Willoughby Park

Willoughby Park - as seen from above

Willoughby Park is a city park in Friendship Heights, an incorporated area on the edge of Washington, D.C.. Named after the adjacent Willoughby Condominium Building, it is at the intersection of Willard Ave and South Park Ave. It is served by the Friendship Heights metro and bus station of the Washington Metro, which is located two blocks from the park.

Designed by Bob Good, of Good & Stephenson, The park is characterized by its location in the midst of high-rise luxury condominium buildings. While there is some traffic noise, the park is generally quiet with few users. Sharing the intersection is a Chipotle Restaurant, the edge of the Geico Corporate campus, and a new park directly across the street.

Features

The park is heavily terraced, and slopes downhill from Friendship Blvd. There are many flights of stairs and ledges. There are many growing trees, a grassy oval, paved brick surface, and benches located throughout the park. There is a sphere-shaped iron sculpture that weighs 5,000 pounds with mythological creatures and birds sitting atop sculpted white clouds and black marble. The sculpture is said to be based on ancient ways of reading the universe.^[1]

History

After the construction of the adjacent Willoughby condo, this land was graded as a grassy slope leading 40 vertical feet up to the street level from the side of the building. It was initially known as Willoughby Gulch. In April 2001 the park was renamed and redeveloped by JBG Co. as part of JBG's office and retail project to build the Chase Tower Complex (across the street). ^[2]

In 2009, the park hosted the Capital Bocking USA event, where free lessons were given for walking on stilts.^[3]

References

1. http://www.capaccess.org/brookdale/giant.htm
2. "And the name is ... Willoughby Park". Chevy Chase Village Gazette. 2001.
3. "Events". The Washington Post.

Coordinates: 38°57′43.9″N 77°5′20.4″W / 38.962194°N 77.089000°W