Northwest DC · Washington, DC
Friendship Heights
Row houses off Wisconsin Avenue, at the Maryland line.
Quick Answer
Friendship Heights straddles the DC-Maryland line on Wisconsin Avenue, around a Red Line station and a retail strip that runs into Maryland. On the DC side the mix is detached houses, condos and about 280 row houses. Most of the row houses sit on the side streets between 41st and 45th Streets.
Row House Market
Fee simple & rowhouse condo · Closed sales, last 12 months
Median Sale Price
$1.2M
▲ +17.6% YoY
Median Days on Market
7 days
◀▶ Flat YoY
List-to-Sale Ratio
98.8%
Near Ask
Median $/sqft
$666
Fee Simple
$720
Condo
Row Houses in Friendship Heights
278
3 recorded as two units
5 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 · 12 closed sales · 12-month rolling period · Median figures · Updated periodically
Brian's Take
"Friendship Heights is a small row house market next to a busy transit hub. About 280 row houses, a dozen sales in two years, and a Red Line station under Wisconsin Avenue. With that few sales, I do not price a house here from the median. I sort the sales by era and by association fee first. Then I widen to the same kind of house in Chevy Chase and Tenleytown. The fewer the sales, the more each comp has to earn its place."
Brian R. Hill · Let's talk about Friendship Heights →
The Neighborhood
Friendship Heights, Washington DC: What You Are Buying Into
Friendship Heights has no official boundary. On the DC side it runs roughly south from Western Avenue, the Maryland line, to Fessenden Street. East to west, it runs from 41st Street and Reno Road to River Road. Wisconsin Avenue is the spine. The Red Line station sits under it at Western Avenue, with a second entrance at Jenifer Street. The retail strip runs from the DC blocks into Maryland. Mazza Gallerie, on the DC side, closed in 2022, and its site is being rebuilt as apartments over shops. Off the avenue, the side streets hold detached houses and the row houses.
Wisconsin Avenue carries heavy traffic. The station is also a bus hub for Metrobus and Montgomery County's Ride On. A Metrobus garage sits at 44th and Harrison Streets, on one of the row house streets.
Before You Offer
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Wisconsin Avenue is a major traffic and bus corridor. Visit a house near it at rush hour before you offer.
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Half the row houses sold here in the last two years carried a homeowners association fee. Ask for the association's budget, reserves and rules before you offer.
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The retail strip crosses the Maryland line, and the department stores that remain are on the Maryland side. Mazza Gallerie closed in 2022 and is being rebuilt as apartments over shops.
Market Position
What Drives Friendship Heights Prices
Friendship Heights is a thin row house market. About a dozen row houses sold in the last two years, at a median of $1.2M. With that few sales, one closing can move the median. Read each sale before you trust the figure.
For comparison, the row house median is $1.3M in Chevy Chase and $1.1M in American University Park, the two neighbors that share its era of house.
Row houses here have gone under contract in a median of 7 days. With about six sales a year, be ready before a listing appears, not after.
Streets + Pockets
Best Streets and Blocks in Friendship Heights
Not all blocks price the same. Street by street, what sets each one apart.
Wisconsin Avenue NW
The commercial spine. The Red Line station sits under it at Western Avenue, with a second entrance at Jenifer Street. The record shows few row houses on the avenue itself.
Fessenden Street NW
The southern edge of Friendship Heights, where it meets Tenleytown. About 30 of the neighborhood's row houses sit on Fessenden Street.
Jenifer Street NW
Runs off Wisconsin Avenue at the station's southern entrance. About two dozen row houses sit on Jenifer Street.
Western Avenue NW
The DC-Maryland line and the neighborhood's northern edge. The station's main entrances sit at Wisconsin and Western, on both sides of the line.
Harrison Street NW
About 46 row houses in the record, one of the two largest groups in the neighborhood with 43rd Street. A Metrobus garage sits at 44th and Harrison Streets.
Row Houses
Friendship Heights Row Houses: How Many There Are, and How Many Are for Sale
How to read a DC row house →Total Row Houses
278
in Friendship Heights, 3 of them recorded as two units
Currently for Sale
5
active listings
Housing stock: DC public property records, two-unit conversions included · Active listings: BrightMLS via Compass
The Houses
Price a Friendship Heights row house when a year brings six sales
Friendship Heights sells about six row houses a year. That is too few to price a house from here alone.
DC lists about 280 row houses in Friendship Heights. All but three are single-family houses, and the figures here are for them. About seven in ten went up between 1901 and 1939, half of them in the 1920s. Nearly all have a basement, and about five in six have finished it. The typical house has about 2,200 square feet in total, and about one in six has more than 3,000. A third have four bedrooms or more.
The last two years brought 12 sales, and half of them carried a homeowners association fee. A 1920s brick house and a 1990s townhouse with a monthly fee can sit a few blocks apart and count toward the same median, now $1.2M. One sale moves that figure.
Here is what I do with that. I split the sales by era and by fee before I compare anything. When the neighborhood runs thin, I widen to the same kind of house in Chevy Chase and Tenleytown, and I name where each comp came from. For a house with a fee, I ask the seller for the association's budget and reserve figures in writing.
A thin market needs wider comps, not looser ones.
Housing stock: DC public property records and BrightMLS closed sales, fee simple row houses
From the Record
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Streetcars once ran up Wisconsin Avenue to Friendship Heights from Georgetown. The service was abandoned in 1960.
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Mazza Gallerie opened in 1977 with Neiman Marcus as its anchor until 2020. The last shops closed in December 2022, and the site is being rebuilt as apartments over ground-floor retail.
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The Friendship Heights Metro station opened on August 25, 1984, with a 6.8-mile Red Line extension northwest of Van Ness.
Frequently Asked
Friendship Heights Real Estate: Your Questions, Answered First
Should I buy a condo or a single-family home in Friendship Heights?
It depends on what you will pay each month, not only the price. A condo carries a fee set by the building. A row house here may carry one too: half the row houses sold in the last two years paid an association fee. A detached house carries all of its own upkeep. Price each over the years you expect to own it.
How quickly do homes sell in Friendship Heights?
Row houses here have gone under contract in a median of 7 days, at a median of 98.8% of list. With about six sales a year, have your financing approved before a listing appears.
Is the Metro station reliable from Friendship Heights?
The station is on the Red Line, between Tenleytown-AU and Bethesda. Its main entrances are at Wisconsin and Western Avenues. A second entrance, with elevators, is at Wisconsin Avenue and Jenifer Street. Check WMATA for service at the hours you would ride.
Free · One Page
Own a row home in Friendship 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 Friendship Heights numbers on this page. Built from 25 years of DC MLS data. Free with your address and email.
Also Consider
Neighborhoods Near Friendship Heights, DC
American University Park
To the southwest, west of Wisconsin Avenue. Mostly detached houses, with the Tenleytown-AU station on the Red Line at its eastern edge.
Median Price
$1.1M
Median DOM
7 days
Chevy Chase
To the east, past 41st Street and Reno Road, up to Connecticut Avenue. Often counted as one neighborhood with the DC side of Friendship Heights.
Median Price
$1.3M
Median DOM
12 days
Next Step
Before you decide on Friendship 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.