■i c ,0' 'o MASSAi.li MASSx\CHU CWIO J HOWELL /^ND SOM CMLEMG'NEERS IN CltAR-3E OF IMPFfOVEMENTS [SETTS AVENUE PARK AND lETTS AVENUE HEIGHTS WASHINGTON, D.C. Monrifass f/'^'f 728-732 15th ST. N. W. Director of Sales Sales Agents RANDALL H. HAGNER & CO. 1207 Conn. Ave. STORY i coaa w. ^. pilu.nc \ ri— ir fc aiiiniiiw' i wrnii i i iti wiinwn iii i i ni i i inii i ii imi i phiukhiii i iw iii i i i iinfiw MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PARR The \^'ashinKton Monument from the Treasury m 14 1917 ^f'^ MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PARR JOHN W. THOMPSON & CO. INCORPORATEC Director of Sales 728-732 FIFTEENTH STREET, N. W. WASHINGTON. D. C. Sales Agents Randall H. Hagner & Co.. 1207 Connecticut Ave. Story & Cobb, 1112 Connecticut Ave. W. J. PiLLING, 1405 Eve St. ij^g^gi ^iuu'j ■Txcui; V ©CI.A47824n Copyright, 1917, by J„lm W. Tliomj.son & Co.. Washmplon, D. C. MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE PARK ^HERE are two contending longings which mark the highly civilized man — the thirst of his primal nature for the country, and the hunger of his cultivated mind for the quickening communion of the human city. Little has been left untried for realizing these two desires in one scheme of life. From the hanging gardens of Babylon to the roof-gardens of a modern American metropolis, the story runs unchanging through changing time. If a metropolis could be created today with all that makes a city splendid it might be so planned as to contain the country within it — some wondrous New York where men might dwell in noble houses amid such a tract as Central Park. But a metropolis cannot be created — it grows, and it grows less by design than by its own confusedly accumulated greatness. If it retains an unspoiled place of virgin woods and hills, it is too precious for any man or any set of men to enjoy exclusively. It will be difficult indeed to believe that any modern American city contains such a unique preserve, and still more difficult to realize that the capital of the nation has such a country dwelling- place within it. Washington, which has grown so magnificent under inspired city planning that men of all lands declare that it will soon be the most beautiful city in the world, might well be supposed to have left no natural advantage unutilized. Such, however, has Looking North from Massachusetts Avenue over Rock Creek Park along the Eastern Boundary of Massachusetts Avenue Park been the case. There has remained in the best part of the capital a place of woods and hills and dales, nnappropriated for park purposes, and until recently, uninvaded by the street-maker — a 'rus in urbe' of two hundred and thirty-eight acres of the utmost beauty and charm. Rich in the trees of the lusty American mixed forest, its hills and dales suggest that desire for habitation always foreign to the bare plots of so-called land improvements. This large territory was, until a short time ago, left untouched, chiefly l3ecause the Permanent Highway Plan of the City of Washington required subdivision along the regulation city lines of rectangular plots brought to city grade. Had the tract been opened under this law, it would be today magnificent, no doubt, with city houses and pretentious apartment buildings, but a true city section. By a special Act of Congress it became possible to develop it, not as a city sub- division, but as a city site for true country homes. This place of forest crowned hills is not a suburb ; it is within a two mile radius of the White House and but half a mile from Sheridan Circle, the center of the National Capital's social life. At an average elevation of more than t^v o hundred feet above Pennsylvania Avenue it lies in that area denominated by The Washington Post. ''The Triangle of Increasing Values" between Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenues, the latter Washino-ton's finest residential street. It is protected by barriers which are more than mere buyers' and sellers' agreements as to its restrictions. Rock Creek Park forms the eastern boundary of the tract. A commission has been appointed to acquire more land to broaden the park at this point and also to connect it with Potomac Park. This is being done under plans formulated by the Fine Arts Commission, composed of such men Polo on the Potomac Parkway Chew Chase Clubhouse as Messrs. Daniel H. Burnham, Charles F. McKim, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Augustus St. Gaudens, and Col. William W. Harts. On the southwest, the Naval Observatory Park fronts it just across Massachusetts Avenue, and Rock Creek Park Extension also forms part of the boundary on this side. Where the frontier of parks does not extend, the property is protected by conditions created through private wealth and the love of art and beauty. On the north and west of the tract, there lie the richly appointed estates of United States Senator Francis G. Newlands, Charles J. Bell, Esq., United States Senator James H. Brady, and James Parmelee, Esq., and also the St. Albans Schools, The National Cathedral School for Girls and the Cathedral School for Boys, with the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul adjoining. Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul Thus permanently restricted far beyond its own confines, the tract offered an opportunity which, it was recognized never could present itself again in Washington and, prol^al^ly never in any other ojreat American city. The plan for opening the territory was placed in the most skillful hands, and every foot of roadway, every grade and curve was designed with the one controlling purpose of preserving it in whole and in part as a virgin landscape. Therefore, notwithstanding that the entire territory has l^een provided with driveways, sidewalks, sewers, water and lights, it retains wholly unmarred its natural beauty. The winding roads are curtained everywhere behind trees and shrubs; nooks and glades lie unpro- faned ; the many vistas that beckon to glimpses of Washington and its environments are set in woods that have grown through un- troubled years into an art that man cannot attain. All the roads, Residence of Mrs. Robert S. McCormick, Massachusetts Avenue and Thirtieth Street and even the sidewalks, follow the natural undulations of the land, and technical skill has succeeded so brilliantly in making the grades that whether one goes by automobile or on foot the ascents are perceptible only through the ever-changing views of the other parts of the tract, the city lying below, the Potomac, and beyond, the hills of Virginia and Maryland. Massachusetts Avenue Park is apportioned into sites, each of which conforms to the landscape. As they are of widely varying outline and area, a purchaser can select one in harmony with the character of the home that he plans to erect. The villa sites range from those suitable for residences costing $15,000 as a minimum to others that invite structures costing $250,000 or more. Obviously, since the areas and shapes of all the plots vary, it is impossible to refer here in any definite way to the matter of cost. The best indication may be had from the statement that the sites are offered V, Rtiv. Architect Residence of W. W. Wetmore. Rock Creek and Woodland Drives at prices that are only fifty per cent, and in some cases, only twenty- five per cent of the prices now being obtained for nearby built-up property — property of the most desirable class although not com- parable in beauty or exclusiveness to Massachusetts Avenue Park. While many of those who purchase in Massachusetts Avenue Park will naturally be automobile owners, the tract will have perfect accessibility by street-cars for the convenience of tradesmen, servants, etc., as the opening of Calvert Street, west of Connecticut Avenue, is now under way and will bring the center of the property within three city blocks of surface transportation on that avenue. By automobile, the center of the city is but a few moments distant, and is reached in but little longer time by trolley. The Com- missioners of the District of Columbia in 1914, in a published report, approved the extension of a street-car line from Connecticut Avenue to Wisconsin Avenue, through Massachusetts Avenue Park, by way of Calvert Street and Cleveland Avenue, but the building of a line at that time was impossible, as Calvert Street had not been opened. However, with the opening and improvement of this street public necessity will require this connection. The inspiration that led to the plan outlined for opening this property has not had in view the financial aspect first, but the ideal of creating a stately place of habitation that would appeal to the distinguished men and women whom Washington attracts, not only because it is the center of the nation's statesmenship and political affairs, but also the center of America's learning and art. It is impossible to adequately describe the unprecedented condi- tions which obtain in Massachusetts Avenue Park, and therefore it is necessary to visit the tract to fully appreciate the excellence of Looking South on W oodland IJrive Cathedral School for Boys An Attractive Corner on Normanstone Drive and Thirtieth Street the location, its wonderful charm as a place of residence and the extremely low cost for land of such value. A number of sites have already been sold and building has begun, so that there can be no sense of unpleasant isolation for those who may now decide to choose Massachusetts Avenue Park for their place of residence. No other property in Washington can now, or ever compare with this in natural beauty. With the tract developed, and with the character of houses and grounds assured by careful restriction, it will be by far the most beautiful part of the most beautiful city in the world. Hock Cn-ck l)ii\f. Kasi from Massachusetts Avenue. Hock Oeek I'aik on Hijilit Rock Oeek Drive at Intersection of Nornianstone Drive Looking South on Woodland Drive at Twenty-ninth Street showing Washington Monument in the distance Panoramic \ icw of Sherida Panoramic \ iew of \^ ashin^toi r<'l<'. iMassacliusflls Avein m Massachusetts Avenue Park Intersection of Woodland Drive and Rock Creek Drive with Natural Bridge over Rock Creek r Normanstone Drive, looking East towards Thirtieth Street Rock Creek Park on the Right ikiiit: Kast fr(.)m Massachusetts Avenue. Rock (Ireek Park on tlie Rialit Looking North on Normanstone Drive Looking up Thirty-second Street IVoni Normanstone Drive Looking North on Thirtieth Street at Intersection ol Woodland Drive Twill Oaks," Residence of Charles J. Bell, ojiposite Northern Boundary of Massachusetts Avenue Park :i%, Chrkcn:,Xi:c„uu^,A, Residence of Mrs. L. F. Day, to be erected on North Side of Massachusetts Avenue at Thirtieth Street Thirty-second Street, North of Woodland Drive, showing Intersection of Cleveland Avenue Looking South from Woodland Drive, down Thirtieth Street '^"?> Looking North on Woodland Drive, near Twenty-ninth Street ' Westover.'' Residence of C'harles C. Glover. Massachusetts Avenue. West of Wisconsin Avenue Residence of Senator James H. Brady, on Woodley Road, adjoining a portion of Massachusetts Avenue Park on the North ' Friendship," Home of Edward B. McLean, West of Massachusetts Avenue on Wisconsin Avenue ' Woodley," Home of Senator Francis G. Newlands, situated on Woodley Road, adjoining portion ot Massachusetts Avenue Park on the North 'Causeway,' Home of James Parmelee. Esij., Klingle Road and McComb Street, adjoining Massachusetts Avenue Park on the East rlif II aggfina't , A rchitect Residence of Mrs. John R. WilHams, North Side of Massachusetts Avenue at Rock Creek Home of John Havs Hammond. Kalorama Road and Twentv-third Street. East of Massachusetts Avenue Park Connecticut Avenue Viaduct over Rock Creek Drive, just East of Massachusetts Avenue Park Home ol John W . Thompson, at Intersection of Woodland Drive, Twenty-ninth and Calvert Streets Home of Clarke Waggeman, Woodland Drive, Twenty-ninth Street and Rock Creek Drive Sales Olli.r l.,r \la-sa(liii°-'-^., ^^^o^ o-N"-' ■?..s,v -^ ■J" ^^rS S-^^ V^. \p. V, .-iq^ ><-<; >N'' .^'5 .^''^. ^^^ ..^^^^.. ■->'•■■'■< ^^^%^^/ .^ A ^^m^^ j^J^ JK"^ j\r^m$ ^^^-^ c^-' ^ ^y^^^ ^ ^ ^^-n^. ,0^ ■..^j'.% -e^ A" • „r*">\. '. > A A°^ • => - ° \\^ °-*- " ' f ^ . . ^^ ° " ° K-^ ^. .G"- ,o^^,o;4:v_ o ^0 ,v-' "* '■;./■ w, . ■■-■■" ^^•0 >^'%. 0' _t. ;-•'> <. ^•^ 'o .n S ' ,0 o. .... A < o '>^ <. ^ o > .0 ^ -^-0^ >^" / °' ■^oV^ \ ' %.^'- x*^-^^ xOv%. 0^ - ' • ' *w* ••^m- %/ ■""■■' %.^^* " \/ " "" " %.** -^Z ' " .. - „ "J-