Northwest DC · Washington, DC
American University Park
About 70 Row Houses, Nearly All From the 1920s.
Quick Answer
American University Park sits in far Northwest DC, inside Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Western Avenues. Row houses are a small share of its houses. DC lists about 70 row houses, nearly all built in the 1920s, in a cluster a few blocks west of the Tenleytown-AU station. About a dozen have sold in ten years.
Row House Market
Fee simple & rowhouse condo · Closed sales, last 12 months
Median Sale Price
$1.1M
▲ +6.8% YoY
Median Days on Market
7 days
▼ -1d YoY
List-to-Sale Ratio
100%
Full Ask
Median $/sqft
$622
Row Houses in American University Park
74
4 recorded as two units
1 currently for sale
How We Calculate $/sqft
$/sqft is calculated on above-grade finished square footage, the standard used by DC appraisers, MLS systems, and most market participants. Properties with finished below-grade space (English basements, rental units) carry that square footage as additive value, but appraisers typically apply a discount of 50 to 75 cents on the dollar relative to above-grade space. Blending the two into a single $/sqft figure would make a home with a finished basement look cheaper than it is and obscure the real comparison. When a property has significant finished below-grade square footage, both metrics are presented in context so you understand the full picture before the appraiser does.
Row homes only (fee simple & rowhouse condo) · Source: BrightMLS via Compass · 5 closed sales · 12-month rolling period · Median figures · Updated periodically
Brian's Take
"American University Park has about 70 row houses. About a dozen have sold in ten years. That is the whole problem for a row house buyer here. I do not wait for a listing to start the work. I settle the financing first. Then I decide the number from the last ten years of sales on these few streets. When one lists, the decision takes a day, not a week. In a thin market, readiness is the only edge."
Brian R. Hill · Let's talk about American University Park →
The Neighborhood
American University Park, Washington DC: What You Are Buying Into
American University Park is bounded by Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Western Avenues, against the Maryland line. Tenleytown and Friendship Heights lie to the east, Spring Valley to the southwest. W.C. and A.N. Miller developed it in the 1920s, and it holds about 2,700 houses. About 70 are row houses, and nearly all of those went up in the 1920s. Their median lot is about 3,300 square feet. Friendship Park, known as Turtle Park, sits inside the neighborhood.
Row houses rarely come to market: about a dozen sold in ten years. The Tenleytown-AU station on the Red Line sits on Wisconsin Avenue at the neighborhood's east edge, a few blocks from the row houses on Chesapeake Street and 43rd Place. School assignment in DC is by address; DCPS's school finder lists the assigned schools.
Before You Offer
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Row house inventory is thin. DC lists about 70, and about a dozen have sold in ten years. Expect to wait for one, and have financing settled before it lists.
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School assignment in DC is by address; DCPS's school finder lists the assigned schools.
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The median row house lot here is about 3,300 square feet. Every row house has a basement, and about two in three have finished it. None rises past two stories.
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The Tenleytown-AU station on the Red Line is on Wisconsin Avenue, a few blocks east of the row houses. Blocks on the west side of the neighborhood are more than a mile from it.
Market Position
What Drives American University Park Prices
The row houses sit in a cluster on the east edge, a few blocks from the Wisconsin Avenue shops and the Tenleytown-AU station.
Supply sets the market here. Three row houses sold in the last two years. A median built on that few sales moves with every closing.
Streets + Pockets
Best Streets and Blocks in American University Park
Not all blocks price the same. Street by street, what sets each one apart.
Chesapeake Street NW
The largest group of row houses in the neighborhood, a few blocks west of Wisconsin Avenue.
43rd Place NW
A short street of 1920s row houses near the Tenleytown-AU station.
River Road NW
Runs northwest from Wisconsin Avenue toward the Maryland line. Its row houses sit near the Wisconsin Avenue end.
Brandywine Street NW
Row houses at its east end, near River Road and Wisconsin Avenue.
Row Houses
American University Park Row Houses: How Many There Are, and How Many Are for Sale
How to read a DC row house →Total Row Houses
74
in American University Park, 4 of them recorded as two units
Currently for Sale
1
active listings
Housing stock: DC public property records, two-unit conversions included · Active listings: BrightMLS via Compass
The Houses
Know what an AU Park row house is worth when few ever sell
American University Park has a row house market small enough to count by hand.
DC lists about 75 row houses in American University Park. Seventy are single-family houses, and the figures here are for them; the other four are recorded as converted to two units. Nearly all went up in the 1920s. They sit in a tight cluster: Chesapeake Street, 43rd Place, River Road and Brandywine Street hold more than eight in ten. Every one has a basement, and about two in three have finished it. None rises past two stories. The typical house has about 1,900 square feet in total, on a lot of about 3,300.
Three sold in the last two years. A median that thin moves with every closing. The houses are alike, so the gap between two of them is mostly the finished basement and the bedroom count. About one in five has four bedrooms or more.
Here is what I do with that. I use ten years of row house sales here, each adjusted for time. Then I check them against 1920s row houses near Tenleytown, matched on size and basement. I ask the seller in writing what the lower level holds and whether a room down there counts as a bedroom.
When the comps are few, every adjustment has to be shown.
Housing stock: DC public property records and BrightMLS closed sales, fee simple row houses
From the Record
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Congress chartered American University in 1893 at the urging of Methodist bishop John Fletcher Hurst. Ground was broken in 1902, and the university opened in 1914 as a graduate school.
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W.C. and A.N. Miller developed American University Park in the 1920s. The same company developed Spring Valley and Wesley Heights. Nearly all of the row houses date from that decade.
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The developer sold the lots under restrictive deed covenants, which the Supreme Court made unenforceable in 1948 in Shelley v. Kraemer.
Frequently Asked
American University Park Real Estate: Your Questions, Answered First
Why are row houses in American University Park hard to find?
There are few of them. DC lists about 70 row houses here, and about a dozen have sold in ten years. Set up an alert for Chesapeake Street, 43rd Place, River Road and Brandywine Street, and have financing ready before one lists.
What is the median home price in American University Park?
The median sale is $1.1M, from BrightMLS closed sales in the last 12 months. It rests on a handful of sales, so one closing can move it.
What does the typical sale timeline look like in AU Park?
The median is 7 days on market, from a handful of sales. A sample that small swings with one house. Have the financing and terms settled before a house lists.
Is Tenleytown Metro accessible?
Tenleytown-AU, on the Red Line, sits on Wisconsin Avenue at the neighborhood's east edge. The row houses are a few blocks west of it. Blocks near Massachusetts Avenue and the Maryland line are more than a mile away.
What draws buyers to American University Park?
The row houses are 1920s houses on lots of about 3,300 square feet, every one with a basement, a few blocks from the Tenleytown-AU station. School assignment in DC is by address; DCPS's school finder lists the assigned schools.
Free · One Page
Own a row home in American University Park? See what your block is actually selling for.
The Block Report: every closed sale on your block in the last 24 months, set against the American University Park numbers on this page. Built from 25 years of DC MLS data. Free with your address and email.
Also Consider
Neighborhoods Near American University Park, DC
Chevy Chase DC
Northeast, beyond Friendship Heights, east of Wisconsin Avenue.
Median Price
$1.3M
Median DOM
12 days
Friendship Heights
Northeast, at Wisconsin and Western Avenues on the Maryland line. The Friendship Heights station on the Red Line is there, with more shops and more condominiums.
Median Price
$1.2M
Median DOM
7 days
Cathedral Heights
Southeast, toward the Washington National Cathedral.
Median Price
$1.4M
Median DOM
28 days
Next Step
Before you decide on American University Park, one conversation.
The median and the days on market are the start. The specific blocks, the condition range, and what the numbers leave out are the conversation. 20 minutes. No commitment.