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Washington DC Real Estate Resource Center: Cleveland Park Neighborhood

Washington DC's Cleveland Park is one of the city's prized neighborhoods. The residential neighborhood is located in the Northwest portion of Washington DC. Its boundaries are drawn by Rock Creek Park to the east, Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues to the west. The main thoroughfare traveling through Cleveland Park is Connecticut Avenue. The neighborhood is accessible by the Metro's Red Line.

What started as a single farm of about 1000 acres has grown into one of Washington DC's most diverse and authentic neighborhoods. The first American settler to what is now Cleveland Park was General Uriah Forrest, an aide-de-camp of George Washington. Upon his arrival, Forrest built an estate called Rosedale in 1793. Shortly after the building of the estate, Forrest began to serve as Congressman to Maryland.

The Cleveland Park neighborhood acquired its name in 1886 when President Grover Cleveland purchased a stone farmhouse directly opposite the Rosedale estate. The early 1890's saw the emergence of large-scale developments to the area. This is do in part to the neighborhoods topography, which provided a cool breeze in the summer and relieved residence of the hot summer weather found closer to downtown. The Cleveland Park Company is responsible for the construction of most of the housing at the time. Various architects designed most of the homes throughout Cleveland Park. As a result, Cleveland Park has an eclectic mixture of homes. Electric streetcars connected the Cleveland Park neighborhood to downtown Washington. Cleveland Park was most commonly referred to as a "streetcar suburb" due to its residential and access to streetcar transportation.

Today, Cleveland Park is one of Washington DC's most diverse neighborhoods. It is home to the Park and Shop, which was built in the 1930s and one of the earliest strip malls. Cleveland Park is also synonymous for Washington's National Cathedral and the Art Deco Uptown Theater. The Cleveland Park Historical Society is responsible for hosting historic neighborhood walks, a great way to get familiar with this majestic neighborhood.