• Recently purchased Rockville residential building the Monterey will be renovated as a rental-apartment complex, reducing its number of condo units. [WBJ]

• The Jamieson Condominium in Old Town, just three blocks from the King Street Metro, had its grand opening yesterday. More than 70 condo units are up for grabs. [DCmud]

• Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal plans to open Eatonville, a  6,000-square-foot eatery at The Flats at Union Row condominiums. [WBJ via Prince of Petworth]

What: Capital Solar Condos

Where: 1337 Harvard Street, NW

Number of Units:  Three

Prices: The basement and first-floor duplex which has three bedrooms and three baths is $620,000;  the two bedroom, two-bath unit is $499,000; the two-bedroom, one-bath unit is $475,000

Green perks: Dual-flush toilets, motion sensor lights, tankless hot water heaters, bamboo floors, and low flow shower heads. On the sunniest of days, you’ll save up extra energy which can be sold back to PEPCO, and re-used on cloudier days.   

Location: Two blocks from Columbia Heights Metro

Sold: None yet

So what do you think? Are we going to see more of these in the future? And is decreasing your carbon footprint worth the price?

A former warehouse in Old Town Alexandria is home to Virginia’s first LEED-certified condo building. The condos include a long list of sustainable features, including recycled pine floors, bathrooms tiled in recycled glass and limestone, and bamboo cabinetry. Carved out of an industrial structure built in 1910, the units are light-filled and open, with few walls—the bathroom is the only room that is completely private.

“My inspiration came from purchasing and decorating my own condo on Capitol Hill,” says Lisa Cannon, who launched Condo Cool in 2004, a business that offers affordable interior design. “It took a lot of work and research to find furniture and lighting that fit into an unusual modern space.” As soon as Cannon realized there was a niche market for accessible interior design, she took design courses at the Corcoran College of Art + Design. She also worked for a year at RH Studio in Georgetown, the modern sibling of local furniture chain Random Harvest.

Condo Cool targets those who don’t have the budget to hire an expensive interior designer. For $100 an hour, Cannon rearranges furniture and helps customers choose paint colors and dramatic lighting. Whereas most designers purchase items for their clients and charge fees for each, Cannon’s clients make the purchases on their own based on her suggestions.

Most of her clients are young professionals or empty nesters who have recently downsized. “People usually aren’t happy when there is too much clutter. They have a tough time editing their furniture and accessories. They want multi-use pieces, such as a storage cube that can double as an ottoman. Many people know what they like but have trouble pulling it all together.”

Cannon suggests checking out magazines like Metropolitan Home, Elle Decor, or Blueprint for decorating ideas. While she says stores like Crate & Barrel have quality mid-range home goods, she suggests shopping for unique pieces at independent stores like Go Mama Go on 14th Street in Northwest or the flea markets in Eastern Market.  

What: Butterfield House

Where: 1020 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Design: Sassan Gharai, founder of SGA Architects, designed the six-story, red-brick Victorian mansion to blend in with surrounding historic rowhouses.

Number of units: 28, including studios—which have already sold out—and one- and two-bedroom units.

Price: One-bedrooms start at $339,000, two-bedrooms at $500,000

Location, location, location: Butterfield House is within walking distance of the US Capitol, the Supreme Court, Eastern Market, and the new Nationals stadium.

An 1885 Georgetown schoolhouse will soon open its doors again—but not to schoolchildren. Wormley Row, formerly the Wormley School, will be a new collection of luxury condominiums and townhouses on Prospect Street. The building has been empty since the 1950s, but Encore Development is restoring the original brick building and transforming it into luxury living spaces.

The Alta, in DC’s Thomas Circle neighborhood, seamlessly blends modern architecture and city living with green building strategies. The steel pergola on the roof, which supports climbing plants, is a modern twist on a traditional architectural element. The building’s 126 swanky one- and two- bedroom condos have nine-foot ceilings with exposed spiral ductwork, European-inspired porcelain tiles, and stainless steel appliances. The eight penthouses on the top floor range from 995 to 1,310 square and offer views of the Washington Monument. Residents can enjoy ground-level retail, a second-floor lounge, and a parking garage.

The new building received a green-building certification from the city. Compact fluorescent lighting and water-saving appliances lower energy consumption and reduce costs. Environmentally friendly paints and carpets improve indoor air quality, and window glass maximizes solar efficiency.