The Evolution of Burleith

The Evolution of Burleith. . Burleith's built environment dates to the early nineteenth century. The oldest existing home, 1814 35th Street (earlier known as Fayette Street), was built in 1803. Three other structures on 35th Street were built in 1830, and about fifty years later two more appeared on Whitehaven Parkway (originally Madison Street). Of the Burleith buildings still standing in 2015, only these six existed when Frederic Huidekoper acquired Richard Smith Cox's "Burleith" estate in 1886. One additional house, 3537 S Street, was erected in 1890, not long before Western High School opened the doors of its grand neo-classical building in 1897., Although almost sixty additional homes were built between 1900 and 1922, especially along 35th Place and the 3500 blocks of T and S Streets, the majority of Burleith's houses were constructed between 1923 and 1928 as part of the Shannon and Luchs "Burleith" development. Designed by architects W. Waverly Taylor Jr. and Arthur B. Heaton, these row houses exhibited a pleasing symmetry in an adaptation of Colonial Georgian architectural style, drew international attention and inspired the development of similar communities throughout the U.S., Between 1926 and 1931, Cooley Brothers built over sixty homes in several phases. In 1926 and 1927, seventeen row houses were constructed on 37th Street south of Whitehaven Parkway and seven on the north side of T Street east of 36th Street. Between 1929 and 1931, around forty row houses in developments called "Burleith Heights" were constructed on 38th Street north of T Street and on the north side of the 3800 block of T Street. The T Street houses were half-timbered structures in an adaptation of Elizabethan English architecture. The remaining Burleith homes were the result of smaller developments. For instance, in 1939, twelve homes designed by Arthur L. Anderson were built by Muhleman and Kayhoe; and Paul D. Crandall built thirty structures on Whitehaven Parkway, Many of Washington's neighborhoods were once segregated, and Burleith was no exception. Shannon and Luchs built Burleith as a white-only neighborhood with restrictive covenants attached to the deeds. A 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision finally put an end to racially restrictive covenants., This fire call box was restored in 2015 with generous donations from the residents and friends of Burleith.