Chevy Chase, D.C., has a small-town vibe on the Maryland line
Where We Live | Chevy Chase in Northwest Washington
With many homes dating to the early 1900s, the community has a “Norman Rockwell-esque” feel to it, residents say.
Marelise Voss and James Soriano, who had rented an apartment in the Chevy Chase section of Northwest Washington for a year, knew they liked the neighborhood. Once they began searching for a house for themselves and their son, Jacob, 51/2, they found a Craftsman-style bungalow and decided to buy it within two days.
The schools were one of the biggest draws, and the house sealed the deal. “We like bungalows, and it was a baby bungalow,” Voss said. “It was important for us to downsize. We wanted to move in that direction. It was just the perfect size.”
With two bedrooms upstairs, two bathrooms and a little more than 1,000 square feet of space, including an addition, the 1926 house suits the couple, who were looking for something a little different. “We just fell in love with it,” Voss said. “It’s quirky.” It requires some work, which they look forward to completing together. And best of all, it’s four blocks to Lafayette Elementary School, where Jacob is set to begin kindergarten this fall.
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The District’s Chevy Chase, across the Maryland line from the Montgomery County community of the same name, has long appealed to families looking for tranquility. In Voss’s words, its more than 14,000 residents live in a “small town in a big city.”
“It has a wonderful charm about it,” she said. “It’s an old-fashioned neighborhood with a Norman Rockwell-esque feel to it,” she said.
Voss, 46, who was born in the District but grew up in Illinois, regularly visited the neighborhood when friends lived in the house behind the one where she lives now. “I’ve known this neighborhood my whole life,” she said.
Hanging out with neighbors: The Chevy Chase Land Co. first developed the area early in the 20th century, mostly in 1907, according to the Chevy Chase Citizens Association booklet "Seventy-Five Years of Community Service 1909-1984." The association was founded in 1909.
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The community has a diverse housing stock that includes duplexes, apartments and townhouses. A new rental apartment building with a glass facade has opened at 5333 Connecticut Ave., to the dismay of some area residents.
But single-family homes — some dating to the 19th century — dominate. Architectural styles include center-hall Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, Queen Anne Revival, Georgian Revival and bungalow, according to EHT Traceries, a Washington research and consulting firm specializing in history and historic preservation.
“It was built deliberately eclectically in the teens and 1920s,” said Carl Lankowski, president of Historic Chevy Chase, D.C., an organization of residents seeking to preserve the character of the enclave.
Lankowski, who works for the State Department, moved to the neighborhood with his wife as empty-nesters in 2010 from Friendship Heights, just to the west. Its housing and its location, with easy access to his job downtown, appealed to them, he said. He commutes by Metrobus, taking the L1 line down Connecticut Avenue, and in his free time enjoys interacting with his neighbors. “They’re people you’d just like to talk to,” said Lankowski, who conducts oral-history interviews for the Historic Chevy Chase group. “It’s just fun living here.”
Shopping and amusements: One of the appeals for some is the neighborhood's own little downtown, along Connecticut Avenue from Chevy Chase Circle to, more or less, Livingston Street NW.
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“People support the local businesses,” said Samantha Nolan, president of the Chevy Chase Citizens Association, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1986 along with her husband, Randy Speck. They raised their daughter in the area.
Share this articleShareIf you wander along Connecticut Avenue you’ll spy several individually owned shops that have thrived in the neighborhood, in some cases as long as three decades.
Farther north, at 5520 Connecticut Ave., stands the Chevy Chase Arcade, which includes a new restaurant and a long-standing family-owned jewelry store.
In addition, Chevy Chase, D.C., has a library, several banks, a Safeway, a Magruder’s, the historic Avalon Theatre and the American City Diner, whose decor — and milkshakes and malts — hark back to the 1950s. There’s also the Chevy Chase Community Center, where activities include ballet and gymnastics as well as bridge classes.
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Living there: The community is bordered by Western Avenue to the north and Rock Creek Park to the east and — roughly — Fessenden Street to the south and Reno Road to the west.
In the past 12 months, 186 properties have sold, according to Nancy Wilson, an agent with Evers & Co. Real Estate in the District. They range from a three-bedroom, two-bathroom brick Colonial for $640,000 to a 2003 house across from Rock Creek Park for $2.9 million.There are 18 active listings, ranging from a two-bedroom, two-bath rambler for $750,000 to a five-bedroom, five-bath foursquare listed at $2.295 million.
Schools: Lafayette Elementary, Murch Elementary, Alice Deal Junior High and Wilson Senior High.
Transit: The area is well served by Metrobus. The closest Metrorail station is Friendship Heights on the Red Line, as close as half a mile to some residents' homes.
Crime: In the past year, three aggravated assaults, six robberies without a gun and 34 burglaries were reported in the area, according to the D.C. police crime map.
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