Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

DC's Hidden Places: Gessford Court

  • May 28th 2014

by Lark Turner

DC's Hidden Places: Gessford Court: Figure 1
Gessford Court

In Hidden Places, UrbanTurf takes a look at some of the charming but lesser-known one- and two-block streets in the District. This week, we take a look at Gessford Court SE, a tucked-away alley on Capitol Hill.

DC's Hidden Places: Gessford Court: Figure 2

Gessford Court, bounded by 11th and 12th Streets SE to the east and west and Independence and C Streets SE to the north and south (map), is a cross-shaped section of alley near Capitol Hill’s Lincoln Park and Eastern Market. The alley is home to a small number of petite, mostly two-bedroom rowhouses, all but two of which face east. On the opposite side of the brick-lined street are two rowhouses and a set of garages. Many of the backyards on Independence and C Streets have views onto the alley.

DC's Hidden Places: Gessford Court: Figure 3

A 2010 article in The Washington Post describes Gessford Court as the type of enclave where neighbors hold on to keys and shovel snow for one another.

DC's Hidden Places: Gessford Court: Figure 4

Gessford Court was once home to Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., an influential Civil Rights Leader. Powell renovated the homes and turned a nice profit of about $5,000 on two of the homes after renovating them.

Needless to say, the quaint homes are worth a lot more now. The most recent sale on the street took place in 2013, when one of the semi-detached homes sold for $455,000.

DC's Hidden Places: Gessford Court: Figure 5
A cactus peeks out of a window at 21 Gessford Court.

Similar Posts:

See other articles related to: capitol hill, gessford court, gessford ct, hidden places

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dcs_hidden_places_gessford_court/8535.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse