Old Money Neighborhoods

[Anonymous]

How many of the PPs are actual DC natives? Based every response, you are all wrong. There isn't a lot of old money in any one place in DC. There was no industry in DC to generate specific locations that are old money. Big money areas exist in lots of places named above. Also, if old money means your parents are well off because they are DC lobbyist or lawyers and no you have some extra money due to their handouts, then that is everywhere. There is a lot of new money in all the places named above.

If you want "local" old money, you really do need to check out places like Middleburg or maybe areas near Annapolis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer OP, old money neighborhoods are: Chevy Chase, Maryland; Wesley Heights (DC), Cleveland Park (DC), Georgetown - to name a few...

Behavior in "old money" neighborhood.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2013/04/10/nbcs-david-gregory-reportedly-has-diva-moment-over-street-parking-his-

And that was before he was out of a job! Hahahahahahaha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC was burned to the ground during the riots , the old money left before then.

+1

It's DEFINITELY not in Northern Va!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC was burned to the ground during the riots , the old money left before then.

+1

It's DEFINITELY not in Northern Va!

What on earth are you babbling about? No one took a torch to Wesley Heights, and the old money in Upperville never lived in Shaw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the new money not green? Old money vs new money is a stupid argument and I don't care which side of it, you are on. I am guessing that 99% of the posters here aren't on either side.


Isn't the argument whether you want to live in the city, and pay more for less, or live outside the city and pay more, get more? You trade sidewalks for horse fence, you trade walking to shops for some privacy and setback from your neighbors.

It is not one size fits all.

I have inlaws who live in a very small house in DC. They think it's great. I can't stand visiting there for 10 minutes. They come to our house and complain about the drive (8 minutes from the beltway). My house is 5 times the size of theirs, my deck is bigger than their entire backyard. Neither of us would take the others' house if it was free. That is why this argument is insanely stupid. Thank god everybody isn't the same.

The topic, for whatever reason, was old money neighborhoods, not new money vs old money or why McLean sucks.



"Why McLean sucks" would surely take on a life of its own as a thread! Great idea!

I believe most residents would say that it is the people who could afford McLean way back, but no longer can, that are creating any disagreeable issues.

[Anonymous]

I like McLean. Nice homes, great schools, prime location. And one of the nice things about it is that there's little attention paid to the sources of family wealth. It's simply assumed that you must be doing OK if you can afford to live there. Do people in NW DC and Maryland neighborhoods really spend as much time obsessing about "old money" as this thread suggests? I'd bet not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the new money not green? Old money vs new money is a stupid argument and I don't care which side of it, you are on. I am guessing that 99% of the posters here aren't on either side.


Isn't the argument whether you want to live in the city, and pay more for less, or live outside the city and pay more, get more? You trade sidewalks for horse fence, you trade walking to shops for some privacy and setback from your neighbors.

It is not one size fits all.

I have inlaws who live in a very small house in DC. They think it's great. I can't stand visiting there for 10 minutes. They come to our house and complain about the drive (8 minutes from the beltway). My house is 5 times the size of theirs, my deck is bigger than their entire backyard. Neither of us would take the others' house if it was free. That is why this argument is insanely stupid. Thank god everybody isn't the same.

The topic, for whatever reason, was old money neighborhoods, not new money vs old money or why McLean sucks.



"Why McLean sucks" would surely take on a life of its own as a thread! Great idea!

I believe most residents would say that it is the people who could afford McLean way back, but no longer can, that are creating any disagreeable issues.

I know, right? I thought it was about the old money. I'm not sure how much old money McLean has. But I like the public schools and close in location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like McLean. Nice homes, great schools, prime location. And one of the nice things about it is that there's little attention paid to the sources of family wealth. It's simply assumed that you must be doing OK if you can afford to live there. Do people in NW DC and Maryland neighborhoods really spend as much time obsessing about "old money" as this thread suggests? I'd bet not.

Wanna bet? EVERYONE in McLean is in each others business! It is a really, really, really, really small town - like it or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like McLean. Nice homes, great schools, prime location. And one of the nice things about it is that there's little attention paid to the sources of family wealth. It's simply assumed that you must be doing OK if you can afford to live there. Do people in NW DC and Maryland neighborhoods really spend as much time obsessing about "old money" as this thread suggests? I'd bet not.

Wanna bet? EVERYONE in McLean is in each others business! It is a really, really, really, really small town - like it or not.

Maybe you have it confused with Clifton? I don't recognize this place you're describing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like McLean. Nice homes, great schools, prime location. And one of the nice things about it is that there's little attention paid to the sources of family wealth. It's simply assumed that you must be doing OK if you can afford to live there. Do people in NW DC and Maryland neighborhoods really spend as much time obsessing about "old money" as this thread suggests? I'd bet not.

Wanna bet? EVERYONE in McLean is in each others business! It is a really, really, really, really small town - like it or not.

Although I can't speak for everyone, that certainly is not true in my neighborhood. Most keep to themselves and occasionally we see them out and about on the weekends.

[Anonymous]

Wesley Heights, Georgetown, Cleveland Park, Kent, Spring Valley, Chevy Chase. Yes, there's plenty of new money in these neighborhoods, but they're the closest you get to old money in the D.C. metro area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesley Heights, Georgetown, Cleveland Park, Kent, Spring Valley, Chevy Chase. Yes, there's plenty of new money in these neighborhoods, but they're the closest you get to old money in the D.C. metro area.

Most of the young families in these Washington neighborhoods are from upper middle and upper class backgrounds. Their families may not have been in Fortune but, by most folks' definition, they grew up "with money." Most of them also went to privates schools and then top colleges, law schools, grads schools and have successful careers. They were raised to lead the life they are leading. They have used the advantages of birth to continue along their families' established paths. That is pretty much "old money" Washington style, with a few families sprinkled in who have actuall fortunes and hefty trust funds.

This is very different from the children of lower middle and working class kids who make it big on their own and, as adults, are able to afford a lifestyle much better than their parents. These folks weren't raised with the benefits of weatlh so the natural mannerisms and tastes of the upper class are not natural to them. They are usually incredibly accomplished, ambitious, and fun people but they are what people call new money - because it is to he first time in their lives that they have been able to afford the trappings of the rich:private schools, expensive homes, antiques, beautiful things, luxury cars and international vacations. Some of these people live in the Washington neighborhoods named above but more of whom choose to live in places like Potomac and McLean where large lots allow a more grandiose expression of their success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesley Heights, Georgetown, Cleveland Park, Kent, Spring Valley, Chevy Chase. Yes, there's plenty of new money in these neighborhoods, but they're the closest you get to old money in the D.C. metro area.

Most of the young families in these Washington neighborhoods are from upper middle and upper class backgrounds. Their families may not have been in Fortune but, by most folks' definition, they grew up "with money." Most of them also went to privates schools and then top colleges, law schools, grads schools and have successful careers. They were raised to lead the life they are leading. They have used the advantages of birth to continue along their families' established paths. That is pretty much "old money" Washington style, with a few families sprinkled in who have actuall fortunes and hefty trust funds.

This is very different from the children of lower middle and working class kids who make it big on their own and, as adults, are able to afford a lifestyle much better than their parents. These folks weren't raised with the benefits of weatlh so the natural mannerisms and tastes of the upper class are not natural to them. They are usually incredibly accomplished, ambitious, and fun people but they are what people call new money - because it is to he first time in their lives that they have been able to afford the trappings of the rich:private schools, expensive homes, antiques, beautiful things, luxury cars and international vacations. Some of these people live in the Washington neighborhoods named above but more of whom choose to live in places like Potomac and McLean where large lots allow a more grandiose expression of their success.

There are indeed larger houses on bigger lots in Potomac and McLean. Otherwise this post is a lot of hooey.

[Anonymous]

Most of the "old" money that I can think of lives in Kalorama (19th cent.tobacco money, Ted Kennedy etc. ) or Georgetown (Madeleine Albright, who married old money, Ben Bradlee). However, a lot of the old families are selling, as the new generation wants to live elsewhere. Katherine Weymouth, of the Post, lives in CC, while her grandmother's mansion in Georgetown is rotting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Price per detached single-family home is a perfectly good, and common, metric. Great Falls and McLean typically are at the top. People with more to spend prefer bigger apples.

If you're Ted Turner or that Trump kid, yes; bigger is better. If you are one of the wealthy people that are mature and self-aware, you are going to live in a more right-sized place that meets the needs and lifestyle goals of your family. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, even Mark Zuckerberg - the thoughtful rich don't need to prove their superiority by wasting money on more house than they need.