What About My Artifacts?
• November 3, 2011

 

-Dear Darrell: I will be selling my house soon. I’ve lived here for a long time and have collected artifacts from my extensive travels over these many years. I think these things enhance the beauty of my house, but I’ve heard stories about real estate people coming in and telling owners to get rid of everything. Do I need to worry about that?

– Craig B., Logan Circle

Dear Craig: I don’t think you need to worry about it, but it is an important thing to think about. Nearly everyone, having lived in a house long enough, has collected “stuff.” Sometimes the collections are fine art, some are frogs from around the world, and one that I saw recently was a house with stuffed animal heads on the walls. Those three very different collections are precious to the people who live in those houses. However, it’s not difficult to imagine that what one person finds precious, another person doesn’t. Even extraordinary art work can affect the way any given potential buyer might respond emotionally to a property. In general, it is best to pare things down. I encourage you to find a real estate agent whom you like, and to ask that person to give you specific feedback about this issue. The feedback in some instances is hard to hear, but what the agent tells you is meant well, and is meant to help you sell your house in a reasonable time at a good price. I read an article recently in the New York Times by Dominique Browning, titled “What I Lost When I Lost My Job.” In it she beautifully and touchingly describes the process she went through in selling her own house. She talks a little bit about your question, so that might be helpful, but her other comments about moving from a long-time residence are also meaningful.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Tax Credit for First-Time Homebuyers
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Dear Darrell:
I was looking for a condo to buy, and since I am a first-time buyer, wanted to buy something before April 30 so I could get the $8000 tax credit. Now that program has expired. Do you know if it will be reinstated any time soon?
— Jay L, Foggy Bottom

Dear Jay:
I’m sorry you didn’t make it under the wire. I haven’t heard any specific rumblings about the $8000 tax credit being offered again. Everything I have read about it seems to indicate that it will not be offered again. However, that program did offer a great opportunity for many, many buyers, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a strong push to bring it back.

In the meantime, however, buyers in D.C. still have the opportunity to use the $5000 D.C. tax credit. This federal tax credit is available to first-time homebuyers in the District of Columbia. There are more restrictions related to this credit than to the $8000 credit, but it is still a good deal for those just getting started.

Additionally, you should look into the D.C. Homestead Exemption, and the D.C. Tax Abatement Program. These are other programs specific to D.C. which can help you as you purchase your first property. I encourage you to speak with a loan officer who can explain the specifics of how these programs work. You can also go to the District Web site (www.otr.cfo.dc.gov), which has a lot of information. I find this site somewhat difficult to search, so you may want to call the phone number given on the site to get specific direction.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Is MRIS Worth It?
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-Dear Darrell:

I recently interviewed a couple of agents about selling my house. Both agents told me about the realtor listing system, the MRIS. That’s the system they use to let other agents know about the sale of property. One thing about it was confusing, though: one agent said that I should put it in the MRIS immediately to get the widest exposure. The other agent suggested marketing it privately for a period of time and then putting it in the MRIS later on if it didn’t sell right away. They explained the advantages of their different approaches. What do you think are the pros and cons?

Carol E.
Woodley Park

Dear Carol:

I definitely come down on the side of listing the property in the MRIS immediately. Here’s why: houses are subject to the same competitive market forces as any other marketable commodity. The buyers are comparing my house to other houses in myriad ways. This will happen with your home, too. Through this process, potential buyers become highly educated about the comparative value of properties. In the end, it is these potential buyers who largely define the market price of a given property. The truth is, none of us knows what a buyer will pay for a house until it is offered for sale. If a seller has underpriced her house, the buyers will bid against each other for the right to buy it. Likewise, if the house is over-priced, buyers will turn away from it in favor of a house they know will be a better value for them. The only way to get this kind of feedback is to disseminate the information about one’s house to the widest possible pool of potential buyers. And nothing comes close to the MRIS in that regard.

There are isolated instances where offering a property as a “private” or “quiet” sale is necessary or desired. But the vast majority of houses benefits by being in the MRIS. One of the supposed appeals of having a private sale is that it seems that one can control who comes to see the property. The downside to this is that it automatically eliminates a wide swath of potential buyers, and regardless of the intent, could be perceived as discriminatory. I recommend opting for the MRIS route so you can get the most exposure and, consequently, the best sale price.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Ask the Realtor
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Dear Darrell:
I have been thinking about selling my house, but want to do it at the optimal time. I see one day in the news that the real estate market is getting better, and then the next day see that it isn’t. I can’t wait forever to sell my house, but on the other hand, I don’t want to sell it today and then discover that I could have sold it for a lot more six months from now.

Libbie R.
Georgetown

Dear Libbie:
That is a tough question. There are so many things which go into the decision to sell. It’s sounds like you aren’t under the gun to sell, and so you have some flexibility as to when to put your house on the market. In some ways that makes the decision all the harder, because absent an outside driving force, you are left with trying to “read” the market in order to determine the best time. In that task you are joining a large company of realtors, economists and others who are constantly trying to do that very thing.

The current reality of our market is that it is sporadic. It changes direction from week to week, neighborhood to neighborhood, and price range to price range. The general overall trend, however, is in the direction of a higher number of sales. In the past few months, the number of sales has been increasing, but compared to last year at this time, the average prices are lower. This is in large part because the strongest part of the market has been lower-priced properties being purchased by buyers who were looking for the $8000 tax credit. That makes the numbers spike but lowers the average sale price.

In your case, I suggest you find a realtor who will help you analyze your local market for the number and frequency of sales and the ratio of list price to sale price. If you look at that data closely, you will probably be able to reasonably conclude whether now is a good time to sell. It may come down to deciding if you can live with the price you can likely negotiate for your house at this point.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Ask the Realtor
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-I want to begin the process of buying a condo, but I don’t know where to begin. I know it is recommended that I find an agent to help me look, but I don’t want to get stuck in some arrangement which I might not like. How do I get started?
— John H., West End

Dear John:
I understand your hesitance to engage the services of a real estate agent. I know it can seem like a commitment you don’t necessarily want to get into, especially at the beginning of your search. At the same time, agents are best situated to know about properties coming on the market, and are a great help in lining up financing and inspections, and helping you work your way through the contract forms, disclosures, etc. Statistics show that around 87 percent of all buyers start their search on the Web. I recommend that to you as a way to get started. As you sift through properties, you will begin to get some idea of prices and neighborhoods, and will likely run across agents who seem to be prominent in given neighborhoods or price ranges. At any point in your search you can contact one of those agents to explore a working relationship.

The second thing I suggest is to go to open houses on Sundays. In that process you will meet many agents, and see many work styles. Invariably one of them will appeal to you, and then you can explore a working relationship with that person.

Finally, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently launched www.houselogic.com. This is a free, comprehensive consumer Web site about all aspects of home ownership. It provides timely articles and news, home improvement advice and info about taxes, home finances and insurance. This site would give you a good basic introduction to the world of home ownership. Buying a home is a reasonably complex process, from learning neighborhoods to making offers to negotiating to inspecting. A professional realtor can be invaluable in every facet of that process.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Reviving Dead Space
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The owners had lived in Europe and loved old buildings, their secrets and surprises. They decided that Georgetown was the perfect place to find the right convergence of a period architecture, space with good “bones” and character that would be a suitable canvas for their creation. Together with their architect, Christian Zapatka, a champion of and expert in period Georgetown buildings, they pursued their quarry.

Their hunt took them through myriad clapboard row houses and brick Georgians until they happened upon their “crumbly cottage,” the dark, dowdy little 1810 Federal that they knew would unfurl into a spacious, light-filled beauty.

The potential lay, in great part, in its semi-detached orientation, with three exposures. Zapatka, an expert in keeping the period aspects of a house intact while giving it a fresh 21st-century makeover, gutted the entire house and then carefully put it back together, weaving together traditional crown molding and woodwork and reclaimed hardwood flooring, with updated lighting and modern space planning.

His greatest challenge was to create another entire level of livable space. Typically attics yield a treasure trove of reclaimable space, but in this case, it needed to be squeezed out from a four-foot earthen, windowless crawl space. His team dug deep, moving another five feet of earth, much of it by hand. Changing an earthen dungeon into a inviting living area is a challenge, and not every basement is a good candidate for finishing. Key considerations for conversion include controlling moisture, adding ventilation and light, and finding a way around hanging drain lines, ductwork and wiring. Added challenges stem from digging around what was once the original kitchen, judging from the huge masonry fireplace, of a 200-year-old building.

Although many finished basements in old houses are musty, dinghy affairs, proper planning, new products and architectural expertise yielded an additional 600 square feet of living space that includes a gourmet kitchen/family room, an office/guest room, a new full bath and a landscaped yard.

Walls of creamy curly maple cabinets hide a flat screen television and stereo equipment and provide plenty of storage. An open floor plan, a sparkling stainless steel mosaic backsplash, skylights, limestone floors and countertops and abundant high-efficiency windows make one forget that this was once a subterranean space.

Michelle Galler is a realtor with TTR/Sotheby’s International Realty, an interior designer and antiques dealer who resides in Georgetown’s West Village. If you have resolved a George¬town design challenge that would be of inter¬est to our readers, contact Ms. Galler in care of The Georgetowner.

Photographs by Amy Snyder Photography

Designing House
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What happens when you gather the greatest minds in the Washington design world and sic them on a newly built home? You end up with the Washington Design Center’s 2010 Design House, a glittering amalgam of styles new and old tied together by some of the freshest design thinking around. John Blee sits down with a few of the Design House’s featured decorators to get their perspective.

How did you accessorize your section of the house?

NESTOR SANTA-CRUZ [STUDY]: I used mostly my own personal accessories, paintings, vases, etc. I wanted it to be a very personal look, something that matches my work and meets the style of Elle Decor. I wanted a sense of abstraction, but also a realism in the actual pieces I selected. Mostly from the 1930s and 1940s. I use objects, textiles, carpets and furniture as pieces of an interior architectural vocabulary. Objects must talk to each other. The design language is the same even when mixing styles/periods. It’s a Latin and an American mixed way of looking at European precedents.

MELINDA NETTELBECK, ADAMSTEIN & DEMETRIOU ARCHITECTS [MASTER BEDROOM]: To accentuate the cosmopolitan feel of the space, we collected photography and ceramics from local galleries in black, white, and neutral shades. The sensual lines of the pieces add a feminine touch to an otherwise masculine space. The rich colors in the photography above the bed and unique lighting bring a playful element to the room.

FRANK RANDOLPH [PORTICO]: I put classic furniture that can stay there in all seasons. The entrance and exit of a home should look as good as the interior. I was thinking of classical Tuscany. Porticos go back to the Greeks and Romans.

Are there any aspects of your way of decorating a room that have changed in the last few years?

RANDOLPH: Yes, I am using more color, including shades of lavender and mauve and periwinkle blue. They make me happy. I bought a periwinkle shirt at Brooks Brothers the other day and it made me feel the same.

SANTA-CRUZ: That’s really a good question. I really think my work evolves, but if I had to say something, my work is more edited, more sophisticated, because I know the reference to the history of design, yet I want to provide a point of view, a personal quality, and both visual and physical comfort. It’s more edited than ever.

Did you have an imaginary client in mind when you designed the room?

KELLEY PROXMIRE: I imagined that a young female New York socialite living on Park Avenue lived in this space.

RITA AT. CLAIR [FAMILY ROOM]: I had an imaginary client: a family that enjoyed being together. An active family that enjoys sports, travel and art. That uses this room for family planning of their activities. A family that enjoys television, as well as the use of a fireplace. This family is also aware of design, perhaps not the trendy styles but good design in both antiques, art and contemporary styling.

SANTA-CRUZ: Yes, in a way. I really looked for inspiration to French decorator Madeleine Castaing. I wanted to use blue, her favorite color, and combine it the way she did: with yellows, reds, greens and dark furniture. But, I also wanted to fit the Elle Décor style: personal, designed and yet very today, very eclectic. I also do not like rooms to be only masculine or feminine. I like it to be able to be both.

Do you coordinate with other designers when you do a show house?

SANTA CRUZ: No, I never do that. That’s of no interest to me.

I think a show house needs to be like haute couture: present a point of view, a moment, yet send a message that design is important in our lives, regardless of cost. I have items in my room that cost very little when I bought them. The point is that I explore ideas that I have been “floating” in my mind for a while, and a show house can test those. With all the respect to my Hall of Fame colleagues, and I truly respect them, I am doing this to inspire: other designers, students and amateurs of design, manufacturers and editors, the public in general.

I hope when visiting this room, one takes an idea or two, good or bad, like it or not. I want people to question why I did what I did, even if they wouldn’t do it with my vision. If a show house is not used by the designers as way to teach or inspire, or confront other ways, then we are not doing our jobs as designers. I can tell you that I don’t want it to look like a high-end hotel room or a show room.

ST. CLAIR: Yes, I coordinate with two or three people on my projects; however, the showhouses we do are few. This particular showhouse has my personal name on it. Therefore, it is my design concept, selections and oversight. However, like in all my personally designed spaces, two designers on my staff, Brian Thim and Polly Bartlett, have not only coordinated my ideas but they have made the room happen.

What are you happiest with about your effort?

PROXMIRE: Scale. The space is very large for a foyer (approximately 18.5 by 27 feet) with very low ceilings. I wanted to make the space be welcoming and not too cavernous. I accomplished this by using dining room table bases for console tables, large round skirted table in the middle and adding a window to break up one long sidewall.

NETTELBECK: Because the architecture was about sculpting the walls, the faux finish was instrumental in creating a dark and seductive foundation. We used a simple crosshatch finish that provided the elegance of wall covering without the seams. In contrast, the light polished marble and luminous wall covering helped to define focal points, creating zones of activity within the large room.

ST. CLAIR: I am most happy with the room because it is as I wanted it. A family room is a very special place in a home. It must first be expressive of the taste and character of its occupants. A designer’s role is to organize the room with the necessary furnishings, personal objects and the usual family chaos that the family comes with, and form a functional and an aesthetically pleasing space. If that is accomplished, we have a successful design project.
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Italian Innovator Alessi Opens
• July 26, 2011

Alessio Alessi flew into D.C. to help Deborah Kalkstein open her Alessi store in Cady’s Alley, Oct. 21. Many Alessi classic designs are familiar, such as the juicers, kettles and baskets, and follow the company’s commitment to function and emotion in its designs. “These are items to make you smile,” said Alessi during his pre-opening lecture on the history of the company, founded in Omegna, Italy, in 1921 by Giovanni Alessi. With its family company and freelance designers, Alessi offers thousands of kitchen and home items, valued and copied by many. Original Alessi designs, some from the 1930s, make up the “Memories from the Future” line. It was such a big deal that the Washington Post’s Jura Koncius and Robin Givhan, along with other local media types, showed up. The firm considers Georgetown residents and visitors “the ideal audience for Alessi’s products.” Kalkstein, the Georgetown store’s owner, also owns Contemporaria in Cady’s Alley. [gallery ids="99409,99410,99411,99412,99413" nav="thumbs"]

Steeping with Charm
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In hopes of discovering why tea has grown so popular recently, The Georgetowner interviewed the owners of two local tea shops, Hollie of Ching Ching Cha in Georgetown and Guy of Zen Tara Fine Teas in Bethesda, MD.

Tell us about your background and how you decided to open a tea shop.

Hollie: 15 years ago I ran into a Taiwanese Teahouse in Paris during my year of traveling in France and decided to have my own. I am chinese from Hong Kong.

Guy: I teamed up with co-owner Methee Thavornvongkajorn to open the shop. My background is in architecture and design, Methees’ is in the spa industry. We wanted to create a more contemporary version of a tea shop. We actually started looking onto it back in 2007 and worked on become knowledgeable about tea while having a part-time tea counter at the Farm Women’s Cooperative Market in Bethesda. We were attending the World Tea Expo every year and took almost 2 years to find the right location which turned about to be less than 2 blocks away from the Farmer’s Market on Wisconsin Avenue. We’re happy with the way things turned out, the shop is 1600 sq.ft., the largest tea shop we know of in the Metro DC region, we have a separate glass walled tea tasting room where we hold monthly events and true to our Zen name, it is a very relaxing, serene environment focused on tea.

Why do you love selling tea?

Hollie: I love selling tea because I love tea!

Guy: It is a great tasting beverage that is good for you. It is great to be able to go to the shop every day and work with a product that has such positive qualities. It is also a product with a tremendous history that literally has changed the fortunes of more than one country from Asia to Europe to the United States – tea has a great story. Here in the U.S. it is a particularly exciting time to be a part of the tea industry as our country is (finally?) living up to its’ potential of being great tea consumers. Right now, we’re probably getting the widest variety and some of the best teas we’ve ever been able to import into the U.S. We have 114 teas at the shop and weekly get customer requests recommendations for just one more tea they
would like us to find.

What about tea do you think is making it so popular all of a sudden?

Hollie: It’s a beverage taste delicious and good for health which is a rare combination.Nowadays, most of us are searching for food and drinks that will benefits our health. It’s also affordable, and easy to prepare.

Guy: Better tasting loose teas are available now – grocery store tea bags aren’t the only options (similar to when the coffee industry broke open from a limited number of coffees in a can or “freeze-dried” jars in grocery stores). Consumers are more aware of health benefits. There is also a generational shift in more than one direction perhaps. The baby boomer generation is more sensitive to coffee’s effects and seems to be stepping away from caffeine spikes and crashes to the more gentle sustained lift of teas. At the same time for younger tea drinkers, now that there are more contemporary teahouse options that aren’t just about lace tablecloths and finger sandwiches, tea has become something hip they are embracing, like what happened with coffeehouses 20 years ago.

What is the question you get most when customers visit your tea shop?

Hollie: A lot of people come in asking what kind of tea will benefit health or help them lose weight.

Guy: It would be a tie between a question and a misunderstanding. The question is about caffeine levels of different teas or between coffees and teas (in general, tea has half the caffeine per cup depending how it is prepared). The other is that loose tea is too complicated or takes too long to prepare. With most mugs and pots coming with their own infusing basket or the disposable loose tea infusing bags like we use at the shop, we can quickly show customers it isn’t such an ordeal.

What makes one tea better than another?

Hollie: A tea is made better by the quality of the leaves, the taste, the aroma, the texture and the after taste.

Guy: Tea, like wine, tastes different depending on where it is grown depending on the soil, climate and how the tea is cultivated. Certain regions have produced the best types of tea going back sometimes thousands of years. Limited growing seasons or production will make these teas more expensive. In general, loose teas have a better flavor and are of a higher quality than lower grade teas used in teabags. That said, we always tell customers whatever tea they enjoy is the best tea for them. Some customers prefer pure teas without any floral or fruit blends, others like the wide range of flavored teas that creatively used added ingredients blended with tea leaves. However; like with wine, there does seem to be a path that tea drinkers at the shop progess through from drinking black and green teas to more complex oolong and puerh teas.

What is your favorite type of tea and why?

Hollie: My favourite kind of tea depends on the season. I like Dragon Well in spring, Dongding Oolong in the summer, Pheonix Oolong in the autumn and Pu Erh in cold winter days.

Guy : Very hard to answer. Methee and I have a luxury in buying tea for the shop in that we get to taste and explore literally hundreds of teas a year as we constantly try and select the best teas for the shop. From month to month the favorite changes but a couple of teas that are always on the list are our organic Golden Yunnan black tea, organic Dragon Well green tea and our Cherry Blossom White Tea.

Tell us about the teacups and kettles you sell in your tea house.

Hollie: Our teawares are mainly from china, taiwan and japan. we use different size and different material of pot and cups for different types of teasdepending on the water temperatures that are needed to brew the teas. For example for green teas, we use a ceramic cha chong(a tea bowl with a lid and a sauce) because the material and the shape of the bowl allows the teas cool rapidly so it won’t bring out the bitterness of the teas. When the visual effect is important we will use a glass so you can see the shape and the color of the teas. Oolong will is served with a “kung fung” style tea set containing a Yixing clay teapot, an aroma cup, a drinking cup, an ocean of tea, a tea pool and a dreg spoon. It is quite elaborate and lots of fun to prepare. It’s best to always have the hot water accessible or ready on the table because running back and forth to the kitchen is not relaxing.

Auction of the Estate of Lena Horne
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Doyle New York will auction the estate of the legendary actress, singer and civil rights activist Lena Horne on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 2pm, at Doyle New York, 175 East 87th Street, New York, NY.

Born in Brooklyn, Lena Horne (1917-2010) began her professional life at 16 in the chorus line at Harlem’s Cotton Club, before moving to Hollywood and appearing in a series of acclaimed film roles. Beginning in the 1950s, she focused increasingly on live performance, becoming one of the world’s premiere nightclub entertainers. Through her many recordings and television appearances, millions more became her fans.

The Lena Horne collection comprises approximately 200 lots of elegant costume jewelry, accessories, gowns, memorabilia, decorations, silver, furniture, books and fine art from her home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

For more information visit DoyleNewYork.com, or contact Doyle New York client services at 212 427 4141, ext 207. Or email ClientServices@DoyleNewYork.com. [gallery ids="99603,105045,105039,105041" nav="thumbs"]