Here Is What My Clients Are Saying... The result of Dare’s techniques yielded multiple offers above asking price “An Application in a Box” Any expansion of the Capitol Hill Historic District rests in large part on the value of architecture within the added areas. The new study, which contains historical data about the approximately 5,300 buildings, provides neighbors with the information to make their case, should they choose to. EHT Traceries has taken photos of each residential property in the study and included information like why it was built, for whom it was built and why it looks the way it does, among other contextual factors. CHRS is hosting a series of community meetings in November. At these sessions, EHT Traceries will present their findings and recommendations–based on the consultants’ more than 200-page report, which will be released in November. Whether or not the public chooses to expand the historic district, cataloging the architectural history of greater Capitol Hill is important, said Beth Purcell, the chair of the CHRS historic preservation committee. The study will be a resource for neighbors wishing to preserve the historic character of their neighborhood, a sort of “historic district application in a box,” stated Purcell. According to Purcell, historic designation is analogous to a “defensive move” one would make in a chess game. The benefits are having a say in the process when a developer wants to build something new, create a “popup” or demolish a structure, she said. There are certainly downsides to historic designation, Purcell admits. For example, there are restrictions on external changes to homes such as vinyl siding or non-historic window styles. For those and other reasons, many neighborhoods will choose not to pursue historic status. Still, as Alberti reminds his neighbors, “There are very few things that you can’t do to your home in a historic district.” “We certainly think that having historic district status is a good thing, but we’re not going to force it on anyone,” said Lisa Dale Jones, president of CHRS. While CHRS’s consults have been conducting their study, Advisory Neighborhood
Commission 6C (ANC 6C) has forged ahead with its own plan.
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ANC 6C Forges Ahead Independently ANC 6C recently concluded an extensive period of community discussion over the historic nomination of an area of four squares, totaling 170 contributing buildings. These structures would to be added to the CHHD. The process there involved numerous community meetings over the course of several months, said Mark Eckenwiler, chair of the ANC 6C Planning, Zoning, and Environment Committee. “Part of the process is for these things is just talking to the residents; making people aware of what is entailed in historic district expansion and talking that through over a period of time,” Eckenwiler added.
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Next Steps The next several months will focus on community conversation and information-sharing as CHRS presents its commissioned report to the community. It is likely some areas will decide to pursue historic designation, just as others will not. Where those lines will be drawn will depend on residents. The meetings on the EHT Traceries study will be as follows: • ANC 6A area: Wed. Nov. 5, 6:45 to 8:30 p.m., Maury Elementary School, 13th St. and Constitution Ave. NE • ANC 6B area: Mon. Nov. 17, 6:45 to 8:30 p.m., Hill Center, 921 Penn. Ave. SE • ANC 6C area: Tues. Nov. 18, 7 to 9 p.m., Northeast Library, 330 Seventh St. NE More information on the Capitol Hill Restoration Society itself, the CHHD and historic preservation in general, can be found on www.chrs.org. Shaun Courtney is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of District Source, a DC real estate and neighborhood news blog, co-founded and supported by Lindsay Reishman Real Estate. Shaun has been a local reporter in DC since 2009 and has called the city home since 2002. She currently lives in Kingman Park. Read more from District Source at www.districtsource.com. u
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