For Meaghan Hannan Davant, Capitol Hill is not the throbbing, recently convulsed heart of political power in Washington, D.C., but an unpretentious small town. “People don’t wear makeup,” said Ms. Davant, a 39-year-old lawyer, who has been living in the Capitol Hill Historic District since 2006. “They wear yoga pants and drive Honda Odysseys. We do walk down the streets and see the newscasters and senators, but they’re in their sweatpants, just like us.”

Neighboring the United States Congress and the Supreme Court, the historic district is where monumental, white-stone Washington intersects with a quirky, lush village. Victorian houses send up peaks like flares, outdoor cafes hum with gossip and baby strollers seem as plentiful as business suits. Like the Capitol dome, which has a habit of popping up when you turn a corner, government is frequently in the foreground, but coexists with a larger, more diverse landscape.

Ms. Davant typifies this neighborly relationship. She and her husband, Charles, and their two children live in a 3,092-square-foot 1895 house at 606 Massachusetts Avenue NE, which they bought in 2013 for almost $1.5 million. They rent their English basement to a congressional staffer for $1,850 a month, including utilities.