This Week's Find: A Penthouse in Old Firehouse No. 9

• October 17th 2022

by Tani Levitt

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This Week’s Find is a piece of living DC history.

Once a part of Old Firehouse No. 9 along the 1600 block of U Street NW, this 720 square-foot penthouse has the feel of a woody loft reminiscent of a ski lodge, and taps into the history of the firehouse with creative uses of vertical space.

Before the current owner moved in, he gutted the space and reimagined it in the spirit of history. Along with his father, a local architect, he filled the space with locally-sourced materials — most notably oak wood from Pennsylvania for the floors and a spiral staircase from Baltimore — adding square footage and quirky features like a hidden storage space behind the fireplace in the process.

An internal staircase inside the front door opens into the main floor, with a full kitchen, dining area, and living space that leads out to a small porch. The vintage spiral staircase along the side of the kitchen leads up through a gap in the 18-foot ceiling to the loft bedroom.

Old Firehouse No. 9 last served as a fire department back in the late 19th century. In the 1980s, it was converted into a 13-unit condo project on three levels with commercial space on the ground floor.

The two-story unit has a full-size washer and dryer built into the bathroom, and the bedroom loft has two skylights for gazing upon the stars.

For more photos and details about the home, see below. 

• Full Listing: 1624 U Street Northwest, Unit 400 (map)
• Price: $550,000
• Bedrooms: One
• Bathrooms: One 
• Square Feet: 720
• Listing Agent: Eric Broermann, Compass

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this_weeks_find_a_penthouse_in_old_firehouse_no_9/20202.