22 West Decorated Models

Today I visited a Broker's Open at 22 West, the new building that has gone up on 22nd and M in the West End. I used to live in this neighborhood and have been watching the building go up for years so it was time to get over there and see some units. The finishes are beautiful- very sleek and modern without looking too cold. They had several models open for us to tour and each was decorated by a different local furniture store- Vastu, Contemporaria and Baker. Seeing the furniture, art and light fixtures that each designer chose was a lot of fun. Each unit we saw had lots of closet space and had REAL LAUNDRY ROOMS rather than a closet with a stacked washer dryer. You pay a premium for the luxury of it all- 1BR with dens start at $711,000 and the larger 2BR with den units were just under $2 million on the lower floors. Click here to see more pictures and info about the building.

Watergate Hotel up for Auction

The historic Watergate hotel will be going up for auction tomorrow and the sale apparently sparked international interest. The hotel closed a few years ago and was to be converted into high-end condos by Monument Realty. I visited their sales center a few years ago and was impressed by their floorplans, finishes, and of course, those views! Unfortunately the project had trouble on multiple fronts as the Watergate Coop buildings tried to stop the conversion, and the financing fell through when Lehman Brothers went under. The hotel is now in foreclosure. Click here for the Washington Post's recent article on the exciting auction.

Tennis anyone?

Warm weather gives Washington area residents so many options for free outdoor activities. One I like to take advantage of is tennis. There are so many well kept public courts around, there is no need to join a private tennis club. Courts I love: 23rd and N (lit up!), Volta Park in Georgetown, and 18th and California in Adams Morgan. Use the links below to find courts in your neighborhood:

List of DC tennis courts (by quadrant):

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/DPR/information/tennis_courts/tennis_courts.asp?quad=NW

List of Arlington tennis courts (by zip):

http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/sports/ParksRecreationScriptsSportsTennisZipCode.aspx

List of Montgomery County tennis courts:

http://www.mc-mncppc.org/Parks/enterprise/tennis/index.shtm