Journalist Liz Drew buys Archie and Lucky Roosevelt’s old Georgetown townhouse; Cellar Door’s Jack Boyle finally unloads his McLean mega-mansion
By Mary K. Mewborn
The Federal-style townhouse at 3400 R Street NW has been the site of many VIP gatherings.
The District
Famed political journalist, author, and longtime New Yorker magazine columnist Elizabeth Drew has purchased 3400 R Street NW from James Bankoff and Diane Elson for $2.23 million. Washington Life last reported on the property in September 2002 when Bankoff and Elson paid $1.45 million to Selwa W. “Lucky” Roosevelt, President Reagan’s chief of protocol and the widow of Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt Jr., Teddy Roosevelt’s grandson and a former CIA station chief. The Federal-style brick townhouse on Georgetown’s western fringe was the scene of many social events during the 27 years the Roosevelts lived there (and during previous owners Joseph and Polly Krafts’ tenure as well). Located on a corner lot just two blocks from Dumbarton Oaks once owned by Kennedy Center founding chairman Roger L. Stevens, it has five bedrooms, four baths, and a kidney-shaped pool. Elson operated Diane Elson Inc. from the residence, a company she founded in San Francisco in 1997 to create fine quality hand-knotted Tibetan rugs and Indian dhurries. Mr. Bankoff is a former AOL executive and a director of Inform Technologies, which provides technological solutions for media companies by acting as, “an extra editor, intelligently mining and linking content from sites, archives and the Web overall.” Washington Fine Properties’ Cecelia Leake was the listing agent.
