurant has been closed for the standard “up to 96 hours.” They shut down around 10pm last night.”

Sticky Rice is located at 1224 H St, NE.

Update from @HStreetDC on twitter: “MPD has made an arrest in the Felony ADW – Knife @StickyRiceDC. Customary closure until hearing can be held.”

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 and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.  I’m aware not everyone loves pets.  But they bring me (and others) a lot of pleasure.  It’s cool, hold tight, a new post is coming in a half hour, you can make it!

“Here’s Sandy sleeping with his kitties ~ Annabelle, Clementine and Frankie ”

“I might be biased, but I think this is one of the most amazing pictures ever. One of my parakeets, Mr. Burns, was flying around my room, and some how ended up hanging upside down from this dress. He was very nonchalant about it, like he totally meant to hang by his toenails like this. After I finished laughing I freed him.”

“I live this shot of Alice – whipping her hair back and forth … Ok ok maybe she just riding shotgun with the top down ”

Photo by PoPville flickr user jackiemarks

“Oliver Bacon. Soaking up ever last ounce of sunlight in our draft ridden home.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

“Dear PoP,

I’m looking for an interior decorator/designer to help me with my first home. As most everyone, I’m on a budget — under $5k. I’m looking for someone that works with small potatoes clients like me who want to come up with a design “plan” and implement it on my own. Unfortunately, most of my internet searching has come up with major design firms I can’t afford. The American Society of Interior Designers web site came back with pages and pages of results, and I just don’t know where to start. I’m hoping some of your readers can recommend decorators they’ve worked with in the past. Also, I’m wondering if I can get some pricing info from your readers — I don’t have a clue what a decorator’s services should cost!”

You can check in with occasional PoP contributor Jessica Bonness Anyone else have some suggestions? Rough cost estimates, etc.?

This great painting was done by GDoN Revisited Maven – hipchickindc

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

We first learned that Hill Country would be coming to 410 7th Street, NW back in March ’10.

You can see their menu here.

Damn those pictures look good! Can’t wait to see if it tastes as good as it looks. Stay tuned for updates when an exact opening date is announced.

This home is located at 1730 S St, NW:

View Larger Map

The flier says:

“Wonderful four level renovated townhouse in the heart of Dupont. Amenities too numerous to mention. 9ft+ ceilings, beautiful original woodwork and inlaid flooring. 5BR plus a gorgeous MB suite w/ dressing room and spa bath! 2 level rear deck plus gated pkg. for 2 cars. Dont MIss This!”

You can find more info here and photos here.

I thought I’d throw one more fun one up before I hit the road. This one was listed at $2,350,000 – did they buyers get a good deal?

801 Penn. Ave, NW is right near Archives Navy Memorial. I’ll def. be keeping my eye on this space – I’m super intrigued. Anyone happen to hear anything? Any guesses to what/who could be a fast food and bakery?

Photo of ‘Demolition of 800 Water Street, SW, formerly Hogate’s Seafood Restaurant, 12/29/10′ by PoPville flickr user rockcreek

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 short week? Any fun New Years plans?

Photo by PoPville flickr user rjs1322

“Dear PoP,

I am a long-ish time Columbia Heights resident (5+ years), but am looking to upgrade from a condo to a rowhouse. I LOVE Columbia Heights, but over the past few weeks, have come to consider a property a bit south of Grant Circle, because, quite honestly, my money goes further in Petworth.

So my question to you — and all other Petworth dwellers — is this: can I live in Petworth without a car? Or without spending half my life waiting for a bus? Most importantly, how should I get groceries? (I find the Petworth Safeway a little to scary and the Yes! a little too limited in selection — and Zipcar is out because, again honestly, I’m a horrible driver) Secondly, what dry cleaner should I use? Finally, is a mile-plus walk to the S-series buses a sustainable commute?

Any tips/recommendations are greatly appreciated!”

I can answer this question pretty easily because I live just south of Grant Circle and I haven’t had a car in over a year. Yes, you can def. do it! For grocery shopping you can use Giant’s Peapod service or if you are slightly crazy like me you can use a granny cart (I occasionally shlep mine all the way to the Columbia Heights Giant). I don’t ride the bus too often but when I was regularly commuting I walked to metro in about 10 minutes. Anyone use the S-series buses?

Any other non car urban dwellers?

“Dear PoP,

Walked by Uptowner on 18th today and noticed that it’s already closed!! I didn’t think the place would last long from the few times I had been in there and am not at all surprised that it’s already closed. Know what’s going in there in the future? Oh man I hope it’s a good Vietnamese or Korean restaurant!”

Wow, Uptowner Cafe had opened up in May ’10 in the long vacant Carribou Coffee space at 2421 18th St NW. Their other locations including the one in Columbia Heights remain open.

I tried to confirm by phone but the call went straight to voicemail. Anyone know when/if the Adams Morgan location closed? Is it possible it’s just a temporary/holiday closing? If the closing is permanent I fear the space may remain vacant for a number of years again…

Well, I’ve dreaded this moment but it’s time to come clean – I’m gonna be off-line next week. I have pre-loaded some posts for next week so you shouldn’t experience House of the Day withdrawal. You may, however, experience some afternoon animal fix and/or good deal or not? withdrawal, if the shakes get too bad, I recommend revisiting the animal fix archives here and GDoN archives here.

And I’m super fortunate and grateful to say that my good friend, author, occasional PoP contributorand, Petworth resident Eric Nuzum, will be helming the ship later next week. Thanks Eric!

So next week’s posting schedule may be a bit irregular. I also may not be able to get to your questions right away but rest assured they’ll still go into the queue to be answered the following week. For those commenting, I won’t be as involved so don’t kill each other. Also if you get caught in a comment “awaiting moderation” I apologize in advance! Try not to put more than one link in a comment and hopefully it won’t be too much of a pain.

In some of my pre-loaded posts, I’m sure I may have some spelling errors. I apologize in advance. Hell, I might as well take this opportunity to apologize to whomever I (or definitely Eric) will somehow offend in the coming week. I am deeply sorry.

So thanks again to Eric, please don’t kill each other, and the regular posting schedule will return Jan. 9th.

Thanks for understanding!

Ed. Note: I honestly found this bumper sticker pictured above on a door last weekend in Petworth. My last vacation was in Sept. ’06 to Peru this time I’m hitting the beach.

It’s been a big week for expansions as we just learned that Bar Pilar will also be expanding soon at 1833 14th St, NW. Komi located at 1509 17th Street, NW has long been on my special occasion must try restaurants list. We judged Komi back in Feb. ’09. And now it soon looks like I might get a chance to try them out. Even before Pres. Obama visited the restaurant it has always been tough to get a reservation.

A recent liquor license amendment says:

“The licensee requests the following substantial change of an Expansion of the premises for the space below and adjacent to the current premises. This will include an additional 6 seats adjacent and 26 seats below for a total increase to 74 seats. There is an additional expansion to increase the Sidewalk Café seating by 20 seats.”

I’m guessing that’s going to be into the dry cleaners space. Do you think an expansion is a good idea?

I seem to remember there was some discussion over the summer about Georgetown shops leaving their doors open to invite patrons in but as a result ended up wasting serious air conditioning. Who knew it also applied to Winter. Last weekend I noticed the new Ugg store on Wisconsin Ave had its door propped open on Sunday (it was about 28 degrees outside).

Ridiculous or if they can afford the cost who cares?

The sculpture on the side of the Four Seasons in Georgetown is a bit obscured but when you notice it, simply awesome: