When I was shopping around for a place, I had seen a number of buildings with far worse problems with the building than this one. The only problems I have with the building itself is the one elevator that clearly needs to be replaced (it's about half the speed of the other elevator) and the normal aging of the building (people have been living in it longer than I've been alive).

The room is nice, I lucked out and ended up with one of the biggest rooms available. The kitchen has some old drawers that are falling apart and the linoleum is very cut up (which they told me they wouldn't fix) and the wood flooring was obviously refinished in a good amount of haste. The shower constantly clogs (when they did an inspection of them, they mentioned they're all like that) but they will fix them without any trouble. The nice thing about the old construction is the plaster walls, which don't transfer much sound at all. The only problem is the balsawood doors, which allows you to hear through it like a sheet of cloth and also makes any of the noise in the hall transmit directly into your room.

The heat/AC is centerally controlled, so make sure you have something to cover up the vents when it gets too hot or cold. Unfortunately the AC units are behind the building on ground level, so if you live toward the back of the building that's all you hear all summer long. It sounds like a lawnmower outside 24/7.

I didn't have any bugs most of the time I lived here. I did notice small gnats every now and then after my neighbor moved out (a girl) and a new one came in (a guy) so it's probably a neighborly cleanliness issue.

The stove looks small and junky, but it's suprisingly good. The fridge is a basic fridge that does what all fridges need to do. Being such an old building, there are a grand total of six pairs of electrical outlets in the place. One pair in the bathroom, two in the living room on opposite sides, and three in the kitchen (one with the fridge plugged into it) in some of the least convenient spots. Bring surge protectors with you!

Being mostly a student dwelling (very GWU accessable) we've had two fire alarms in the 6 months I've been here. According to the older residents, they have 4-6 each year — all due to students.

The rent is fairly reasonable considering the area, but I have heard a few people say that they will very likely increase your rent 25% should you decide to stick around after your first year. The good news is that after your initial year lease they allow you to rent on a month-to-month basis.

As far as management goes, I avoided them. Since they're in a seperate building, you'll never see them unless you go over or happen to be in the building during a tour. All my packages I mailed to my work because I saw the 'package problem' from the start. This I highly recommend.

For a first apartment, if you're set on living in the area, it's worth it if you don't have the time/patients to find anything better.

Oh, and they "have parking available," but don't expect to ever actually get a space.

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