Neighborhood Spotlight: Tenleytown

Tenleytown is a small predominantly commercial area surrounded by the following residential neighborhoods (AU Park, Van Ness, Cleveland Park, and Wakefield). Its borders are Upton Street to the south, Wisconsin Avenue to the west, Garrison Street to the north, and Reno Road to the east.

 

Tenleytown gets its name from a tavern that was owned by John Tennally in the late 18th Century. Locals would call the neighborhood Tennally’s Town and eventually shortened it to Tennallytown. There are records of a Tennallytown streetcar station in the early to mid-19th Century. There was some dispute on the spelling of the Tennally name and the neighborhood was ultimately changed to Tenleytown. 

 

Tenleytown sits at the highest natural elevation point in the city. Fort Reno, which is now a park home to a baseball and soccer field, was once a crucial lookout point for defending the city during the Civil War. Nearly all of the city’s radio masts, towers, and studios call the neighborhood home. 

 

The mixed-use development named Cityline which features luxury condos above Target was originally a Sears Roebuck department store. Some of the other big draws into the neighborhood are Whole Foods, Surfside, Friendship Animal Hospital, and the Tennleytown – AU metro station. The new City Ridge Development which is located on the outskirts of the neighborhood on the historic Fannie Mae campus will be a big draw when it’s fully completed. The development will have 750 residential units and 250K SF of commercial space anchored by Wegmans, which just opened. 

 

The neighborhood is zoned for the following DC Public schools: Janey Elementary, Deal Middle School, and Jackson-Reed High School. The National Presbyterian School and Georgetown Day School are the independent schools located in the neighborhood. 

 

Most of the homes were built in the 1920s and ‘30s. The current housing stock features Victorians, colonials, bungalows, row homes, and condo buildings. 

 

Tenleytown 2022 Detached Single Family Home Stats (1/1/22-8/31/22):