Hill Rag

Helen Carey

Capitol Hill’s Grande Dame of Real Estate

by: Pattie Cinelli

Felt, straw, fabric, velvet, feather and fur. 180 hats in all. She counted. She stacks them one on top of the other and said she looks like a 7 th Avenue New York City vendor. Even if you don’t know Helen Carey, she is easily recognizable on the Hill as the lady who for 40 years has driven around the streets in a big convertible, always wearing a hat.

These days, she drives a station wagon because her convertible died about four years ago, but she always wears a hat. She said the ritual started with a boyfriend she had at 16. “He had a convertible, and I liked hats so it was a good excuse to wear them,” she said.

When I finally caught up with Helen Carey she had just returned from a trip to England. When I asked about it, I didn’t get the answer I expected. She laughed and said, “It was wild. We put more than 600 miles on back woods roads and roundabouts in England and had a great time.” She added, “I bought a hat at Heathrow Airport. Can you imagine? I couldn’t resist!”

The other half of the “we” on her trip was her friend from Maine where she has a house in Booth Bay Harbor. She laughed her full, expressive laugh again when she told me her friend was her children’s age. They both were visiting an art museum in Portland last summer, and decided to each buy a lottery ticket that the museum was selling for a trip to England. They pledged to take the other if either won. He did.

Helen Carey, whose real estate career on Capitol Hill has spanned five decades, said she “backed into the business.” In 1962, when a friend renovated a row of houses in Foggy Bottom, she got a call. “Helen, I think you could manage these properties with your eyes closed better than the people I hired.” She did. The friend expanded her real estate holdings to include buildings on Capitol Hill in southeast on Third and C streets and Fourth and Sixth streets. Helen managed those too. Helen told me she then decided to be an agent and get her broker’s license. “Although I had an office, I really did most of my work those first few years from my station wagon with my three children in back,” she said. Thus began her real estate career. She estimated that in the 42 years of business she has transacted more than 15,000 rentals and sold more than 200 properties on the Hill.

When I first moved to Capitol Hill in the early 80s I rented a townhouse on 4 th Street SE with two other women. Our landlord lived in New York City so the person we called when we had a problem was Helen Carey who was managing the house. She didn’t remember me but I remembered her arriving at our door wearing one of her signature hats with tools in hand ready to tackle whatever needed to be repaired.

Helen spends less time these days in her Capitol Hill office. In 1996 she moved her E Street S.E. office to affiliate with John C. Formant Real Estate. She’s devoted to her children—two sons and a daughter and a 14-year-old grandson, whom she said towers over her. In fact, Helen laughs when she describes her family as “easy to find in a crowd”. Her sons are 6’3” and 6’5”, her daughter owns up to 6’ and her grandson is 6’3” and wears a size 15 shoe. “You can see why I feel diminutive among my family,” she said.

Helen, who said she has a passion for painting, has been taking water color classes at the Capital Hill Arts Workshop for about 10 years. Last year she won CHAW’s top award.

She also loves to garden and spends much time tending to her plants at her Alexandria home. She has season tickets to several local theatres and when she is at home she enjoys British comedies on public TV.

Helen told me her love for the real estate business grew over the years. “It offers such a varied schedule and requires a combination of disciplines,” she said. “There’s so much to learn. You can never learn enough because the rules are always changing.” She also said she finds it rewarding when “you can be empathetic with both the buyer and seller. You understand both sides and don’t make judgments. It’s very satisfying when you’ve helped them get what you know is the best property for them.”

Now, she said, a buyer has an agent and a seller has another agent. “They are almost adversarial, which is very different from the past.”

The real estate business has changed in other ways since Helen first became an agent. “You have large companies and tools we couldn’t imagine – faxes, cell phones, lock boxes and computer assistance in all areas. It’s both easier and harder now.” But, she adds, the real estate business is always interesting.


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Helen Carey
Capitol Hill’s Grande Dame of Real Estate
by: Pattie Cinelli
Felt, straw, fabric, velvet, feather and fur. 180 hats in all. She counted. She stacks them one on top of the other and said she looks like a 7 th Avenue New York City vendor. Even if you don’t know Helen Carey, she is easily recognizable on the Hill as the lady who for 40 years has driven around the streets in a big convertible, always wearing a hat. These days, she drives a station wagon because her convertible died about four years ago, but she always wears a hat. She said the ritual started with a boyfriend she had at 16. “He had a convertible, and I liked hats so it was a good excuse to wear them,” she said. When I finally caught up with Helen Carey she had just returned from a trip to England. When I asked about it, I didn’t get the answer I expected. She laughed and said, “It was wild. We put more than 600 miles on back woods roads and roundabouts in England and had a great time.” She added, “I bought a hat at Heathrow Airport. Can you imagine? I couldn’t resist!” The other half of the “we” on her trip was her friend from Maine where she has a house in Booth Bay Harbor. She laughed her full, expressive laugh again when she told me her friend was her children’s age. They both were visiting an art museum in Portland last summer, and decided to each buy a lottery ticket that the museum was selling for a trip to England. They pledged to take the other if either won. He did. Helen Carey, whose real estate career on Capitol Hill has spanned five decades, said she “backed into the business.” In 1962, when a friend renovated a row of houses in Foggy Bottom, she got a call. “Helen, I think you could manage these properties with your eyes closed better than the people I hired.” She did. The friend expanded her real estate holdings to include buildings on Capitol Hill in southeast on Third and C streets and Fourth and Sixth streets. Helen managed those too. Helen told me she then decided to be an agent and get her broker’s license. “Although I had an office, I really did most of my work those first few years from my station wagon with my three children in back,” she said. Thus began her real estate career. She estimated that in the 42 years of business she has transacted more than 15,000 rentals and sold more than 200 properties on the Hill. When I first moved to Capitol Hill in the early 80s I rented a townhouse on 4 th Street SE with two other women. Our landlord lived in New York City so the person we called when we had a problem was Helen Carey who was managing the house. She didn’t remember me but I remembered her arriving at our door wearing one of her signature hats with tools in hand ready to tackle whatever needed to be repaired. Helen spends less time these days in her Capitol Hill office. In 1996 she moved her E Street S.E. office to affiliate with John C. Formant Real Estate. She’s devoted to her children—two sons and a daughter and a 14-year-old grandson, whom she said towers over her. In fact, Helen laughs when she describes her family as “easy to find in a crowd”. Her sons are 6’3” and 6’5”, her daughter owns up to 6’ and her grandson is 6’3” and wears a size 15 shoe. “You can see why I feel diminutive among my family,” she said. Helen, who said she has a passion for painting, has been taking water color classes at the Capital Hill Arts Workshop for about 10 years. Last year she won CHAW’s top award. She also loves to garden and spends much time tending to her plants at her Alexandria home. She has season tickets to several local theatres and when she is at home she enjoys British comedies on public TV. Helen told me her love for the real estate business grew over the years. “It offers such a varied schedule and requires a combination of disciplines,” she said. “There’s so much to learn. You can never learn enough because the rules are always changing.” She also said she finds it rewarding when “you can be empathetic with both the buyer and seller. You understand both sides and don’t make judgments. It’s very satisfying when you’ve helped them get what you know is the best property for them.” Now, she said, a buyer has an agent and a seller has another agent. “They are almost adversarial, which is very different from the past.” The real estate business has changed in other ways since Helen first became an agent. “You have large companies and tools we couldn’t imagine – faxes, cell phones, lock boxes and computer assistance in all areas. It’s both easier and harder now.” But, she adds, the real estate business is always interesting.