4600 Connecticut Avenue

Forest Hills lies on the east side of Connecticut Avenue in Upper Northwest DC, with Rock Creek Park behind it. The area on this page follows the DC tax office’s assessment neighborhood, which is longer than the neighborhood most people mean by the name. It runs along Connecticut Avenue from the Cleveland Park commercial strip north to Nebraska Avenue, so it also takes in the Van Ness apartment district and several Connecticut Avenue buildings that agents label Cleveland Park.

Two kinds of housing sit side by side. Along and just off Connecticut Avenue are large condominium and co-op buildings, many from the 1950s and 1960s, including Van Ness East on Van Ness Street and Van Ness North on Veazey Terrace. They supplied about two-thirds of the past year’s sales. Behind them, the streets that wind toward Rock Creek Park hold detached houses on wooded, sloping lots, ranging from 1920s and 1930s houses to mid-century and recent designs.

Retail is concentrated on Connecticut Avenue. The blocks around the Van Ness-UDC station have a Giant supermarket, restaurants and services, and the Cleveland Park strip at the southern end adds more restaurants and shops. Soapstone Valley Park cuts a wooded ravine through the middle of the neighborhood down to Rock Creek Park, and Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens is on Linnean Avenue.

Transit is the neighborhood’s practical advantage. Two Red Line stations, Van Ness-UDC and Cleveland Park, sit on Connecticut Avenue at the western edge. Metrobus routes on the avenue include the C87 at Van Ness, the D70 between Chevy Chase and Farragut Square and the D72 from Van Ness-UDC to Lafayette Square. Drivers use Connecticut Avenue and the Rock Creek Park roads. Many of the larger apartment buildings have underground parking, and many houses have driveways or garages.

I’m glad to explain how the condominium, co-op and detached-house markets differ in Forest Hills and to show you what is available in each.