This Week’s Find: Gales Street’s Latest Transformation

• April 2, 2013
• 3 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

1531 Gales Street NE

Over the past few years, the 1500 block of Gales Street NE in Rosedale has been undergoing a transformation, and architect Amanda Clarke has played a rather larger role in the evolution.

Since moving onto the block herself, Clarke has been turning rowhouse shells on the street into modern dwellings, one by one. UrbanTurf has featured three of her projects in past years (here, here and here), and This Week’s Find, which will hit the market later this week, is her latest project.

When Clarke bought 1531 Gales, it was a gutted two-bedroom shell with no walls, disintegrating features, and peeling insulation. Now, the home has four bedrooms, a rental unit, and modern touches like skylights and steel railings.

Like many of Clarke’s other renovations, the facade looks pared down and simplified: an old awning has been torn down, the windows and door frames are cleaner, and the front porch has been largely replaced by modern planters. The outdoor space has been increased on the back of the home: a sizable deck extends from the kitchen, and a balcony juts off of the master bedroom. Clarke extended the roof over this balcony to create shade.

A closet under the staircase and a high ledge above the second story hallway create more storage in the 1,728-square-foot home. Clarke also installed unusual cut-out shelving in the kitchen and master bedroom. More before and after photos and details below.

• Address: 1531 Gales Street NE (map)
• Price: $699,000
• Bedrooms: Four
• Bathrooms: 3.5
• Year Built: 1979
• Listing Agent: Joel Nelson, Keller Williams Capital Properties

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this_weeks_find_amanda_clarkes_latest_gale_street_ne_transformation/6872

3 Comments

1. bree said at 9:26 pm on Tuesday April 2, 2013:
   Any chance Amanda can share where she got the steel railings for the stair case? My husband and I are looking for the exact same thing to put into our rowhouse.

1. Pazzysmom said at 12:06 am on Wednesday April 3, 2013:
   To be fair, Amanda designed our house ("Revamping...") but, due to financial constraints we had, unfortunately we couldn't follow her exact plans (for instance, our house exterior is quite apart from her original design). And we also had a different (203k) builder. Alas, if only Amanda BUILT our house too! She has a great eye for details and I'm sure our house would be more beautiful than it is now. Regardless, I don't know where we'd be now without Amanda's vision for our home. My favorite part of our new home is the shaft that runs through all floors - essentially you can see up to the skylights on our 3rd fl from the 1st and vice versa, so the light and sound in the house is never contained, always alive. 203k built our house, but Amanda gave it its soul.

1. anon said at 7:56 pm on Tuesday April 9, 2013:
   Pazzysmom or Urban Turf- Can you recommend your 203k contractor? I am looking for someone now to renovate a home that I'm in process of buying using 203k.