Oct 17, 2025 | CHRS Activities, Preservation Cafés, Uncategorized
Capitol Hill Restoration Society will present a free, in-person Preservation Café about the full restoration and return of the historic pipe organ at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 313 2nd St. NE, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 6. The event is open to CHRS members and the general public.
We’ll meet inside the church for a talk about the 1891 Hook & Hastings organ as well as the history of St. Joseph’s, which was founded in the 1860s by a community of German immigrants. The current Gothic church on 2nd Street NE was built of brownstone on a foundation of red Seneca stone and was dedicated in 1891.
The presentation will be led by Nick Wallace of David E. Wallace & Co. Pipe Organ Builders in Maine and St. Joseph’s Music Director Maria Balducci.
The presentation will be led by Nick Wallace of David E. Wallace & Co. Pipe Organ Builders in Maine and St. Joseph’s Music Director Maria Balducci.
Please RSVP through Eventbrite. See you there!
Sep 3, 2025 | Preservation Cafés
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.
Jan 26, 2025 | Calendar, Preservation Cafés
The Capitol Hill Restoration Society (CHRS) will present a free, virtual Preservation Café on the pivotal role streetcars played in the development and growth of Capitol Hill on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
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May 26, 2024 | Calendar, Not on Home, Preservation Cafés
Story of Our Schools Exhibit
On May 28, 2024, CHRS members and guests were treated to a terrific presentation by Jen Harris, executive director and founder, and Erin Roth, development director, of the Story of Our Schools. Harris and Roth described a project they recently completed at Eastern High School where students, teachers, alumni, and other community members created a permanent exhibit to celebrate the centennial of Eastern’s building on East Capitol Street. The presentation was recorded.
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Apr 22, 2024 | Calendar, Not on Home, Preservation Cafés
Trinidad Boys Club
Kim Prothro Williams presented a free, virtual Preservation Café “Hidden Alleyways of Capitol Hill,” April 23, 2024. She is the author of “Hidden Alleyways of DC: A History,” published by Georgetown University Press and available at East City Bookshop.
The presentation was recorded. Want to learn more about alleys? Sign up for a tour.
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Mar 26, 2024 | Calendar, Not on Home, Preservation Cafés
Joanna Kendig presented a free, virtual Preservation Café “Power and Light: the Story of Electricity on Capitol Hill,” Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The presentation was recorded.
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