6 SNOWS COURT NW
Year Built
1890
Click photo below to see full sized image.
D. Vogt, 2022
Documents
History
Numbers 1-7 Snows Court are seven original red brick (now painted) row houses, built in 1890. They maintain their historic facades as well as original brick rears. The houses are 13 feet wide and 28 feet deep. They are 2 1/2 stories, with stairs leading up to a first floor door. Segmental arches are present above the door and all windows. A simple brick motif cornice runs the length of all seven buildings. All units have cellar windows on the lower right side of the façade and a side front entry.
They were built by James H. Grant for developer Samuel Norment. (Norment was the same developer responsible for the Fitzgerald (840-844 New Hampshire Ave.) and adjoining row houses.) This grouping of homes helps us visualize how the entire alley must have looked during the late 1800s. In 1905, these very basic dwellings with four to five rooms rented from $6.50 to $9.30 a month. They may have been occupied by at least two families and additional boarders.
Starting in 1952, new residents and developers started buying and renovating the neglected Snows Court row houses, following the example of the nearby Georgetown neighborhood. In 2022, these small, but geographically desirable, homes sell in the $800 - $900k range. "... The 93 year old dwellings, which had deteriorated into scarcely more than hovels, each occupied by 10 or 12 unfortunate Negros, were stripped back to the bare walls. All interior partitions were removed, and ne" w flooring was laid over the old. Gas, electricity and inside plumbing, which none of the houses had before, were installed," according to an article about Snows Court in the Washington Star in 1953.
Resident/Owner
1958 - Carolyn Casper
1983 - Rob Gilepsie
Recollections
Source Material
FBA History Project, FB Historic District Walking Tour, "Snows Court Row Houses ." https://theclio.com/tour/2098/6
Foggy Bottom Association News, Feb. 1961;
Rhea Radin, "From the Bottom Up," Foggy Bottom News, June 1959; and June 1958
George Beveridge, "City's Foggy Bottom See Test Ground of Urban Renewal," Evening Star, Oct. 23, 1955;
EHT Traceries, historic area building survey and photo, Nov. 1983
Isabelle Shelton, The Washington Star, Nov. 8, 1953
This floorplan in 2022 shows how the 917 sq. ft. was allocated. ( Matterport, 2022)
This northwest view of the seven rows as seen in 1983. (EHT Traceries, Nov. 1983)
The seven rows and a wood frame house on 25th St. (Robitscher collection, 1950s)
1-7 Snows Court houses (before 2015) (Ellie Becker Collection, DC Hist Cent)