This Week's Find: The Loft With Many Lives on Johnson Avenue

• April 21st 2011

by Mark Wellborn

Johnson Avenue is a one-block street tucked away off 14th Street in Logan Circle that is lined with former factories and auto garages. Over the past few decades, most of these buildings have been converted into residential projects comprised of large loft units.

1737 Johnson Avenue NW has been used for a variety of purposes since it was originally built in the 1800s. Originally (at least according to some) a glass factory, the building also served as a carriage facility, and then a truck repair shop in the 1940s. (There are rumors that automobiles used to be parked on the roof.) In the mid-1980s, the building was converted from an auto repair shop into a five-unit loft building.

This Week’s Find is one of the two top-floor units at 1737 Johnson. Jim Foster of Arcadia Design, who lives in the building and designed the Empire Lofts project next door, explained to UrbanTurf how his firm redesigned the three-level, 1,800 square-foot loft about five years ago.

“The original unit was one room that probably measured 14 feet by 65 feet wide,” Foster said. “So, we tore off the roof and added another one-and-a-half stories. Now, there is the original floor, a mezzanine level, and a new top floor. There are also two decks — one off the new second-floor bedroom and another on the roof that offers views of downtown.”

The main level now has 28-foot ceilings and, even though it is not operable, the pulley system from when the building was a carriage facility is still in the unit. The listing price also includes indoor parking.

More details and photos below.

• Full Listing: 1737 Johnson Avenue NW, Unit D (map)
• Price: $1.295 million
• Bedrooms: Two
• Bathrooms: Two
• Square Footage: 1,800
• Listing Agent: Joseph Zorc, Coldwell Banker

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this_weeks_find_the_loft_with_many_lives_on_johnson_avenue/3363.