Northwest DC · Washington, DC
Cleveland Park
Row houses on the side streets off Connecticut Avenue.
Quick Answer
Cleveland Park is a Northwest DC neighborhood between Rock Creek Park and Wisconsin Avenue. The Cleveland Park station on the Red Line sits on Connecticut Avenue, its commercial street. DC lists about 240 row houses here, nearly all built between 1901 and 1939. Every one has a basement.
Row House Market
Fee simple & rowhouse condo · Closed sales, last 12 months
Median Sale Price
$1.3M
▼ -9.2% YoY
Median Days on Market
16 days
▲ +11d YoY
List-to-Sale Ratio
96.4%
Slight Discount
Median $/sqft
$747
Row Houses in Cleveland Park
244
4 recorded as two units
2 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 · 16 closed sales · 12-month rolling period · Median figures · Updated periodically
Brian's Take
"Cleveland Park row houses rarely come up. The record shows seven sales in two years, out of about 240 houses. They are brick or frame houses from the 1920s, each with a basement, on lots of about 3,400 square feet, a short walk from the Red Line. With so few sales, I do not wait for a listing to learn the blocks. I walk Porter, Ordway and Rodman first, and I decide in advance what a house there is worth to my buyer. When the house comes up, the work is already done."
Brian R. Hill · Let's talk about Cleveland Park →
The Neighborhood
Cleveland Park, Washington DC: What You Are Buying Into
Cleveland Park runs from Rock Creek Park west to Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues, and from Klingle and Woodley Roads north to Rodman and Tilden Streets. Connecticut Avenue is its commercial street. The row houses sit on the side streets on both sides of it: Porter, Ordway and Rodman Streets hold more than half, with the rest on Newark and Quebec Streets and on 30th and 34th to 36th Streets. Nearly all were built between 1901 and 1939, three in four in the 1920s. About three in four are brick. Detached houses and apartment buildings make up much of the rest of the neighborhood.
Connecticut Avenue carries the Cleveland Park Metro station on the Red Line and a strip of shops and restaurants. The Park and Shop, built in 1930, was one of the first shopping centers in the country with parking in front. The Uptown Theater opened in 1936 and closed as a cinema in March 2020.
Before You Offer
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The row houses are on side streets, not on Connecticut Avenue itself. Porter, Ordway and Rodman Streets hold more than half of them.
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Rock Creek Park forms the eastern edge. The National Zoo is just south, in Woodley Park, a walk from the Cleveland Park station.
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The median lot under a row house here is about 3,400 square feet, large for a DC row house. Every house has a basement, and nearly nine in ten have finished it.
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School assignment in DC is by address; DCPS's school finder lists the assigned schools.
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Much of Cleveland Park lies in the Cleveland Park Historic District, where DC reviews exterior changes. Check whether a house is inside it before planning an addition.
Market Position
What Drives Cleveland Park Prices
Row house sales here are rare: the record shows seven in the last two years. The figures above count every fee simple sale in Cleveland Park, 16 in the last 12 months, with a median of 16 days on market.
For comparison, the median sale here is $1.3M, against $1.5M in North Cleveland Park and $1.7M in Woodley Park.
Streets + Pockets
Best Streets and Blocks in Cleveland Park
Not all blocks price the same. Street by street, what sets each one apart.
Connecticut Avenue NW
The commercial street, with the Cleveland Park station on the Red Line. The buildings on it are apartments and shops; the row houses are on the side streets.
Ordway Street NW
About 47 row houses, the second-largest group, on blocks near 29th and 30th Streets and near 34th to 36th Streets.
Rodman Street NW
About 33 row houses, most on the 3000 block near 30th Street. Rodman marks the northern edge of the neighborhood.
Newark Street NW
About 14 row houses, on blocks near 29th to 31st Streets and near 34th to 36th. Rosedale, the 1793 farmhouse at 3501 Newark, stands on this street, and the house at 3536 Newark is on the site of Grover Cleveland's summer house.
Porter Street NW
About 65 row houses, the largest group, on blocks from 29th Street to 37th. The Cleveland Park station has an entrance at Porter Street and Connecticut Avenue.
Quebec Street NW
About 11 row houses, on the 3400 and 3500 blocks near the western edge.
Row Houses
Cleveland Park Row Houses: How Many There Are, and How Many Are for Sale
How to read a DC row house →Total Row Houses
244
in Cleveland Park, 4 of them recorded as two units
Currently for Sale
2
active listings
Housing stock: DC public property records, two-unit conversions included · Active listings: BrightMLS via Compass
The Houses
Price a Cleveland Park row house when the block has not sold
Cleveland Park has about 240 row houses, and in two years only seven of them sold.
DC lists about 240 row houses in Cleveland Park. All but four are single-family houses, and the figures here are for them. Nearly all went up between 1901 and 1939, three in four of them in the 1920s. About three in four are brick; most of the rest are wood or stucco. Every one has a basement, and nearly nine in ten have finished it. The typical house has about 2,600 square feet in total, and more than one in four has over 3,000. The median lot is about 3,400 square feet. Only about one in sixteen rises three stories. More than half have four bedrooms or more.
Seven sales are not a market. A median built on so few moves with whichever houses happened to sell.
Here is what I do with that. I reach back several years for Cleveland Park sales of the same size and lot, and adjust them for time. I ask the seller in writing what was done to the lower level and when, because finished space below grade is part of nearly every house here.
When the street has not sold, the house and its lot set the comparison.
Housing stock: DC public property records and BrightMLS closed sales, fee simple row houses
From the Record
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Grover Cleveland bought a stone farmhouse here in 1886 and remodeled it as a summer house. He sold it in 1890 to Francis Newlands, whose Rock Creek Railway streetcar up Connecticut Avenue began running to downtown in 1892 and opened the area to building.
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The row houses came after the first detached houses. Three in four were built in the 1920s, and nearly all by 1939.
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The Park and Shop opened on Connecticut Avenue in 1930, one of the first shopping centers in the country with parking in front. The Art Deco Uptown Theater opened in 1936 and closed as a cinema in March 2020.
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Much of the neighborhood was listed on the National Register as the Cleveland Park Historic District in 1987.
Frequently Asked
Cleveland Park Real Estate: Your Questions, Answered First
Where are the row houses in Cleveland Park?
On the side streets, on both sides of Connecticut Avenue. Porter, Ordway and Rodman Streets hold more than half of them. Smaller groups sit on Newark and Quebec Streets and on 30th and 34th to 36th Streets. Connecticut Avenue itself is apartment buildings and shops.
What is the median home price in Cleveland Park?
The median sale in Cleveland Park over the last 12 months is $1.3M, from BrightMLS closed sales. Row house sales here are few, so one sale can move that figure. For a specific house, compare sales of the same size and lot, going back several years if needed.
How long do homes typically stay on the market?
The median days on market in Cleveland Park is 16 days over the last 12 months. With few sales, one fast or slow sale moves that figure.
Are there schools near Cleveland Park?
School assignment in DC is by address. DCPS's school finder lists the assigned schools for any address.
Is there new construction in Cleveland Park?
New row houses are rare. Nearly all of the neighborhood's row houses were built between 1901 and 1939. Much of Cleveland Park is in a historic district, where DC reviews exterior changes, including additions and demolition.
Free · One Page
Own a row home in Cleveland 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 Cleveland Park numbers on this page. Built from 25 years of DC MLS data. Free with your address and email.
Also Consider
Neighborhoods Near Cleveland Park, DC
Woodley Park
South, across Klingle and Woodley Roads, on the same Red Line. The National Zoo is there. Median sale $1.7M.
Median Price
$1.7M
Median DOM
7 days
American University Park
Northwest, beyond Tenleytown and west of Wisconsin Avenue. Median sale $1.1M.
Median Price
$1.1M
Median DOM
7 days
North Cleveland Park
North, beyond Rodman and Tilden Streets. Its row houses are on Van Ness, Veazey and Warren Streets, near the Van Ness-UDC station on the Red Line. Median sale $1.5M.
Median Price
$1.5M
Median DOM
12 days
Next Step
Before you decide on Cleveland 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.