Where Is Berkley, DC? The Northwest Neighborhood Tucked Between Three Parks

Berkley is a small residential neighborhood in Northwest Washington, DC, in the 20007 zip code, and it is easy to drive past without realizing it is there. It does not have a commercial main street of its own, it shares its edges with better-known neighbors, and it is often folded into descriptions of Foxhall or the Palisades. This guide explains Berkley as its own place.

The simplest way to understand Berkley is through its edges. Wesley Heights Trail marks the northern border, Battery Kemble Park lies to the west, and Glover-Archbold Park lies to the east beyond Foxhall Road and 44th Street. Reservoir Road forms the southern border. This article walks through each boundary, explains what each park and trail is, and shows how Berkley differs from the neighborhoods around it.

Where Is Berkley, DC? A Northwest Neighborhood in 20007

Berkley sits in Ward 3 and falls within Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D, the same ANC that covers Foxhall, Kent, the Palisades, Spring Valley, and Wesley Heights. Its mailing zip code is 20007, which it shares with Georgetown, Foxhall, and the Palisades. That shared zip code is one of the reasons the name Berkley gets lost: an address search shows Georgetown’s zip code, while the streets themselves look and feel quite different from the Georgetown grid.

Matt Cheney recommends that buyers treat the zip code as a starting point only and look at the actual map. Two homes with the same 20007 address can sit in different neighborhoods with different street patterns, park access, and housing types.

Berkley’s boundaries are generally described this way

Published neighborhood descriptions outline Berkley this way:

• North: Wesley Heights Trail, which marks the northern edge of the neighborhood.
• West: Battery Kemble Park forms a natural border, a National Park Service site whose eastern edge runs along 49th Street.
• South: Reservoir Road, the southern border of the neighborhood.
• East: 44th Street and Foxhall Road mark the boundary beyond which Glover-Archbold Park begins, separating Berkley from the neighborhoods on the other side of that stream valley.

Because the park edges are natural and not marked by a wall or a commercial strip, the boundary can be hard to see in person. Buyers who want an exact answer for a specific address should confirm it with Matt Cheney directly, since neighborhood lines in DC are informal and different sources draw them slightly differently.

Why Berkley Gets Confused With Foxhall and the Palisades

Berkley sits next to Foxhall and the Palisades along its fourth side, and the three share a zip code, a stretch of Foxhall Road, and an ANC. The result is that listings, maps, and conversation often blur them together. A few distinctions are worth knowing:

• Berkley is defined mainly by its parkland edges and its detached-home streets, including the Foxhall Crescent area.
• Foxhall includes the Foxhall Village historic district, a planned group of Tudor Revival row houses built between 1925 and 1935, according to DC Historic Sites.
• The Palisades is closer to the Potomac River and has its own commercial corridor along MacArthur Boulevard.

Matt Cheney’s separate comparison of Foxhall and the Palisades covers those two neighborhoods in more detail. The point here is simply that Berkley is a third, distinct place with its own boundaries.

The Parks and Trail Around Berkley, DC

Battery Kemble Park

Battery Kemble Park is administered by the National Park Service and has Civil War history. The National Park Service describes Battery Kemble as a fortification completed in the autumn of 1861 as part of the defenses of Washington, positioned to guard the area around Chain Bridge. It was named for Gouverneur Kemble of Cold Spring, New York, a former superintendent of the West Point Foundry. The park is bounded by Chain Bridge Road, MacArthur Boulevard, 49th Street, and Nebraska Avenue, and the NPS notes that the parapet and gun positions remain visible today.

Glover-Archbold Park

Glover-Archbold Park is a stream-valley park and a sub-unit of Rock Creek Park, managed by the National Park Service. It is named for two donors: one section was given to the federal government in 1924 by Charles Glover, and a second section followed in 1925 from Anne Archbold. The park is used largely for walking and hiking. Park rules and trail conditions change, so Matt Cheney suggests that readers check the National Park Service for current information before planning a visit, since sections of the Glover-Archbold Trail have been subject to closures.

Wesley Heights Trail

Wesley Heights Trail forms the northern edge of Berkley. It is a trail more than a park, and it is not often referenced as one, so there is little published detail about it compared with Battery Kemble and Glover-Archbold. Buyers who want to understand exactly where trail or park boundaries meet a particular property should ask Matt Cheney and review the survey and property records for that address.

Housing in Berkley, DC: Detached Homes on Park-Edged Streets

Berkley is a low-density residential neighborhood made up mostly of detached single-family homes. Public descriptions of the area describe a suburban-style setting inside the city, with mature trees, cul-de-sac streets, and generous setbacks. Ward 3 as a whole has a long history of zoning that emphasized detached homes, which is part of why the area looks the way it does.

Homes in Berkley are not all from one era. Older Colonial and Colonial Revival homes sit alongside newer custom construction, and Foxhall Crescent is generally described as a newer pocket within the neighborhood. Lot sizes and house sizes vary from street to street. Because of that variation, Matt Cheney encourages buyers to compare individual properties and not rely on neighborhood averages.

Berkley’s market is also small. A neighborhood with relatively few homes will have relatively few sales in any given year, which means a single sale can move an average noticeably. For current Berkley sale prices, lot sizes, and days on market from Bright MLS, readers can contact Matt Cheney directly and he will pull figures that match the specific streets and property type they care about.

Landmarks Near Berkley: GWU’s Mount Vernon Campus and Foxhall Road

Several well-known institutions sit in or near Berkley. The Mount Vernon Campus of George Washington University is located in the area. The Kreeger Museum, a Philip Johnson design at 2401 Foxhall Road NW, sits on the Foxhall Road side of this part of Northwest DC. The Kreeger building was designed in 1963 with Richard Foster, was completed as a private residence in 1967, and opened to the public as a museum on June 1, 1994.

Berkley also has a small piece of civic history. In 2001, Betty Brown Casey donated 17 acres at 1801 Foxhall Road to the city for use as an official mayoral residence. Delays in acquiring adjacent National Park Service land followed, and the plan did not move forward.

Berkley’s Daily Rhythm: Parks, MacArthur Boulevard, and Georgetown

A typical day in Berkley is shaped by what is within a short drive or walk. In the morning, residents can reach park trails in Battery Kemble and Glover-Archbold. Over the course of the day, MacArthur Boulevard offers shops and restaurants along the Palisades corridor, and the C&O Canal towpath and the Potomac River are nearby. Georgetown is a short drive away for dining, shopping, and the waterfront.

Commute and access depend heavily on the specific street, the time of day, and the destination. Buyers should test the routes they would actually use, at the hours they would actually travel, and spend time on the street at different times of day before deciding.

What Buyers and Sellers Should Know About Berkley, DC

Because Berkley is small, bordered by parkland, and often grouped with its neighbors, a few practical points matter for both sides of a transaction.

• Before comparing any Berkley address with sales in Foxhall or the Palisades, buyers should confirm the actual neighborhood boundary, since informal lines can vary by source.
• For homes backing onto parkland, reviewing the survey and property lines carefully and asking specific questions about what land is privately owned versus National Park Service property can help avoid surprises.
• Individual comparable sales on similar streets will be more meaningful than neighborhood-wide averages, since Berkley’s total sales volume in any given year is limited.
• Sellers may find it useful to work with a pricing and marketing approach that explains Berkley’s setting clearly, since many buyers search by Foxhall, Palisades, or Georgetown rather than the Berkley name specifically.

Results vary by property, price point, condition, timing, and market competition, and no specific outcome is guaranteed. Matt Cheney works with buyers and sellers across Northwest DC and can speak to how Berkley compares with surrounding neighborhoods for a particular search.

Frequently Asked Questions About Berkley, DC

Where is Berkley, DC?

Berkley is a residential neighborhood in Northwest Washington, DC, in Ward 3 and the 20007 zip code. It sits near Foxhall and the Palisades, with Wesley Heights Trail to the north, Battery Kemble Park to the west, Reservoir Road to the south, and Glover-Archbold Park to the east beyond Foxhall Road and 44th Street.

What parks and trails border Berkley, DC?

Battery Kemble Park lies to the west and Glover-Archbold Park lies to the east, and Wesley Heights Trail marks the northern edge. Battery Kemble and Glover-Archbold are both managed by the National Park Service.

Is Berkley the same as Foxhall or the Palisades?

No. Berkley is adjacent to both and shares a zip code with them, but it is a separate neighborhood. Foxhall includes the Foxhall Village historic district, and the Palisades is closer to the Potomac River along MacArthur Boulevard.

What kind of homes are in Berkley, DC?

Berkley is made up mostly of detached single-family homes on low-density streets. The housing stock includes older Colonial-style homes and newer custom construction, and sizes and lots vary by street.

How can I find current home prices in Berkley, DC?

Because Berkley has a small number of sales in a given year, figures can change quickly. Contact Matt Cheney at (202) 465-0707 for current Bright MLS data matched to the streets and property type you are interested in.

Matt Cheney | Compass Real Estate is committed to the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. All real estate services are provided without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.