STEPHEN: Grover Cleveland moved to Cleveland Park in the 1860s, but in 1886, he had the house remodeled into a very high Victorian style and moved into it as his summer residence.

His house was known as Oak View, but the locals called it "Red Top" because the house had a very brightly painted red roof.

The Rock Creek Railway created a series of streetcar suburbs along Connecticut Avenue, the first of which was the Cleveland Park area.

John Sherman founded the Cleveland Park Company to develop the land.

He wanted to create a sense of community.

One of the major design elements that Sherman incorporated into his houses was access to the outside, very green wooded front yards, and large porches.

The owners and residents of the homes could come out and sit on the porches and enjoy the breezes.

Cleveland Park is also known in terms of apartment buildings for the most innovative buildings at the time where you had less building and more grounds adding to that suburban feel.

In 1930, the Park & Shop complex was constructed.

It had a parking lot, which was revolutionary.

So people could drive in, park, do their shopping, go to other shops on Connecticut Avenue.

Perhaps one of the most prominent landmarks in Cleveland Park is the Uptown Theater that was built in 1936.

The Uptown Theater is notably in the Art Deco style, and it was the site of several movie premieres.

Another performing arts venue that made its way to Cleveland Park is the Washington Ballet.

KAREN: In 1944, Mary Day founded the Washington School of Ballet just down the street.

She trained locally.

She was born in Washington and was really committed to continuing to bring the art form to the community of Washington.

She and Lisa Gardner bought a home on the corner of Porter and Wisconsin.

And the intention was always that it be both a home and a school of ballet.

So Mary Day lived upstairs and the downstairs was always, um, the ballet studios.

So she would wake up in the morning and come down and sweep the ballet studios.

MARY DAY: Uh one, and two, and... KAREN: And the young dancers would come up and she would fit the costumes upstairs in the building we're still in today.

We have about 700, 800 students coming to classes at the Northwest campus here in Cleveland Park and about 200 students at our campus in Southeast D.C. We have such an incredible vast alumni base that just ranges from Shirley MacLaine to Caroline Kennedy and Chelsea Clinton, but we are also a hyper-local ballet company.

In the 1950s, we performed at the Kennedy Center, we performed at the White House.

We serve the community.

We have our campus in Northwest, and we have a deep commitment in Ward 8.

And so that connection to community and building with the community and bring dance to more people is that link.

And that was something that was really, really important to Mary Day and is still important today.