Barbee House

Lived in a studio and a one bedroom apartment during my 2 years at this property (2016-2018). The studio was infested with cockroaches. I would often see 5 cockroaches a day in the kitchen and elsewhere. A roach motel trap I bought caught around 40; when that ran out of room, I had to buy another, which caught at least another 30. The one bedroom was in better shape. Only saw 5 cockroaches during my year-long residency. Maintenance was generally responsive to requests, but their routine pest... sprays were totally ineffective. There is obviously a larger cockroach infestation in the building that may be as old as the building itself. Management seems resigned about it. The apartments themselves were in fair condition for their age. The building was constructed in 1964 and clearly hasn't been renovated since, meaning that the elevator breaks down occasionally (someone had to be rescued from the elevator back in 2016 by firefighters) and the walls show wear/tear even through all of the layers of paint. Weird smells were common, probably resulting from the combination of gas leaks, chain-smoking neighbors, and old building materials; I had the windows open most days--even in winter--to prevent the smells from getting too strong. Barbee House residents are friendly. Most are either graduate students or divorcees. Everyone had to share 4 coin-operated washing and drying machines one the first floor, which would sometimes break. Generally speaking, the low rents despite Barbee House's close proximity to downtown Washington and Rosslyn (15 minute walk to the Rosslyn metro station) are the primary reason I stayed for as long as I did. The view is also attractive, particularly from the upper floor apartments that face Arlington Cemetery. Free parking was another perk that is rare for a property so close to DC. Otherwise, Barbee House is a tired old building with a bad cockroach problem. If you can afford better, I would not recommend living there. Read More