Columbia Forest Historic District is a residential neighborhood significant as one of only 26 housing projects constructed in the United States by the Defense Homes Corporation between 1940 and 1945 and one of only three built in the Washington, D.C., area. Designed and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1941 and 1942, the hilly, wooded neighborhood contains concrete-block and brick detached single-family dwellings. These modest houses were leased to young officers and ranking officials with families during World War II and then sold as private residences after the war. The district contains 259 properties and is significant in the areas of community planning and development, and architecture.