Fort Dupont Park
376 acres of forest, Civil War earthworks, mountain-bike trails, and the summer concert series that's been an east-of-the-river institution for generations.
Photo: Eric T Gunther, CC BY 3.0
Hillcrest & Fort Dupont, Washington DC
The best-kept blocks in DC.
Brick colonials on hilltop lots, a 376-acre park next door, and prices the rest of the city wouldn't believe — Hillcrest, Fort Dupont, and Fort Davis.
What it costs here
$633K
Median house price · 59 sales
$377
Median per square foot
Recorded arm’s-length sales from the District’s assessment records, through 2026-08-12. Not an appraisal or a valuation of any particular home. Compare every DC neighborhood
Why here
Fort Dupont, the ice arena, and Skyland.
These are the neighborhoods DC natives quietly kept for themselves — hilltop houses, forest out the back door, and a civic pride you can feel at the first community meeting.
The ice arena
Fort Dupont Ice Arena is DC's only full-size indoor rink — home of the storied Kids On Ice program, and a neighborhood point of pride.
Photo: Payton Chung, CC BY 2.0
Francis A. Gregory Library
The glass-and-diamond pavilion on Alabama Avenue was designed by Adjaye Associates — the studio behind the African American History Museum — and it's the neighborhood branch.
Skyland Town Center
The biggest retail build east of the river in decades — anchored by a full-size grocery, with restaurants and services filling in around it.
Who's moving in: buyers who grew up in DC coming back for a house with a yard, and value-hunters who toured upper NW, saw the prices, and crossed the river.
Getting around
Car, train, bus, or bike — how Hillcrest moves.
- Nearest Metro
- No station in the neighborhood — Naylor Road (Green Line) sits near Skyland, and Potomac Ave (Blue, Orange, Silver) is the first stop across the Sousa Bridge.
- Bus
- Frequent Metrobus service runs the Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Alabama Avenue, and Naylor Road corridors toward the Hill and downtown.
- Bike & trails
- The Fort Circle Parks trail threads the Civil War forts right through the neighborhood, linking to Fort Dupont's mountain-bike network.
- Parking
- Permit zones are rare — street parking is easy, and many houses park off-street with garages and pads off the alleys.
Worth watching: DDOT is rebuilding the Pennsylvania & Minnesota Avenue SE intersection — final design shown in early 2026, roughly two years of construction — replacing the gateway interchange with a safer crossing and new public space.
Daily life
Living in Hillcrest, day to day.
Schools, suppers, parks, and errands — the practical texture of the neighborhood, named specifically.
- Schools
- Anne Beers Elementary serves the hilltop, Sousa Middle sits at Fort Dupont's edge, and Bard High School Early College on Alabama Avenue offers a tuition-free Bard associate degree.
- Dining & nights out
- Skyland Town Center's growing fast-casual row, Pennsylvania Avenue's local spots, and Fort Dupont's summer concert series as the neighborhood's signature evening.
- Parks & recreation
- Fort Dupont's 376 acres, trails, and ice arena; the Hillcrest and Fort Davis rec centers; and the Fort Circle trail linking the Civil War forts.
- The library
- The Adjaye-designed Francis Gregory branch on Alabama Avenue — glass, diamonds, and forest light — is the neighborhood's own.
- Groceries
- Lidl anchors Skyland Town Center at the neighborhood's doorstep, with the full-size Giant on Alabama Avenue minutes away.
- On foot
- Quiet hilltop blocks with sidewalk manners — the daily walking is the park, the school run, and Skyland's new blocks.
Wherever you are
Start from where you actually are.
Buying takes most first-time DC buyers the better part of a year. The useful next step depends on which part you're in.
01 · Still running numbers
What can we actually afford?
Start with the payment, not the price. DC property tax, insurance and any condo fee move it more than buyers expect — and the condo fee counts against your ratios in full.
See what you can afford →02 · Saving up
How do we get to the down payment?
What you actually need down at Hillcrest prices is usually less than people assume, and the property type moves it as much as the program does.
See what you'd need →03 · Writing offers
We need to look credible.
DC listing agents expect a pre-approval attached to the offer. Ninety seconds, no credit pull to start.
Get pre-qualified →
You asked
Why is a Hillcrest colonial half the price of upper NW?
Why do Hillcrest houses cost half of what the same house runs in upper NW?
Geography and attention, not the housing. Hillcrest's brick colonials and Tudors were built by the same era of builders to the same standard as the houses west of the park — on bigger lots, with better views. The neighborhood has some of the highest owner-occupancy in the city and famously long tenure; houses simply come up for sale less often and fewer buyers know to look. For the buyer who does, the math is the whole argument.
What is it actually like living next to Fort Dupont Park?
Like having a national park for a backyard, because that is literally the arrangement — Fort Dupont Park is 376 acres of National Park Service forest wrapped around the neighborhood's eastern edge. The practical version: hiking and mountain-bike trails out the back door, Civil War earthworks up the hill, community garden plots, and the free summer concert series that generations of Washingtonians grew up on. Fort Dupont Ice Arena — DC's only full-size indoor rink — sits on Ely Place, and the houses on the park-facing streets of Fort Dupont and Fort Davis back straight onto the trees. Park adjacency doesn't complicate the mortgage at all; it just means the appraiser's photos look better than everyone else's.
Is a detached house here easier to finance than a condo downtown?
Considerably. No condo association to underwrite, no monthly dues counted in your ratios, no project review — the loan is decided by you and the house. And at Hillcrest and Fort Dupont prices, conventional and FHA financing both work comfortably, with none of the loan-size complications that shape deals in the city's expensive quarters.
The house I like hasn't been updated since the seventies. What are my options?
That's common here — long tenure means original kitchens — and it's exactly what renovation loans exist for. FHA 203(k) and Fannie Mae HomeStyle fold the renovation budget into the purchase mortgage and underwrite against the after-improved value, with licensed contractors doing the work and funds released in draws. You buy the house and the update on one loan, one closing.
What's actually happening at Pennsylvania and Minnesota Avenues?
DDOT is rebuilding the Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Minnesota Avenue SE intersection — the gateway between these neighborhoods and the bridges — with a final design presented in early 2026 and construction running roughly two years. The project rebuilds the intersection for pedestrian safety and adds new public space. Expect construction traffic in the near term and a considerably better front door after it.
We've owned in Hillcrest for decades. What can the equity do for us?
Hillcrest's long tenure means many owners hold enormous equity relative to what they owe — often the house is nearly or fully paid off. A cash-out refinance or a home equity loan can turn part of that into funds for a renovation, a family member's down payment, or anything else — without selling a house you have no intention of leaving. We'll run both structures against your current loan and show the real cost of each.
How do we get downtown without a Metro station in the neighborhood?
Most residents drive — it's ten to fifteen minutes over the Sousa Bridge to Capitol Hill, and off-street parking makes car ownership painless here. For transit, frequent Metrobus service runs the Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Alabama Avenue corridors, Naylor Road station on the Green Line sits near Skyland, and Potomac Avenue station is the first stop across the bridge. The park-and-sports set also bikes: the Fort Circle Parks trail links the Civil War forts right through the neighborhood.
Local expertise
Simple houses, smart structures.
The financing here is refreshingly uncomplicated — which puts the attention on renovation budgets and what decades of equity can do.
Detached, and simple to finance
Brick colonials, Tudors, and ramblers on real lots — no association, no dues in your ratios, no project review. At these prices, conventional and FHA both work comfortably.
Original kitchens, modern loans
Long owner tenure means houses often sell with decades-old interiors. Renovation loans underwrite against the after-improved value, so the update rides on the purchase mortgage.
Equity, decades deep
Hillcrest owners hold some of the longest tenure in the city — and equity to match. A cash-out refinance or home equity loan puts it to work without selling the house.
Found the hilltop house?
Purchase, renovation, or equity — tell us the address and your numbers, and we'll map the loan.