Evening star., 1901-05-11
REAL ESTATE GOSSIP
Progress Of improvements in Various
Sections of District.
APARTMENT AND OTHER BUILDINGS
Opportunities Offered for the In
vsstment Of Money.
G. ITY A ND SU B U r B S

CITY AND RIBS
An attractive addition to the number of
country houses In this locality will be
made when the residence which has been
designed for Mr.. Clarence F. Norment is
erected. The site selected Is a portion
of the tract of land which has been ac-
quired by the Bethesda Land Company,
and lies along the electric railroad to the
north of Bethesda, Nd. There is of course,
abundance of space about the house, and
the architect, w. L. Conley, has kept
that fact in mind in making the design,
which Is colonial in character. On three
sides are ample porches, each covered with
a slate roof. There is in addition a porch
at the rear of the house. In keeping with
the suggestion of roominess and of out
door life is the arrangement of the in
terror. The front door will open into a
broad hall, with rooms on each side. To
the left as one enters will be the sitting
room and back of this the dining room.
On the opposite side of the hall will be
the drawing room. The staircase occupies
space to the rear of the drawing room,
and beyond the former Is the kitchen, with
a pantry, which separates 1t from the dim
ing room. There will be four chambers,
a sewing room and tiled bath room
the second floor while the third, or attic
floor, Will contain two servants rooms
and billiard ROOM The exterior of the
house will be covered with clapboards and
the roofs of the porches and that of the
house will be covered with slate. Hot
water will be used for heating.
On Fairview Heights.
The same architect has prepared plans
for two houses to be erected for F. A. Sale,
on Richmond street, Fairview Heights. One
of these structures will be occupied by
Mr.. Sale as his own residence. The entire
lot in neither case will be occupied by
the buildings and so there will be spaces
on all sides. On this account provision has
been made for porches, not only in front,
but at the sides. The two stories and half
will be crowned with a slate roof. The
entrance hall will lead into a staircase
hall, and at one side will be the parlor,
library and dining room, with the kitchen
In the rear.
At Chevy Chase.
house designed by Mr.. Conley for Mr..
Edward J. Stellwagen, and located on
Irving street. Chevy Chase, Is nearing COM
pletion. This house is of frame, with the
suggestion of the colonial In the design.
The main entrance is in the center of the
long side of the house, which affords
sweep of room space which is quite un-
usual in a house of similar size.
One Cent Per Square Foot.
An Instance showing the appreciation In
realty values in this city was brought out
recently by the sale of a piece of property
on Massa chusetts avenue between 18th and
18th streets 1t had been in the possession
of one family since the year 1S49, having
been bought in that year by the father of
James L. Matthews. The lot which Is now
improved by frame dwellings, has 'front.'
age of thirty feet seven inches, and depth
of $50 feet. 1t contains 4,613 square feet.
little over fifty years ago when it came
into the possession of this family the elder
Matthews paid for the property $50, which
Is at the rate of a trife more than 1 cent
per square foot. The other day the prop
erty was offered at auction by Mr. c. c.
Duncanson. and the purchaser paid for it
the sum of $16,SS4.24, which is at the rate
of S3.66 per square foot.
Progress in Building.
The statistics Of building operations, as
found at the District office, bring out pretty
clearly the general tendency of the mar
ket during the past month. Leaving out
of consideration the items Of repairs, addi-
tions. etc, the following includes the per-
mits issued for new structures during the
month of April, and the cost, as given.
April, 1901-Forty bricks, $169 800; seven
teen frames $29.46o; twenty-one apart
ments, $350,300: two stores, $500.
The above does not represent by any
tions as represented by the permits for the
month, the actual total being s715515
In order that there may be some basis
for comparison, the principal items Of the
permits issued during the corresponding
month in 1900 are given below:
April, 1900-Forty bricks. $193, 400; nine
teen frames s42, 100: six apartments $145,-
500; two hotels. So59, 100; one bank, 500, 900;
two offices, $4,000; one convent, $50 0oO
one church, $4,000; one warehouse, 81 200
An Indication of Growth.
The expansion Of the city during a COM
paratively recent period is of course more
or less familiar fact to even the most
casual observer. 1t Is a matter of common |
observation and assures those who do not |
interest themselves in community affairs |
that the city streets run out farther from !
the center Of the city than was the case |
several years ago., There are other classes |
of fact that are equally patent which have |
the same significance. Some phases of this |
expansion, however, are rather strikingly |
illustrated and present in concrete form an |
epitome it were Of the material devel- |
opment Of the city during the past decade |
and half.
For example, Mr.. David E. McComb, who
is in charge of the sewer department of the
city government, and whose knowledge Of
this important feature of a modern munich |
palty is not Of recent date, states that II
not until some thirteen years ago that
there was any extension made Of the sewer
system OF the city DeyOnQ the boundary,
as the old municipal line used to be called |
In the year 1888 a sewer was built north
from Florida avenue to Mount Pleasant
The latter was the earliest suburban set
tlement in the vicinity of the city, and 1t
had become quite a center of population
some time before the date given above |
Then, however, the plunge was made and
the line Of the sewer advanced beyond the |
bounds Of the city into the suburban region
which at this time, not only In that par
ticular section, but practically all about
the urban lines, has become such an in
tegral part of the city that the old boun-
dairy is only one in name.
To the District Line
During the thirteen years that have
elapsed since 1888 there has been a steady
advance all along the line, and today the
sewer system Of the city goes to the bounds
of the District, an extension in a straight
line of five miles, at least, from the farthest
outward point reached by sewers twelve
years ago. The particular section Of the
underground pipe line system to which ref
erence is made Is the sewer to Takoma
Park. This is continuation Of what is
known as the Rock creek intercepting