1715 4th St NW- Looks vacant but isn't

It was not the scaffolding that has been up since 2016 (looked at Google Street view for October 2016) that made me question the occupancy of 1715 4th St NW. Nor is it the torn plastic in the windows. It was the hole in the roof that I spotted. Too bad the owner didn't finish whatever exterior repairs she was planning in 2016 or early 2017, 'cause that block, the whole block, is now a Historic Landmark. Yeah, that kinda sucks. Well blame the developer several doors down who threatened to tear a structure down if they weren't approved for an ugly pop up.

Normally when I look in the DC Property tax database and see a Senior Citizen Homestead Deduction, and a house that is in some disrepair, I think, the person is a) dead or b) in a nursing home. The owner had an uncommon name so I plugged it into Google. No, the owner is very much alive and active. She's got an active Twitter page. Actually, she's a notable activist. I've never spoken to her but I've seen her around the neighborhood and she is quite spry.
 I'm guessing she has better things to do than repairing stuff. But that turret roof, really needs to get fixed.

I started writing this prior to seeing who the owner was, but this gave me an opportunity to point out the historic landmarking. If only, if only, the developers of 319 R St NW had taken the example of the house 1721 4th St NW, a few doors down, we might not have had this landmarking mess.The third floor is a pop up. It looks great, and when that was negotiated, I'd hoped that it would provide an example to others on the block, should they decide to pop up one more floor. But that chance is gone. The developer at 319 R St NW played chicken and we all lost.

Okay, I'll get back to vacant properties....