Third floor, meet floors 1 and 2. I'm not sure you know each other.

Sherman extended house, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Awful addition to a house on Sherman Avenue, courtesy of the Prince of Petworth. This photo brought about some lively discussion, with most commenters agreeing that these sorts of unsympathetic additions are awful. From what I know of most of DC, though, it's nearly impossible to stop without a historic district designation, which doesn't exist in Petworth or Columbia Heights. I understand the reticence about "historic" designations, which can make improvements much more difficult than they should be, and I don't think it's always appropriate for entire neighborhoods.

But there's gotta be a common-sense way to regulate materials for additions. I mean, if your rowhouse is two floors of red brick with rectangular windows, you shouldn't be able to put a grey facade up with faux-colonial style dormer windows that aren't even centered either with the addition or the windows below.

Just hideous. Look for some more examples of unsympathetic additions and improvements to follow. I've been meaning to catalogue some of the ones around us for a while now.

And as always, check out the Prince of Petworth. Good stuff.