GMS Vignettes: Major Renovations Bring New Life to Georgetown
By • August 8, 2024 One Comment 1078
By Forbes Dudley
Georgetown holds a special neighborhood charm that has been drawing people to its streets, homes, and shops for centuries. Inevitably, with time, the historic buildings of Georgetown need some sprucing up. This process of renovation comes with its own trials and tribulations for business owners, but it ultimately enhances what Georgetown is all about: the joy of community and bringing the people of DC together.
L’Enfant Gallery
Since its establishment in 1973, L’Enfant Gallery has brought beautiful pieces of art and antiques to the Georgetown and greater D.C. area. The three-story shop is located prominently on the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and P St. in a completely unique and historical building.
Peter Colasante entered the business of art dealership after leaving his previous career as an actor all thanks to a mentor who pushed him in the right direction. “It was like I’d been asleep and somebody said there’s the door, you need to walk through it to be free.” He started L’Enfant Gallery with a small storefront in Adams Morgan and only 5 pieces to his collection. He occupied this space for 25 years until moving to the gallery’s current location.
The gallery was booming for years and sales were at a high, and then the pandemic hit. Peter and his team at the gallery had to shift gears and they started an outside storefront because nobody would come inside. That was how they survived.
“In terms of forward looking vision, I knew that we were at a crossroads after covid. It was to either contract or expand,” Peter told the Georgetowner. After a failed attempt to sell the building in 2022, L’Enfant Gallery took that as an opportunity to begin fixing things up. There had been no major work done on the building since 2004.
What started out as a targeted approach to fixing a persistent leak in the walls, turned into a domino effect that led to doing a major renovation on the entire gallery.
“Part of this renovation is making the place more like a gallery than a curiosity shop.” There were many goals they wanted to achieve through this renovation, Peter explained. “Every room has to be accessible and people have to be able to get from one room to another, it used to be a little bit like a maze. Mostly 95% of people would just breeze through and had no idea what we really had.” Now, the art and antiques displayed at L’Enfant Gallery are expertly categorized by location, time periods, and movements which creates an easy and creative viewing experience.
“This is like the UN of art. I call this the kingdom because everything in the world is here, every culture, every society. It’s like a really bad Smithsonian and people like that idea because they like the concept of coming to a museum setting where they can actually take things home.”
Not only did L’Enfant transform the inside of the building, they also did work on the exterior. Peter said, “We uncovered copper facings that nobody has seen for 150 years.”
The Georgetown community is re-discovering an incredible business and space that’s been there all along. “We’ve had more neighbors coming in the last 6 weeks than I’d say the last 3 years and they are all wondering if we just opened. The lucky thing about this place now is that each wall or thing radiates its own aura and beauty and it’s not blocked by thousands of other things.”
Along with decluttering and creating an inviting space for customers to browse, L’Enfant Gallery is now opening up their second floor as a smaller capacity venue that people can rent out for events such as fashion shows, photoshoots, and birthday parties. “We’re just letting people explore the space.”
When asked what Georgetown should know about their new renovation, Peter said, “I want them to know that one of the most beautiful spaces physically in Georgetown is completely open again. There are other buildings that are interesting in Georgetown but you only get to see manicured spaces on the first floor. What we did is the opposite of what people usually do with old buildings. It is now a gallery where things are visible but the focus is on the relationship of objects to space and that’s new. And I think that is exciting and the neighbors are all jazzed up.”
L’Enfant Gallery has no admission charge and is open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., except for Monday’s when they are closed. They are located at 1442 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
La Bonne Vache
La Bonne Vache’s Claire Wilder. Courtesy of La Bonne Vache Instagram.
New to Georgetown this year is La Bonne Vache, a French restaurant specializing in their delicious burgers. Although it might seem like they’ve been in Georgetown for forever, Claire Wilder told the Georgetowner about their lengthy renovation process that unexpectedly took longer than they imagined.
“We were just going to do a quick renovation that would take about four months and then when we got here it needed a lot more work. The electric wasn’t completely done very safely so we had to clean that up to make it safe and not a hazard ” Claire said.
Georgetown is a place that highly emphasizes the importance of preserving a look and the history. These guidelines can sometimes be tricky and created some bumps in the road for La Bonne Vache.
In July of 2023 there was a stop work order placed on the building. “We had originally planned to put a to-go window in, and then got a fine from that. A stop order was placed on the building and then everything had to go through the OGB and ANC.”
“Luckily the ANC was used to all these things, fighting for the residents and also small businesses. Because without the small businesses and the retail I don’t think Georgetown would have the same feel, so it’s really important to understand and empathize with neighbors but also to push in favor of the businesses as well.”
What started out as a quick four-month fixer-upper, with a budget of $150,000, rapidly transformed into a massive undertaking of $600,000 worth of renovations and expenses. Alongside general expenses for a renovation, there were permit fees, extra pay for the contractor, junk hauling for old kitchen equipment, and $20,000 in fines from the to-go window.
Through all those obstacles, La Bonne Vache finally opened earlier this year and has gained an excellent reception from the public. Claire expressed, “Honestly I’m a little grateful that we had all those experiences because I feel like it made me more confident in what we were doing which maybe that wouldn’t have been the case for a lot of people, we’ve gotten this far.”
“It was just so fulfilling when we were finally able to open our doors and we were able to give the neighborhood something else to look forward to everyday. It was worth it. I’d do it a hundred times over.”
La Bonne Vache is located at 3265 Prospect Street NW. Their hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. and they don’t accept reservations.
1310 Kitchen & Bar/ Georgetown Inn
Jenn Crovato, owner and chef of 1310 Kitchen & Bar, talked to the Georgetowner about the major renovations that have been a long time coming for the hotel and restaurant. As soon as she came into the space, Jenn said, “I knew I had to do something and couldn’t leave it that way.” Even though the renovation was something Jenn knew she needed to do from the start, there were some factors that caused a delay on the project.
The timeline for Georgetown Inn’s renovations began in 2018 when the hotel finished renovating the rooms upstairs. But, the hotel discovered a problem with the plumbing which required all the pipes needing to be replaced. The next step was to redo the lobby, but the money for the lobby had to be rerouted into fixing the plumbing and other complications.
“Years of the lobby being put on hold is the reason it stalled the restaurant’s progress. We wanted it [1310 & the lobby] to look separate but cohesive,”
The restaurant’s renovations were put on hold, but in the meantime, Jenn explained that, “Georgetown Main Street helped me through a grant to get the paint to do a refresh here temporarily. Just a coat of paint was amazing.”
One of the main reasons the restaurant needed a revamping was because the old style that emphasized wood and dark colors didn’t match Jenn and her food. “People were coming in and it was exactly the same daily grill but it was a different menu, and my food is very fresh and light and people were very confused.”
It wasn’t until recently that all the major renovations were completed. Working with companies such as murals.com and Industry West, Jenn was able to fulfill her vision for a female rocker themed restaurant that everyone in Georgetown adores.
1310 Kitchen & Bar now has the ability to provide a private event space. Georgetown Inn had to remove their own private space – the Windsor room – during their renovations due to high demand for a gym. This meant that they needed to create a new one in the restaurant.
“The problem with the preexisting space was the booths were throughout the whole space so you didn’t have that flexibility of being able to move things around. There is always a demand for private space and I think that there is not that much of it in Georgetown, so it gave us an opportunity for that,” Jenn said.
Since their renovation, 1310 Kitchen & Bar’s private space has hosted weddings, baby showers, cocktail receptions, private dinners, and they’ve even brought back live music!
Georgetown Inn and 1310 Kitchen & Bar are located on 1310 Wisconsin Ave NW. Their restaurant hours are Monday – Thursday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday – Saturday from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
The collection at L’Enfant Gallery always been a hidden gem. So much amazing work within those walls! I’m super excited to see them doing new and exciting things!