1401 R St NW #203, Washington, DC 20009

This building has a story worth telling, and so does the unit inside. Welcome to 1401 R St NW, Unit 203. Built in 1902 as the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company switchboard for Northwest DC, this building sat at the corner of 14th and R for over a century before PN Hoffman, the developer behind the transformation of the entire 14th Street Corridor, got their hands on it. Unit 203 was their model, the one they kept to show everyone else what was possible. Two floor-to-ceiling south-facing windows pour light in all day onto the Georgia heart of pine floors and original exposed brick, with custom fixtures and electronic shades rounding out the finishes. The lofted bedroom floats above an open living and dining space that was genuinely made for entertaining, with a premium stainless kitchen right there to back it up. And because the building predates DC's 1910 Height Restriction Act, the rooftop deck completes the package, with sweeping views of the Washington Monument and the DC skyline that newer buildings simply don't have. With only 36 units in the entire building and Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and the best of 14th Street just steps away, this one is pretty hard to beat.