Featured Property: Alexander Graham Bell House Hits Market
By • October 27, 2025 0 448
1527 35th St. NW is on the market for the first time in a quarter century. Like many homes in Georgetown, there is a storied history behind this Gilded Age masterpiece of a home: it was once owned by Alexander Graham Bell.
Built in 1854, the home was bought by Bell for his parents in 1881. There are six bedrooms, and six full bathrooms and two half bathrooms. The home’s center is a gorgeous, sweeping mahogany staircase that lies beneath a stained-glass skylight. There are twin parlors, ideal for entertaining, and with marble fireplaces with carved acorn details and gilded crown moldings, they’re ready for cozy weather ahead.
There is a formal dining room that extends into a ballroom-like room, period chandeliers and spectacular, cut-crystal sconces.
The eat-in kitchen keeps its captivating historical nature but has modern functionality like Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances. There’s also a wood-burning fireplace!
Back to the home’s history. When Bell bought the home for his parents, he also gained adjacent properties, including a workshop behind the main house. That workshop helped develop many inventions after he created the telephone in 1876 (like the gramophone). The profits from the gramophone helped lay the groundwork for other projects like the Volta Bureau, a library for the deaf, that was built just across Volta Place from the home. The name Volta honors the Volta Prize, which was given to Bell by the French for his telephone invention.
Since Bell’s ownership, 1527 35th St. NW has become more of a typical, single-family home. Other previous owners include Walter Lipman, the founder of The New Republic (and former Speaker of the House). The Sprint company restored the home in the ‘90s.
1527 35th St. NW is 7,092 square feet and is currently listed for $8.5 million by Nancy Taylor Bubes and Jamie Peva of Washington Fine Properties. The listing can be found here, and photos below are courtesy of WFP.
