Georgetown's East Village, West Village and neighbors

At a glance

Georgetown's villages compared

The priciest part of the Georgetown area on Zillow's map isn't in the historic district. Burleith, north of Reservoir Road, had a typical home value of $1,582,587 in August 2026, about $67,000 above Georgetown's $1,515,129, and it gained 14.66% over five years to Georgetown's 8.71%. DC's Historic Preservation Office draws the district's northern edge at Reservoir Road and Dumbarton Oaks Park, which by that line leaves Burleith and gated Hillandale outside it, and outside Old Georgetown Board review. That's the real choice on this page: inside the line, with the oldest houses and the strictest rules, or just outside it.

The names inside the line (East Village, West Village, Book Hill) are in common use, but no official source maps their edges. Treat them as shorthand and ask which streets someone means.

Inside the historic district

Everything south of Reservoir Road shares one rulebook: any exterior change you can see from a street or alley goes to the Commission of Fine Arts on the Old Georgetown Board's advice, including windows, doors, rooftop equipment and fences. Our Old Georgetown Board guide explains the process. The differences between the areas inside are about location, not law.

East Village

East Village is the name commonly used for the residential streets on the side of Georgetown nearer Rock Creek Park, which forms the district's eastern edge. Treat any street boundary you hear as one agent's convention. It faces toward the Foggy Bottom-GWU and Dupont Circle Metro stations, though each is still about a mile from Georgetown.

The catch is that it's the same housing stock under the same rules as the rest of the core. Most of it is row houses, so check our guide to Georgetown row houses by age for what you can change.

West Village

West Village usually means the residential side toward Georgetown University and Glover-Archbold Parkway, the district's western edge. The hill above the river here is where Federal-period merchants built mansions on Prospect and N Streets, according to the preservation office's history of the district.

The catch: your nearest Metro is Rosslyn, across the Key Bridge in Virginia. If you'll commute by train, time that walk before you buy.

Book Hill

Book Hill is the small area around the 1600 block of Wisconsin Avenue, where the Georgetown BID lists art galleries, local boutiques, cafes and antique shops.

Few homes sit right on the commercial block, so most buyers who want Book Hill are buying on the residential side streets nearby. Ask which block a listing means by "Book Hill".

The heights: Dumbarton Oaks and Tudor Place

On the heights above the old town, the squares were never divided into row lots, and large houses stood on what were small self-sufficient farms. Dumbarton Oaks (about 1801) and Tudor Place (1805-1816, designed by William Thornton) both survive and are open as museums; their gardens lead our resident's guide to Georgetown. This is where Georgetown's freestanding houses with gardens are.

The catch is site rules. The Board strongly discourages new curb cuts, opposes paving over yards and discourages large underground additions to protect mature trees. Buy the parking and the space the house already has.

Cady's Alley and the waterfront edge

The Cady's Alley and Georgetown Design District area holds dozens of design showrooms in old industrial buildings, and the river edge holds the National Park Service's Georgetown Waterfront Park. Homes near the river are mostly condos, a different decision from a house; read our Georgetown waterfront guide for the flood questions to ask.

Outside the historic district: Burleith and Hillandale

Both sit north of Reservoir Road, the line DC's preservation office uses for the district's northern edge. The brochure says the district is "roughly bounded", so confirm any specific address on DC's PropertyQuest map before you plan exterior work.

Burleith

Burleith is a separate neighborhood just north of Georgetown, and on Zillow it's the more expensive of the two: $1,582,587 in August 2026, up 3.47% in a year and 40.24% in ten years, against Georgetown's 35.58%. It shares Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E with Georgetown, and the commission sends its meeting notices to both the Georgetown and Burleith listservs.

The pull is freedom: if a house sits outside the historic district, its exterior work doesn't go through Old Georgetown Board review. The catch is that "appears outside" is not a permit. Check the address on PropertyQuest and ask the DC Department of Buildings what review applies before you count on an addition.

Hillandale

Hillandale is a gated community on the former estate of Anne Mills Archbold, about 42 acres north of Reservoir Road, inside the Burleith neighborhood. According to Wikipedia, the estate's Italian Villa-style main house dates to 1922-1925, and the land was subdivided in the late 1970s and early 1980s into about 266 homes, mostly townhouses. The main house and gatehouse were listed on the National Register in 1995. Archbold also gave much of the land that became Glover-Archbold Park.

It's the one place in the Georgetown area to buy newer construction behind a gate. The catch: its homeowners association fees and rules aren't published, and Zillow doesn't give it a separate value. Ask for the HOA budget, reserves and rules before you offer.

Which part of Georgetown fits your search

For freedom to change the exterior: Burleith

If you plan to add on, change windows or add parking, start in Burleith. It has the higher typical value of the two, so you aren't trading down to get there. Confirm the address first.

For a gate and newer construction: Hillandale

Hillandale's townhouses date from the late 1970s and 1980s, behind a gate. Pick it if you want a newer house and are willing to live by HOA rules you'll need to read first.

For the oldest houses and a walk to M Street: the historic core

If you only tour one part of Georgetown, make it the core inside the district, east or west. It has the Federal rows and the shops and canal on foot, and it's the stock Zillow's $1,515,129 figure describes. Accept that every visible change needs approval.

For a condo: the river and canal edge

Georgetown's best-known condo buildings sit by the river. Each building trades on its own fees and reserves; our guide to Georgetown condo buildings lists what to ask.

Three questions settle it. Do you need to change the outside of the house freely? Do you want a gate and a house built since the 1970s? Do you want to walk to M Street and the canal? Map each yes to an area above, then check the address on PropertyQuest. For what each house type costs across all of them, start with luxury homes in Georgetown, and for prices by month, the Georgetown housing market page. If you're on the other side of the decision, our guide to selling a house in Georgetown covers the paperwork.

How to check where a house sits before you offer

Because the village names are informal and the district line is described as rough, the address is what counts. Four checks, in order, tell you which rules apply to a specific house.

Look the address up on PropertyQuest

DC's PropertyQuest map shows whether a lot falls inside a historic district. The Office of Planning points owners to it for exactly this question. Do it for every house on your list, including any in Burleith that you're counting on to be outside review.

Search the house's past cases

For a house inside the district, the Commission of Fine Arts' project search lists past Old Georgetown cases by address. Match the windows, doors, deck and any addition to an approval. Work done without one can lead to a stop-work order and a referral back to the Board, and the new owner deals with it.

Ask the Board's staff before you plan work

If you're buying with a project in mind, Old Georgetown Board staff will confirm whether it needs review: (202) 504-2200 or cfastaff@cfa.gov. Remember that the Commission judges visibility without counting trees, so a rear addition hidden by summer leaves still counts as visible from the alley.

Follow ANC 2E

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E covers Georgetown and Burleith and usually meets on the Monday before the Board's monthly meeting. Its agendas are the earliest public look at projects proposed near a house you're considering, from a neighbor's addition to a commercial change on Wisconsin Avenue.

The table shows how sharply values change once you leave the Georgetown and Burleith house streets: Glover Park, another of Georgetown's northern neighbors, sits at about a third of Burleith's typical value.

More questions about Georgetown's streets

What is the prettiest street in Georgetown?

That's a matter of taste, but the streets the preservation office singles out in its history are a good place to start: the Federal rows on N Street built around 1812 and 1815 (the second is known as Cox's Row), and Prospect Street, where merchants built mansions above the harbor. Walk them on a weekday morning before you decide.

Is it safe to walk from Foggy Bottom to Georgetown?

We don't give safety verdicts. Our Georgetown crime data page uses Metropolitan Police Department figures, explains the boundary and period, and shows how to check a route or address yourself on DC's crime map.

Common questions

Sources

• Zillow Research: Zillow Home Value Index (August 2026)
• DC Historic Preservation Office: Georgetown Historic District brochure (PDF)
• DC Office of Planning: CFA and HPRB Review in Georgetown
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: Old Georgetown FAQs
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: Policy on Additions and Site Alterations
• Georgetown BID: Neighborhoods
• ANC 2E
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: Old Georgetown (project search)
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts: How to Submit (Old Georgetown)
• Wikipedia: Hillandale
• Wikipedia: Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
• DC PropertyQuest