Old homes restoration helps to restore pride in Anacostia

When Dewey Sampson moved to a small Victorian on 14th Street SE in 2010, he knew he had moved to a unique stretch of Anacostia. The block between V and U streets was the site of the Old Market Square, a gathering place in the historic community, and the price for his home was impossible to pass on for what he wanted with his wife.

But the house next door was an abandoned, dilapidated mess, so much of one that Sampson was intent on doing something about it.

We had some squatter issues, things of that nature, Sampson said of the house, which was known to serve as a crack den. He added that he once considered buying the house: I didnt really feel comfortable with my wife being around those situations. So, I definitely had to call and got the house boarded up.

Then, a stroke of luck. The LEnfant Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historic properties, bought the run-down house for $112,000 and fully renovated it. The organization, known for offering tax incentives to owners of historic properties around the city, was looking for a place to start a new rehabilitation program, and 2010 14th St. SE, the source of Sampsons angst, was a perfect fit. The group will now sell the house at market rate and use the profit to invest in more properties around the city.

All the while, it has restored a bit of pride to a neighborhood whose name alone still carries a certain stigma in Washington.

On Tuesday, representatives from the organization, D.C. officials and residents will mark the houses transformation with a ribbon-cutting and ceremony. But by that time, the hardest part will be over.

Were sort of like the emergency room of historic buildings, Carol Goldman, the trusts president, said. She added that the new initiative, known as a revolving fund program, represents a shift in how the Trust identifies preservation projects. For years, the group has largely encouraged property donations and volunteer easements to foster preservation. The new program was initially funded by a $50,000 grant from a Connecticut foundation.

The group, which holds the most historic easements in the country, has bought properties to renovate in other places around the United States, but the Anacostia home was its first in the District. To assess the right deal, the nonprofit group solicited community input about which properties it should buy and is acquiring its next set of homes to renovate.

Anacostia was clearly the place to launch this because they had these things sitting, Goldman said, referring to the swath of historic houses in the community. A number of them were crack dens. Lots of syringes. For decades. We thought, boy, if we can figure out a way to use our nonprofit funding mechanisms to rehab these buildings and put them back and stabilize and revitalize the neighborhood, thats really good use of the trust and funding partners, our nonprofit dollars.

Greta Fuller, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for that part of the neighborhood and a member of the Historic Anacostia Preservation Society, said she has welcomed the trusts presence in the community.

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Old homes restoration helps to restore pride in Anacostia