Controversial D.C. Sears Kit House Demolished

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WHILE ON A HIKE along the abandoned Glen Echo trolley right-of-way in D.C.'s Palisades neighborhood two Sundays back, this writer found the Jesse Baltimore House enjoying what would be its last week of existence.

Neighbors had debated for decades over whether the vacant house at the entrance to Palisades Park, built 82 years ago by plumber Jesse Baltimore from a Sears catalog design kit, should be demolished. Now, the house at 5136 Sherier Place NW is gone.

As The Post's Martin Weil reported on Saturday, city crews demolished the structure during the holiday weekend to make way for a more dignified entrance to the park.

Making a return visit yesterday, this writer found little left on the lot but police tape, splinters and debris waiting to be cleared.

Was the house historic? The D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board didn't think so. The group decided not to give the house landmark protection in September, a move that paved the way for the weekend's demolition.

But while there are plenty of similar kit houses across the nation, there are few that haven't been significantly altered. The Jesse Baltimore House had sat in stasis since its time under federal or local government control began in 1959, and the debate over whether it was an eyesore or a gem has raged ever since.

As Spence Spencer, president of the Palisades Citizens Association, wrote in a letter to the editor in the Current newspapers published Nov. 14:

The Palisades Citizens Association has been grappling with this issue since the Eisenhower administration, when the land was purchased by the government to serve as an entrance to Palisades Park. The decision to support removal or razing the structure has the support of at least eight past Palisades Citizens Association presidents and a general membership vote.

» "Controversial Sears Kit House Is Demolished" [WaPo]

EARLIER:
» "Surprises on the Abandoned No. 20 Trolley Line" [Free Ride/Express]

Photos by Michael Grass/Express