McLean’s former town hall, now a private residence at 6439 Georgetwon Pike, sold for $2 million to a private trust. Once the scene of many public gatherings, it was converted to private use in the 1930s.
MARYLAND
Brandon and Danielle Rickman will be the first owners to occupy the newly built house located at 5702 Aberdeen Place in Bethesda. Brandon Rickman owns W.M. Rickman Construction Co., a family-owned commercial building firm that helped spearhead the development boom along Interstate 270, specifically the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center, a Rockville biotechnology business park. His wife is a special education teacher. The all-brick-and-stone 6,500-square-foot Colonial with solar panel capability was built earlier this year by Rembrandt Homes. Long and Foster’s Wendy and Joe Faraji were listing agents for the property, which sold for $2,050,000.
VIRGINIA
Patricia Luce sold her historic residence at 6439 Georgetown Pike in McLean for $2 million with the help of McEnearney Associates’ Ann McClure and Anne DiBenedetto. Luce, who bought the house in 1988, is director of special programs at Beauvoir. Built in 1891 for use as a city hall, the structure originally stood where the old Georgetown Pike branched off from Fairfax Road to Leesburg. Langley Hall’s original mission was “to ensure unity, promote happiness, improvement, and prosperity” and many election night gatherings, temperance meetings, bazaars, plays, chicken dinners, and dances were held there. Eventually, the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad diverted the town’s attention to other locations and the building was abandoned. In 1931, Douglass Mackall, a prominent Washington lawyer, converted the property to private use and moved it to its present location further north along the Pike. In 1937, the Storm family acquired the property and dubbed it “Stormbrook,” a name that is still in use. The house was completely restored by renowned builder Eugene Cullinane in the late ’80s and includes an opulent herringbone patio, new beamed ceilings, a carriage house, and terraced gardens. Long & Foster’s Terri Robinson and Charlie Hein represented the purchaser, an anonymous trust.
Insurance executive William Hogan, and his wife, Victoria, sold 7837 Kent Road, their stately 1938 stone Colonial along the banks of the Potomac to Daniel and Schele Mongeon. Mr. Hogan is the former president of the Alexandria-based firm, Morgan and Cheves Inc. Daniel Mongeon is president and CEO of Agility Logistics in Alexandria. A retired Army general, he joined Agility Logistics after 34 years of military service and now oversees the defense contracting firm with 550 offices in 120 countries. Coldwell Banker’s Donnan Wintermute listed the 52,577-square-foot house in the Wellington neighborhood of Alexandria, which sold for $2,050,000.
With the help of Washington Fine Properties’ Robert Hryniewicki, Victoria Kilcullen, and William F. X. Moody, 7686 Ballestrade Court in McLean was sold for $3.3 million. The sellers of the 10,500- square-foot Garfield Park French Country residence were Arthur and Linda Rodbell. Arthur Rodbell is the co-founder of IXI Corporation, a market analytics company in McLean. The 2006 house boasts a home theater, five fireplaces, and porte cochère connecting the house to a three-car garage.
PROPERTY LINES
Washington Capitals owner and AOL Vice Chairman Emeritus Ted Leonsis is selling 6828 Sorrel Street in McLean for $14 million. Coldwell Banker’s Mark McFadden is listing the 20,000-square-foot Colonial on seven acres that was built in 1999. The 8-bedroom, 13- bath residence has a guest house, pool, wine cellar, five car garage, and tennis court…but no hockey rink. In August, Leonsis and his wife, Lynn, bought a 2,750-square-foot condominium in the former Wormley School on Prospect Street NW in Georgetown for $2.6 million.
TOO MUCH SPACE: Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Bob Johnson, is selling 2915 Audubon Terrace NW in the District for $5,950,000. Perhaps he’s ready to downsize from the Georgian estate on 1.29 acres now that he’s poised to purge for the poor. In just a few weeks, Johnson is set to launch a new Web site, Clubcharity.com, an online auction allowing stars to donate valued mementos for philanthropic purposes. Rumor has it that he came up with the idea after realizing he had too much expensive clutter at home. Washington Fine Properties’ William F.X. Moody and Robert Hryniewicki are the listing agents but declined any comment about the seller.
CALLING CAR BUFFS: JWM Family Enterprises CEO John Marriott is peeling out of his 19-year-old Colonial at 9900 New London Drive in Potomac, now listed at $6.4 million. A 15-car garage (complete with lube pit) is the highlight of the custom-built Natelli manse in Avenel. Long & Foster’s Wendy Banner is the listing agent.
FANNIE’S FORMER FORTRESS: Now that former Fannie Mae president and CEO Daniel Mudd has moved to New York City to head up Fortress Investment Group, he’s selling his 22-room Cleveland Park estate at 3542 Newark Street NW for $8.9 million. The son of legendary TV news guru Roger Mudd has lived in the 1927 Georgian mansion since 2000. Listed by Washington Fine Properties’ William F.X. Moody and Robert Hryniewicki, the property overlooking Rosedale Park once belonging to President Grover Cleveland.
ÜBER-LUXE: Not four months since sales began, the new 2501 Penn boutique condominium (sitting appropriately at 2501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW) has sold half of the building’s 16 units. Joining a major Washington sports personality and several other unnamed well-known Washingtonian power players is Hogan and Hartson senior partner Kevin Lipson and his wife Jan, who paid $2 million for their 3rd-floor abode. St. Louis entrepreneur and Democratic party insider Steve Roberts (called by CNN “the black Donald Trump”) bought his new residence for $2,250,000. 2501’s developer, president and founder of D.C.-based Intrepid Real Estate, John B. Mason, sold his triplex unit at the Ritz-Carlton in March so he could move into a top floor penthouse. The opulent edifice boasts an Indiana Limestone facade, custom-crafted Varenna kitchens imported from Italy, 10-foot ceilings, and what may be the most sought after amenity in the West End: two underground parking spaces for each unit.
LUCKY SEVENS: In 2005, WL reported that the Eaglecrest Compound, 1015 Basil Road in McLean, set a record when it sold for $9,895,000, the highest price ever paid at that time for non-waterfront property in Northern Virginia. Now it’s back on the market for $17,777,777. All those sevens must have some significance to current owners, Tom Phillips (chairman of Eagle Publishing, Inc., as well as the Conservative Campaign Fund) and his wife Randall. The 16,000-square-foot Georgian Colonial manse was built in 1999 and features an indoor tennis court, a master bath with a ballroom-sized chandelier, and an exercise room with murals reproduced from Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical sketches.
