Real Estate Near Capitol Hill’s Quietest Landmark: Congressional Cemetery
This regularly scheduled, sponsored Q&A column is written by Tom Faison of ReMax Allegiance at Eastern Market. Please submit your questions via email.
It’s not only the low density of fast food joints, liquor stores and dry cleaning shops that make Capitol Hill East so serene and peaceful — it may also be the 67,000 or so quiet neighbors resting permanently at Congressional Cemetery.
Located at 18th and E streets SE, near the Stadium-Armory and Potomac Avenue Metro stops, the 35-acre burial site sits on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It has been the final resting place for many notable figures since the pre-Civil War period — filled with history, senators, diplomats and regular folk alike, just the like the Hill today.
When I first started selling homes on the Hill, Congressional Cemetery was a desolate place. What was then, in the early ’90s, just an afterthought to an almost forgotten neighborhood is now a large part of that neighborhood’s allure. While proximity to the graveyard was once a hurdle for home sellers and a deterrent to home buyers, it is now an amenity and a draw.
This transformation is most clearly evidenced by the cemetery itself. It’s gone from an almost-forgotten ruin to a sought-after private dog park with a waiting list that can take years (although for those who can’t wait, a 48-hour membership is available for $10 cash).
Residents of Hill East not only enjoy D.C.’s largest private fee-for-membership dog park, but also a newly paved bike trail along the Anacostia, a boathouse for canoeing and rowing on the river, DC United soccer games at RFK, roller derby scrimmages at the D.C. Armory, a walk-up pretzel bakery, circuit gyms and Curbside Cafe.
The average sale price for 3-bedroom homes on blocks immediately adjacent to Congressional Cemetery in the mid ’90s was around $90,000. Recently, one of that group at 1617 H St. SE, breeched $900,000 in a bidding war that took the price $105,000 above its asking price, to $930,000.
Wow.
The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of HillNow.com.
