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REAL ESTATE

    In 2011, 30 single-family homes sold in Forest Hills for an average sale price of $1,318,398. The average list price was $1,381,550. This represents a 30% increase in the number of sales and a 7% decrease in the average sale price from 2010. Homes were on the market in 2011 for an average of 70 days. 

      Listed below are the number of sales of single-family homes by price range for the past six years.

Single-Family Homes 2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

 2006 

Below $500,000 0 0 0 0 0 1
$500,000-$999,999 12 6 9 6 6 8
$1,000,000-$1,499,999 12 11 9 10 7 8
$1,500,000-$1,999,999 1 2 4 5 5 5
$2,000,000-$2,499,999 3 2 2 0 0 0
$2,500,000-$2,999,999 1 1 0 2 0 0
$3,000,000+ 1 1 3 2 1 0
TOTAL 30 23 27 25 19 22

     In 2011, 54 condo and coop units sold in Forrest Hills for an average sale price of $353,234 and an average list price of $362,795. This represents a 15% increase in the number of sales and an 11% decrease in the average sale price from 2010. The condo and coop units were on the market for an average of 65 days.

     Listed below are the number of sales of condos and coops by price range for the past six years.

Condominiums/Coops 2011 2010

2009

2008

2007

 2006 
Below $500,000 48 39 53 59 56 59
$500,000-$999,999 6 7 10 8 8 9
$1,000,000-$1,499,999 0 1 0 0 1 0
TOTAL 54 47 63 67 65 68

      If you have questions on how 2011 sales prices compare to the last six years or would like detailed analysis for this or other neighborhoods, contact us at 202-965-3715 or info@hananhomes.com.

     Forest Hills probably has more architecturally modern residences than any other area of the city. Many houses take advantage of their natural setting by being built on hillsides with large glass panels to enjoy the wooded area. Many other homes in Forest Hills follow the traditional styles of Tudor, Colonial, Cape Cod, and Federal. Connecticut Avenue has several large and well-known apartment and condominium buildings. They include, among others, Tilden Gardens, built in 1927-30 by architects Parks and Baxter and Harry Edwards, and Sedgewick Gardens built in Art Deco style in 1931 by Mihran Mesrobian.

HIGHLIGHTS

         The neighborhood is appropriately named -- living in Forest Hills is akin to living in a forest-- but in the middle of the city. With Rock Creek as its entire eastern boundary, the vistas from the hilly locations are spectacular. There are two other parks in the neighborhood, Melvin C. Hazen Park and Soapstone Valley Park, an ancient quarry where 2,000 to 5,000 years ago Native Americans mined stone.

     Even though Forest Hills living can feel like a mountain retreat, the neighborhood has much to offer in the way of amenities. Forest Hills is home to the Hillwood Museum, Levine School of Music, Howard University Law School, Pierce Mill, and Edmund Burke Elementary School. The neighborhood's western boundary, Connecticut Avenue, provides shopping for Forest Hills residents. The Park and Shop, designed by Arthur Heaton and opened in 1931, was used as a prototype for shopping malls for years to come. When it fell upon difficult times, neighbors worked to save it from demolition and it has since been revitalized. Another shopping area to the south was constructed in 1926, designed by architect George Ray, and houses some of the most popular restaurants in the area.

HISTORY

     Algonquin Indians were the first known inhabitants of the area that is now Forest Hills. The local native Americans fished and hunted in today's Rock Creek Park. In 1794 Isaac Peirce purchased 150 acres and continued to buy property until the turn of the century when he owned most of the land along Rock Creek north of today's zoo up to Chevy Chase. He built a hand-hewn oak home that was named Cloverdale in 1794 which was rebuilt into a stone house by his grandson, Peirce Shoemaker. In 1820 he built a mill which his family operated until 1880 when the Federal government took over the running of the mill. The Klingle Mansion, which was built in 1823 by Joshua Peirce, a stone mason and son of Isaac Peirce, lies in the southeast corner of Forest Hills. It was originally called Linnean Hill after the Swedish botanist, Karl van Linnaeus, whom Joshua Peirce admired. Joshua established the first commercial nursery in the city on his 83 acres. Upon Joshua Peirce's death, the estate went to his adopted son, Joshua Peirce Klingle. The National Park Service took over Linnean Hill as part of the establishment of the 1800-acre Rock Creek Park in 1890.

     Like the neighborhoods to the west and south, much of Forest Hills was part of the patent obtained by George Beall of Georgetown in 1723 which was subsequently bought by Uriah Forrest, Benjamin Stoddert, and William Deakins to create Pretty Prospects (see history of Cleveland Park). Upon the death of Gardiner Green Hubbard's widow in 1909, the 20 eastern acres of her Twin Oaks estate were given to her son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell. James and Alice Parmelee bought the property from the Bells and built The Causeways in 1913. Charles Adams Platt, who was a nationally known country house designer, created a Georgian Revival home and hired Ellen Biddle Shipman to design the formal gardens with rustic stone bridges and bridle paths. In 1942 it was purchased by Joseph Davies, a former ambassador to the Soviet Union, and his wife, Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post cereal fortune. They renamed their estate, Tregaron, after the Davies family village in Wales. Their property is now the home of the Hillwood Museum.

     Another large Forest Hills estate was the Homestead or La Quinta, built in 1914 and designed by Frederick B. Pyle and was the last country house constructed in the vast area known as Cleveland Park. In the 1930s it was enlarged into a Georgian mansion. Since 1945 it has been the residence of the Indian ambassador.  In the 1920s two additional large mansions were built. Estabrook on Broad Branch Road boasted 59 rooms. It was designed by Russell Kluge and built in 1927 on 22 acres. The library had paneling from Sir Christopher Wren's study in London. When Col. and Mrs. Robert Guggenheim bought it, they renamed it Firenze. The second manor house was built by Bank President George White on Upton Street.

     The Academy of the Holy Cross was built at 2900 Van Ness in the 1920s. It was taken over as Dunbarton College in 1935 which closed its doors in 1973. The main building now houses Howard University School of Law. The Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institute was located in a Mediterranean Renaissance Revival building designed by Waddy Wood and built in 1906. In 1992, the Levine School of Music bought the building and its 4.4 acres for $2.3 million and relocated from Burleith.

ADJACENT NEIGHBORHOODS

North CHEVY CHASE
East CRESTWOOD
South GARFIELD
West WAKEFIELD, NORTH CLEVELAND PARK, CLEVELAND PARK

NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES

North 36th Street, Broad Branch Road
East Rock Creek Park
South Klingle Road
West Connecticut Avenue

NEIGHBORHOOD LINKS

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Forest Hills Playground

Map of Forest Hills

To discover more about current listings and recent home sales in forest hills and the washington dc real estate market:

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To discover more about Forest Hills and the Washington DC real estate market, including current listings and recent home sales, contact us:
202-965-3715  info@hananhomes.com

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