Spring Valley is an affluent neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., known for its large homes and tree-lined streets.
The neighborhood houses the main campus of American University at 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, the Wesley Theological Seminary at 4500 Massachusetts Avenue, and Washington College of Law at 4801 Massachusetts Avenue and 4910 Massachusetts Avenue. Nebraska Avenue and Loughboro Road are to its south, Dalecarlia Parkway is to its west, and Massachusetts Avenue is to its northeast. Paradoxically, the neighborhood to the northeast is called American University Park, even though the bulk of the main campus is located in Spring Valley.
Spring Valley's residents include notable media personalities (e.g., Ann Compton, Jim Vance), lawyers (e.g., United States Attorney General Eric Holder, Brendan Sullivan), politicians, corporate officers, and elite Washington society (e.g., Washington Nationals principal owners Ed and Debra Cohen). Richard Nixon lived in Spring Valley before becoming President; his immediate predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson, after becoming Vice President under John F. Kennedy, purchased a three-story mansion named Les Ormes (The Elms) in Spring Valley along 52nd Street NW that had previously been the home of socialite and ambassador Perle Mesta[1]. George H.W. Bush also lived in the neighborhood prior to his White House years. Presently it is the residence of the ambassador of Syria. Warren and sister Doris Buffett lived on 49th Street during their years attending Wilson HS.
During World War I Spring Valley was an undeveloped area that the army used for testing chemical weapons. During excavations for new construction workers found unexploded ordnance, and scientists have found high levels of arsenic in the soil. The Army Corps of Engineers has undergone extensive testing and clean-up efforts in select parts of Spring Valley, a process that has been going on for years.
Several embassy residences are located in the neighborhood, such as the ambassador's houses of South Korea, Canada, Croatia, Mexico, Bahrain, Qatar, Uganda, Chile, Luxembourg, and Yemen. Spring Valley's median home sale price in 2007 was US$2.725 and in 2008 $3.022 million.[2]
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