Robert Devaney • January 17, 2014

Alexander Graham Bell is back at the National Geographic Society this week, and you have a chance to meet him — as dramatized by Rick Foucheux in “Bell,” presented at National Geographic Live! on 17th Street, NW.

The one-man play, written by Jim Lehrer of the “PBS NewsHour” and directed by Jeremy Skidmore, is the first-ever theater production by the National Geographic and in honor of its 125th anniversary. It begins as Bell awakes from a nap and talks about his beloved wife Mabel Hubbard Bell, daughter of Gardiner Hubbard, who founded the society. Bell (1847-1922) was president of the non-profit exploration and science institution for a few years at the turn of the last century.

The great inventor speaks directly to the audience, moving back and forth between his day and ours. He asks us to hold up our smart phones. Yes, he is responsible for that, known as he is for being “the telephone man,” he tells us. Parts of the device also owe thanks to Thomas Alva Edison with his work on lights bulbs, phonographs and electronics, he adds. Bell mentions his erstwhile colleague Edison quite a few times during the performance.

Two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Foucheux distills the life of the famous Bell with authority and humor for at least 80 minutes through Lehrer’s words to that of a man, just like anyone else, frustrated by events or rivals.

When President James Garfield lay wounded on a white House bed in 1881 after being shot at a downtown Washington, D.C., train station, Bell tried to help find the bullet in the president’s body with a metal detector — to no effect, stymied by metal coils in the mattress, Bell laments.

Even the stage displays Bell’s personality: a desk cluttered devices and designs, a back wall postered with sheets of his drawn-up designs. Indeed, Bell says his definition of genius is the opposite of Edison’s, who said it is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Tellingly, for Bell, it is 99 percent inspiration.

We may have known that Bell’s wife was deaf and that he worked in vocal physiology like his father, who also had a house on 35th Street in Georgetown, across the street from the Volta Bureau, the site of one of Bell’s laboratories in D.C. Bell’s bureau and the street, Volta Place, derive their names from the Volta Prize which France awarded to Bell in 1880.

One prize which Bell never got was to be on the cover of the National Geographic Magazine. During the play, he holds up an open, life-size version of the magazine’s famous yellow frame in front of himself as if to right that wrong.

Who knew about Bell’s airplane, the Silver Dart, flying in New York and then in Nova Scotia? How about that he loved ice cream too much and died from diabetes?

There is, of course, more to know about Bell. So, don’t call, don’t text . . . just go. In fact, you have only six evenings to see “Bell.” Take the kids, too. As with anything created by the Geographic, you will learn something new.

“Bell” runs through Sept. 21 at the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Auditorium, 1600 M St., NW. Call 202-857-7700, or visit nglive.org/bell.
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Robert Devaney •

“Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds,” possibly one of the world’s most famous notebooks, goes on view Friday, Sept. 13, at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum for a 40-day exhibit, ending Oct. 22.

Made up of 18 folios (two-sided pages) and written in the artist’s famous “mirror” script, the collection of notes and sketches foreshadows devices and principles of mechanical flight by exploring bird flight and behavior. The Renaissance genius created the notebook between 1505 and 1506, when he also painted his masterpiece, the “Mona Lisa.”

In a gesture of an eternal return, so to speak, the exhibit is at the entrance to the Wright Brothers exhibit, where their famous flyer resides. While the precious and protected book cannot be touched or photographed, video screens on the second-floor wall allow the curious to see the pages come to life.

“The opportunity to exhibit ‘Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds’ is an extraordinary privilege for the museum,” said Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey, director of the museum. “It allows us to trace the history of flight by sharing the work of a visionary whose genius transcends time, from the 16th century to today’s icons of aviation and space exploration.”

Claudio Bisogniero, Italian ambassador to the United States, was on hand for debut of the rare document and said during the Sept. 12 presentation, “ ‘Volare’ has always represented mankind’s dream to overcome nature’s boundaries. Those who love to fly – let me admit that my own passion for flight goes back over 25 years – know full well how exhilarating it is to embrace that dream.

“In words attributed to Leonardo himself and I quote: ‘Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there, you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

“Centuries ago, Leonardo had grasped not only the spirit of flight, but also some of the key principles that later enabled mankind to fly, as you can see in this wonderful museum.

“It is our hope that the celebrations of the ‘Year of Italian Culture in the United States’ – including this exhibit on Leonardo – will continue to bear fruit for many more years to come: a true legacy through culture, innovation and discovery.”

The exhibit runs through Oct. 22 and then heads to New York.
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Robert Devaney •

A mere two hours or so from the nation’s capital is one of the most historic areas of America: the Northern Neck of Virginia, the birthplace of George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe and Robert E. Lee. Because of its early influence on the new nation, this peninsula, which lies between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, has been called “the Athens of the New World” and “the garden of Virginia.”

Rich with tobacco exports, the plantation-owning society was a powerful leader with river transport so easily at hand, but the peninsula was left behind by the railroad and the nation’s expansion. This pause in time may prove in the years ahead to be beneficial for the region, which is gaining newcomers via retiring baby-boomers, second homeowners, boaters and water enthusiasts.

While the English explorer, Captain John Smith, discovered the land where eight Algonquian tribes lived in 1608, you can drive south of Fredericksburg, Va., turn off Interstate 95 and get on the main road, King’s Highway, and take it easy. This is Route 3, which has also been called Historyland Highway.

From Montross down to Irvington and perhaps checking out some places on the southern banks of the Rappahannock on the Middle Neck, as it is called, this can be a trip not merely down memory’s lane but an active adventure, whether boating, sailing, fishing, biking, hiking, antiquing, eagle watching, dining, vineyard exploring or just going to the beach.

Smith saw the Northern Neck “as a place heaven and earth never agreed better to frame man’s habitation.” Today, more and more people seem to agree with him, too.

The George Washington Birthplace National Monument on Popes Creek with home and farm (not the original) evoke the 1700s. Stratford Hall, home of the Lee family, is a lively place. It holds various workshops during the summer, and in other buildings on the grounds it rents rooms and cabins.

There are many historic attractions to see, but save time for the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, the Steamboat Era Museum in Irvington and historic Christ Church in Weems. Also consider the Mary Ball Washington Museum in Lancaster.

There are marinas and beaches for boating and water sports – it’s all about the water along this peninsula of eastern Virginia’s Tidewater that claims more than 1,000 miles of shoreline.

There is also Belle Isle State Park, Bush Mill Stream Natural Area Preserve, Caledon Natural Area, Dameron Marsh Natural area and Westmoreland State Park. Along with the Northern Neck Birding Trail, these wildlife spots offer a chance to see bald eagles soaring in the sky above.

Although the Northern Neck seems like a great getaway secret newly revealed—its tourist board’s slogan is “Experience the Road Less Traveled”—there was a time when Washingtonians flocked to its Colonial Beach on the tidal Potomac. There were even barges where gambling was legal, as the Potomac is controlled by Maryland all the way to the Virginia shoreline. It was the time when steamboats crisscrossed the Chesapeake Bay.

Today, local connections continue. The Rappahanock Oyster Company, located in Topping, has an outpost in DC at Union Market on Fifth Street, NE. Chef Troy Clayton, owner of Geranio Restaurant on King Street in Alexandria, along with business Thomy Moore, formerly with the Clyde’s Restaurant Group, opened the Landing Restaurant and Waterfront Bar at Coles Point Marina in May.

The Northern Neck is justly proud of its wineries: Athena Winery near Burgess and Wicomico Church, Belle Mount Vineyards in Warsaw, Dog and Oyster Vineyard in Irvington, General’s Ridge Vineyard in Hague, Good Luck Cellars in Kilmarnock, the Hague Winery in Hague, Ingleside Plantation Vineyards in Oak Grove, Jacey Vineyards in Wicomico Church, Oak Crest Winery in King George and Vault Field Vineyards near Kinsdale. The region has an official wine appellation: Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace American Viticultural Area.

You may be visiting friends or family or just camping, but sometimes a great resort is required. The Tides at Irvington is that place. It is a world-class inn with a golf course, spa and marina at the southern tip of the peninsula. It often uses the sailing teachers from Norton’s Yacht Sales in Deltaville across the Rappahannock on the Middle Neck. Owned by Carolyn Norton Schmalenberger and Ken Schmalenberger, Norton’s sells, fixes and charters boats—and can teach you how to sail. Also not to be missed in Irvington are bed-and-breakfast Hope and Glory and Nate’s Trick Dog Cafe.

Back up in Montross, sample Angelo’s pizza. For great sandwiches and pastries, try Art of Coffee in Montross or the Daily, which is down the road in Warsaw. Local farms offer produce to weekenders as well as to restaurants in the District and elsewhere. Virginia ham? You know it, and someone mentioned Whitley’s peanuts and Joe Lewis’s tomatoes, to name but a few of the top items to bring home besides the history lessons. [gallery ids="99244,104149,104152" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

“At some point, you can’t fight the Feds,” said Jack’s Boathouse owner Paul Simkin. “We [Jack’s Boathouse] will not be there. We know when we’ve been beaten.”

Simkin responded to the Georgetowner, concerning the March 28 United States Court for the District of Columbia decision to dismiss Jack’s Boathouse case in which it claimed that the National Park Service did not have jurisdiction over the land where the boathouse sits. Jack’s Boathouse has been fighting its removal from the Potomac River shore at 3500 K St., NW, since December. The Good Friday decision seriously damaged Simkin’s legal challenge to the NPS eviction.

Nevertheless, Simkin seemed at peace with his own decision to withdraw from the fight and praised the new boat rental company that will work at the old Jack’s site. He also claimed a certain moral victory.

“Our objective was to stay there and keep working for another 70 years,” Simkin said. “If that were not possible, we intended to keep out the big corporate operators as well as a big collegiate boathouse. Neither will come to pass because of our fight, our supporters and the visibility of the assorted shenanigans.”

On March 4, the NPS awarded B&G Outdoor Recreation of Boston the contract to operate on the site of Jack’s Boathouse.

“For me, the next best solution is that the new folks coming have a philosophy like ours,” Simkin said. “If the boathouse space cannot be under our leadership, I cannot think of a better fit for Georgetown than B&G. They are good people and love the water, and we ask our supporters and customers to support them. B&G has assured me that it will hire all of Jack’s former employees. And that makes me rest easier.”

Jack’s Boathouse has been renting canoe and kayaks since 1945 when it was opened by Jack Baxter, a former police officer.

“You win some,” Simkin said. “You lose some. In the end, we believe we have come out ahead.”

Robert Devaney •

You make the client’s dream come true,” says architect Errol Adels, whose professional life has ranged from Washington, D.C., to Muscat, Oman — and places in between, such as Dubai, Athens and London. As far as being an architect, he says, “Occasionally, you’re like the family doctor.”

For someone who has worked half a world away part of his life, Adels is known around town for his work at Watergate apartments, and his firm’s designs for the Finnish and other embassies along Massachusetts Avenue and his modernist home on Cathedral Avenue, which he
designed and lived in for a time.

“I worked on all kinds of projects over my career,” says Adels, who first arrived in D.C. in 1968, after studying at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Florida, and briefly stayed at the Georgetown Inn.

He now lives in Upperville, Va., at Lavender Hill, which he designed for himself and his fam- ily. One of his most prominent designs around Middleburg includes Foxlease Farm.

Influenced by Le Corbusier along with “the shining white of the Aegean” and the south of France, Adels reflects his own joie de vivre, geniality and depth of design wisdom. “It’s been beneficial to re-invent one’s aesthetics,” he says of his worldly flexibility.

After a teaching fellowship at Manchester University in England and a stint as visiting critic in design at several other British schools of architecture, Adels began working with archi- tect Angelos Demetriou in the 1970s. They later co-founded Architects International, a firm with worldwide projects, in the 1980s.

During his early career, Adels worked on projects for the Georgetown waterfront and the West End. He recalls attending Georgetown community meetings where there was minor, but vocal, opposition to new development and the future subway, known today as Metrorail.

For the young Adels, Georgetown “was a hoot.” One evening, a group of young friends, along with doyenne Kay Halle, wanted to get seated at Rive Gauche, a restaurant at Wisconsin and M, but were being shoed away until the maitre d’ saw that Secretary of State Dean Rusk was part of the gang.

“In the old days, everyone knew each other,” says Adels, who worked with Sam Pardoe on the design of his house at 28th and Q Streets. Georgetown “was not such an entertainment center then” — even if he did design Pisces, the private club run by Wyatt Dickerson. The town is “different not lesser,” Adels says. “But, oh, to meet Elizabeth Taylor at Clyde’s . . .”

Soon, however, Adels found himself in another world: “a very foreign place at the end of the Arabian Peninsula.” There, in 1983, he met the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said. Adels recounts: “The sultan said some- thing indelible: ‘Will you help me build this country?’”

The architectural firm’s workload exploded as parts of Oman went from nothing to the best of everything. Adels considers the sultan an “enlightened ruler,” who “balanced the life of the Middle East with the need to have good will of the West.” His firm designed the capitol build- ing at Muscat, the state palace and the summer palace at Salalah, the sultan’s hometown. Over a period of some 13 years, the firm left behind more than $600 Million in completed works.

Adels says he has designed at least 10 mosques — perhaps more than any other archi- tect. He got so good at it that an old villager simply asked him one day to build a mosque in Dhofar, Oman. “He insisted that I should do because I can . . . just make it happen,” Adels recalls. “So, we got land from the state and some extra building materials.”

The firm also designed the Dubai Dhow Wharfage, a large anchorage and parks complex along Dubai Creek. “We helped to set a frame- work for a new Dubai,” Adels says.

Closer to home, the white buildings of Adels still reflect the eclectic tastes of their designer. At 2130 Cathedral Ave., NW, a striking house stands out across from Rock Creek Park. The architect lived there during part of the ‘80s and ‘90s; it is again on the market for close to $1.8 million. Above Chain Bridge in Arlington sits Potomac Cliffs, four attached townhouses, his firm designed and built in 1983.

One personal project by Adels is his beloved Lavender Hill in Upperville, Va. Built in 1998, it calls to mind the architectural notions of Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson as well as Italy’s Palladio. Its grounds evoke Provence, although only a small number of the original 1,400 lav- ender plantings remain. The two-story, stucco home has a central pavilion connected to two end pavilions. With its gardens and swimming pool, the place is in perfect harmony with the earth and was the venue for a Georgetowner cover photo shoot during the summer. Nevertheless, Adels has now put the five-acre property on the market for $2,750,000.

The architect is also proud of his designs for Foxlease Farm, also in Upperville and the former estate of John Archbold, a Standard Oil co-founder. The farm includes a residence, stable and polo grounds for the Steiner family. “I can’t think of anything further from a mosque than a hunt country house,” Adels told Virginia Living a few years ago. “But if you’re good, and the cli- ent is good, the building will emerge.”

Another place proves that sentiment: the Watergate penthouse of Leslie Westreich, a good friend of Adels. At Watergate South, he rehabbed and designed the onetime apartment of former Sen. John Warner, R-Va., opening it up to a spec- tacular vista of the Potomac, from the Kennedy Center up past Georgetown. Westreich’s art and antique collection is displayed seamlessly along- side unique furniture, including chairs from the S.S. Normandie.

“Houses are wonderful, but it’s time to move on,” says the 70-year-old Adels, who remains busy designing both buildings and interiors for a noteworthy clientele. He and his family are also patrons of the National Gallery of Art. “More than any other Washington institution, the gallery has given us great pleasure for more than 40 years,” he says. “It is nice to be able to give back. Alas, Lavender Hill will go to a new generation.” [gallery ids="101062,137086,137080,137096,137074,137101,137068,137106,137062,137110,137092" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

From his Chantilly, Va., office near Route 28 and Dulles Airport, Jeffrey S. Detwiler, president and chief operating officer of the Long & Foster Companies, sees the dynamism and traffic of Northern Virginia. Here, he keeps tabs on the company’s wide-ranging real estate activities and checks updates on his iPad as he speaks confidently about the national and local real estate market and a company that has become a real estate icon.

“The epicenter of housing recovery is Washington, D.C.,” Detwiler says. Centered here, Long & Foster operates offices from Pennsylvania and New Jersey down through North Carolina and tracks the trends, such as seeing Richmond nine months behind the Washington area.

“The Mid-Atlantic region is the best performing region in the nation,” he says. “The real estate market is so local, and Long & and Foster is the best place to be during tough times.” One thing is for sure: Other corporate real estate giants have come and gone and have tried to buy the company, co-founded by chairman and CEO P. Wesley Foster, Jr., in 1968. Indeed, the legendary Foster is the one who has bought other firms adding to his army of 12,000 sales associates with 170 sales offices.

In a competitive field during an economic downtown, Detwiler says he knows that agents need any extra edge they can get. We are in “a never-before-seen real estate market,” says the 50-year-old president. “It is harder today than ever before. From the agent to seller, we have to be 24/7 business-ready. We have an e-real estate team to help.” And he is well aware that the “next generation is using social media to find agents, too.”

“The years 2003 through 2007 were an anomaly,” he says. “There was a mortgage bubble.” The additional agents who jumped into the market are gone now. As for the housing economy, he says, “The banks are scared to death and don’t want to make mistakes. Appraisers are scared, too, and people are scared to buy. Consumer confidence affects sales.”

Detwiler lists four fundamental issues affecting housing: overly tight credit; negative equity; consumer debt, especially sub prime loans; distressed assets. “They complicate the system,” he calmly says. “The government can do more. So many loans are dinged up. In January 2010, we began to adjust to the new world. . . . It will return to normal in 2015 or 2016.”

Nevertheless, “spring has been a great selling season,” relative to business last year, Detwiler says. In Georgetown, specifically, number of units sold is up 24 percent over last spring. Median sale price is down roughly 15 percent year-over-year, but inventory continues to tighten, which leads to a more balanced real estate market, and sellers in Georgetown are receiving about 95 percent of their list price when they sell, on average.
 
Long & Foster made the biggest neighborhood and D.C. sale of 2011 with Evermay, the estate on 28th Street, going for $22 million. Right now, it is listing a 31st Street historic home, across from Tudor Place, for $6.75 million. Over near Massachusetts Avenue, it has two listings within four blocks of each other: one on Benton Place for $12 million and another on Whitehaven Street for $6.95 million. A different company holds the highest-price listing in D.C.: a Chain Bridge Road property across from Battery Kimble Park for $16 million.

Luxury home listings and million-dollar-plus homes have become a greater part of Long & Foster’s strategy; it already has almost 30 percent of all the million-plus sales in the Mid-Atlantic region. Aware that local sales can go global, its Extraordinary Properties group includes exclusive affiliations with Christie’s International Real Estate, Luxury Real Estate and Luxury Portfolio International. More worldwide connections mean more sales.

For these efforts as well as for Long & Foster’s mortgage and insurance entities, Detwiler has at least 25 years of finance and real estate-related experience to draw upon. “My previous businesses share the same model,” he says.

In fact, when Detwiler arrived at Long & Foster in 2009, the charming, down-to-earth, yet tenacious co-founder Wes Foster appeared incredulous. “At first, Wes could not fathom a non-real estate guy running the show,” he says. “What I brought to the table was a different view. The company is at a different point in its life: it has more structure and financial discipline.”

A Princeton graduate, who majored in psychology, Detwiler brought 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry along with his other work in traditional banking, insurance and portfolio management. “Detwiler has benefited from having direct responsibility as the senior executive for all facets of the mortgage business that included sales and production, capital markets and trading, finance and risk management, operations and technology, and servicing,” Foster announced at the time.

According to Long & Foster, “Detwiler was the chief production officer for the Correspondent Channel at Countrywide/Bank of America. The Correspondent Channel included correspondent lending, warehouse lending and Landsafe origination services. In this role he was accountable for all revenue-producing activities. Prior to Countrywide, Detwiler worked on Wall Street for Credit Suisse First Boston in the mortgage trading and finance group. While at CSFB, he built and managed the warehouse lending business, and reengineered and oversaw the servicing operation. In addition, he designed, built and managed the mortgage conduit. Before Detwiler moved to Wall Street, he spent ten years at GMAC/RFC and was the chairman of the Conduit Operating Committee.”

For a firm which began in a single, 600-square-foot office in Fairfax, Va., and became the largest privately-owned real estate company in America, Detwiler looks like part of its continual plan for more firepower. Long & Foster has that developing foresight and zeal — and well-regarded, connected executives. Detwiler’s predecessor was David Stevens who left Long & Foster to become head of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and is now president of the Mortgage Bankers of America.

Long & Foster’s headquarters in Chantilly opened five years ago just as the housing bubble burst. It is a massive Williamsburg-style office building, built with handmade, rough-hewn bricks and filled with art, sculptures along with murals depicting a developing Washington in the mid-1800s. There are other tenants in the five-story structure with adjacent land available for new construction in a healthier economy.

In 2011, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., sold more than $22 billion worth of homes and helped more than 69,000 people buy and sell homes.  The combined sales and equivalents for the Long & Foster Companies in 2011 were in excess of $42 billion.

After Detwiler came from California to head the parent company — it includes Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., Prosperity Mortgage Company, Walker Jackson Mortgage Corporation, Long & Foster Settlement Services, and Long & Foster Insurance Agency, Inc. — one corporate trait stuck him. “It was eye-opening to me,” he says. “People have been here 20 to 25 years. It makes a big company seem small.”

Such staying power is owed in no small part to Wes Foster himself, now in his late 70s, and known for his honest, personal touch as well as hard-driving spirit. And you can bet that Detwiler with his ready smile and business acumen has a similar competitive glint in his eyes. Just what Foster ordered. [gallery ids="100719,120646" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

The trial of Albrecht Gero Muth, accused of killing his 91-year-old wife Viola Herms Drath in August 2011, has begun at D.C. Superior Court.
Delays to the trial start date were due in part to Muth’s failing heath because of his decision to restrict his eating. Judge Russell Canan ruled that the trial start Jan. 6 and have the defendant participate from his hospital bed via video conferencing — and not be at the courthouse, a first for the D.C. court. The jury will hear Muth speak but not see him in his deteriorated condition.

During testimony this week, Drath’s daughers, Connie and Francesca, talked about Muth’s money arrangements with his wife and of his emails to them about items he wanted upon her death.

Claiming he is innocent, Muth faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Drath.

A veteran journalist and married previously to an Army colonel, Drath was found dead in a bathroom of her home on Q Street on Aug. 12, 2011, after being strangled and beaten. She and Muth were known around town for their dinner parties at her home with a mix of political, diplomatic, military and media VIPs. Drath was 44 years older than Muth.

Seen around Georgetown in faux military garb, Muth was perceived by neighbors and shopkeepers as, simply, a oddball. In recent years, he said that he was a member of the Iraqi Army — which the Iraqi government denied. He went so far as to have arranged a 2010 ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery for Iraqi Liberation Day. Muth was also known around government and foundation lobbying circles as Count Albi of the EPG (Eminent Persons Group).
Muth’s hunger strikes began in December 2012 after he was ruled competent to stand trial. In March 2013, a doctor deemed Muth too weak to stand trial. His fast continued, and a judge postponed the trial until Jan. 6.

Robert Devaney • January 15, 2014

Construction of a bike lane on M Street, NW, was to begin today, but cool weather has delayed the start of the project. When completed — in four to six weeks, “depending on weather conditions” — the protected lanes will stretch from 14th Street, NW, to 28th Street, NW, in Georgetown. Unlike the bike lanes on L Street, NW, there will be parking for cars next to the lane dividers.

Here are details from the District Department of Transportation:

“DDOT will be installing a protected bike lane (also known as a cycle track) on the north side of M Street between 14th and 28th Streets, NW. This will be the third of its kind in the District and will be the west-bound complement to the recently installed lane on L Street. The lane is designed to give bicyclists more protection from cars than a typical bike lane and to prevent delivery vehicles from illegally parking in the bike lane.

“Unlike on L Street, most parking and loading will remain adjacent to the bike lane. Like on 15th Street, NW, it will be shifted south to the outside of the bike lane. From 14th Street to 17th Street, rush-hour restrictions will be removed to allow full-time parking. From 17th Street to Connecticut Avenue, traffic volumes require removing some of the parking. From Connecticut Avenue to 26th Street, some parking will remain rush-hour restricted while other areas will change to full-time parking. Along the corridor, a few parking spaces will be removed at each intersection to accommodate turning lanes. There is no existing parking from 26th to 28th Streets. This will remain the same.

“Since 2008, DDOT has studied several alternatives for east-west bicycle facilities in this downtown corridor. It selected L and M Streets in part to minimize traffic impacts and conflicts with other plans — and because they are already convenient, popular routes for cyclists. The initial results from its evaluation of the L Street bike lane show a minimal change in the time it takes to drive from one end of the corridor to the other. Similarly, traffic modeling predicts minimal increase in delay on M Street after the bike lane is installed.”

For more information, visit www.ddot.dc.gov/bike — or contact Mike Goodno, DDOT Bicycle Program Specialist — mike.goodno@dc.gov.

Robert Devaney •

There is a new Yuletide tradition for Georgetowners this year: an international festival, to be known as Fete des Lumieres Georgetown, will have its American premiere with public art and light installations.

The following are details from the Georgetown Business Improvement District:

The holiday season will be aglow as four international artists bring their public art displays, using lights as their medium, to Georgetown for a week-long festival, inspired by the world-renowned Fete des Lumieres, or Festival of Lights, in Lyon, France.

The Georgetown BID in partnership with Alliance Francaise, Art Soiree Productions, SPAIN Arts & Culture, The JBG Companies, Wallonie-Bruxelles International and EDF (Electricite de France) will sponsor the light installations that will be positioned in several locations in Georgetown. Fete des Lumieres Georgetown coincides with the second annual Georgetown Holiday Window Competition, where a variety of neighborhood merchants create holiday-themed window displays using only four different materials. This year’s competition will add lights as a fifth element in honor of the week-long festival.

“Georgetown is a premiere destination for the holidays and year-round with more than 450 restaurants, shops, galleries and other merchants,” says Joe Sternlieb, Georgetown BID CEO. “We are thrilled that Fete des Lumieres will make its U.S. debut in Georgetown, and this is a tremendous opportunity to showcase public art in Georgetown’s public spaces,” Sternlieb adds. “We look forward to expanding this festival into one of Georgetown’s premiere events.”

Sylvain Cornevaux, Cultural Director for Alliance Francaise, says “We are delighted to partner with so many wonderful organizations to bring a representation of this beloved, innovative and historic French tradition to Georgetown.”

Featured artists and installations, previously on display at the Lyon festival, include Luisa Alvarez presenting “Cuidad Habitad,” a collection of lit mannequins in whimsical poses. Alvarez will also exhibit Floating Lights, an interactive light wall. Both of those installations will be displayed throughout the festival. On Dec. 13 and 14 only, a duo of artists known as Theoriz Crew will create “Larsen 3G,” a collection of interactive video projections, and Chloe Yaiche will present “Zodiac,” an artistic display of constellations inspired by NASA satellite imagery.

Throughout the week, Art Soiree, local artists and merchants will host individual festival events, parties and promotions. For updated Fete des Lumieres Georgetown information and a complete listing of events, visit www.georgetowndc.com.