Welcome to Brentwood, a charming residential neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C. This area derives its name from Robert Brent, the first mayor of Washington City, who built a mansion on a large plot of land that was referred to as Brentwood. The property owned by Brent was mostly farmland that encompassed the current neighborhood known as Brentwood and part of the Near Northeast neighborhood to the south. Constructed in 1817, the Brentwood Mansion was a popular social scene during President Ulysses S. Grant’s administration and remained so until the owner, Carlile Pollock Patterson, died and the property experienced financial hardships due to delinquent property taxes. The area was subdivided and developed, leaving just the vacant mansion, which burned down in 1917. By 1960, the Brentwood estate had been completely sold off to developers and was on its way to becoming the neighborhood that you see here today. Brentwood is bounded by Montana Avenue to the east, New York Avenue to the south, Washington Metro Red Line train tracks to the west, and Rhode Island Avenue to the north.
Despite being less than five miles northwest of bustling commercial neighborhoods like Logan Circle and Penn Quarter, Brentwood today is a mostly quiet neighborhood with pedestrian-friendly residential streets and an overall suburban feel. This neighborhood holds a population of over 4,000 and is home to numerous families and working professionals seeking more affordable housing and a quieter community to raise kids. The housing stock in Brentwood primarily consists of multi-family brick rowhouses and newly renovated condos, as well as single-family homes with off-street parking and small front yards. The median sales price for homes in Brentwood is approximately $445,000, significantly lower than those you might find in the D.C. neighborhoods of Penn Quarter and Capitol Hill. A majority of this neighborhood’s residents rent. A convenient area for public transit commuters, Brentwood is served by the Rhode Island Avenue subway station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. There are also numerous bus stops and easy access to major arteries running southwest towards Downtown, making this an ideal neighborhood for working professionals that commute by car. Brentwood’s proximity to Gallaudet University makes this a highly sought-after area amongst college students wanting to live close to campus.
Brentwood Road, which runs north and south through the middle of this neighborhood, serves as the main commercial thoroughfare, along which you can find fast-food restaurants, big-box retail stores, and other locally-owned businesses. There are also numerous bars just off New York Avenue in Ivy City, a small neighborhood that overlaps with Brentwood to the south. If you are looking for fresh produce and wholesale goods, be sure to check out nearby Union Market, a trendy food market located between Gallaudet University campus, Brentwood, Near Northeast, and NoMa. Many Brentwood residents frequent H Street Corridor for its lively nightlife scene with a decent selection of dive bars and swanky clubs.