If You Lived Here
Petworth/16th St. Heights
Season 1 Episode 8 | 28m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
The hosts and realtor Denise Champion visit three homes in Petworth and 16th St Heights.
The hosts and realtor Denise Champion visit three properties in the District’s Petworth and 16th Street Heights neighborhoods. Along the way, Petworth News founder Drew Schneider and longtime Petworth resident Akena Allen share historic and personal stories of how the residents of Petworth feel a “pride of place.
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If You Lived Here is a local public television program presented by WETA
If You Lived Here
Petworth/16th St. Heights
Season 1 Episode 8 | 28m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
The hosts and realtor Denise Champion visit three properties in the District’s Petworth and 16th Street Heights neighborhoods. Along the way, Petworth News founder Drew Schneider and longtime Petworth resident Akena Allen share historic and personal stories of how the residents of Petworth feel a “pride of place.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪ ♪ CHRISTINE: Hi, I'm Christine Louise.
JOHN: And I'm John Begeny.
CHRISTINE: We're producers at WETA and best friends.
JOHN: We love living in the DC area, but finding a place to live here can be both exciting and challenging.
CHRISTINE: Join us as we tour homes and explore communities, one neighborhood at a time.
JOHN: And find out what it would be like...
BOTH: If you lived here.
(doorbell) JOHN: If you watch the show, you're probably wondering where are the houses?
Well, don't worry, they're right around the corner.
CHRISTINE: We're spending today in Petworth and 16th Street Heights, and we thought it'd be fun to walk there through Rock Creek Park.
JOHN: It's hard to believe we're actually in Washington, DC.
CHRISTINE: Well, Rock Creek Park is DC's natural getaway.
It's an 1,800 acre oasis filled with trees, trails and more.
JOHN: The park's Eastern border runs along 16th Street, which is quite convenient because we're headed to 16th Street Heights.
CHRISTINE: The 16th Street Heights and Petworth were developed as a series of suburban subdivisions, that became part of DC in the late 1800s.
JOHN: Petworth is known for its brick row homes and front porches.
Most of them date back to the 1920s and '30s and almost every one of them is within two blocks of a park or playground.
CHRISTINE: Both areas are incredibly diverse and community oriented.
16th Street Heights remains mostly residential, while Petworth has a wide variety of shops, restaurants and seasonal events.
JOHN: We're joined today by DC realtor, Denise Champion, who has lived and helped folks in Petworth and 16th Street Heights become residents and neighbors for many years.
CHRISTINE: She sounds perfect.
Shall we go meet Denise?
JOHN: Lead on park ranger.
CHRISTINE: Well, I was a girl scout.
JOHN: All right, through the forest we go.
(doorbell) JOHN: Hi, Denise.
DENISE: John.
Hey.
Hi, Christine.
How are you?
CHRISTINE: Hi.
Good, good.
JOHN: Nice to meet you.
CHRISTINE: So nice to meet you.
DENISE: Nice to meet you too.
So, welcome to Petworth.
JOHN: Yes.
DENISE: And this is going to be our first property and we're going to go upstairs and take a look.
CHRISTINE: Okay, sounds good.
JOHN: Fantastic.
DENISE: Very good.
JOHN: I love the outside of this building, Denise.
DENISE: It's a great building.
It's a Tutor style building.
All right, come on in Christine and John.
JOHN: Thanks for escorting us up, Denise.
This looks great.
DENISE: Absolutely.
CHRISTINE: Oh, it does.
DENISE: I'm so excited for you to see this unit.
CHRISTINE: So I know you've seen a lot of real estate over the years and in this area because you've been a realtor for how long?
DENISE: 45 everyday years.
I call it twice on Sundays, because I usually do open houses.
JOHN: Yes.
DENISE: Yes.
I'm on almost my nineteenth-hundredth house.
CHRISTINE: Oh my gosh.
JOHN: Wow.
DENISE: You want to know about location first or... JOHN: Tell us where we are.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, tell us.
DENISE: All right.
You're in the Northeast section of Petworth, along Upshur Street.
We have a lot of new restaurants.
We have a farmer's market.
We have bike share.
Petworth is considered as of now, one of the most revitalized, gentrified communities in the country.
JOHN: Wow.
DENISE: So there's a lot of new developments going in here, but this building is charming.
It consists of nine buildings.
It has a beautiful courtyard, built in 1936, so you have all the architectural features of a Tutor.
One of the things I want to highlight about this unit is that it has three exposures.
So you have 13 windows.
Go hunt and find out where these things are.
CHRISTINE: We're gonna keep, like, a checklist.
JOHN: I know.
DENISE: Yes.
I'm going to give you some privacy, and so I'll wait for you outside the door.
JOHN: Perfect.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
DENISE: Okay.
All right.
JOHN: We'll see you in a bit.
CHRISTINE: Thank you.
DENISE: Enjoy.
JOHN: Okay.
Ah, this is great.
CHRISTINE: Right.
And you notice the archways right away.
JOHN: Nice detail.
I mean, they're all throughout this entire place.
And look what they did to the kitchen.
So redone, remodeled.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
So I do like the counter to ceiling tile.
JOHN: Yeah.
They took out all the cabinets and did these floating shelves, which is a trend right now.
CHRISTINE: It is.
How do you feel about no cabinet space though?
JOHN: Well, I mean it's sharp looking.
I don't know if you get a lot of utility out of it.
I would probably put shelves on this wall.
CHRISTINE: Oh, I can see that.
JOHN: That would add a lot of storage for the kitchen.
CHRISTINE: It would, it would.
JOHN: And a big living room.
CHRISTINE: You come into this nice, big living room.
JOHN: So nice.
CHRISTINE: Okay, so let's go check out the bedrooms.
JOHN: Sounds good.
Nice bath... Oh, Hey.
CHRISTINE: Hey.
JOHN: Two doors.
Nice space.
Talk about lights.
Hello.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, right.
JOHN: Three more windows.
CHRISTINE: Three more.
I hope you're keeping track.
Let's go up my way.
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: So here we have bedroom number two.
JOHN: Another sizable bedroom and these beautiful windows.
CHRISTINE: I bet this is original hardwood.
JOHN: Those doors are gorgeous.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
JOHN: All right, very nice.
CHRISTINE: So obviously bedroom number three.
JOHN: The other side of this place was so bright during this time of day.
This has shady side to it.
CHRISTINE: Well, she said you get all exposures.
JOHN: You do get all exposures.
This is nice.
CHRISTINE: Okay, here we have the bathroom.
Yep, I bet that is probably the original cast iron tub.
JOHN: That's a solid tub.
You didn't even need to knock on that one.
CHRISTINE: Because you know those are so hard to get out of a home, but it's nicely remodeled around it.
JOHN: Absolutely.
Lots of potential to make little changes here and there.
Ah, there she is.
CHRISTINE: Oh, hey, Denise.
DENISE: Hey.
So, guys, what'd you think?
JOHN: Oh my God.
It's great.
CHRISTINE: I loved it.
And you know what I loved in particular, as you walk in and technically it's not what you would call open concept, but it feels like an open concept.
JOHN: The rooms are huge.
I mean, the living room and the original doors, the hardware.
CHRISTINE: Okay, and truth be told we did lose count on the windows.
JOHN: Yes.
CHRISTINE: But the natural light, really great.
DENISE: Super glad to hear that.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: So after we finish a home, we like to guess the listing price.
JOHN: That's right.
So whoever gets closest to the actual listing price... CHRISTINE: Without going over.
JOHN: Gets bragging rights essentially.
DENISE: Okay.
All right.
JOHN: But before we guess, a couple of questions.
DENISE: Okay.
JOHN: So this is a co-op, what is the monthly fee?
DENISE: The monthly fee is around $927.
However, with the co-operative it includes practically everything.
All you pay is the electricity.
Keep in mind this is an older building built in 1936.
JOHN: 1936.
DENISE: I could have tested you on that one.
JOHN: I would've gotten that right.
CHRISTINE: I remembered.
DENISE: So, three bedrooms, one bath, 1,200 to 1,300 square feet, somewhere between.
JOHN: It actually seems bigger to me.
CHRISTINE: It does.
JOHN: Maybe it's because of the flow of the house, but I'm going to go for these three bedrooms here on New Hampshire Avenue in Petworth at 375.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
All right.
JOHN: Final answer.
CHRISTINE: 375.
JOHN: 375.
CHRISTINE: I'm going to go at a listing price of 425.
JOHN: All right.
DENISE: All right.
Well, I'm so sorry to tell you, that you're both wrong.
JOHN: We both went over?
DENISE: Both went over.
The actual price is 350.
JOHN: Wow.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
DENISE: So I'm not surprised that you came up with that number.
This is pretty special and unique.
CHRISTINE: You can see that.
But we have two more chances to redeem ourselves.
JOHN: That's right.
So two more homes today, and we're going now from Petworth to your neck of the woods.
DENISE: That's right.
16th Street Heights and I can't wait to show it to you.
JOHN: Okay, let's go.
EJ: This is the Petworth area.
One of my favorite places in DC.
Everything's accessible, lots of cute places, cute restaurants and lots of fun stuff to do.
RICARDO: What I like about Petworth is there's a lot of really nice people that live in the area, like, everyone is super friendly.
JULIE: I like that in Petworth, you can walk to almost anything, grocery stores, libraries, even a pool, if you're willing to walk half a mile.
DREW: This is the Upshur Street corridor, sort of known as the block.
And it's really important aspect of Petworth because it has a lot of the restaurants, a lot of the retail and it continues to evolve and to grow over time.
One of the things that makes Petworth very special is the combination of that sense of community.
It has a pride of place.
Petworth was originally a family owned land and in the 1880s, it was sold to become subdivided into homes.
And the very first row houses designed by Harry Wardman were right there on Eighth Street, with the front porches, which are very popular and are very important to the culture here in Petworth.
AKENA: In summertime, me and my cousins were like, we would always go to grandma's house.
And she would come outside with her coffee and we would go run up and down the street.
They would stay on a porch and watch us.
We'd call it grandma's coffee conversation, so porch was also a meeting place for us.
My grandmother was like famous for feeding everybody in the neighborhood.
So any given moment, it would be 25 kids probably on my porch.
(doorbell) DENISE: Well, welcome to 16th Street Heights.
JOHN: This is nice.
DENISE: This is kind of a combination block.
These are row homes... JOHN: Yes.
DENISE: They were built in the 1920s and its across the street from detach Victorians and bungalows.
JOHN: Like this one.
DENISE: And they were built in the early 1900s, like maybe 1905, 1906.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Okay.
DENISE: In general, 16th Street Heights has mostly detached frame houses.
The other thing I want to point out to you, just a little bit of history, is that this is the early neighborhoods for downtown.
So people would come on the weekends on horse and buggy and it still exists.
There is like a buggy turnaround.
JOHN: There's a buggy turnaround to this day?
DENISE: Yes.
Yes.
Now it's the bus turnaround.
So I'm excited for you to see this particular property.
So go ahead and take a look.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: All right.
DENISE: And let me know what you think.
JOHN: We will.
CHRISTINE: All right.
All right, what a nice foyer again.
JOHN: This is nice.
Look at the nice staircase.
Nice foyer.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
JOHN: Into your living room.
I love these wood doors.
CHRISTINE: And you know what?
I have to say, I think this is the first time I've seen bamboo flooring in the houses we've looked at.
JOHN: Yes, I think that is the first time we've seen that.
Bamboo floors are resilient?
CHRISTINE: Oh yeah.
I mean, they can handle lots of foot traffic.
JOHN: And into... CHRISTINE: I don't mean to like skip or rush rooms.
JOHN: Ah, this room is spectacular.
This is why you buy this house.
CHRISTINE: Right, right, right.
JOHN: This is probably the wow room for me.
CHRISTINE: I mean your eye is just completely drawn to these French doors in this light.
JOHN: Ah, this is great.
CHRISTINE: Oh, look at this nice backyard.
JOHN: That's a nice space.
I love all the layers of paint on this wood and this brick.
And then also this butter cream that they used on the floor, really cute.
All right.
Oh, hello, retro.
CHRISTINE: So for the year this house was built, this is actually a good size kitchen.
JOHN: It sure is.
Very big.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
You've got plenty of cabinet space.
You've got plenty of counter space.
JOHN: Hey, but look up.
Look at these panels.
You don't see this often in homes, but you see it in like restaurants and it brings ceiling heights down and acts as a sound buffer.
But I dig it in this kitchen.
Okay, up we go?
CHRISTINE: Yep, let's take a look at the second floor.
JOHN: After you.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Left or right?
CHRISTINE: So there's four bedrooms.
JOHN: Let's do left because there's that porch up here.
Oh, is there... CHRISTINE: There's a entry on this side.
JOHN: There's an entry on this side.
I'll race you.
CHRISTINE: Race you up.
JOHN: I win.
CHRISTINE: I win.
But look at the view from up here.
JOHN: Yeah.
This is great.
CHRISTINE: Oh my gosh.
JOHN: And this would've been that sleeping porch back in the day, you know, where you would had screens up here so you could be cool at night and keep the bugs out.
CHRISTINE: This would be great to sleep out here today.
JOHN: I would do that.
CHRISTINE: All right.
JOHN: Well this is a nice little bedroom.
How's your bedroom?
CHRISTINE: Well, I have a cute bedroom too.
JOHN: You do too?
I do too.
Yeah, yours is nice.
CHRISTINE: It is cute.
JOHN: All these original details.
CHRISTINE: Okay, here's the bathroom, full bath.
JOHN: All right.
CHRISTINE: It's been updated.
JOHN: It's nice.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
JOHN: Yeah, it's not super new but it's nice.
It's up to date and look up.
Look at that skylight.
How classic is that?
CHRISTINE: Oh my gosh.
I did not notice that at all.
JOHN: Really cool.
CHRISTINE: I mean, it was bright in here but... JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Just think of the things I'd miss if I wasn't with you.
JOHN: Isn't that so true?
CHRISTINE: Okay, so here's bedroom number three.
JOHN: Yep, definitely the biggest one on the floor.
CHRISTINE: Nice size space.
JOHN: Yeah.
Very good.
CHRISTINE: And here we have, this is a fourth bedroom.
JOHN: Fourth and final, the baby bedroom.
CHRISTINE: As we're talking about the character of the home, the original doors and I bet this is the original flooring.
JOHN: Sure looks like it.
You really feel the age of this house in a grand way.
CHRISTINE: You do.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: And you know what, that's what makes this home so unique.
That's what makes older homes unique.
JOHN: Yeah.
I love it.
Okay, downstairs?
CHRISTINE: Yep.
JOHN: Let's go.
CHRISTINE: Let's go check out the lower level.
All right.
JOHN: Well, this is unexpected.
CHRISTINE: It is.
And when you think about when this home was built, I mean to have a basement this size.
JOHN: Yeah, it's big.
CHRISTINE: And they've done a really nice job because they've created separate rooms.
JOHN: Yeah, there's a little office here it looks like.
CHRISTINE: And another bedroom... Oh, this is a big sized bedroom here.
JOHN: A big bedroom.
Yeah, with a window.
CHRISTINE: Right.
JOHN: Nice guest room.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
JOHN: So that's up to five bedrooms.
CHRISTINE: And you have an outdoor entrance, a separate outdoor entrance.
JOHN: You sure do.
CHRISTINE: So what we have here... Oh, another bedroom, closet and then a full bath.
JOHN: Is this a full bath?
It is a full bath.
Look, it has a really teeny shower.
CHRISTINE: This was a lot of house.
JOHN: It was.
A lot to consider and, you know, we both went over last time.
CHRISTINE: We did, so we both kind of blew the first one.
JOHN: We can't let Denise down again.
CHRISTINE: No.
JOHN: Hey.
CHRISTINE: Hello.
DENISE: So, hey guys, what did you think?
JOHN: Well, I'm going to call this the porch house.
DENISE: All right.
JOHN: Great porch as you walked in and then the porch in the back and then the one upstairs.
Love it.
CHRISTINE: That upstairs porch with the balcony, you thought it probably had screens at one time.
JOHN: Yeah, a sleeping porch.
DENISE: Yes.
Now people have finished them or they have screened, but you're quite correct.
JOHN: And the kitchen is fun.
It's funky.
I loved that drop ceiling in there.
DENISE: Yeah.
JOHN: Yeah.
DENISE: It's custom.
I think it's funky cute actually.
JOHN: Funky cute.
DENISE: Yeah.
JOHN: I like that.
DENISE: So to recap, it's three levels finished.
JOHN: Yep.
DENISE: You have four bedrooms up.
You have three rooms that are finished in the basement.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
DENISE: You know, with the laundry room.
A very deep yard, and I don't know if I mentioned it, but two car parking.
JOHN: And are you close to mini metro here?
DENISE: I have to say that is the neighborhood downfall.
JOHN: Okay.
DENISE: However, they have buses that go north, east, south, west.
CHRISTINE: All right.
JOHN: All right.
CHRISTINE: We're near Rock Creek Park, correct?
DENISE: You are two blocks... CHRISTINE: Okay.
DENISE: From the playground of Rock Creek Park called Carter Barron.
CHRISTINE: All right, so I'm ready.
JOHN: Okay, I'm ready too.
CHRISTINE: All right.
You know we're coming off kind of a double loss.
I am going to come in a listing price of $730,000.
She has the best poker face.
JOHN: Denise, this was a great house.
There's a lot to offer.
CHRISTINE: All right, we don't have all day.
JOHN: Okay.
I did have a few more comments, but I'll just skip those.
DENISE: Okay.
JOHN: Okay.
So that said...
I am going to put in a guess of $675,000.
DENISE: Okay, the list price was $699,000 so if we're going by the list price... JOHN: Yes.
DENISE: You would be the winner.
JOHN: Those are the rules.
DENISE: Those are the rules.
However, we have seven offers and it went almost 100,000 over the asking price.
JOHN: Wow.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
JOHN: That is actually not surprising.
CHRISTINE: But let Denise finish, so technically I was closer, is that what you're trying to say?
DENISE: Well... JOHN: To the sales price.
Unfortunately, those aren't the rules.
DENISE: Rules can be broken.
I'm not the rule maker.
JOHN: Not in this game, Denise.
DENISE: Okay.
You all make this hard.
JOHN: Not in the game, Denise.
These rules are sticking.
CHRISTINE: You're right.
All right.
Congratulations.
JOHN: Thank you.
Thank you very much.
DENISE: So, I am so excited for the next house.
You guys are ready, let's go.
JOHN: All right.
CHRISTINE: Yep, led the way.
JOHN: All right, after you guys.
ALEXA: So I've lived in 16th Street Heights.
I call it uptown for all my life.
What's special about uptown?
It's literally close to all my favorite things.
You have Highlands Restaurant right around the corner.
You have Cornrows and Company, a nice natural hair care.
You have the fresh markets on Saturdays.
Everybody is there and it's really community based.
You know, everybody almost knows everybody.
DENISE: So, we're on the 1300th block of Hamilton Street, one of the interior blocks of 16th Street Heights.
And the interesting thing about this block, if you look at the houses, these are bungalows.
At the time that they built these houses, this was probably in the 1920s to '30s.
The developers built the look alike houses.
CHRISTINE: Right.
JOHN: So Hamilton is personally important to you.
DENISE: It's important to me because my children spend a lot of time over here.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
JOHN: Well not only did you raise your kids here, but they still live here today, right?
They bought homes nearby.
DENISE: Yes, they did.
They are probably both within no more than a mile and a half to two miles from us.
We've lived in this neighborhood for 36 years.
I call this my suburban DC, because we have everything.
We have the city and we have the suburbs.
You know I'm sure everybody will brag about their neighborhood, but I think 16th Street Heights has it all.
JOHN: Oh, go ahead and brag.
CHRISTINE: Speaking of having it all, you're taking us to our third property for the day, and you said it has it all.
DENISE: It has more than that.
So we're just really a walk around the corner.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
DENISE: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Great.
DENISE: All right.
(doorbell) So, we're at our third house.
We're also still in 16th Street Heights.
JOHN: Wow.
It's just a modest home.
DENISE: It's actually by far the largest house in a neighborhood, and I'm going to step out there and say it may be one of the larger properties in Washington, DC.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
JOHN: Wow.
DENISE: This property happens to be built in 1909.
This was used for the early weekend homes, for early Washington.
JOHN: This is simple weekend home.
CHRISTINE: It's just a weekend home.
DENISE: That's right.
You have 11 bedrooms.
JOHN: 11 bedrooms.
CHRISTINE: 11 bedrooms.
DENISE: 10 bathrooms.
JOHN: 10 bathrooms.
CHRISTINE: 10 bathrooms.
How big is this family?
DENISE: Well, a single family lived here for many years.
JOHN: Wow.
DENISE: And more recently it's been turned into an AirBnB.
JOHN: I think we have our work cut out for us, Tina, today.
CHRISTINE: I think we do.
And we should've brought an overnight bag.
JOHN: Yeah, I think so.
DENISE: I will meet you on the lowest level.
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
DENISE: You can do the first floor and go upstairs.
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
DENISE: And I have a surprise for you when you get downstairs.
CHRISTINE: Wait, all right, so we're meeting you in the basement?
DENISE: Ah, yeah.
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: That's interesting.
DENISE: Is that all right?
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Yeah.
Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Let's go.
DENISE: All right.
CHRISTINE: Oh, well hello big, beautiful home on 16th Street Heights.
JOHN: Well this is pretty dramatic.
CHRISTINE: It is.
JOHN: The archways as you walk in and the lights.
CHRISTINE: Where do we begin?
JOHN: Well, there's a parlor here to the left.
CHRISTINE: Right, right.
So perfect as people would come up to visit you during the summer on the weekends.
JOHN: Greet your guest.
CHRISTINE: Yes.
JOHN: And then another large living space.
CHRISTINE: But you have to admire the woodwork.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: The huge pocket doors.
JOHN: Yeah, that's a big... CHRISTINE: That's a pocket door.
JOHN: Look at that.
With the original hardware.
And ends in a back, into another large living room.
CHRISTINE: And you can see that it really is kind of set up for a BNB, all these sitting areas.
JOHN: And big living rooms need the big chandeliers.
CHRISTINE: Well you know what living space is also need?
Kitchens.
JOHN: Where's the kitchen?
CHRISTINE: I don't know.
JOHN: I was already going to be like, "And here's the kitchen."
CHRISTINE: Well, we have a great quarter clock though.
JOHN: The Clock is nice and another chandelier.
I'm sure we'll find that kitchen somewhere.
CHRISTINE: I'm sure we will.
But even though I did not find a kitchen, I did find a great backyard and that carriage house.
JOHN: I want to see that carriage house.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, I want to go check that out.
All right.
JOHN: Okay.
Oh my gosh, look at this backyard.
How nice is this?
Big deck.
CHRISTINE: And look at that pergola.
JOHN: That is a nice entertaining area.
Okay, carriage house.
CHRISTINE: Carriage house.
Oh, watch your step.
JOHN: Enchanted carriage house.
CHRISTINE: I see a spiral staircase.
Let's check it out.
JOHN: Up we go.
CHRISTINE: All the way up.
All right, so this is definitely one of the bedrooms.
JOHN: Ah, this is great.
CHRISTINE: This is so cute.
And we have a full bath.
JOHN: Oh, wow.
They did a good job of like renovating this.
CHRISTINE: Right, right.
JOHN: Okay, well that's one bathroom down like 27 to go.
CHRISTINE: Let's go.
JOHN: All right.
CHRISTINE: Hey, you know what this spot would be great for?
JOHN: What's that?
CHRISTINE: Weddings.
JOHN: Oh, that would be nice.
CHRISTINE: Can you see someone getting married there?
JOHN: Well, those stained glass windows it's just like a nice background to this yard in general.
CHRISTINE: It is.
JOHN: Hey, this is just like an old manor house.
Nice bay window here.
CHRISTINE: All right.
JOHN: All right.
CHRISTINE: So this is our first round of bedrooms.
JOHN: Ah, this looks impressive.
So four of them.
CHRISTINE: But let's start with the uptown since that's the name of the home.
JOHN: I like it how they put the name on the transom.
CHRISTINE: I know.
JOHN: Nice room.
Nice big windows.
CHRISTINE: It's a great room.
JOHN: Tina, look at this burled wood door.
CHRISTINE: Well, you know what?
That's birds eye maple.
JOHN: That is gorgeous.
CHRISTINE: And then we have a full bath.
JOHN: Wow.
CHRISTINE: It's a nice updated bathroom.
JOHN: It is very... CHRISTINE: Nice tile.
JOHN: Yes, up to date, brand new.
CHRISTINE: Yes.
Okay.
JOHN: All right, into the second suites.
CHRISTINE: Okay, Wisteria.
JOHN: I can totally appreciate the height of the ceilings in this room.
CHRISTINE: Well, you know I think this room is a little brighter than the last room, so your eyes are just really drawn up to the ceiling.
JOHN: Very much so.
Tina, look at this bathroom.
CHRISTINE: Oh, this is a showstopper.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: I am in love with the blue.
JOHN: I love these windows.
CHRISTINE: And look at this cast iron tub.
JOHN: How about the tile on top of the shower?
CHRISTINE: I know, it's one of the first things I noticed.
JOHN: It's like gingko leaf.
Very different.
It is stunning.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
JOHN: Next suite?
CHRISTINE: Yep.
Okay, so Hollywood.
JOHN: Okay, this one sounds fancy.
Into the Hollywood suite.
♪ Hollywood ♪ ♪ Da-da-da-da-dut-dut dut ♪ ♪ Hollywood ♪♪ All right.
Hey, I think this is my favorite bedroom in the house so far.
CHRISTINE: I think, I would agree because I love that it's on like the corner of the house and it's got this nice round, I don't know, what would you call that?
JOHN: Basically wall.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, really.
JOHN: Let's just say it's dramatic, right?
Maybe that's why it's the Hollywood room.
CHRISTINE: That's why it's the Hollywood room.
Okay.
JOHN: All right.
CHRISTINE: Well speaking of dramatic, look at the entrance way to this bathroom and these pocket doors.
JOHN: Yeah.
Big entrance to a big bathroom.
I love the shower.
CHRISTINE: Well, you know, it's mixing that modern with the original features of the house.
JOHN: Yes.
I think they've done it very well too.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: All right.
Next room?
CHRISTINE: Next room.
JOHN: The Corleone.
CHRISTINE: The Corleone.
JOHN: Ah-ha, the Corleone Suite, the Godfather's suite.
All right.
There are a lot of cherubs going on in this room.
Come on, up we go.
All right, top floor.
Looks like four suites.
Okay, we don't have time for all these.
CHRISTINE: Okay, how about we just pop our heads in?
JOHN: Okay, great.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
The Sweet Charity.
All right, well, this room is sweet.
JOHN: Yeah it is.
Okay, the Jewel Room.
Oh, hey.
Look at this.
It has that little mansard roof and the skylights.
Nice big bathroom.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
JOHN: Nice.
CHRISTINE: I think I'd call it a jewel.
JOHN: It's a jewel.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
And then we've got the Hollyhock... Ooh, I love the windows and I love that four poster bed.
JOHN: Nice and serene but I think this is the fourth and final room up here.
It's room with a view.
You know what's inside this door?
CHRISTINE: I bet it's a view.
JOHN: Well, let's see.
CHRISTINE: Oh, it is.
And a balcony.
JOHN: A gorgeous view.
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
Well, you know Denise was saying we were sitting on top of a hill and you can see just looking down and you can see all the neighboring neighborhoods.
CHRISTINE: Well, this is the uptown.
JOHN: It is uptown.
You Know what we haven't seen?
The actual room itself.
We raced in here so quickly.
CHRISTINE: It's actually a room with this view.
JOHN: Hey, this is a groovy room.
CHRISTINE: It is because you've got a really nice sitting area over there.
JOHN: Yep.
CHRISTINE: And you have a full bath.
JOHN: Okay.
So now down to the lowest level to see Denise and I can't wait to see what is on level one.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
Hey, did we notice that door before?
JOHN: I did not, but look, it has a please pull sign on it, so why don't you open that up?
CHRISTINE: Oh, it's a wet bar and laundry area.
JOHN: For a BNB, that's pretty handy.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
Pretty door.
JOHN: Alrighty.
Well, those are some very creative bedrooms.
CHRISTINE: They were.
So which one was your favorite?
JOHN: I would choose...
Wait, why don't we count to three and then... CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Okay ready?
BOTH: One, two, three.
JOHN: Hollywood.
CHRISTINE: Wisteria.
Oh, I knew you'd be Hollywood.
You're so Hollywood.
JOHN: You're very wisteria.
Okay.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Let's head downstairs.
CHRISTINE: All right.
JOHN: I guess through... A door.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: The one that says private.
DENISE: There you guys are.
CHRISTINE: Here's the kitchen.
JOHN: Here's the kitchen.
DENISE: Yes.
JOHN: We knew there had to be a kitchen somewhere.
CHRISTINE: Right, somewhere.
DENISE: Yes, absolutely.
JOHN: Totally unexpected.
DENISE: And down here there an additional two bedrooms.
JOHN: Okay, which way?
CHRISTINE: All right.
DENISE: Either way.
CHRISTINE: All right, you go that way.
I'll go this way.
JOHN: Sounds good.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: I'll check out this one.
Whoa.
This one is huge.
Tina is going to love these floors.
CHRISTINE: All right, let's check this out.
Oh wow, look at that bathroom sink.
All right.
You want to take a look at that one?
JOHN: You've got to see that one.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Check out the sink.
JOHN: Oh, this is cozy.
Oh look, I like the brick detail.
That vanity is insane.
CHRISTINE: Oh, I can see why it's down to earth, and we have a huge full bath with double vanity.
It's really fabulous.
JOHN: Have you ever?
That was big, right?
That bathroom.
CHRISTINE: That just went on and on and on.
DENISE: Now you've seen the entire house.
JOHN: That's right, Denise Champion, and now it's time for you to crown the champion of Petworth and 16th Street Heights.
CHRISTINE: It is.
DENISE: Okay, so let's see.
Any other questions?
CHRISTINE: I know there's been some renovations on this home, but what are some of the original elements still left?
DENISE: Well first of all, this is a restoration.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
DENISE: Because the house is basically in its original condition in terms of the room sizes, the original pocket doors, the transoms, the doorknobs, a lot of the light fixtures, the wood floors are original.
JOHN: Yes.
CHRISTINE: And we love when homes are truly restored too.
JOHN: This is a nice balance, right?
CHRISTINE: It is.
DENISE: So, we have four levels finished.
We have 11 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 23 rooms.
JOHN: It was a lot.
DENISE: Including the carriage house.
It was built in 1909 and the original asking price was $10,000.
JOHN: $10,000!
CHRISTINE: Well, you know what?
I think I'm going to go a little higher than that original price of 10,000.
I'm going to come in at 2.4 million on this home.
JOHN: Okay, I can see that.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
All right.
JOHN: All right, Denise Champion, I'm going to make a guess of 2.2 million.
CHRISTINE: All right.
DENISE: The actual list price for this property was... $1,950,000.
CHRISTINE: We both went over.
JOHN: We've gone over again, the second time out of three homes.
All right.
All right.
Well, I guess that speaks volumes about this neighborhood, right?
DENISE: Absolutely.
That just goes to show you, frankly, there's true value in Petworth and 16th Street Heights.
JOHN: And we see the value of the homes here, right?
That's why we went over twice.
DENISE: Yes.
JOHN: All right.
Well on that note, Denise, thank you for being a wonderful host today.
DENISE: And thank you for having me represent 16th Street Heights and Petworth.
It was my pleasure.
CHRISTINE: You know we may have lost the game, but we can always come back and rent a room.
JOHN: Check in.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
DENISE: Absolutely.
And as a treat for you, I would like to buy you dinner and drinks at Morelands.
CHRISTINE: That's so nice.
JOHN: Aw, that's so sweet.
JOHN: Deal.
CHRISTINE: See there're benefits to losing.
JOHN: After you.
DENISE: Thank you, sir.
JOHN: So is Morelands close by?
DENISE: Only two blocks.
JOHN: Oh, that's perfect.
EJ: If you lived here, you would know that if you walk up this way a bit towards New Hampshire that there's a lovely little circle park right in the middle of a traffic circle.
So you brave the traffic and then you get there and it's a great place to hang out with the kids.
Great place to run around with the dog.
It's kind of our own little private oasis.
JULIE: If you lived here in Petworth, you would know that the rec centers have free exercise classes almost every night of the week.
RICARDO: If you lived here you'd know that the Hitching Post has all day happy hour on Mondays and it's really, really good.
ALEXA: So if you lived here, you will know about the Carter Barron right up the street, the concerts that are there, the tennis matches that are there.
It's really a lot of fun.
CHRISTINE: I do love this neighborhood.
ANNOUNCER: To find out more about living in the Washington Metro area, visit weta.org/ifyoulivedhere.
(ribbit)
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