Highlight of the Week:
Northern California Feel in a Glover Park Home

December 12, 2008
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Highlight of the Week

by Mark Wellborn

Price: $799,000 — Approximately $350 per square foot

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Northern California Feel in a Glover Park Home

Family Room at 2451 Tunlaw Road

Today’s highlighted property has a peculiar sales history over the last month. The five-bedroom home was put on the market earlier this week for $799,000. However, records show that the property sold less than a month ago on November 13th for $823,250. This quick turnaround is an indication that the new owner might have had the unfortunate realization that they couldn’t make the monthly payments. That said, with a great new addition in back and a finished in-law suite, this property looks like a pretty good deal for Glover Park.

Specifics

This house is located at 2451 Tunlaw Road NW (see map here) in DC’s Glover Park neighborhood which is just north of Georgetown and below the grounds of the National Cathedral. Tunlaw Road is about one block west of Wisconsin Avenue, the area’s main street, but the block that this house sits on could still be categorized as busy.

The home was originally built in 1919, and from the front it is very typical of Glover Park properties with a small yard and front porch. The interior still has a number of its initial details like the original oak floors and tin ceilings.

While the front of the home could be mistaken for any other house in the neighborhood, the addition in the back is what makes it stand out. Made almost completely of copper and glass, the back gives the home the feel of a beach cottage in Santa Cruz, California. The entire back wall of the family room is made of sliding glass doors that lead out to a large back deck. The master suite above this room offers the same effect, as the sliding glass doors lead out to a small private balcony. The backyard has a professionally landscaped garden and a sports court for summer games like bocce (lawn bowling).

There are a total of five bedrooms and 3.5 baths throughout the home. One bedroom is on the second floor and the rest are on the third floor. The lower level of the home has been finished and has the potential to be an in-law suite. There is also a parking area off the back of the house that could fit about three cars.

How Does This Property Stack Up In The Area?

The homes on the market in Glover Park are primarily condos. However, we were able to find a four-bedroom house at 3754 W Street, a slightly quieter section of Glover Park, that falls into the same price range as 2451 Tunlaw Street. Here is how they stack up:

	2451 Tunlaw Street	3754 W Street
Price	$799,000	$769,000
Number of Bedrooms	Five	Four
Number of Bathrooms	3.5	2.5
Parking	Spaces for Three Cars	Street
Outdoor Space	Front Yard/Back Deck	Large Backyard
Year Built	1919	1938

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Back Deck

Who Should Buy This Property?

If you put down 20 percent ($159,800) and can get one of those juicy, low interest rates that are now available (let’s say 5.3 percent on a 30-year loan) then your mortgage payments will be $3,549 a month. Adding in property taxes and insurance, those monthly payments end up being approximately $4,500 a month.

So, with these numbers, who should buy this home?

With five bedrooms, it would seem like the obvious choice here is a family with at least two children. There are also two great public elementary schools in close proximity, Stoddert Elementary and Hyde Elementary, so now the choice seems like a foregone conclusion.

What Do The Experts Say?

“After looking closely at the comparable sales in Glover Park during the last year, I believe that the lot size, expanded interior square footage, and architecturally unique rear addition offer good value for the $799,000 list price. However, the traffic is slightly busier and the streetscape is not as “cozy” as nearby streets like W Street and Benton Street. Also, the kitchen, while clean-lined and modern to be consistent with the design of the rear extension, appears a bit small by comparison with newly renovated kitchens on comparable sales. At that price point there could be some slight push-back on the kitchen from prospective buyers. On balance, the home's greatest strength appears to be its well-designed rear addition. If the right prospective buyer(s) are drawn to that, I’d expect the house to sell in 60 days within three to four percent of the list price.”
— Joel Nelson, Joel Nelson Group

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Kitchen

Parking & Transportation

As noted above, the property has space in the rear to park up to three cars. The listing notes that there is “potential for three more spaces” but we imagine that those would need to be built on the rest of the existing land.

One of the downsides to Glover Park (and this area of DC in general) is that it is inaccessible by Metro. There are two major bus lines that run downtown, though: the N2, N3 and N4 that run along Massachusetts Avenue and the 30, 32, 34, 35, and 36 buses that run along Wisconsin Avenue.

Quick Answers

Closest Grocery Store — Whole Foods Market, 2323 Wisconsin Avenue (about a five-minute walk)
Closest Coffeshop — Starbucks, 2302 Wisconsin Avenue (about a seven-minute walk)
Closest Pharmacy — CVS Pharmacy, 2226 Wisconsin Avenue (about an eight-minute walk)