Bipeds of Brookland: Josh Burch

Josh Burch is a DC Statehood advocate who was born in DC. He moved to Brookland when he was ten months old. He went to Ghana as a Peace Corps volunteer and met his wife, another volunteer. In 2002, he bought the house next to the one where he grew up, and he now works for DC, managing restoration projects for our many streams that are in are in poor health.  “Brookland is just a beautiful neighborhood. Because of my work in the environmental field, I see the number of green spaces and the way people take care of their yards …  There is a consciousness about the environment that people in Brookland have that I love.”

Josh became involved with the DC Statehood movement in 2011.  “My daughter was a few months old and I

Abbott Klar Real Estate Group is proud to be among the top producers in the Washingtonian Best Real Estate Agents for 2016.  Pick up your July copy of the Washingtonian and real all about it.   Thank you to all our friends and clients for your continued referrals!  Thank you!

Jesse Brown grew up in LeDroit Park and first came to Brookland when he was 14 and walked a friend home. “I loved Brookland when I saw it, like a hidden gem.” He bought a house here 31 years ago and has been a member of the community ever since.  

Jesse opened up a coffee shop, Brookland Cup of Dreams, in 1997 and is now the sole proprietor of Serendipity Jazz Coffeehouse on 12th St which serves coffee and food and offers live Jazz Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings.

By day Jesse is an electrician who trained here in DC and is a member of the local union. “Electrical is something I love. That’s not work, that’s passion. I’ve been doing it for 35 years. I learned from the best.  I learned when we didn’t have all these power tools and

4602 Sargent RD NE Washington DC. Beautiful Brookland
$569,000
Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

Virtual Tour
YouTube Video Tour

Restrained elegance and delightful charm abound in this renovated rowhouse are sure to make you feel right at home. A large front porch perfect for taking in the sunrise with a morning coffee welcomes you. The large living room anchors the home, and a modern, renovated kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops opens to the formal dining room with built-ins galore. A large picture window invites light throughout the space and frames the back yard and deck that are just perfect for barbecues at sunset.

Up the wood stairs are three spacious bedrooms and and a shared bathroom. The lower level is finished with an updated

Shani Hernandez is the founder and editor of the Brookland Bridge blog. “I’m really not an activist, I’m more just like a concerned person who wants Brookland to be the best it can be.

She remarks, “We weren’t here a month when I went to my first meeting of the Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association and I was sort of hooked on knowing more. Then I would know a little. So I would be walking my dog and people would ask, ‘What do you know?’ There were some times I couldn’t get around the block. I’d run into a neighbor here, a neighbor there, and I said I feel like the town crier… and I said maybe I should start writing it down and do a blog.”

“Our work on trying to save the Brookland Green was huge. It was a lot of people;  it wasn’t just us.

Join us on Saturday June 18th from 12-4 pm for the 2nd annual Brookland Community Picnic.  Join us at the Monastery for food, drinks, live music, dunk tank, face painting, lawn games, magic shows, moon bounce and lots of fun!

3911 Oliver St, Hyattsville, Maryland.
$419,000
Open House Sunday June 19th  1-4 pm

Virtual Tour

YouTube Video house tour.

Welcome to wonderful!  Carefully renovated and smartly upgraded this house is the one to call home. The main level is perfectly arranged: you enter the home greeted by the expansive living room with a stone fireplace.  The separate dining room is perfect for hosting the whole family for holiday meals and summer potlucks with friends. The renovated kitchen has ample storage as well as stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The gorgeous family room at the back of the home boasts a stunning wall of windows and a powder room.

Upstairs are four large bedrooms with built-in closets and large windows. Tranquil and private

Bipeds of Brookland: Introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time.

Gidey Teferra learned auto skills from his next door neighbor in Ethiopia, “I actually knew names of tools and parts before I even started kindergarten. I was probably five or six when I did my first brake job.”

Gidey came to the US from Ethiopia when he was in eighth grade. “When I was 16, I would work on my own stuff in the back yard” in Virginia. Eventually he had so many cars parts stored behind the house, he had to move out and rent a storage unit to do his car repair.“I almost took a job at a big auto repair company once.  But then we didn’t agree on their style of sales. I’m against these auto repair services that are not honest with the customer.

4617 Eastern Ave, Mount Rainer, Maryland

Virtual Tour

YouTube video tour
Open house Sunday June 12th 1-4

The main level, with gleaming hardwood floors, centers around an expansive living room with a working wood burningfireplace and opens up to an airy sunroom.  The renovated kitchen showcases stainless steel appliances and granite countertops accented by a colorful tile backsplash. The kitchen open up to a covered back porch over looking the manicured back lawn.  A large formal dining room, main level bedroom and a powder room complete the main level.

Bipeds of Brookland: Introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time.

Mike Thomasian, the principal of St. Anthony Catholic School, says that people tease him about living in a ‘Brookland bubble.’ “I hardly ever get in the car, I hardly ever go on Metro because my life is focused around these few blocks, and I’m not complaining. I love it.”

Mike came to St. Anthony in 2000 through Response-Ability, an AmeriCorps program which placed volunteer teachers in inner city Catholic schools.  He is happy that in addition to rigorous academics, St. Anthony offers classes in art, music, PE, computer, library, and Spanish every week to 200 students from Pre-K3 to 8th grade.  Mike proudly shared that 100% of St. Anthony graduates are