The House History Man

When I purchased the abandoned dump of a house at 1800 Vermont Avenue, NW (below) in 1992 (for $90,000!) a well known neighbor and futu...

Formstone. Perma-Stone. Rostone. By whatever trade name, the mere mention of simulated masonry can cause a wide range of reactions—fro...

The Mystery House in Washington, DC All historians seem to love a challenge, and with my online auction purchase of an 8 x 10 historic...

Many homeowners in Washington, DC that commission me for a house history often tell me that they are most certain that their townhouse was...

Copyright PKW             The use and history of the city’s police and fire call boxes has often provoked much curiosity by residents ...

Logan Circle looking southeast circa 1890     Historic photographs, such as the c.1890 one at left of the “Logan” apartment building...

Marguerite & Robert Miller Exactly one week after Valentine’s Day was celebrated by loving couples in Washington sixty-eight yea...

Asphalt remains the most common paving material in the United States, and most motorists don’t give it a second thought unless confron...

The mystery love letters found at 515 3rd Street, SE A few years ago, I was given a love letter mystery to unravel by a client who had...

Just a quick break from posting individual histories to talk a little about the great 1887 Hopkins maps that covered all of the present d...

Blundon's House at 100 W Street, NW      Francis Blundon was born in Loudoun County, Virginia on April 14, 1867.   The son of c...

The house built over bodies at 1332 V Street, NW Although all of the squares and blocks south of today’s Florida Avenue were laid ou...