The four-bedroom colonial house in the leafy Crestwood section of Northwest DC that just hit the market is a must-see for any Balkan-history enthusiast. The home, located on Quincy Street, appears to be in slightly better condition than it was the last time it was put up for sale, but it still needs plenty of work.
Why such a fixer-upper—and prize for anyone with an interest in the former Yugoslavia? The house was serving as the residence of -Yugoslavian Charge d’Affaires Vladimir Sindjelic when it was bombed on June 3, 1980, by Croatian terrorists during a particularly tense period of the Cold War. While nobody was killed in the blast, the house was damaged extensively, and the splinter group that carried out the attack later claimed responsibility in a letter to the Washington Post that also demanded that a Croatian terrorist and “karate master” then imprisoned in Sweden receive immediate medical treatment.
The house has remained empty since the bombing, and passed into the ownership of the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 when Yugoslavia dissolved for good. The Bosnian Embassy put it up for a cash sale in November 2014, and while the buyer who took it over made some improvements, the the house is still very much a shell. Photos on the real-estate website Redfin show exposed—but seemingly reinforced—woodwork, fading paint, and charred brick surfaces.
Now listed by Long and Foster at $898,000, the 2,900-square-foot house sits on nearly a quarter-acre of land at the end of a quiet street abutting Rock Creek Park. It also sits in one of the few neighborhoods east of the park zoned for the enviable Alice Deal Middle School and Woodrow Wilson High School.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
