Woodland Normanstone is a small, residential neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., adjoining the larger neighborhoods of

Woodley Park Woodley Park is a neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, DC. It is bounded on the north by Woodley Road and Klingle Road, on the east by the National Zoo and Rock Creek Park, on the south by Calvert Street, on the southwest by Cleveland Avenue, a ...

, Massachusetts Avenue Heights, and

Observatory Circle Observatory Circle is a street in Washington, D.C. It runs from Calvert Street to Massachusetts Avenue near 34th Street. Established in 1894, the street follows an incomplete loop, forming an arc rather than a circle. Number One Observatory Cir ...

. The Woodland Normanstone neighborhood is bounded on by Garfield Street to the north, Cleveland Avenue and Calvert Street to the northeast, 28th Street to the east,

Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...

to the southeast, Massachusetts Avenue to the southwest, and 34th Street to the west. It is served by the Woodley Park Metro station on the Washington Metro Red Line. Woodland Normanstone Neighborhood Association, established in 1989, represents the neighborhood. There are no commercial businesses; it is a neighborhood of detached single-family homes. Of the 160 houses in the neighborhood, 24 are residences for embassies. The neighborhood is not well known elsewhere in the city. It is reportedly home to a number of government officials.

History

In the late 19th century, the land was the home of two farms and some woods and trees. Following approval by the District Commissioners, Massachusetts Avenue was extended by way of a bridge over Rock Creek in 1904. In 1910, the 61st Congress allowed an exception to the typical street layout to a little bit of wilderness right in the middle of Washington. By curving around the hills, and by preserving the trees rather than cutting them, the developers created a neighborhood unlike most others in D.C. A group of real estate investors, called the Massachusetts Heights Company, purchased the area for over $2,000,000 in 1911. At the time of the sale, the new owners said they wanted to convert the wooded area into a "magical city". The land was developed by Amos H. Plumb and American Security and Trust Company. The developers built wide streets that conformed to the natural hilly topography. In 1917, the land was sold for several million dollars, which was the largest individual sale of real estate in the District of Columbia at the time.

References

Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.) {{WashingtonDC-geo-stub