A happy ending: for once, a builder and a developer are the good guys in what could have been a Washington NIMBY battle of epic proportions.

ANY NUMBER OF CLICHED SUPERLATIVES COULD be used to describe the Washington development team of Jim Gibson and Sam Dunn: heroes, white knights, last-minute saviors, men among men. The terms would all be appropriate for a duo who recently wrapped up a whopper of a NIMBY saga.

Gibson is a Washington builder and Dunn a local architect/developer. Their involvement with the in fill development of Rosedale, a six-acre property located in one of Washington's most prestigious neighborhoods, is nothing short of miraculous. What was once a story of a beloved park, some run-down dormitories, Washington's oldest home, and hundreds of very concerned neighbors is now a happy tale involving a three-acre land trust, six new houses--all with spectacular views of the Washington National Cathedral--and scores of contented neighbors. And keep in mind: These are the kind of neighbors who normally would make developers run for the hills.

"Just about everybody who lives near here is a lawyer," says Gibson in a stage whisper as he stands in one of the new houses he built at Rosedale. "But we all went into this together. It was like going up in a plane with hand-packed parachutes that may or …