“A house is made with walls and beams a home is made with love and dreams”
– Author Unknown
The current owner of the home is successful entrepreneur and lawyer Joe Molina. The family saga of Mr. Molina, a second generation Mexican-American, may be far different from the Fowlers or Farnsworths, but it is a history equally rich and compelling and quintessentially American.
Joe Molina’s journey to Capitol Hill began in Tucson, Arizona, where he was born and raised. A 1966 graduate of Tucson High School, he went on to graduate with a BA and a JD from the University of Arizona. Intending to become a law professor, Joe moved to Boston, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1974 with a LLM degree, becoming a licensed member of the Massachusetts and Arizona Bar Associations.
Joe’s plans changed after Harvard when he was recruited by a major corporation to work in their Cambridge, Massachusetts law department. The legal work involved construction and mining projects in 23 States. Joe Molina’s love of historical brownstone homes — architecture and history far different from the ranch and Spanish-influenced houses prominent in his hometown of Tucson – began in Boston and continues to this day. His first Boston home was a five-story brownstone in the city’s South End. The home at 95 Appleton Street was built at the end of the Civil War. As his work grew, so did Joe’s family. In 1977, their daughter Tracy was born and in 1979, a son, Michael. In late 1979, his law department was relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where Joe bought yet another graceful home in the city’s Downtown Historic District.
In 1984, Joe’s stewardship of the Home on the Hill began when the family moved to Washington, D.C. His passionate pursuit of an historic house yielded many choices, as at that time both the historical districts of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and Capitol Hill in the District offered an incredible selection of housing at prices that reflected depressed markets. On Capitol Hill, despite the fact that the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capitol were close by, crime was viewed as a problem. Nonetheless, in July 1984 the family purchased the house at 1126 East Capitol St, NE. While the house had been well maintained and all the original architectural elements still existed, major renovations were immediately begun. An architect was employed to prepare the plans, obtaining historical review commission approvals and obtain the necessary building permits. In 1985 the renovations started.
CHANGES HISTORIC … AND CONTEMPORARY
Three major changes to the exterior of the house received historic review approval. The side porch had been designed as a “Bird Cage”: that is, the porch could only be accessed thru the inside of the house with no access from the side garden. Molina’s renovation included a new side door from the house onto the porch. In addition, the middle fence railing was removed and steps down to the garden were built. The second change involved a change of the steps from the porch at the rear of the house, turning the direction of the steps to create a landing from the porch. The final renovation involved the creation of a large deck on the roof of the house. The new deck – accessed by a new staircase from the third floor library – was built at the rear of the house and today provides expansive and inspirational views of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument.
Major renovations that did not require historical review included a new kitchen, laundry room, first floor Powder room and closet, a new master bathroom on the second floor, a new third floor library and the complete renovation of the existing apartment which is located in the English Basement of the house. An extensive security system was also installed.
All these changes required a complete overhaul of the house’s infrastructure and systems. Included in these were all new copper plumbing, a new water line from the street, upgraded electrical service and new wiring throughout the house. Finally a central air conditioning system which was installed on the roof required extensive ductwork that is well-concealed in the house’s interior.
LIFE ON THE HILL
Popular perception notwithstanding, even in 1984 crime on Capitol Hill was never a problem. As a family with young children, life on the Hill centered around school, soccer, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Lincoln Park, the Zoo, the National museums on the Mall and the community pool in the summer. Work never seemed to end on developing the garden on the side of the house, too. In 1990 the Molina’s were amicably divorced with Joe Molina retaining sole future ownership of the house and both parents sharing joint custody of the two children.
Over the years, the Home on the Hill has been the site of numerous neighborhood parties and events. In 1989, Warner Brothers Television rented the house for a single day and night to film an episode of ‘A Man Called Hawk’ inside the house and on the adjacent 12th Street. This evolved into an all-day and all-night community event: with many production trucks surrounding all the nearby streets, and local friends and neighbors viewing the numerous acting “takes” inside the house.
A second memorable event involved the filming of a five-minute television political commercial … which took nine hours to complete. The front room of the house and fireplace of the house were used to announce the sole Congressman from South Dakota was announcing for the first time that he was running for the U.S. Senate. The Congressman, Thomas Daschle, was ultimately elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and later, in 1994, became the Senate Majority Leader.
To live on Capitol Hill is to be a witness to living history with its enduring American legacies and traditions. Life on the Hill has always involved the ebb and flow of politicians recently elected, politicians of longstanding, and politicians defeated for reelection creating new lives in government. Add to the mix political appointees, residents coming and going as changes in political party power and policies happen – and it is obvious that this is more than a neighborhood rich in architecture and monuments. Indeed, Capitol Hill is an expression of the American spirit. (The true superstars on the Hill, of course, are the Supreme Court Justices who are appointed for life … but do their grocery shopping at Safeway just like the rest of us.)