09 Sep 2009

Judge accepts bid to purchase Friendship House

The Hill is Home learned today from Ron Joiner, chairman of the Friendship House Association, that historic Friendship House may have a new owner soon. A judge accepted the bid of Sonja Sweek, Hill resident and grandmother, and local Mom on the Hill, to purchase the historic home, Joiner said. Sweek bid $3.2M for the historic property. She has 45 days to close on the property. If she is unable to close on the deal then the other bidder, P.E.T.A, will have 45 days to close on the property. THIH awaits more details and reaction Thursday. And will the annual Friendship House day celebration ever return?

By way of background, there were originally are six bidders on The Maples, aka Friendship House at 619 D St., SE. The circa 1798 property, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was before a bankruptcy judge after the Friendship House organization vacated the property last year after more than 70 years providing childcare and social services to families in need. The building is now boarded up, and has many, many maintenance issues.

One of the six bidders who appeared during a press conference of the nonprofit DC Preservation League when it announced June 2 that the property has joined its 2009 “most endangered places” list was family matriarch Sweek. Sweek said then that her proposal for the site, which was once home to Francis Scott Key, would restore and preserve the historic exterior of the home, while serving as daycare center, with room for medical office for her physician daughter’s medical practice. She said the property would also be home to her family and grandchildren, and that she would provide daycare services at fair market value, with some assistance to a few families in need.

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