Northwest DC · Washington, DC
Crestwood
Between 16th Street and Rock Creek Park, from Piney Branch to Carter Barron. About 110 row houses, nearly all from the 1920s.
Quick Answer
Crestwood is a residential neighborhood in Northwest DC, between 16th Street and Rock Creek Park, from Piney Branch to Carter Barron. The park wraps three sides. DC lists about 110 row houses here, on a few blocks just west of 16th Street. One sold in the last two years, so every price rests on a thin record.
Row House Market
Fee simple & rowhouse condo · Closed sales, last 12 months
Median Sale Price
$1.6M
▲ +12.5% YoY
Median Days on Market
0 days
▼ -13d YoY
List-to-Sale Ratio
100%
Full Ask
Median $/sqft
$670
Row Houses in Crestwood
110
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 · 3 closed sales · 12-month rolling period · Median figures · Updated periodically
Brian's Take
"Crestwood has Rock Creek Park on three sides and 16th Street on the fourth. It has about 110 row houses, and one sold in the last two years. That is not a market I can read from a median. When one of these houses comes up, I price it from the house: its size, its basement, its condition, and the closest same-era sales across 16th Street. If you want one, expect to wait. Then be ready the week it lists."
Brian R. Hill · Let's talk about Crestwood →
The Neighborhood
Crestwood, Washington DC: What You Are Buying Into
Crestwood sits between 16th Street NW on the east and Rock Creek Park, which wraps the west, north and south sides. Its row houses are on a few blocks just west of 16th Street: Webster, Allison, Varnum and Upshur Streets, and 17th Street. Nearly all are brick and went up in the 1920s. Detached houses on larger lots fill the rest of the neighborhood toward the park.
Rock Creek Park's trails start at the edge of the neighborhood. The Carter Barron Amphitheatre and the FitzGerald Tennis Center sit in the park to the north. Crestwood Park Playspace is at 18th Street and Argyle Terrace. There are no shops inside the neighborhood. Buses run on 16th Street. The nearest Metro stations are Columbia Heights and Georgia Ave-Petworth on the Green Line.
Before You Offer
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Crestwood has about 110 row houses, and they rarely trade: one sold in the last two years and about 17 in ten. A single sale moves the neighborhood's figures, so read them as a signal, not a measurement.
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The ground falls toward the park on three sides. Check each lot's grade: the steps to the street, the drainage around the basement and the slope of the rear yard.
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Rock Creek Park wraps three sides of Crestwood. Its trails, the Carter Barron fields and the FitzGerald Tennis Center are a walk from the row house blocks.
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Sixteenth Street Heights, directly across 16th Street, has row houses of the same era, about 600 square feet smaller in total, and far more sales. Its median is $1.1M. That is the nearest check on a Crestwood price.
Market Position
What Drives Crestwood Prices
About 17 of Crestwood's roughly 110 row houses sold in ten years. With so few closings, each sale becomes the comparison for the next.
Crestwood is built out. Rock Creek Park holds three sides and 16th Street the fourth, so the row house count does not grow.
Streets + Pockets
Best Streets and Blocks in Crestwood
Not all blocks price the same. Street by street, what sets each one apart.
Webster Street NW
The largest group of Crestwood row houses in DC's records, about a third of them, on the blocks just west of 16th Street.
Allison Street NW
About one in five Crestwood row houses, just west of 16th Street.
17th Street NW
Runs north and south through the row house blocks, one block west of 16th Street. About one in seven Crestwood row houses face it.
Varnum Street NW
About one in seven Crestwood row houses, on the blocks just west of 16th Street.
Upshur Street NW
About a dozen row houses, toward the southern end of the row house blocks.
Row Houses
Crestwood Row Houses: How Many There Are, and How Many Are for Sale
How to read a DC row house →Total Row Houses
110
in Crestwood
Currently for Sale
1
active listings
Housing stock: DC public property records, two-unit conversions included · Active listings: BrightMLS via Compass
The Houses
Put a number on a Crestwood row house that almost never sells
Crestwood row houses are big, and they almost never sell. One closed in the last two years.
DC lists about 110 row houses in Crestwood, all single-family. They sit on a few blocks just west of 16th Street: Webster, Allison, Varnum and Upshur Streets, and 17th Street. Nearly all went up in the 1920s, and nearly all are brick. Every one has a basement, and about nineteen in twenty have finished it. Only about one in fifty rises to three stories. The typical house has about 3,200 square feet in total, and seven in ten have more than 3,000. The median lot is about 3,600 square feet. About four in five have four bedrooms or more.
One sale in two years is not a market. Across 16th Street, the row houses are the same age and about 600 square feet smaller, and they sell every month.
Here is what I do with that. I start with ten years of Crestwood sales and adjust them for time. Then I add same-era sales across 16th Street, matched on size, the finished basement and the bedroom count. I ask the seller in writing what has been replaced and when: the roof, the windows, the HVAC, the basement finish.
A rare house still has a price. It takes more comps to show it.
Housing stock: DC public property records and BrightMLS closed sales, fee simple row houses
From the Record
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Thomas Blagden bought most of the land, the former Argyle estate, in 1853. Congress created Rock Creek Park in 1890. The Blagden family gave 39 acres for the park and, in 1899, land for Blagden Avenue.
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Lots were advertised as Mt. Pleasant Heights from 1905 and as Argyle Park from 1907. The row houses went up in the 1920s. The name Crestwood dates from 1938, when a developer broke ground on Crestwood at Rock Creek Park. The developer sold the lots under restrictive deed covenants, which the Supreme Court made unenforceable in 1948 in Shelley v. Kraemer.
Frequently Asked
Crestwood Real Estate: Your Questions, Answered First
What about the row houses versus single-family choice?
Compare each with its own kind. The row houses sit on a few blocks just west of 16th Street, and detached houses fill the rest of the neighborhood. Price a row house against row house sales, and a detached house against detached sales.
Is the park access really as valuable as it seems?
The access is real. Its effect on price is hard to measure here. The park wraps three sides, and its trails, fields and tennis center are a walk away. Crestwood row houses sell so rarely that the clearest check is same-era sales across 16th Street.
What about future development or neighborhood change?
Little is likely to change in the housing. The neighborhood is built out. Rock Creek Park holds the west, north and south, and 16th Street the east.
Free · One Page
Own a row home in Crestwood? 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 Crestwood numbers on this page. Built from 25 years of DC MLS data. Free with your address and email.
Also Consider
Neighborhoods Near Crestwood, DC
Mount Pleasant
South, across the Piney Branch valley of Rock Creek Park, between 16th Street and the park.
Median Price
$1.5M
Median DOM
6 days
Sixteenth Street Heights
East across 16th Street. Its row houses are the same era and smaller, with far more sales. The median there is $1.1M.
Median Price
$1.1M
Median DOM
19 days
Forest Hills
West across Rock Creek Park. Blagden Avenue and Broad Branch Road connect the two.
Median Price
$1.2M
Median DOM
6 days
Next Step
Before you decide on Crestwood, 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.