This eye-catching home at 423 6th St. SE has faced Marion Park for 220 years. Built by Hugh Densley in 1802-03, like its neighbor at 421-1/2 6th St., the house was owned by Robert Alexander, who drew up the plans for Christ Church, and was rented by Benjamin Latrobe, noted architect of the Navy Yard gate as well as other Navy Yard and US Capitol projects. When designated a DC landmark in 1964, it was named Carbery House for a later owner, James Carbery, local politician and naval architect at the Navy Yard as well as brother of Thomas Carbery, sixth mayor of Washington. Extensive remodeling undertaken in 1889 dramatically changed it from a Federal-style townhouse to a Victorian-era house with porch and three-story projecting tower. In 1920 the Olds family bought the house, and many neighborhood residents recall an elderly Mrs. Olds in the 1970s enjoying the park view from the porch.

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For more information on these historic sites, go to the restoration society’s web page for the walking tour at http://chrs.org/historic-sites-tour-2020/

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

The wilder side, posted earlier: