A History of the Westchester Cooperative and its Neighbors

In 2016, Peter T. Higgins started to read and research in-depth the history of the land and buildings now occupied by the Westchester, the Cathedral West, 3900 Watson Place NW, the Colonnade, and the seven townhouses on Watson Place in Washington, DC. In the process, he discovered several surprises that upended some long-believed stories and likely started some new ones. Almost all the facts, for instance, surrounding the story of the magnificent gates at the entrance to the Westchester from Cathedral Avenue were overturned when the author’s research connected him to the English Trust managing the Copped Hall estate—the original source of the Victorian gates. With maps, photos and personal anecdotes (the author’s father is part of the history), a neighborhood’s story unfolds from the 1700 land grants to today. It’s a story that includes a king (Charles I), a president (FDR), even Irving Berlin’s Madam, Perle Mesta.