Of general interest to Bloomingdale residents (who are not facing a house demolition like Chevy Chase just experienced.
When the previous owner of the home at 3823 Morrison St. NW passed away last year, it was sold to a developer. Built in 1914, the house was torn down last week, over some objections within the community.
Now the neighbors who tried, and failed, to keep it standing are hoping to use the demolition to push for a historic designation in the area.
New owner and developer Robert Holman presented his plan to raze the 2,890-square-foot Arts & Crafts-style structure at the neighborhood's Jan. 13 ANC meeting. His plan, he said, was to build a new 5,500-square-foot single-family home there, which he would eventually settle in.
But Mary Rowse, who co-founded preservationist group Historic Chevy Chase DC in 1985 (but is no longer affiliated with them), suspects that what he builds will clash with the culture of the neighborhood. Rowse has been trying to create a Chevy Chase Historical District for quite some time. After her last attempt fell short, she made a failed bid for the ANC. Her last public act before the current dispute was joining the lawsuit against the National Park Service over deer culling in Rock Creek Park.
And now she's hoping that any question about the need for a historic district will collapse like the building she couldn't save.
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Had a district been designated, Holman's house would have remained standing, protected as a "contributing" historical building, says Kim Williams, an architectural historian for D.C.'s Historic Preservation Office. But will this one demolition tip the balance toward a historic district?
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