The neighborhoods of the Washington, D.C. area are bursting with character.
Each section holds its own in terms of look and feels, from family-friendly suburbs to hyperactive urban communities. And while the area is changing rapidly, so are the homes of its residents opting to renovate the city’s older houses. Buyers looking for these homes want a home that fits in with the neighborhood.
Below is a run-down of five of the city’s most popular neighborhoods and how to up your home’s curb appeal by enhancing your home’s exterior paint color scheme.
Georgetown Exterior Paint Schemes
Georgetown is where D.C.’s historic charm meets one of the area’s most high-end shopping destinations.
Nestled on the Potomac River’s scenic bluffs, this bustling neighborhood is full of trendy restaurants, bars, and assorted shops. Most homes live on streets still made of the original cobblestones and are classic, colonial row houses.
If updating the outside facade, it’s popular in this neighborhood to create a custom exterior paint color to match the building’s original hue. Be sure to consider the location, light, architecture, and scale if you plan to go another color route.
Popular colors in the area include natural tones like tan, cream, and white–anything to maintain the neighborhood’s historic look and feel. Because the houses in this area are so famous for their beauty, it’s important to maintain a cohesive look amongst neighboring houses.
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a D.C.’s mecca for museums, historic homes, art galleries, and diverse restaurants. It’s also one of the area’s most popular nightlife stomping grounds.
The Circle itself is a gathering place with park benches surrounding a giant fountain (think plenty of good people watching). And similar to Georgetown, it’s an interesting place to walk around and explore.
Homes in this neighborhood are a mixture of condos and row houses with brick exteriors. Most people opt to keep the original red-brick color. However, white and cream are the most popular exterior paint colors to paint if you plan a facelift for your home.
Adams Morgan
Right in the heart of Washington, D.C., above Dupont Circle sits Adams Morgan, a culturally diverse community full of nightclubs, coffee shops, bookstores, art galleries, and specialty shops.
The food is also incredible, ranging from everything from Ethiopian to Vietnamese to Latin American and more. Lining the narrow streets are beautiful 19th and early 20th-century row houses and apartment buildings.
During the 1930s, Art Deco emerged as the popular style with geometric shapes, bold colors, machine-like motifs. Since then, many of the structures have been demolished. However, residents keep the neighborhood’s unique vibe alive when remodeling by keeping the original brick and adding metallic accents such as metal frames around the doors and windows.
Feel free to go bold with colors like orange, red, or blue. You’ll even find homes and buildings painted pink or bright yellow. Almost anything goes.
Columbia Heights
For many years, Columbia Heights was a neighborhood of abandoned homes and shops. Thanks to DC USA, an 890,000 square-foot retail complex, the area has seen a grand revitalization and is now one of the most ethnically and economically diverse neighborhoods in D.C.
The homes are a mix of high-priced condominiums, townhouses, and public and middle-income housing. Because this neighborhood is constantly changing, so are the trends for home exteriors. Stone veneer, a lightweight alternative to real stone, is an attractive and easy material to cover your exterior walls.
Not only will it fit in with other houses in the neighborhood, but the natural colors of the stone will enhance your overall curb appeal. Most homes in the area are neutral colors, but gray and navy blue are popular too.
Alexandria, VA
Just south of D.C. is Alexandria, a quaint little walkable city that sits right next to the Potomac River, so leave your Toyota Carolla at home. Overflowing with history on every red brick road, you can find yourself wandering the modern restaurants, coffeehouses, and museums just as George Washington himself might have done (yup, the streets are that old).
Despite its age, much of Alexandria’s original architectural heritage has remained the same, as the city has never experienced a rapid growth spurt like its neighbors. If remodeling, wood siding would allow a structure to maintain it’s charming historic appearance.
It requires more maintenance, but it will outlast the lesser-expensive option of vinyl siding with proper care. When working with a contractor, they may also suggest fiber cement siding, fire-resistant, and termite-proof.
Paint colors tend to be conservative neutrals, but a pop of color like turquoise or yellow isn’t out of the question.
If you’d like help deciding how to paint or remodel your home’s exterior enhances its curb appeal for selling–contact one of our experienced realtors here at Eng Garcia and let us help. We can make sure you’re making the best changes for the money.