Real Estate

Sallie Lewis • April 28, 2015

This year’s Georgetown House Tour offers a wide range of residences in Washington’s oldest neighborhood. A star on the tour is at 35th and Prospect Streets: Quality Hill-Worthington House, built in 1798. Sen. Clairborne Pell, D-R.I., and his wife Nuala lived there from the 1960s to about 10 years ago. As with the other places on the tour, what a story this house with its occupants in mind could tell, besides the lesson in architecture and design. Books, such as “The Georgetown Set,” “Aspects of Georgetown” or even the novel, “Prospect Street,” can add to the conversation. Your chance to hear such whispers by the windows comes this Saturday.

With spring in full bloom, Georgetown has never looked better. Every year, the neighborhood charms locals and visitors alike with its historic buildings and distinct panache. The streets are famously colored with homes in every hue, from lavender to canary yellow – and classic red brick – but this diversity extends well beyond the playful color palette.

A closer inspection of Georgetown homes reveals the range of architectural styles that have influenced the neighborhood over the course of its rich history. The Georgetown House Tour, which celebrates its 84th anniversary this year, is a unique opportunity for people to go back in time and witness this stylistic diversity firsthand.

This year, the tour includes ten stops, each with its own architectural flair. Clues to each home’s time period and style can be found in many different places, from the design of the roof to the amount of cornice ornamentation.

“There’s really something charming and magical about being able to go into all these old homes in one day,” said the Rev. Gini Gerbasi, the new rector at St. John’s Church, which hosts the tour.

When Georgetown was founded in 1751, Georgian design was the ubiquitous architectural style. Up until the Revolutionary War, homes were classically designed, with square or rectangular facades and symmetrically spaced windows. Front doors were paneled and accompanied by decorative pilasters and a transom light. This year, the first stop on the tour is the Quality Hill mansion, built in classic Georgian style, with a storied history to match.

Federal architecture followed, influenced by the lines of its Georgian predecessor. Most homes were two to three stories tall, with box-shaped, symmetrical exteriors, yet there were several distinguishing modifications.

Larger panes of glass were used in the windows and louvered shutters were introduced. Front doors became more expressive, with semicircular or elliptical fanlights and narrow side lights. Entry porticos or porches were commonly added, as were three-part Palladian windows, generally on the second story above the entrance.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Washingtonians welcomed new architectural ideas and embraced worldly influences. One example of this is the Italianate style, a departure from classicism and an acceptance of artistic freedom. Italianate homes have a sense of romantic lavishness to them, with their elaborate moldings, overhanging eaves and high stoops. Stop #5 on the tour is a fitting example, with its rich ornamentation, including detailed cornice brackets and lintels.

Stop #7 is the Renwick Chapel at Georgetown’s famed Oak Hill Cemetery. Notice the gates and the gatehouse, which are Italianate in style, while the chapel design is Gothic Revival. The Gothic Revival style came about in the mid 19th century as designers became increasingly influenced by medieval motifs and themes. Inside the chapel, visitors will notice the pointed arches, steeply pitched roof, gilded decorative plaster ceiling bosses and stunning Gothic windows.

By the 1880s, many architectural elements of the Georgian era were being embraced and revitalized in a style appropriately known as Colonial Revival. This was a conscious return to American’s past architectural heritage and colonial beginnings.

Gerbasi loves the neighborhood’s rich history and is particularly drawn to St. John’s roots, which go back more than 200 years. The world has changed around it over the decades, but the church’s mission of serving the neighborhood has remained constant. Every year, the house tour helps the church maintain its historic building and supports its aid to communities inside and outside the parish.

“St. John’s is a de facto community center,” said Barbara Wolf, co-chair of the House Tour. Among the nonprofit community service organizations – with a focus on homelessness, education, workplace development and seniors – that the Georgetown House Tour helps provide for are the Georgetown Ministry Center, Bright Beginnings, Jubilee Jobs and the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project.

The 2015 Georgetown House Tour, on Saturday, April 25, is sponsored by TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, Beasley Real Estate, Christie’s Long & Foster, Doyle New York and Farrow & Ball.

Locations of the properties listed in the Georgetown House Tour book. Tickets are available online for $50 and at St. John’s for $55. GeorgtownHouseTour.com

Sallie Lewis • April 23, 2015

Susan C. Piedmont-Palladino is an architect, a professor of architecture and a curator at the National Building Museum. Here she answers some of our questions on sustainability in D.C.:

The Georgetowner: At the National Building Museum, you tell stories of architecture, design and engineering. Is sustainable architecture historic or is this a new phenomenon?

Piedmont-Palladino: In many ways, sustainability is a rebranding of what we used to call common sense. For most of human history, we designed and built as if our survival was at stake, because it was. Had our ancestors not been so successful at sustainable architecture, we wouldn’t be here.

The coal-fired industrial revolutions, and then the age of oil, made it possible to do things we couldn’t do before: extract, transport and construct with materials from far away, heat and cool homes, chill food and water. Those are all wonderful achievements, but over the past few generations we forgot how to build sustainably.

One of my favorite examples of this forgetting – I call it “technology-induced amnesia” – is right on the outside walls of so many Washington houses: wooden shutters. Everyone loves how they look, but no one uses them anymore to do what they do best, which is keep the hot sun out, but let the breezes in.

The Georgetowner: What do you think the future of sustainable architecture entails, especially in D.C.?

Piedmont-Palladino: Washington is well positioned for a greener future for many reasons. First, the city has made green building a priority in new construction through a series of laws beginning with the Green Building Act in 2006, and more recently the 2014 Green Building Code. The city is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization that developed the LEED system. It’s not just single buildings, though, that make a difference in the environment. We have to address energy, water and air quality at the scale of the city. Public transportation, sidewalks with trees and rain gardens, bicycle lanes – all these are crucial.

The Georgetowner: What does LEED mean?

Piedmont-Palladino: LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” Designing a building involves a mind-boggling number of decisions, so when you see that plaque on the wall, it means the team that designed and constructed the building made those decisions with energy and environmental stewardship as their top priority.
Designing to LEED standards prompts architects and their clients to think not only about energy efficiency but also indoor air quality, where all the rainwater goes, how the building’s inhabitants get to work, where all the materials come from. There are different levels of LEED certification, with LEED Platinum being the highest.

The Georgetowner: How do you think D.C. is doing as far as getting on board with the green movement?

Piedmont-Palladino: One of the important reasons that our city is increasingly seen as a leader in sustainability is that we’re experiencing a big change in attitude. That has to happen in order for sustainability to stick. Think of historic preservation: we now think twice before we demolish an old building. We have standards and institutions to help us assess the value of a building, to decide whether it deserves protection. That was a huge shift in attitude from the midcentury attitude of “tear it all down and make it new.” Not only is historic preservation a model for how we can recalibrate our opinions of what’s beautiful and valuable, it’s also an indispensable partner in sustainability.

The Georgetowner: If we took a green building tour in D.C., where should we stop?

Piedmont-Palladino: The USGBC’s website is a great place to start. You can search by location and see all the LEED buildings in that area. Many on the list are office buildings, where you might be able to peek into a great lobby, like the one that Gensler designed at 800 17th St., but there are also LEED charter schools, grocery stores and hotels.

My list of must-sees would include the embassies of Finland and Canada, the National Portrait Gallery and each of the District’s renovated branch libraries. What’s great about that beginning list is that these aren’t just environmentally responsible buildings, they’re wonderful places to be, and they contribute to the life of the city. That’s real sustainability.

For more information, visit nbm.org.

Michelle Galler •

Distinctive bottles of many shapes and hues, displayed in the windows of medieval apothecaries, lured ailing customers to buy their contents. By the 18th century, England was producing more than 200 elixirs and serums, their secret formulas known only to their makers.

Called patent medicines, these “amazing cures” were manufactured under grants to those who provided medicine to the Royal family. Each medicine came in its uniquely colored, hand-blown bottle. By the late 1700s, these elixirs began to arrive in the United States with the first settlers.

After American independence, rising nationalistic feelings were exploited by U.S. manufacturers, who claimed that their potions were derived from plant products found exclusively in North America. Self-medication was alluring to early Americans, who often had limited access to medicines or doctors, and the patent-medicine business flourished. Remedies, often laced with alcohol, morphine, opium or cocaine, were virtually unregulated and available for every known ailment.

By the mid-19th century, doctors, tinsmiths and everyone in between promoted their “branded” concoctions, each with its unique bottle. Sold in retail stores and at traveling medicine shows, they relied on attractive bottles to promote their exotic ingredients. From the 19th to the mid-20th century, a variety of glass medicine vessels, numbering in the thousands, were manufactured to contain an equally prodigious number of brands.

The earliest of these bottles were made from natural sand, which gave them an opaque aquamarine color. In 18th- and 19th-century America, glass bottles were often hand-blown and misshapen or asymmetrical. Because they had to be detached from the blowpipe when finished, a round imprint on the bottom of the bottle – known as a pontil mark or scar – was created.

Early experimentation with additives in glass manufacturing resulted in green, amber or blue bottles. Colored, pontiled medicine bottles are scarce, and prices range from $100 to $20,000. These rarefied bottles are typically a color other than aqua or clear, with a pontil scar on the base. They are embossed with the name of the doctor or the type of “medicine,” as in “Cure,” “Bitters,” “Tonic” or “Sarsaparilla.” The more common aqua medicines with pontils sell for upwards of $20. (Clear glass was not perfected until the late 19th century; hence, a clear bottle is a later bottle.)

One of the clues for dating a bottle is the lip, as nearly all bottles made prior to 1870 had a hot piece of glass crudely applied to the lip. As a rule of thumb, bottles made from 1830 to 1850 have a flared or sheared lip and those made from 1840 to 1870 have applied round or squared lips. After 1870, a lipping tool was used to twist two pieces of glass clipped onto the sides of the bottle into a uniform shape. Bottles from the last part of the 19th century show evidence of this twisting motion.

One of the many popular patent products sold via elaborate traveling shows was Kickapoo Indian Sagwa. Featuring acrobats and Native American horse riders, the shows traveled the countryside, touting their cure-all as a blood, liver and stomach remedy. The richly embellished bottles claimed to contain special Native America herbal medicine, which was actually mostly alcohol, stale beer and a strong laxative. They did, in fact, contained a touch of herbs.

In 1906, the industry received its fatal blow when Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. The U.S. government had finally stepped in to stop the sale of these “medicines,” the sellers of which made unproven, often outrageous claims about their curing everything from tuberculosis and colds to cancer.

Even so, a few patent medicines continued to be produced up through the 1950s. Some products continue to be sold even today, such as Father John’s Medicine. First produced by Father John O’Brien in Lowell, Massacheusetts, in 1855, its brown bottle still retains its familiar picture of Father John.

More than 10,000 types of patent medicine bottles were produced and distributed throughout the United States between approximately 1850 and 1906. Historians have estimated that more than 15,000 different medicines were available in these bottles.

In 1892, Owens Glass Company invented the semi-automatic bottle machine, which left a large ring, known as the Owens’ ring, on the bottle’s base. At around that time, the typical color of glass used for bottles changed from aqua to clear. Fewer bottles were embossed by the late 1930s and into the 1940s, and bottles lost their individuality as food manufacturers demanded more regular containers. The bubbles and the charming irregularities that collectors love disappeared as the 20th century progressed.

Michelle Galler has been an antiques dealer for more than 25 years. Her shop is in Rare Finds, 211 Main Street, Washington, Virginia. She also consults from her 19th-century home in Georgetown. Reach her at antiques.and.whimsies@gmail.com. [gallery ids="102039,134727" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • April 22, 2015

Fessenden House, one of the grandest homes in the Washington, D.C., for the first time since its construction, is for sale. The home exemplifies the finest elements of neoclassical architecture. This exquisite, one-of-a-kind residence was inspired by the work of 18th-century architects Robert and James Adam, who transformed English architecture by creating a lighter, more refined mode of Georgian design.

Designed by Leon Chatelain in collaboration with interior designer Antony Childs, Fessenden House represents the highest quality in residential construction. The grounds, designed by landscape architect James Urban, winner of the ASLA Medal of Excellence, envelop the home in the beauty and splendor of both formal and informal English gardens.

Bedrooms: 7
Full Bath: 9
Pool and poolhouse
Wine cellar with tasting room
Half-size sports court.
Offered at $22 million

Long & Foster
Christie’s International Real Estate
Nancy Itteilag
202-905-7762
Itteilag@gmail.com

Robert Devaney • April 21, 2015

One of the most historic houses in Georgetown and Washington, D.C., is on the market, after it was sold 10 years ago by Sen. Clairborne Pell and his wife Nuala to Ralph and Nancy Taylor. The 3425 Prospect St., NW, Federal-style house sits on the northeast corner of Prospect and 35th Streets and was built in 1798. It is also significant because of its occupants, who were active in local and national affairs.

The gray two-story brick house is for sale for $11 million by agent Russell Firestone of TTR Sotheby’s International Reality, which confirmed the listing to the Georgetowner. The asking price — $11 million — is the same amount which nearby Halcyon House sold for in 2012.

While neighbors on Prospect Street may call it the Pell house, the 6,433-square-foot house was called Quality Hill by its first owner John Thomson Mason, nephew of one of America’s founding fathers, George Mason. Prominent physician Charles Worthington lived there for 25 years. His family also owned the Leonard Mackall House on 34th Street. For a time in the early 20th century, Albert Clemons, owner of Halcyon House, also owned Quality Hill and used it for storage. To the neighbors, it was known as the “haunted house.” In the 1940s, the house finally got electricity during a major renovation by Sir Willmott Lewis and Lady Norma Bowler Lewis. In 1961, she sold it to the Pells, who sold to the Taylors for $3.9 million in 2004. The Taylors had the house undergo a restoration and rehabilitation that reportedly cost as much as the selling price.

The house has eight bedrooms. Thomas Jefferson is said to have dined there. Arches in the center hallway supposedly came from the Francis Scott Key House on M Street. The house is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Sallie Lewis • April 13, 2015

As spring moves gloriously into the neighborhood so does a renewed appreciation for all things green. We’ve curated a list of products that are undeniably chic and environmentally stylish that pay tribute to the colors and materials of the outside world.

1. African Kuba Cloth Pillow
www.onekingslane.com
Bring a touch of Africa into your home with a vintage Kuba Cloth pillow from One Kings Lane. These cloths are made from woven raffia palm leaf fibers and linen and accented with shells and other cultural treasures.

2. Pottery Barn Jasmine Bamboo Mirror
www.potterybarn.com
This classic mirror echoes sophistication and natural beauty thanks to its clean bamboo pattern. Measuring 34’’, the mirror has an aluminum base and is hand-painted with an antique finish that will be right at home in a foyer, a bedroom, or hanging above a small vignette.

3. Proteak Cutting Boards
www.proteakstore.com
Proteak Cutting Boards are built from sustainably grown teak wood and make an excellent addition to both residential and professional kitchens. Teak has been used throughout history on boats thanks to its strength and water resistance. Each board is unique and has its own individual beauty.

4. Teak Wood Hanging Planters
www.anthropologie.com
These handmade teak hanging planters, each unique from the next, are great for both indoor and outdoor use. Simply fill them with the succulent or plant of your choosing and hang them in a special place.

5. Bamboo China Collection
www.saksfifthavenue.com
This elegant ceramic china by Juliska features hand painted bamboo detailing that can be served from day to night. This dishwasher safe collection would be ideal for a spring to summer party in the garden.

6. Restoration Hardware Outdoor Wood Furniture
www.restorationhardware.com
The outdoor wood furniture collections at Restoration Hardware combine sustainable teak materials with Sunbrella outdoor fabrics. These cloths are certified to be low-emitting by the Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI).

Georgetowner •

Sotheby’s
Silent Seasons – Summer No. II
Oil on Canvas
Will Barnet (1911 – 2012)
Estimate: $60,000 – $90,000
Auction Date: April 23

Sotheby’s April sale of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture includes a rich array of American artwork from the 19th and 20th centuries, including this iconic painting by Will Barnet, which exhibits the artist’s characteristic motifs of the human figure and animals in casual scenes of daily life, depicted in a state of dreamlike whimsy. Other highlights include Gifford Beal’s ‘Fish Houses, Winter Day,’ as well as works by George Inness, Jasper Francis Cropsey, and notable 20th century artists like Charles Burchfield and Norman Rockwell.

christie’s
A massive pair of Napoleon III ormolu-mounted Japanese Imari Porcelain
thirteen-light torchère
Estimate: $120,000 – $180,000
Auction Date: April 16

Part of Christie’s auction, The Opulent Eye: 19th Century Funriture, Sculpture, Works of Art, Ceramics & Glass, each of these rather magnificent torch lamps is of bottle outline with a pair of profusely scrolled acanthus handles, issuing thirteen scrolled candle-branches on entwined dolphin support. A truly opulent sight.

bonham’s
An Important Suite of Diamond and Ruby Jewelry
Van Cleef & Arpels French, 1988
Estimate: $180,000 – $220,000
Auction Date: April 15

This diamond and ruby suite from the 1980’s, part of Bonham’s Fine Jewelry sale, is a beautiful and romantic example of Van Cleef & Arpel’s graceful designs set with superbly matched calibré set cut rubies and diamonds. This suite is a fine example of Van Cleef & Arpels interpretation of the unique time and fashion which characterized the 1980’s with the image of wealth and success expressed in impressive jewels and dress.

Freeman’s
Special Minguren I Coffee Table
Curly maple burl and walnut
George Nakashima (1905 – 1990)
Estimate: $30,000 – $50,000
Auction Date:April 22

The American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts sale at Freeman’s is a welcome treat for those interested in the unique history and style of American craft and design. From the 18th century to the 20th century, the selection ranges from a Chippendale walnut case clock ca. 1775, to 20th century master furniture makers like George Nakashima, whose renowned “natural wood” design is on full display with this beautiful coffee table. Other offerings include Oriental rugs and carpets, as well as rare coins.

doyle new york
Frida Kahlo Archive
Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000
Auction Date: April 15

Doyle New York’s auction of Rare Books, Maps & Autographs is highlighted by an archive of unpublished love letters written by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to Jose Bartoli.This group of letters is dated between August 1946—when Kahlo had just turned 39—and November 1949. Her letters were written while Kahlo was recuperating at home in Mexico City from a spinal fusion performed in June of 46. The archive comprising approximately 25 letters in Spanish from Kahlo to Bartoli.

Donna Evers • March 26, 2015

Early immigrants from Europe didn’t settle in Washington, D.C. They went to Northern cities where the jobs and pay were better. In 1850, less than 11 percent of the city was foreign-born, compared with 45 percent in New York.

This was because Washington was still a Southern city, and the availability of slave labor and cheap labor from freed blacks kept pay for laborers comparatively low. But around the time of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland – which resulted in waves of Irish emigration – laws were passed in Washington to keep free black people from settling here and getting jobs. One such law was the requirement of a certificate of freedom that cost $50, a hefty sum at the time, to prove that the free blacks were not runaway slaves. The result was a shortage of cheap labor that drew Irish immigrants fleeing the famine.

The other attraction for the Irish was the strong existing Catholic community, including the leaders of Georgetown University, who were happy to employ the Irish Catholic immigrants whenever they could.

Because the Irish were the subject of prejudice from the majority non-Catholic population, they were inclined to stick together. The area where these impoverished immigrants congregated was the least desirable real estate in town, namely the bleak area around what was then Tiber Creek, where Union Station now stands.

Swampy and full of perpetual puddles, the neighborhood soon earned the nickname “Swampoodle.” The first Irish immigrants to arrive lived in shacks and wood shanties without plumbing or running water. It was a rough-and-tumble neighborhood, and street crime, prostitution and drunkenness were rampant.

Critics of this Irish settlement said the only person who had any power over the population was the parish priest. It was true that the church – first, the original St. Patrick’s on F Street and then St. Aloysius, named after St. Aloysius Gonzaga – were the centers of the community. Gonzaga College High School was founded in 1821 to provide higher education (The Jesuit prep school remains in operation to this day with influential alumni). The parish church operated as the settlement’s civic center, and people banded together to provide food and help for the sick, the aged and the poorest members of the community. One local resident recalled, “If someone got into trouble, there was another potato in the pot and a place to sleep.”

This neighborhood solidarity was demonstrated when the government came to them during the Civil War, wanting to turn St. Aloysius Church into a hospital. Under the leadership of the parish priest, the citizens of Swampoodle mobilized, pitched in and built a 250-bed hospital in only eight days. This seemingly impossible task was accomplished because many of the men who lived there were carpenters and other laborers on construction projects. More importantly, they didn’t want to lose their church.

This old Irish neighborhood began to disappear in 1907, when Union Station was built. It was the biggest train station in the world at that time, and the gigantic site bisected the neighborhood. Tiber Creek was filled in, and more than 300 houses were demolished. The residential area became commercial and all but disappeared. The remnants of the heart of the old community are still there in two beautiful churches, St. Patrick’s at 619 10th St. NW and St. Aloysius at 19 Eye St. NW.

Ironically, much of the train station was built by the same laborers who once called Swampoodle home. To add to the irony, the formerly dissolute area is now the crossroads of several fashionable urban neighborhoods and a very hot real estate market.

Donna Evers is the owner and broker of Evers & Co. Real Estate, the largest woman-owned and -run real estate firm in the Washington metro area, the proprietor of Twin Oaks Tavern Winery in Bluemont, Va., and a devoted student of Washington-area history. Reach her at devers@eversco.com [gallery ids="102007,135136,135140,135141,135138" nav="thumbs"]