When an artist’s eye meets a center-hall Colonial, the results can be surprising. The brick Colonial-style home at 4618 Warren St. NW in the American University Park neighborhood blends perfectly with its neighbors. Two Japanese dogwood trees grace the front yard, which has a manicured lawn and perennial plants.
Once visitors enter the front door, however, they may feel as if they have stepped from Northwest Washington into the south of France. An addition to the back of the home with French doors and tall windows fills the rooms with sunlight, and vibrant painted walls of soft yellow, deep blue, lavender and hyacinth add pizazz and warmth. Archways off the center hall lead into the living room and dining room, softening the entrances to the formal rooms.
On the market for $1,049,000, this home was built in 1939 and expanded in 2004. The baths were renovated in 2009. The architect-designed addition adds living space to the main and upper levels along with a flexible floor plan; residents can use almost any room on the main level for any purpose.
The main and upper levels have restored hardwood flooring throughout, while the lower level has a slate foyer and laminate wood flooring. Ceiling fans and recessed lighting have been added to many rooms.
The front door opens onto a graceful foyer with hardwood flooring, hardwood stairs to the upper level and the arches leading to the formal rooms. The living room includes a gas fireplace with a wood mantel flanked by two windows, along with a window facing the front lawn.
French doors link the living room with the home’s addition, which starts with a charming family room overlooking the rear garden. The family room includes a picture window framing the garden and is filled with sunlight.
Adjacent to the family room is the sunny yellow breakfast room, which has French doors, two tall windows with transoms facing the garden and an additional tall window with a transom facing the side yard. The French doors open onto a small deck with steps to the garden, where an entertaining area and patio offer a soothing place for relaxing with friends or a good book.
Just past the patio are the garden and the detached one-car garage, which has a splashy hyacinth-colored door. The fully fenced garden includes perennial flowers such as lilies, peonies and irises along with lilacs, wisteria, crape myrtles and hydrangeas.
In addition to the French doors from the breakfast room, a rear foyer or mudroom has a glass door to the garden. Located a few steps below the breakfast room, this functional area gathers light from the breakfast room, the garden door and a side window. The mudroom has slate flooring and an oversized double-door closet for coats and other belongings. A bright red open bookshelf serves as a divider between the foyer and the open stairwell to the lower level and is also visible from the breakfast room.
The breakfast room also has an entrance into the kitchen, where the owners installed professional-grade stainless steel appliances, including a gas range with an electric convection oven, a double-door refrigerator and a dishwasher. A walk-in pantry provides ample storage to supplement the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen, too, has an artistic vibe, with a distinctive tile backsplash and lavender walls blending with Mission-style cherry cabinets with solid and glass doors. The space is pulled together with black granite counters and hardwood flooring.
Back at the front of the house, the formal dining room includes the archway to the foyer and two windows facing the front lawn. The dining room has warm purple walls underneath the chair rail, with paler walls above and bright white trim.
Hardwood stairs with a carpet runner lead to the upper level, which has four bedrooms and two full baths. The master bedroom overlooks the front garden through one window and has another window overlooking the side yard. This bedroom includes two closets and has a private full bath with ceramic tile flooring, a tile shower and a pedestal sink.
The second bedroom, which overlooks the rear garden, has two closets, each with organizers. All the bedrooms have ceiling fans.
Off the upper-level hallway are a linen closet and a full bath with ceramic tile flooring and colorful ceramic tile walls in a yellow-and-blue pattern. This bath has a combination tub and shower and a pedestal sink.
The lower level has plenty of space for entertaining, relaxing and working. Hardwood stairs lead from the mudroom past the red open bookshelf to the lower-level foyer, which has slate flooring. The open recreation room has one wall of built-in shelving and cabinets and a built-in desk as well as a refrigerator. An oversized double-door closet offers extra storage.
The high ceiling and recessed lighting add to the open feeling in this room, which has glass-block windows allowing for full exposure to natural light along with privacy.
The lower level also has a bedroom with a closet and a glass-block window. On the opposite side of the recreation room are a renovated bath with an oversized shower and colorful ceramic tile walls. A stacked washer and dryer are enclosed by a closet near the bath, and another door leads to a combined utility room and storage closet with shelves.
The warmth and flexibility of this home reflect the owner’s desire to blend the original, classic features of this home with modern tastes. While this home straddles two centuries, its location meets the desire for both a quiet residential community and the walkability of urban life.
Residents can stroll in one direction to the Spring Valley shopping area and its restaurants, a grocery store, banks, a deli and a Crate and Barrel store. In the opposite direction, residents can walk to the Tenleytown Metro station to reach the rest of the city, or stay in the neighborhood to enjoy shops, restaurants, a Whole Foods store and the new Tenleytown branch of the D.C. Public Library.
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Details:
Address: 4618 Warren St. NW, Washington, DC 20016
Community: American University Park
Age: Built in 1939, addition built 2004
Price: $1,049,000
Size: Approximately 2,096 finished square feet on upper two levels on a lot of 4,160 square feet
Taxes: $610 per month in 2010
Homeowners association fee: None
Exterior features: Colonial-style single-family home, brick and cement siding, slate roof, concrete rear patio and walkway in fenced backyard, detached one-car garage
Interior features: Five bedrooms; three full baths; professional-grade stainless steel appliances in kitchen with Mission-style cherry cabinets, granite counters and walk-in pantry; sunny breakfast room with French doors to backyard; multiple windows with transoms; mudroom with slate floor, double-door closet and glass door to back yard; upper-level master suite with renovated ceramic tile bathroom; three additional upper-level bedrooms with hardwood flooring share hall bath with ceramic tile flooring; open bookshelf functions as divider for open stairwell to lower level, which has slate and laminate wood flooring, recreation room with built-in cabinets, desk and refrigerator, fifth bedroom with closet, renovated full bath with oversized shower, closet with stacked washer and dryer, and additional storage closets
Amenities: Rear garden with perennial flowers, shrubs and trees; hardwood flooring throughout two upper levels; seven ceiling fans; dual-zone heating and air conditioning; gas hot water; recessed lighting; some triple-glazed windows
Close by: Walk to Tenleytown Metro station, new Tenleytown library, Whole Foods and other shops and restaurants at Tenleytown Metro; walk to shops and restaurants in Spring Valley
Schools: Janney Elementary, Deal Middle, Wilson High
Open house: By appointment
Contact: Associate broker Sandy McKnight with Long & Foster Real Estate at 202/494-2349 or visit www.longandfoster.com
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