This $3.25 Million Loft Is Housed in a Former Helicopter Factory in Washington, D.C.
From offices to residences, many of today’s eye-catching structures in Washington, D.C., once stood as factories for iconic brands like Wonder Bread and Nabisco. Torpedos and helicopters were also developed in such spaces, including a Columbia Heights building where one of the world’s earliest helicopter factories stood at 770-774 Girard Street. Rehabilitated into luxury condos in 2017, one of the complex’s most expansive residences is now up for grabs at $3.25 million. Daniel Heider and Bryan Catalano of Sotheby’s International Realty hold the listing.
Completed in two phases, the historic building originally housed the Standard Material/Gyro Motor Company. The first section was built in 1902 as the two-story, five-bay eastern section for the Standard Material Company. German-American inventor Emile Berliner used the space to develop the gramophone, or flat disc records for sound recordings. The western wing was completed between 1910 and 1911. By 1920, Berliner’s Gyro Motor Company had taken over the entire building to produce lightweight rotary engines for the first-ever helicopters.
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The property reportedly sat idle for years before Brook Rose Development acquired it in 2014 with plans to revive the property and honor its history. Today, the Helicopter Factory accounts for 15 residential units, including 13 loft-style condos and two grand, multi-level lofts. One of the former industrial building’s two grand lofts, Unit #7W, previously sold for $2.3 million in 2017, and now the three-bedroom abode is back on the market with many indicators of its past, like exposed support beams and exposed red-brick walls that span its open floor plan. Soaring ceilings and wide-plank floors add to the 5,077-square-foot home’s inviting ambience.
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To the left of the entrance is a billiards area for friendly matches beneath low-hanging pendant lights, while a lounge area and the fireside media room sit further in, with the latter including a retractable projector screen for movie nights. Through reclaimed barn wood doors is the formal dining room, which sits ahead of the chef’s kitchen that fitted with a Viking range, a farmhouse sink, and breakfast bar seating.
A second living area greets you off the upper-level landing, accessed via a wood-and-metal staircase. The primary suite is through quadruple-hinged double doors with plush amenities like a sitting area and fireplace, plus an en-suite bath and a walk-in closet. Be sure to check out the library before heading up to the penthouse. Currently set up as a gym, the window-lined space includes a wet bar. Telescopic sliding doors open out to the wraparound rooftop patio with dining and seating areas, in addition to epic sunset views. As an added bonus, the Unit 7W includes off-street parking for two cars in a private, landscaped courtyard behind an automated roll-up door.
Click here for more photos of the Washington, D.C. loft.
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