The Shot Gun House Is On the Market – Photos Then and Now

Archival photo of the shotgun house at 1229 E Street, SE. .

The deconstruction.

The re-created shotgun house on the right and the companion dwelling on the left.  Photo credit:  Tod Connell. 

Architect Sassan Gharai enters the shotgun house. 

The Shotgun House Is On the Market – Photos Then and Now

by Larry Janezich

The saga of the efforts to preserve the famous shotgun house at 1229 E Street, SE, has ended as the re-created house is on the market.

Capitol Hill residents are familiar with the story –– Larry Quillian’s 1985 purchase of the property at 1229 E Street, SE, and the associated ten town homes (since demolished) on Pennsylvania Avenue – the efforts of the Historic Preservation Board to preserve the shotgun house which prevented development of the entire property – the purchase of the properties by architect Sassan Gharai in 2016 – and the architect’s attempt to dismantle and preserve the building.   Gharai said “We tried to save some of the original materials, but failed.  What we built is true to original concept of the shotgun house.”

Gharai built two homes on the site.  He built a new shotgun house at 1229 E Street three feet west of the original shotgun house and a second house at 1231 E Street on the east side of the shotgun house.  The third floor of the shotgun house extends over the new house to the east, while the below grade level of that house extends under the shotgun house – technically making it two condos.

The price for the shotgun house at 1229 E Street with 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths with a study, outside deck, front and rear yard and private parking with 2400 sf of above ground living space – $ 1,345,000.00.

The price for 1231 E Street with 3 bedrooms, 3 ½ baths, an eat-in kitchen, outside deck, front and rear yard, private parking and 2500 sf of living space – $ 1,275,000.00.

The shotgun house will be open on Sunday from to 1 to 4 pm – 1231 E Street will come on the market in the next two or three weeks.

Here’s a link to photos of the shotgun house:  http://bit.ly/2NlldmW

Meanwhile, Sassan’s mixed use project on the part of the site facing Pennsylvania Avenue behind the shotgun house is nearing completion.  Capitol Courts – the former location of Frager’s Garden Center – will contain 119 micro apartments and a few 1 BRs. The plan includes 5,000 s.f. of ground floor retail. Sassan envisions a bakery/lunch/dining venue with an alcohol license.  Ten percent of the residential space will be designated for affordable housing under Inclusionary Zoning.  Sassan says that the contractor on the project estimates the building will deliver by the end of January.  He is currently looking for a purchaser for the project.