Northwest DC · Washington, DC
Cathedral Heights
High ground by the Cathedral, and row houses from the 1970s and 1980s.
Quick Answer
Cathedral Heights sits on high ground west of Washington National Cathedral. DC lists about 311 row houses here. Most are 1970s and 1980s townhouses on Westover Place and Embassy Park Drive, and eight in ten recent sales carried an HOA fee. There is no Metro station in the neighborhood.
Row House Market
Fee simple & rowhouse condo · Closed sales, last 12 months
Median Sale Price
$1.4M
▼ -5.7% YoY
Median Days on Market
28 days
▲ +20d YoY
List-to-Sale Ratio
96%
Slight Discount
Median $/sqft
$706
Fee Simple
$617
Condo
Row Houses in Cathedral Heights
312
1 recorded as two units
6 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 · 15 closed sales · 12-month rolling period · Median figures · Updated periodically
Brian's Take
"A Cathedral Heights row house is usually a townhouse in a development, and I price it that way. The fee, the rules and the reserves come with the house, so I read them before I write a number. Only a handful sell each year, so I start with the sales in the same development and widen from there. There is no Metro station. The shops are on Wisconsin Avenue. Buy the house and its association together, because you cannot have one without the other."
Brian R. Hill · Let's talk about Cathedral Heights →
The Neighborhood
Cathedral Heights, Washington DC: What You Are Buying Into
Cathedral Heights sits on high ground in Upper Northwest, next to Washington National Cathedral. The housing is detached houses, row houses, and apartment, condominium and co-op buildings along the Wisconsin Avenue and Cathedral Avenue corridors. Most of the row houses are townhouses built in the 1970s and 1980s. McLean Gardens, a condominium complex of 1940s brick buildings, sits to the north on Wisconsin Avenue.
Wisconsin Avenue is the commercial corridor, with shops and restaurants. The Cathedral sits at the center of the neighborhood and hosts services and events through the year.
Before You Offer
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The ground is high, but a view depends on the exact house and floor. If a view matters to you, stand in the room and confirm the sightline before you offer.
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There is no Metro station in Cathedral Heights. Tenleytown-AU, on the Red Line, is the nearest. Shops and restaurants are on Wisconsin Avenue, and the distance to them depends on the block.
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The Cathedral draws visitors and hosts large services and events. Traffic on the blocks next to it follows its calendar.
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McLean Gardens, to the north on Wisconsin Avenue, is a condominium complex. A unit there carries a condo fee and condominium rules, not the terms of a fee simple house.
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The row houses sit on small lots, about 1,000 square feet at the median. Eight in ten recent row house sales carried an HOA fee, so the association's rules govern what you can change outside.
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Transaction volume in Cathedral Heights is thin by nature; very few properties change hands in any given year. Market statistics like median DOM and list-to-sale ratio should be treated as directional indicators rather than statistically robust benchmarks.
Market Position
What Drives Cathedral Heights Prices
Row house sales are few: about 15 in the last two years. The median sale is $1.4M, and the median house went under contract in 28 days. With a sample this small, one sale moves both figures.
For comparison, the median row house sale in American University Park is $1.1M.
About one in twenty row houses here was built after 2000. The townhouse developments are built out, so supply is what the owners decide to sell.
Streets + Pockets
Best Streets and Blocks in Cathedral Heights
Not all blocks price the same. Street by street, what sets each one apart.
Wisconsin Avenue NW
The eastern edge and the commercial corridor, with shops, restaurants and apartment buildings. The record lists few row houses on it.
Embassy Park Drive NW
Embassy Park Drive holds about 90 of the row houses: brick townhouses from about 1979, set back from Massachusetts Avenue.
Cathedral Avenue NW
Runs west from Wisconsin Avenue north of the Cathedral, with apartment buildings near the avenue and a handful of row houses.
Garfield Street NW
Runs west from Wisconsin Avenue near the Cathedral. The record lists about 14 row houses on it, many older than the townhouses.
Westover Place NW
Westover Place holds about 140 of the row houses, more than any other street: brick townhouses built from 1979 to 1984 behind gated entrances on Massachusetts and New Mexico Avenues.
Row Houses
Cathedral Heights Row Houses: How Many There Are, and How Many Are for Sale
How to read a DC row house →Total Row Houses
312
in Cathedral Heights, 1 of them recorded as two units
Currently for Sale
6
active listings
Housing stock: DC public property records, two-unit conversions included · Active listings: BrightMLS via Compass
The Houses
Price a Cathedral Heights townhouse against the houses that share its rules
The row houses in Cathedral Heights are not old. Most went up while the Cathedral was still being finished.
DC lists about 310 row houses in Cathedral Heights. All but one are single-family houses, and the figures here are for them. Half were built in the 1970s and about three in ten in the 1980s. About one in seven dates from 1901 to 1939. Most stand on Westover Place and Embassy Park Drive. The typical house has about 2,700 square feet on a lot of about 1,000. Six in ten rise three stories or more. Nearly every one has a basement, and most have finished it. About one in four has four bedrooms or more.
Eight in ten sales in the last two years carried an HOA fee. The fee and the rules behind it move a price as much as a finished room does.
Here is what I do with that. I compare a Westover Place house with Westover Place sales first, then Embassy Park Drive, then the older houses. I ask the seller in writing for the fee, any special assessment and the rules on exterior changes. Then I read the reserves. Only 15 sold in two years, so I widen to ten years and adjust for time.
In a development, the association is part of the house.
Housing stock: DC public property records and BrightMLS closed sales, fee simple row houses
From the Record
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The Washington National Cathedral received its congressional charter on January 6, 1893. The charter set it up as a building for religion, education and charity. President Theodore Roosevelt helped lay the foundation stone in 1907, the start of 83 years of construction.
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Construction went on in stages as donations came in, and stopped from 1977 to 1980 when the money ran out. The final stone was set atop the west towers in 1990, with President George H.W. Bush present. The building is 14th-century English Gothic in style, with load-bearing stone masonry.
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Fairview Heights, west of Wisconsin Avenue on both sides of Woodley Road, was subdivided in 1887. The name Cathedral Heights came into use for it around 1900.
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The Cathedral stands on Mount Saint Alban, about 400 feet above sea level, among the highest ground in the city.
Frequently Asked
Cathedral Heights Real Estate: Your Questions, Answered First
What is the median home price in Cathedral Heights?
The median row house sale is $1.4M, from BrightMLS closed sales over the last 12 months. The sample is small, so one sale can move it.
How quickly do homes sell in Cathedral Heights?
The median row house went under contract in 28 days over the last 12 months. Few sell each year, so treat that as a direction, not a rule.
What are the schools in Cathedral Heights?
School assignment in DC is by address; DCPS's school finder lists the assigned schools.
Free · One Page
Own a row home in Cathedral Heights? 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 Cathedral Heights numbers on this page. Built from 25 years of DC MLS data. Free with your address and email.
Also Consider
Neighborhoods Near Cathedral Heights, DC
American University Park
To the west. Its median row house sale is $1.1M.
Median Price
$1.1M
Median DOM
7 days
Glover Park
To the south, across Massachusetts Avenue and beyond the Cathedral grounds. Its row houses are mostly from the 1920s and 1930s.
Median Price
$1.3M
Median DOM
8 days
Woodley Park
To the east, past the Cathedral. It has a Red Line station on Connecticut Avenue. Its median row house sale is $1.7M.
Median Price
$1.7M
Median DOM
7 days
Next Step
Before you decide on Cathedral Heights, 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.