From hidden alleyways to green spaces to architectural gems, our four October walking tours let attendees discover more about Capitol Hill.
Here’s what the tours covered:
Capitol Hill Architecture: The changing tastes and practical decisions that informed builders’ choices. This is one of our oldest walking tours.
SE Alleys: Capitol Hill has many hidden alleys and charming one-block streets. Take a trip back in time to explore the workaday world of past residential and industrial uses and some of our most diverse populations. Another of our oldest walking tours.
Between Marion and Providence Parks: When Pierre L’Enfant developed his 1791 plan for the City of Washington, he established a network of public spaces and squares, linked by broad avenues. The residential neighborhood around the blocks that turned into Marion and Providence Parks (popularly referred to as Turtle and X Parks) has evolved into a rich tapestry of houses, schools, churches and buildings old and new, which we will explore on this tour. This incorporates some of our parks and infrastructure tour.
NE Alleys: The lifestyles, occupations, and shenanigans of the inhabitants; early industrial uses; and efforts both to eliminate and to preserve alley dwellings.
Preservation easements were the subject of a free online talk on September 25. Part of our Preservation Cafe series, the talk was led by staff of the L’Enfant Trust, which holds most of Capitol Hill’s easements. The talk was recorded and is available on YouTube.
An easement is a legal agreement that permanently protects a home’s historic character. Easements do not expire and “run with the land,” meaning that future owners are also bound by them.
Lauren McHale, the Trust’s president and CEO, and Katie Williams, its operations and communications manager, answered a variety of questions, including:
How to donate an easement
What makes a property eligible
Responsibilities of easemented property owners
They also shared about the Trust’s Historic Properties Redevelopment Program in Historic Anacostia. Since 2013, the Trust’s HPRP has created affordable homeownership opportunities for the community by rehabilitating deteriorated, vacant historic properties.
You don’t have to own an easemented property to get help from the Trust, McHale said. She said the Trust is happy to offer guidance to anyone about a historic property. It has a full-time professional staff to advise owners on maintenance, preservation and architectural design review for proposed changes to the exterior.
The organization’s website has a toolkit for easemented property owners as well as guides to preserving historic exteriors and researching your historic property. The address is lenfant.org.
L’Enfant Trust easements are marked by round cast bronze plaques featuring a star. The Trust holds conservation easements on more than 1,150 historic DC properties. DC maintains a list of more than 1,700 properties citywide that are protected by conservation easements.
Do you have suggestions for a future Preservation Cafe? Let us know! Email us at caphrs420@gmail.com.
Strap on your walking shoes, because we’re bringing back our popular guided walking tours of Capitol Hill. We’ll offer four tours on September 6 and 7 featuring Southeast alleys, notable people, one block with many stories, and the Civil War and before. Buy tickets on Eventbrite, and grab them before they sell out.
As part of our ongoing celebrations of our 70th anniversary, we made the summer Membership Meeting a little more fun! The meeting itself was held in the chapel at Congressional Cemetery on June 7, 2025 . Festivities included a walking tour and an ice cream truck.
This was a members-only event.
Not yet a member? Become a member, now.We’d love to have you join our organization.
Members of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society celebrated their 70th Anniversary on Thursday, April 10, 2025 in the heart of our neighborhood – the North Hall of Eastern Market. The public was invited. (more…)
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Photo Contest. The winning photos will be on display in the windows at Coldwell Bankers at 350 7th St. SE after May 1.
Second place winner is Elisa Walker for her photo titled Capitol Hill Sunset.
Elisa Walker “Capitol Hill Sunset”
Third Place is Heather Bien for her photo titled Autumn Perspectives.
Heather Bien “Autumn Perspectives”
Fourth Place is Regina Reynolds for her photo titled Puddle Wonderful.
Regina Reynolds “Puddle Wonderful”
Fifth place is a tie between Karlan Jankowski for Spring Seasonal and Steve Morris for Serene Market Scene.
Steve Morris “Serene Market Scene” / Karlan Jankowski “Spring Seasonal”
CHRS had 131 submissions from 39photographers. Ten photos were selected to be judged by a panel of experts that included: Frank Thorp, producer at NBC News; Amy Moore, executive director of CHAW; Austin Graff, digital marketing expert; and Jenn Nordstrom, professional photographer, who is also this year’s cover artist for the CHRS House andGarden Tour booklet.
Other finalists:
Nan Raphael “Wisteria at Kentucky and EastCapitolMaria San Jose “Walker’s Arc”Matt Jex “Cherry Blossoms at the Park”David Parkes “Beauty in Unity on CapitolHill”
