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Marie Loiseau • September 23, 2013

As a neighborhood known for its beautiful houses and vibrant business district, Georgetowners like things just so. There is one piece of streetscape that puts frowns on the faces of passers-by. There, a sign reads, “The National Jewel Center,” which sits, aged and forlorn, on the empty 1351 Wisconsin Ave., NW, space.

This address did not always look so homely, and some pieces of its history are still visible in the old signage hanging out front. It became home to the bustling Dumbarton Theater in 1913. It was alight and glorious, a playhouse equipped with seating for 460. The Dumbarton Theater became the Georgetown Theater and began showing movies in 1947. The theater – infamous for showing the Penthouse-produced film, “Caligula,” for months on end — was sold in 1986 to be used for retail.

The National Jewel Center took its turn after the fall of the Georgetown Theater. After 20 years, it closed, leaving the space for sale by the Heon family with no takers yet. It has sat this way for the past two years, as the iconic Georgetown Theater sign collects rust with each passing season. Georgetown is ready for a change.

And, finally, change may be on the way. The dusty space may, after two long years of sitting and collecting sympathy, have an amazing transformation in its near future.

According to the Washingtonian, Politics and Prose Bookstore may be coming to Georgetown. The popular and successful independent bookstore at 5015 Connecticut Ave., N.W., wants to expand and may take over the currently dingy Wisconsin Avenue space.

Politics and Prose, with its workshops, speakers and coffee shop element, would add some real verve to Georgetown. Unfortunately, this business expansion has not yet been officially confirmed. As P&P owners Bradley Graham and Lisa Muscatine are currently out of town, no statement could be received on the matter. Employees at the Connecticut Avenue location have made it clear that only the owners are able to comment on this supposed business plan. So, until the bosses are back in town, Georgetowners can only cross their fingers and dare to dream. Look for a follow-up in next week’s newsletter.

Gary Tischler •

When a poet dies, some parts of the world weep. Folks so inclined hear words running through their head like metamorphosed nymphs. Those who are part of the world’s folk bookish in nature read about the lives of poets and “The Lives of the Poets” and sometimes write the very same things or even a sonnet in feverish pentameter.

When an Irish poet dies, the whole world cries—and sings and praises as if a pope or an honest politician had died, or worse, a pop or movie star. The Irish in their news journals and online, they not only mourn and commemorate—Irish gifts both—but intemperately argue, critiquing the obituaries and sometimes the late poet himself, as if it were required to be disrespectful in the end.

The Irish poet Seamus Heaney died Aug. 30, and the world noticed so much that if you were inclined to love poets and poetry, you wanted to almost dance to celebrate the size of the outpouring. Indeed, as every obituary tells you that his death—he had been in ill health for some time—at the age of 74 was a great loss, you think there must have been many a poem left in him if he had lived to a ripe or even honestly and very mature age.

As it was, Heaney had already written plenty of enduring works, works which were not just in the jealous domain of people who love poetry but appealed to people who normally didn’t—men and women alike. His poems have a deceptively plain-spoken feel and sound to them. He opened up the field and the curled gates of the domain like a father welcoming a whole tribe of prodigal sons, of whom there are many in Ireland and elsewhere.

He was famous. Different photographs of him graced the pages of such publications as the Washington Post, the Irish Times and the front page of the Saturday New York Times, which displayed the photograph by Steven Pyke for Getty Images a late-life portrait, the skeptical, intense side glance, eloquent eyebrows, thin, set lips and sage head of white hair above a headline: “He Wove Irish Strife and Soil Into Silken Verse.” It’s not likely he’d be making the cover of Time, what with the Syrian business, or People Magazine, what with poor Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones separating, her being Welsh and all.

But it shouldn’t be a surprise if he had. His poetry often veered into the old euphemistic Irish troubles of North and South, Dublin and Belfast, the fire of bombs and ancient political curses — enough so that he wrote the line “be advised, my passport’s green/no glass of ours was ever raised/to toast the Queen.” You can be certain that his work—in its corners and travails and travels—might attract the readers of the Economist and People Magazine alike at some fine night’s points.

In all the papers, this Nobel Prize for Literature honoree who never expected to be making a speech in Stockholm was called “the greatest Irish poet since W.B. Yeats,” a man of the generation of Ted Hughes and in the ranks of not only Yeats but Joyce and Beckett, the novelist and the playwright giants of Ireland. But why stop at the Irish, where poems, spoken, sung and written and repeated as a birthright, where the color red, the fiddler adept, are strung into the genetic code like a dance? He had the blood of farmers and farmland in him, but also the academics’ wild penchant for classicism—he first gained true fame with his translation of “Beowulf,” which begins with in mid-tale, with the word “so.”

He lived a blessed life in some ways—none of that drunk and half in love with death and despair down at the corner pub stuff like the crazy Welshman Dylan Thomas, or the fatally sad women of his peer Ted Hughes, who nonetheless became the English laureate. He lived the life of son, husband father, and, yes, eventually, sage and wise men, befriended by millions of readers and powerful folk, at times.

He taught and gave speeches, to be sure. People seemed to preternaturally treat him with affection and that face changed over the years once his hair turned white. His voice had the lilt—look him up on YouTube talking about his life, reading or from memory speaking the poem “Digging,” the first poem in his book of selected poems, 1966-1996 called “Opened Ground.” It’s a telling title, as are poems called “Death of a Naturalist” and “A Call,” because—this son (oldest of eight children)—roots deep in the earth, vegetables, the sounds of frogs and birds and weeds being pulled out, the rawest memories are true subjects of many of his poems. One can imagine that the son of the land becoming a poet in modern times clashes with the past:

“Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound

When the spade sinks into gravely ground:

My father, digging. I look down…..

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.”

These are the first and last lines of “Digging”—in its ambition, fathers and son and again the dirt and rich loam of earth figure strongly—and they return again and again as in “A Call”, in which the poet recalls and telephones his father, who’s outside, pulling weeds, which ends with the father coming to the phone: “Next thing, he spoke, and I nearly said I loved him.”

He was, before and after all, born on a farm in County Londonderry, which had echoes and overtones for him all of his life.

“I like to play with words sometimes,” he said in an interview. “Words that are different but sound the same, like heard and herd. And I think a poet wants and needs to be heard but must not be a part of the herd. Although, that’s never that simple.”

Like many poets, he was contemporaneous, but courted classicism, not only in “Beowulf” but also in poems which echoed Homer, clanged with talk by Greek and Trojan heroes outside the city gates. He talked about medieval roots and pulled them. In these, those conversational tones at times, those earthy unveilings of earth, the mixing of simple visions doing difficult dances, he was like Cummings, Eliot, Jeffers, Pound, affable brilliance on display.

In the Irish Times, where he was mourned loud enough to think you heard weepings and the odd pint being raised in church, a postscript scuffle or two developed in the comments section, some folks complaining about the quality of the obituary, others perceiving an under appreciation here and there. Heaney might have liked that: the bloody quarrels being subdued to crank internet insults about poetry.

I would drink—except I don’t drink anymore—to Seamus Heaney who knew enough to make his poems as recognizable as plain talk and as mysterious as metaphor-miracles, true mysteries.

Georgetowner •

Mark your calendars for The Third Annual

St. Jude Heart of Fashion Benefit

September 28, 2013 at 11:30 AM | Individual: $150, Friend of St. Jude: $300 | Tel: 703-351-5171 | Event Website

St Jude Heart of Fashion: “Join Neiman Marcus and Armani Collezioni at Mazza Gallerie in Washington, D.C., for a fabulous morning of fashion benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Featuring the Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear Collection by Armani Collezioni, the event will include brunch bites and cocktails, followed by a seated fashion presentation.”

Address

Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie, Washington, DC

ACTIVATED! Art4All DC Social Media Launch Party

September 13th, 2013 at 06:00 PM | Event Website

The Cultural Tourism DC and Pepco Edison Place Gallery are holding a social media launch party to get everyone ready for the unveiling of new art activities, performances, workshops, open houses, and more.

Address

702 Eighth Street, NW, Washington, DC

DC Wine Week Wine Tours: Plainly Perfect

September 14th, 2013 at 10:00 AM | $95 | emily@pivotpointcom.com | Event Website

For the next few months leading up to DC Wine Week, we have partnered with DiVine Wine Tours of Virginia to offer a series of wine tours to various Virginia wineries.

Stops included: Grey Ghost Winery, Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn, Vintage Ridge Winery

The Plainly Perfect tour takes you to Delaplane, Va., where the scenery is simple and beautiful. With gorgeous backdrops, a friendly community and rich wine history, these wineries capture the essence of what Virginia wine is all about.

Address

Please see website for details

Hovercraft by American River Taxi

September 14th, 2013 at 02:00 PM | Event Website

From Georgetowndc: “Hosted by American River Taxi and Universal Hovercraft of America, catch the waves during a two day event… on the scenic Potomac River at Washington Harbour… Experience the transitional capability of a hovercraft from water to land and witness the new quiet fan in action as well as its versatility. The event will feature both on water and floor displays of the Renegade hovercraft.”

Address

Georgetown Washington Harbour; 3000 K Street, NW

NUMARI Fall Fashion Preview at The Graham Georgetown

September 14th, 2013 at 02:00 PM | Event Website

From Georgetowndc: “Catch a glimpse of NUMARI’s newest silhouette debuting at NUMARI’s Fall Fashion Preview… at one of Forbes’ “must visit rooftops”… Experience an afternoon out with the who’s who of DC, a fall fashion show featuring models from T.H.E. Artist Agency, and complimentary early tastings of French 75… Send your RSVP for NUMARI’s Fall Fashion Preview to events@numari.com. Dress to impress!”

Address

Observatory Rooftop of the Graham Georgetown; 1075 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW

Friends of McMillan Park Town Hall Meeting

September 14th, 2013 at 03:00 PM | free | estoremcmillan@gmail.com | Tel: 202-234-0427 | Event Website

The City’s plan to privatize and demolish historic McMillan Park as well as creative alternatives will be discussed. To familiarize yourself with the issues or to sign the petition to save the park, please visit www.friendsofmcmillan.org. We are also seeking volunteers. Please contact Kirby Vining at restoremcmillan@gmail.com or 202-234-0427 to learn more.

Address

St. Martin’s Pioneer Room, 1908 North Capitol Street NW (@ T)

Frederic Yonnet Performs

September 14th, 2013 at 08:00 PM | $25.00 | Event Website

From Blues Alley: “Called ‘the Jimi Hendrix of the harmonica,’ Frédéric Yonnet brings the humble harmonica front and center, defying expectations and coaxing contemporary jazz, R&B, and a rainbow of genres from this versatile instrument. He’s performed with Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and Erykah Badu; recorded with the Jonas Brothers, toured with Prince — and won the respect of audiences everywhere.”

Address

Blues Alley; 1073 Wisconsin Ave NW

An Afternoon of the Arts

September 15th, 2013 at 04:00 PM | $40 | aginsberg@sjcs.org | Tel: 202-274-3460 | Event Website

Please join us in an afternoon of musical talent by violin/piano duo Holly Hamilton, the National Symphony Orchestra, and Carol Barth, DC Board of Directors and Founders Board member, with solo piano Sara Daneshpour, Master’s of Music graduate from the Juilliard School. An art auction will feature the artistic talents of artists in the ART Options program.

Donations fund the advancement of community support and opportunities for people living with disabilities in Washington, DC.

Address

Hearst Auditorium; National Cathedral School; 3612 Woodley Road NW

Robert Devaney •

CNN threw a big bash at the Carnegie Library on Mount Vernon Square Sept. 10 for its reintroduction of “Crossfire,” its political debate program, which ran from 1982 to 2005.

With its re-debut this week, the new “Crossfire” hosts are: from the right former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and columnist S.E. Cupp; from the left, environmental and civil rights activist Van Jones and political strategist Stephanie Cutter.

The party gathered more than 300 media types and others, with a red-carpet entrance and large video screens telling the CNN story and later showing President Barack Obama’s address to the nation on Syria. It was like sections of the summer hit read, “This Town,” had come to life.

Nikki Schwab of U.S. News, now reporting for “Washington Whispers, got a good quote from S.E. Cupp: “I wish someone had told me before I moved to Arlington that I live in the Hoboken of the D.C. metro area, I had no idea.” (We think Cupp was complimenting Arlington in comparing it to the regentrified Hoboken, N.J., across from Manhattan.)

Van Johnson told Betsy Rothstein of Fishbowl D.C. in response to her question to his being in the media spotlight even more now: “The only thing worse than being in the spotlight is not being in the spotlight.”

The event host, of course, had something to say. “Few programs in the history of CNN have had the kind of impact on political discourse that “Crossfire” did. It was a terrific program then, and we believe the time is right to bring it back and do it again,” said Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide.
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Marie Loiseau •

Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed today the proposed Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2013. The bill would have held large retailers, such as Walmart, to increase employees’ wages to a minimum $12.50 per hour. It was met with much opposition from Walmart — which threatened to pull out from three of its planned Washington locations if Gray signed the bill — and others.

“I am vetoing this legislation precisely because I believe in providing a living wage to as many District residents as possible – and this bill is not a true living-wage measure,” Gray said. “While the intentions of its supporters were good, this bill is simply a woefully inadequate and flawed vehicle for achieving the goal we all share.”

Gray noted that the jobs may not even go to D.C. residents. While so people may be upset with the veto, the mayor also called for a reasonable increase in the District’s minimum wage for all workers.

The mayor’s letter to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, explaining his decision, listed six major points:

= “The bill in not a true living-wage bill …

= The bill is a job-killer …

= The bill would affect far more retailers than many supporters think …

= The bill doesn’t guarantee good-paying jobs for District residents …

= The bill does nothing to help underserved parts of the District …

= The bill will deal a huge blow to economic development …”

If the 13-member D.C. Council can gather nine votes, it can override Gray’s veto. It voted 8-5 for the bill on July 10.

Respect D.C., “a coalition of grassroots-based organizations, pastors, workers, and community members concerned about the quality of life in the nation’s capital,” issued a statement in response to the mayor’s veto of the bill with comments from some of its members, including this one from Kimberly Mitchell, a Macy’s employee and lifelong Ward 7 resident: “I am incredibly upset, disappointed, and angry that Mayor Gray has decided to stand with Walmart and other large corporations instead of with the residents of this city. Mayor Gray has made it clear who he stands with and it’s not with me, my neighbors or the residents of D.C. We are now counting on the City Council to do the right thing, stand up with D.C. residents, and override this veto. Mayor Gray had the opportunity to stand up for the residents of this city, but instead he allowed large, out of town companies, like Walmart, to threaten him and ultimately dictate the policies of our city. By vetoing this bill he has further eroded the ability of D.C. residents and workers to earn enough money to take care of themselves and their families while remaining in the city.”

“This is a major victory for the residents of the District of Columbia and the business community,” said Barbara B. Lang, president and CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. “Mayor Gray should be commended for vetoing this irresponsible bill that undermines the work we’re doing to increase employment opportunities for District residents. … We’re now in a position to be the economic hub for our region and end the retail leakage that has plagued our city for too long.”

After the veto was announced and assuming it is not overridden, a Walmart spokesman informed local media that the company would “move forward” on its stores in D.C., including one at Skyland Town Center in the mayor’s neighborhood.

Robert Devaney • September 12, 2013

You know Georgetown loves its trees. Here is your chance to share that love with the neighborhood. The Trees for Georgetown Spring Celebration takes place May 8 at the 29th Street home of Shelley and Bruce Ross-Larsen, a house once owned by Susan Mary Alsop.

The house and garden reception will launch “Georgetown Initiative for Family Trees,” a program to care for and sponsor trees, and it is also the main source of funds for tree that planted in Georgetown under the program.

The new program — aka GIFT — allows sponsors of each tree to tag it with a QR code that tells the story of the tree and its honoree, whether to remember a family member or mark a special milestone.

Founded in 1989 and an offshoot of the Citizens Association of Georgetown (pun intended), Trees for Georgetown has been partnering with the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration and Casey Trees in an innovative program to plant residential street trees. Species planted include honey locust, burr oak, chestnut oak, overcup oak, scarlet oak, northern red oak, swamp white oak, sweetgum, zelkova, hornbeam, and London plane.

Each tree costs approximately $800 to purchase and plant. Trees for Georgetown is a volunteer group funded entirely by gifts and grants. Please support the continuing effort to keep our neighborhood vibrant and green. Donations may be sent to Trees for Georgetown, c/o the Citizens Association of Georgetown. For more information, email Betsy Emes at Betsyemes@aol.com, or call the CAG office at 337-7313.

Tickets to the May 8 party are $150 for individuals; sponsorships range from $500 to $1,500. For more information about the GIFT program and the spring celebration, email GIFTtrees@gmail.com or call 202-345-2400.

Robert Devaney •

After inaugurating and showing off its newly re-worked fountains with water spouts, Washington Harbour has shut it down and begun the seasonal conversion of the elliptical space into an ice rink—to be ready for skaters before Nov. 22.

According to Washington Harbour’s owner MRP Realty, “The 11,800-square-foot Washington Harbour Ice Rink—larger than the rinks at Rockefeller Center in New York City or the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden in Washington—will be ready to welcome its first skaters before Thanksgiving. In addition to offering open skating, discounts to college students and the opportunity to skate with Santa Claus, the rink will accommodate parties and special events, such as birthdays, family gatherings and corporate events.”

“The ice rink is another new amenity to Washington Harbour which will continue to become one of the premier recreational destinations in the District,” said Bob Murphy, managing principal of MRP Realty. “We look forward to expanding the waterfront experience here to more families, visitors and residents from across the D.C. metro area, seeking a lively, safe and sophisticated skating experience throughout this winter.”

Hours of operation for the ice rink will be noon to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; noon to 10 p.m., Friday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday. Admission is $9 for adults, or $7 for children, seniors and military. Skate rental is $5, and skating lessons are available. The ice rink will end its season on or around March 1, when the facility will be seasonally converted into a fountain.

To view updates on the conversion process and be notified of upcoming offers and events at the Washington Harbour Ice Rink, connect via Facebook (facebook.com/TheWashHarbour) or Twitter (twitter.com/TheWashHarbour).
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Robert Devaney •

Water Taxi Connects Georgetown to National Mall, National Harbor

A new water taxi route — which began Aug. 31 — connects Georgetown to the National Mall. Part of the Potomac Riverboat Co. service which already connects Alexandria to National Harbor, the extended route will take the 49-passenger boat, Miss Sophie, to Washington Harbour.

From Georgetown, passengers can disembark at Ohio Drive at Potomac Park in Southwest or continue on to National Harbor. The service operates five times a day, Tuesday through Sunday, March through December. Depending on the trip ticket, prices range from $5 to $30.

El Centro Opens This Week

The Mexican restaurant, El Centro, will be open by the weekend. There will be soft opening nights mid-week, according to Greg Talcott, who is re-opening the new restaurant in the old Third Edition space under a new management arrangement with Richard Sandoval Restaurants. “We signed a 20-year lease four years ago,” Talcott told the Georgetowner in April. “I hope we continue as a Georgetown institution.”
El Centro touts its Mexican bona fides and adds that “Georgetown has a new hot spot.”
And it seems ready to please with a Sunday brunch as well as early-week specials: “Sangria Sundays: Half-priced sangria, 5 p.m. to close; Nacho Mondays: $5.95 nachos, 5 p.m. to close;Taco Tuesdays: $2 tacos, all night long; Margarita Wednesdays: $5 Margaritas, all night long.”

Italian Restaurant, Rialto, Coming to M Street

Another famous space — once the home of the legendary Guards restaurant which closed last summer — at 2915 M St., NW, is getting a new occupant: Rialto, an Italian eatery, owned by those who own Thunder Burger across the street, as first reported by Washingtonian. The chef will be Thunder Burger’s Ryan Fichter. A mid-September opening is planned.

Key Bridge Exxon Food Shop Shut Down

You know the D.C. Board of Health is really doing its job, when it shuts down a gas station convenience store. The Key Bridge Exxon’s food store was closed over the weekend by the District government. The gas station staff was cleaning the interior of the place Aug. 29, as the business — at Canal Road (M Street) and 36th Street — continued to sell gasoline and other non-food items, such as cigarettes.

T.J. Maxx Opens on Sunday

As previously reported, T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods, a new combo store at the Shops at Georgetown Park, will have a grand opening Sept. 8. At 3222 M St., NW., the clothing and housewares businesses will join the vibrant retail mix of commercial Georgetown. The opening day will run 8 a.m until 8 p.m.

Tugooh Toys Moves

Tugooh Toy, the eco-friendly toy shop, moved to 1319 Wisconsin Ave., NW, over the weekend. The educational toy store occupies its former Chic space.

Linen Store Opens on Book Hill

Sabun Home, a bedding and bathroom accessories shop, has opened at 1631 Wisconsin Ave., NW. Along with soaps and toiletries, most of the items are imported from Turkey, where the owners lived.

Cannon’s Fish Market Temporarily Closed

Cannon Fish Market — “purveyors of quality seafood since 1937” — closed Aug. 12. A window notice by the business at 1065 31st St., NW, read in part that Cannon’s “is closing for the next few months . . . for medical reasons.” Calls to the business have not yet been returned.
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Robert Devaney •

While you were at the beach, etc., things still happened in the old town during the last couple of weeks. Welcome to September. Here’s an update.

Some people like to show up or show off at Washington Harbour, but this is ridiculous. A Metropolitan Police Department harbor patrol boat pulled a “Miami Vice” turn on the Potomac River in front of the dock at Washington Harbour Aug. 30. In the U-turn maneuver, the police boat hit two boats docked on the Georgetown waterfront and partially sunk one. No was injured. The Coast Guard and MPD are investigating the incident.

Robert Devaney •

When biotech scientists Ryuji Ueno and Sachiko Kuno made headlines two years ago, local observers did not know what to make of them.

The married couple made a big splash in terms of luxe, Federal-style real estate: buying the Evermay estate on 28th Street in 2011 and Halcyon House on Prospect Street in March 2012. Georgetowners, ever aware of history and real estate, wanted to know: who are these pharmaceutical millionaires from Japan by way of Bethesda and what are these entrepreneurs doing in the most storied, oldest neighborhood in Washington, D.C.?

“There’s nothing to hide,” said Kuno, along with her husband, to one last question during an interview with the Georgetowner at Evermay last month.

They have lived in Potomac or Georgetown since the mid-1990s and are not so “mysterious” anymore, as one newspaper article tagged them last year. We know they founded Sucampo Pharmaceuticals in Bethesda and made millions of dollars, after approval by the Food and Drug Administration, on patented drugs that fight gastrointestinal problems, especially constipation, and, earlier during their work in Japan, eyedrops that treat glaucoma.

Ueno earned a medical degree along with other doctorate degrees. A biochemical engineer, Kuno holds several Ph.Ds. Because of this, those who work with them simply call them “the doctors.” Before they became a couple, the two worked together in Japan and then here. A second marriage for both, Ueno, 59, and Kuno, 58, married in 2002.

While remaining their reserved selves, the couple knows they are more public figures than ever before, especially when talking about the S&R Foundation which they founded in 2000. They are benefactors to the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Washington National Opera and the Smithsonian.

Theirs is an American story with a Washington theme that has played out before. Immigrant or not, inventors and innovators have come here to be near federal government agencies that approve as well as advise on new products. Consider why Alexander Graham Bell moved here and lived in Georgetown.

Ueno said that they decided on D.C. because the FDA, National Institutes of Health as well as the Patent Office are here. Sucampo Pharmaceuticals holds hundreds of exclusive patents. Both said they liked D.C. for its historic sites as well as its weather being similar to Japan.

“I love Washington, D.C., because it is an international city and a good size and historical,” Kuno said.

But the reason for all of it, really, appears to be the S&R Foundation, which takes its initials from the first names of Kuno and Ueno. Its offices are now at Evermay on 28th Street, N.W. Its mission is ambitious: “to support talented individuals with great potential and high aspirations in the arts and sciences, especially those who are furthering international cultural collaboration.”
“We were looking for a venue for the foundation,” said Kuno, its CEO. “We asked Mark McFadden,” a friend and real estate agent who handled the P Street house sale in 1996. (They sold that home a few months ago.) McFadden showed them Evermay in May 2011.
“Both of us fell in love with Evermay,” Kuno recalled. “In five to ten minutes, we made a decision [to buy it for $22 million]. Later, McFadden showed them Halcyon House. In 2012, it was theirs for $11 million in cash.

Both historic properties sold for half their original asking price: Evermay (1801) by the Belin family with gardens and three-and-a-half acres; the more urban Halcyon House (circa 1785) by the Dreyfuss family with twice as much interior space as Evermay.

Evermay holds many of the musical events for the S&R Foundation, while Halcyon House is being prepped for seminars and more for its global resilience programs.

According to the foundation, Halcyon House will have 40 meetings per year with fewer than 50 persons among other events.
“Neighbors are particularly concerned about traffic and parking issues associated with the proposed Halcyon events, and it is imperative that the new ownership resolve these concerns,” said Jeff Jones, an advisory neighborhood commissioner.

The foundation will meet with Georgetown’s ANC Sept. 3 and the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment Sept. 10 on how it plans to deal with events at Halcyon House and the surrounding neighborhood. Last year, it did the same and got approvals for Evermay.

“Evermay is everyone’s treasure,” Kuno said. “Halcyon House is the same thing. The preservation of Halcyon House is our mission and our responsibility as new owners. At the same time, if we can use Halcyon House together with our neighbors, it would be great. … We talk to neighbors to find a solution. Halcyon House has great potential.”

For some, it simply comes down to parking: it is a D.C. — especially Georgetown — thing. Events in town take away spots for nearby residents.

S&R Foundation attorney Alice Haase said the group is tailoring events to discourage parking near Halcyon House. “Street parking is never encouraged,” she said. “In fact, it is discouraged.” Haase has scheduled another meeting with Halcyon House neighbors for next week.

As it happens, the goals of Kuno and Ueno for the S&R Foundation go far beyond the problems of event management. The foundation is made up of several parts.

Its popular Overtures Series will host recitals at Evermay each of the four Friday evenings this September — two of which feature Canadian pianist Ryo Yanagitani, who has played and stayed at Evermay before.

With the Kyoto-D.C. Global Career Development Program, the foundation partners with Kyoto University to bring Japanese students to D.C. for a few weeks to learn about working in international organizations, such as NASA, the World Bank or NIH.
S&R has also begun its Illuminate program, which promotes and discusses the ideas of young entrepreneurs. On Aug. 22, Illuminate hosts the Millennial Train Project, a transcontinental journey of personal growth, and RocksBox, a jewelry subscription service. The foundation’s chief operating officer Kate Goodall views Illuminate as “a 21st-century salon,” which will be politically neutral as well as being “brave, innovative and engaging.”

The International Institute of Global Resilience, according to S&R, which launched in December 2012, is “a think tank dedicated to improving the readiness of the emergency management community through research and education” and will become a bigger player for the foundation. It is headquartered at Halcyon House.

“In founding this foundation, Ryuji and I looked back to our experience,” Kuno said. “We grew our company with a lot of support from the American people, including our neighbors in Bethesda and Washington, D.C. We like to return [such help] to the next generation. The reason we selected art as a major part for the foundation to support is that artists and scientists need to have inspiration and creativity. Both are so similar to each other.”

Is that how music led the way for the foundation? It was the husband not the wife who pushed the musical side with the ongoing Overtures Series. “I am the second generation to support what my father has done,” said Ueno, who has two sons from his first marriage. “He was crazy about music, especially chamber [and classical] music. He was a collector of musical instruments.” When Ueno spoke of his father, he became more animated, letting go of some of his formality. He reads music and plays the flute.

In Japan, Ueno’s father started a chemical company; his grandfather had an automobile company. “My father was an inventor,” Ueno said. “My grandfather was an inventor. I was born and raised in an inventor family.” His wealthy family hails from near Osaka.

What does a biotech tycoon do to relax? Besides houses, Ueno collects and restores cars. He reportedly owns about 60 and is building a garage for a few at Evermay. He likes the Ferrari Dino of the 1970s. “I love the design of the Corvette Stingray,” Kuno said.

Nowadays, their two golden retrievers, which they got as puppies at an Ambassadors Ball auction, determine the ride. The dogs grew too large for the Maserati, then too big for the Jaguar, Ueno said. Mario and Cherry ride in a Volkswagen Passat and might bark for a ride to family homes on the Eastern Shore, especially one in St. Michael’s, Md. Still, one of the household’s last very old cats, June from Japan, lives on.

Asked for vacation spots, the conscientious couple named Oxford and Kyoto, places with major universities. O.K., how about a favorite spot to eat in Georgetown? Bistrot Lepic, they allowed.

So, what was that last question asked? It was: what should Georgetowners know that they might not know about you?

Upon reflection, it was answered by Kuno: “I am very lucky that I was one of six female students of thousands at Kyoto University [30 years ago]. My professors and my parents were very supportive. They encouraged me. It was a unique opportunity for a women like me to go to Munich [to study].”

It is also Kuno who takes this life lesson to heart, and it is at the heart of the S&R Foundation: to give young persons opportunities and challenges. That is the heart of the story: Like the two cherry saplings from the Tidal Basin, growing at Evermay, in a circle of life, Japan to the U.S., back again and yet together.

Full disclosure: the author lived in Halcyon House from 2005 to 2012.
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