Moving into the U Street neighborhood in 1992 was interesting. I took many photographs of abandoned houses and buildings that had promise. Being a historic preservationist, even I thought this one might have gone too far to be restored at a reasonable price. The interior was more or less gone. It sat at 1901 Vermont Avenue, on the corner of T Street, NW. A young woman named Tania was determined, however, to bring it back to its glory. It was bought for about $55,000 if I recall correctly!
We led the charge for the U Street area to eventually become a historic district before gems like this were bulldozed. There wasn't much gentrification because simply, most everything was vacant. Between 9th Street and 17th Street on U Street was only three large scale businesses that I recall - Ben's, of course, Lee's Flowers, and a new Polly's Cafe.
It was issued a building permit on March 21, 1878 by owner William F. Sliney. The architect listed was George Welch, who built it at an estimated cost of $6,500.
In any event, a few pictured from Google show the excellent restoration of 1901 Vermont Avenue appear below.
Copyright Paul K. Williams
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