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GingerMan027 t1_j5ljcul wrote

Old style DC row houses. These specific materials are outdated or too expensive now.

Now we get "Towne Houses."

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AmAttorneyPleaseHire t1_j5luyv0 wrote

The E adds extra flavor

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Virtual_Ad_6667 t1_j5lvmch wrote

Flavortown!

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ThreeRedStars t1_j5lyi0o wrote

*Flavortowne

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5m5tod wrote

Flavourtowne

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WinterMedical t1_j5mbbth wrote

Yes, with a dash of British to really up the class element.

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DubiousDude28 t1_j5mkfwq wrote

Come out to NOVA. Every Mcmansion development has an english flavor KENSINGTON PARK etc

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GovernorOfReddit t1_j5pybz3 wrote

One of my favorite examples of this is the Waldorf mall, referred to as the “St. Charles Towne Center”. I find it funny they add the “E” to give it some sort of vaguely British-ish charm yet proceeds to use the American way of spelling “Center”.

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KorbensMultipass t1_j5lvs8y wrote

They have built new rowhouses in SW DC as part of the wharf redevelopment. Sure, new materials, but same style and layout.

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thefakebecky t1_j5m10c9 wrote

Have you been to the Wharf? No new rowhouses there…

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hms_poopsock t1_j5mf1fp wrote

It's all this kind of stuff

314 I St SE https://maps.app.goo.gl/hwcs15cRL9DT6Kxb8

And this https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/717-G-St-SW-20024/home/10177001

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thefakebecky t1_j5mgxkx wrote

We’ll, your first link is of rowhouses in SE, north of and predating the Yards development. Not part of the Wharf. Your second link is indeed in SW, but not part of the Wharf but rather of the townhouses bound by 7th, G, and 9th St SW. They also predate the Wharf by almost 20 years. No rowhouses and/or townhouses were built as part of the Wharf development. There are a number of townhouses in SW near the Wharf, but the vast majority of them were built in the 1960’s as part of one of the country’s first urban renewal projects.

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hms_poopsock t1_j5mkt1d wrote

You better tell that to whoever dropped 1.3 million on it, because the listing says it's part of the wharf! Anything post 2000 is "new" to me.

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firewarner t1_j5n25gk wrote

It's a short walk to the Wharf but certainly not part of the Wharf redevelopment lol. They're expensive because they're gorgeous and huge by DC standards and in between the Mall and the Wharf

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jlboygenius t1_j5tlkdo wrote

Had friends that lived in one 15 years ago. Was nice, way nicer than the average dc row house.

Far from everything at the time, but a good spot now.

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firewarner t1_j5tm6lw wrote

For sure. They're like 70 years younger than the stately rowhomes on East Capitol for instance. Having spent a LOT of time in the latter, they're lovely and have great bones but many are in desperate need of complete renovations.

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jlboygenius t1_j5tlcab wrote

Those were new like 20 years ago. Long before the warf redevelopment.

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BrightThru2014 t1_j5lzp68 wrote

Huh, are you aware that developers still can and do build row houses (built in 2009 and 2001):

https://www.dccondoboutique.com/capitol-quarter/

https://www.dccondoboutique.com/harrison-square-townhomes/

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GingerMan027 t1_j5m0rwy wrote

When I worked a L'Enfant Plaza, years ago, I saw new nice townhouses built around um, 7th Street SW? Showed them to my wife one time, we dreamed what must it be like to have that much money.

Then again, our first house, a 50's era rowhouse just north of Baltimore, cost us $67,500. Loved that house, brick and block, slate roof. You could walk standing up in the attic.

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5m5xhz wrote

Man, I browse Baltimore rowhomes on Redfin and I'm like "I could buy this for what I paid for a one-bedroom in DC." Tempting, yes.

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GingerMan027 t1_j5mdwd6 wrote

You got to know where you are in Baltimore. Many variables. If you work remotely, I can tell you places that are great, prices, neighborhood, and safety.

If you have to go to work there, it gets complicated. I have spent a life between the two cities. I love them both.

You want advice, looking for a house, PM maybe I can give you a lead.

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5mhdw7 wrote

Well, it'll be a few years until I'm in a position to move. I went to Towson U., and lived in the northern suburbs for a bit. Between 2004 - 2008 (when I moved back to DC) I spent a lot of time in Baltimore -- a friend owned a little bar in Remington, and I'm overly fond of that neighborhood and will miss Dizzy Issie's until the end of my days (I forget if that was considered Remington or Hampden) -- but I don't consider myself familiar with the city anymore. Most of the people I knew there have moved away (even if just to the suburbs). But I'd still love the recs because then I can be semi-realistic when browsing Redfin :)

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5mkmss wrote

Now I'm thinking of my buddy who owned a giant ass house on Reservoir Hill. It's certainly the type that you might describe as a "brownstone" -- full basement, main living floor, and two floors of bedrooms above it. He was renovating it one room at a time.

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cornmuffins1776 t1_j5mbmcx wrote

But you might get mugged walking into your house in Baltimore. Had so many friends move there around 2005 and had to leave due to crime.

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5mbptb wrote

Yes, sadly. :(

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Altruistic_Loss6834 t1_j5mkt5y wrote

Lol just like in DC (where I lived on and off between 2005 and last year) there are plenty of great neighborhoods in Bmore where the crime you are most likely to encounter is package theft. I bought a nice rowhouse in Butcher’s Hill last year for under $400k and the neighborhood feels safer than my last DC residence near 14th and U (and omg my local grocery/target situation is sooo much better, actually a lot of food is better). What I have learned since moving here is that 95% of the people who talk shit about Bmore know more about it from The Wire than actually visiting.

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5mwok3 wrote

Hahahaha. I was living in Cockeysville when they filmed the "fuck" scene looking for the bullet at a neighboring apartment complex.

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smacks23 t1_j5okg7g wrote

I feel like every dc resident has done this exact exercise and every time I’m like wait what am I doing it’s Baltimore. And then I go to r/Baltimore to see if I’m making the right decision and the whole front page is crime and businesses closing. We have that in dc for sure but no where near the level. And the path for Baltimore to revitalize is so much harder to happen than dc

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_j5opbqu wrote

I went to college in the Baltimore area, and I spent a lot of time in the city when I was younger. And sure, there were areas you absolutely avoided, but that's sort of like DC today. So I don't know if the crime is actually that bad there, if it's actually that bad here, or if I'm just getting old.

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Bigtsez t1_j5n0jcd wrote

They're nice in their own way, but they definitely don't have the same feel. I describe them as, "If Disney added a Washington, DC section to Epcot Center's World Showcase, it would look like this."

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BrightThru2014 t1_j5n128r wrote

So you prefer we built what instead? The weird cheap blocky modernist condos which are identical in every city in the US? Give it 20 years of wear and tear and it’ll have the same “feel” as the older rowhouses.

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Bigtsez t1_j5n38ne wrote

There are better examples recently built elsewhere (for example, here, built in 2018) that I think better reflect the old style in modernized form. I just don't like the specific look of Capitol Quarters. To each their own, of course.

Also, I didn't see the link to the Harrison Square ones, which I do like better.

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BrightThru2014 t1_j5n6i77 wrote

Those are really nice (and fill me with happiness). I think we are on the same team here.

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Gumburcules t1_j5osfyf wrote

> Give it 20 years of wear and tear and it’ll have the same “feel” as the older rowhouses.

After 20 years of wear and tear the new "rowhouses" will be twisted and falling down from the warped green pine framing and will probably need a hazmat reno when you find out the cheap drywall they used is actually made of shredded Chinese newspapers held together with strychnine.

Nothing will ever have the same feel as hardwood timbers, masonry construction, and lath and plaster.

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basilect t1_j5sdtgq wrote

As opposed to what, lead paint and asbestos?

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