“Sometimes they’re never in front of the house,” said neighbor John Goodloe Jr. of the tour. What makes it special is that even a house that you think is just like any other house, when you get a chance to step inside, you realize that it is something special.
Goodloe, 45, grew up in Petworth, but attended Shepherd Primary School and fell in love with a local lad. He and his wife They moved to neighboring Shepherd Park before purchasing their home in Colonial Village in 2019. Their 14-year-old son just finished eighth grade at Dale Middle School.
Colonial Village is a hidden green gem on the northern tip of Washington, surrounded by the leafy wilderness of Rock Creek Park on almost every side. Along parkland-bound streets like Parkside Drive NW and Portal Drive NW, homeowners take full advantage of the view through prominent picture windows. The butterfly-shaped neighborhood consists of about 400 homes bounded to the east by 16th Street NW and to the west by the park and the DC-Maryland border.
According to the Shepherd Park Citizens Association, the neighborhood organization that supports both Colonial Village and Shepherd Park, Colonial Village’s history begins in 1930, when developer Edson W. Briggs Company began building historic American colonial homes. The first was Yorktown, Va., where George Washington accepted the British surrender in 1781 to end the Revolutionary War. It was a reproduction of a house.
As the area took shape over the following decades, it was also part of a dark history: the disenfranchisement of black and Jewish people. Goodloe, who is black, revealed the house’s first restrictive covenant of 1939 when he saw the action earlier this year. Racial restrictions on home ownership were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1948, and the diversity that has blossomed in the neighborhood since then makes more sense than its ugly history.
“I was already in love with the area,” Goodlow said. But realizing this change and our part in it has made me appreciate even more the space and place we have within ourselves.
Colonial Village sees little annual change. In the year Brenda Mejia, a Compass agent who moved to Shepherd Park in 2013 and has been selling homes in Colonial Village since 2017, said only 11 homes sold in the area this year, including a $2.8 million five-bedroom, 5,400-square-foot residence with a cobblestone frontage. $985,000 Three-bedroom unit on 16th Street. There are currently no homes on the market, she said.
Beyond limited inventory, low name recognition makes a neighborhood feel like a hidden treasure.
“Most people don’t even know about this neighborhood because it’s a little off the beaten path. And there’s no metro, there’s no sign when you go by it,” she said. “So people either grew up here and come back, we have a lot. Or they learn about it from a friend or their realtor. I think it’s mostly word of mouth — that’s my understanding of how people get here.”
In the year Kate Snyder, 48, who moved to Colonial Village with her husband, Seth, in 2014, said their 7-year-old son loves hiking and biking in Rock Creek Park. During the pandemic, she said, being close to nature has become more valuable.
This is the first time in my adult life that I have windows on all four sides of my house. it’s great. And to have a place to sit in my backyard has made Covid more tolerable,” she says. “This is a great neighborhood to raise kids and raise a family.”
The area is entirely residential, with no commercial district. But residents say Silver Spring, a short walk to the west, offers the benefits of nearby downtown. Parkway Deli & Restaurant, just over the border in Maryland, is a particularly popular spot for a bite. Most are looking forward to a major redevelopment of the historic Walter Reed campus east of 16th Street. In the year That project, expected to be completed by 2023, will include new retail options anchored by a Whole Foods.
Ed Atkins, 77, who has lived in Colonial Village since 1996, has watched that development while serving on the board of the Shepherd Park Civic Association and said he is excited about the added value it will bring to the area. Atkins said another favorite is the nearby AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in downtown Silver Spring, which shows a mix of classic films and new releases.
But even for him, the biggest local attraction is the park.
“I go for a walk and look at nature, the changing seasons,” he said. “And I think it just brings a sense of peace to me.”
Schools: Shepherd Elementary, Middle School, Jackson-Reed High
Transition: The D31 and S9 bus routes have stops on 16th Street NW. The nearest Metro station is Tacoma on the Red Line, 1.5 miles southeast of the neighborhood borders.
