Are the Georgetown mansions of two of D.C.’s most prominent grandes dames for sale?

The home of the late socialite and philantropist Ella Poe Burling, at3308 R Street, N.W. is on the market. Mrs. Burling was the ex-wife ofEdward B. Burling,Jr., founder of the Covington and Burlng law firm.

The R Street property is perhaps most famous for having been the third Washington home ofEvelyn Walsh McLean of The Hope Diamond fame. She called this residence "Friendship," thesame name as her previous Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. estate, which was demolished to build theMcLean Gardens apartment complex. Her first home, which subsequently became the Indonesianembassy, is said to be haunted by her nude ghost. Giselle Theberge of Sotheby's affiliate,Washington Fine Properties, is the selling agent of the Burling home.

3016 P Street, N.W.

Ms. Theberge has sold 3016 P Street, N.W. following the death of her mother-in-law,Mrs. J. Armstrong Ludwig. Mrs. Ludwig, or "Gogo," as she was known to family and friends,was the mother of Norton Corp. heirs Julie "Muffy" Jeppson Stout Park and John Jeppson III,who married Giselle just two years ago. Jeppson is the CEO of a biotech company.(Theberge was previously married to Ambassador James Theberge who died in 1988.) The saleprice for Mrs. Ludwig's former residence is believed to have been $1.7 million.

Additionally, Theberge has 3400 R Street, N.W. under contract. The seller is Selwa"Lucky" Roosevelt, the former chief of protocol under President Reagan and widow ofTeddy Roosevelt's grandson, Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt, Jr. The brick federal-stylehouse, built in 1972, has been visited by foreign royalty and Washington VIPs alike,including opera star Placido Domingo and his wife Marta. Located just two blocks fromDumbarton Oaks, it has five bedrooms, four full baths, and a kidney-shaped pool. Thelist price was $1,585,000.

Is deceased grande dame Polly Fritchey's home at 3327 P Street, N.W.also for sale? Mrs. Frichey, the widow of the award-winning journalist Clayton Fritchey,was previously married to the late Frank Wisner, one of the founders of the CIA. Builtin 1820, her former home is considered one of the great homes of Washington.

2812 Woodland Drive, N.W.

For anyone looking for a small estate on Woodland Drive, N.W., the going rate is now inexcess of $25 million dollars. In fact, Nancy and Tony Campaigne received $2,650,000 fortheir property at 2812 Woodland Drive, N.W. in Massachusetts Avenue Heights. Theseven-bedroom house built in 1941 has seven and a half baths and sits on a 20,649square-foot lot with formal gardens, a flagstone terrace, and towering shade trees.

3010 Woodland Drive, N.W.

Arthur W. Gardner, Jr., has also found a buyer willing to pay approximately$2.6 million for the Woodland Drive home he shared with his late wife, socialite,Joan Gardner, a Christies' Auction House representative. Gardner listed3010 Woodland Drive, N.W. with Trudie Musson of Sarah Gorman, Inc. Real Estatewho describes the property as a French Manor House with a circular driveway, fivebedrooms, and a pool. Arthur Gardner is the son of the late Arthur Gardner, Sr.who from 1953-1957 served as U.S. Ambassador to Cuba when, in his words, the U.S.was "pulling the rug out from under Cuban dictator Battista Fulgencio." The seniorGardner and his wife were also well-known for hosting the Duke and Duchess of Windsorat their Palm Beach, Florida residence.

For $2,050,000, Wesley Heights 2002 Trust has purchased Mary Connelly'ssix-bedroom, four-story fieldstone house situated on a lovely landscaped lot at2917 45th Street, N.W. June Jackson listed the Wesley Heights home. NancyTaylor Bubes of Coldwell Banker was the selling agent.

Washington Fine Properties has also been instrumental in orchestrating the transfer of3242 Reservoir Road, N.W. in Georgetown's East Village. Agents Ted Gossett,Patrick Chauvin, and William Moody listed the three-bedroom Federal-style brick townhouse for $1,075,000 for the seller, David Fergurson. The property, which featuresa garage, elevator, three fireplaces and a spacious terrace is under contract to RobertSchooling III, senior vice president and director of public affairs for APCO, aninternational communication services company. The settlement date has been set for theend of the month.

3242 Reservoir Road, N.W.

Ted Gossett was also involved in the sale of a $1,095,000 Watergate penthouse at700 New Hampshire Ave., N.W. He and Washington Fine Properties' agent Florence Meerslisted the three-bedroom unit with its expansive rooftop terrace overlooking the Potomac.The sellers were Dr. and Mrs. Max Fisher. The buyer is Katrina Piano.

Maryland

In Bethesda, a four-bedroom, brick Greek Revival house built in 1951 on what is consideredto be one of the best lots in the Bradley Hills-Edgemoor area, has sold for $1.8 million.S. S. and Thornton W. Owen, Jr. were listed as the sellers of6810 Glenbrook Road. The new owners of the 40,000 square foot property, which boastsa swimming pool and giant magnolias, are Marianne T. Hamilton andDennis J. Cotter, the founder of Medical Technology Practice Pattern Institute.Anne Emmett of W. C. & A. N. Miller was the listing agent.

Also in the Bradley Hills area, 7112 Heathwood Court has changed hands. Robert E. andT. A. Snider received $1.14 million for the four-bedroom, four and-a-half bathcolonial. The new owners of the Bethesda property are Stephanie M. and Kevin G.Nealer who have come a long way since living in China ten years ago where she was ajournalist with VOA and he was a Fulbright professor. Although Mr. Nealer, a trade lawspecialist, still occasionally teaches as an adjunct professor at Georgetown's School ofBusiness, it is as a partner and principal of the Scowcroft Group that he earned the fundsto secure his beautiful new home. No stranger to business negotiations, he even managedto get a deal, paying some $40,000 under the asking price.

Calvin C. La Roche paid Michael P. Sapourn, trustee, $850,000 for afive-bedroom colonial at 8113 Autumn Gate Lane in Avenel's community known as"The Gates." La Roche is a former IBM and Sky Tel executive who last year was named COOof Orkand Corporation, the Falls Church headquartered e-transformation services company thatsince 1970 has provided information technology services to the federal government.

Elizabeth A. Vecchione has sold her colonial-style home at 5804 Marengo Road.The buyers are Malathi S. Jayawickrama, an economist specializing in African and Asiantrade and development, and Calvin D. Schnure, another economics and finance expert.The price tag for the property located in Bethesda's Springfield subdivision was $950,000.

In Potomac, Maryland cardiologist Lawrence Z. Satin and his wife V. D., havetransferred ownership of 11107 S. Glen Road to Noelie S. Alito and NeilWebber for $1.3 million. Both Alito and Webber graduated from MIT in the early '80s, andthe latter recently gave their alma mater $1.4 million to establish the Neil Webber Scholarship.Webber is the founder of Vignette Corporation, a leading source of e-business applications.He took the company public in 1999 and that same year established the Webber Family Foundationbased in Austin, Texas. The Webber Family's new home is a five-bedroom ranch house with aswimming pool on approximately two acres of beautifully landscaped grounds.

Nuri Halil Ugur, a Harvard MBA and the Turkmenistan's former ambassador to the U.S.,Canada and Mexico, has sold the Potomac home he shared with his wife Zuhal and theirchild Selen. The property, located at 11505 Lake Potomac Drive, now belongs toRobert C. Stoddard and his wife, who paid $1.15 million for the choice piece of realestate near Great Falls National Park.

Virginia

In Alexandria, the elegant, circa 1910 Rosemont house belonging to Sydney Davis Bush andher husband, Dr. William H. Bush, a former president of the Society of Uroradialogy,has been sold. The purchasers of the beautifully renovated property at400 North View Trail are Lynne D. and Jeffrey L. Lawrence, a vice presidentwith the high-powered consulting firm Casssidy & Associates. The Lawrences, who have twochildren, had been feeling a bit cramped in their previous Capital Hill residence and thuswillingly paid $1.05 million for the spacious six-bedroom home near the George WashingtonMasonic Temple in what is historically one of Old Alexandria's most prestigious areas.

David M. Zavada has a new home and a new job. Since being chosen director of financialmanagement for the FAA, he and his wife Terri have purchased 3229 N. Ohio Streetin Arlington from McShay Homes. The house cost $925,000, a pittance compared to the$12 billion budget David oversees at work. The Zavadas new residence is a three-story colonialwith a spacious center entrance hall, nine-foot ceilings, six bedrooms, hardwood floors andlarge deck overlooking a beautifully landscaped 14,000 square-foot fenced lot.

In McLean, Mark Lowham, a Stanford MBA and real estate developer, and his partnerDr. Joseph Ruzzo, a dentist, have sold their home at 1312 Ballantrae Farm Drivefor $3,024,000 in favor of building their dream house. Not that the Ballantrae property theybought just two years ago for $1,745,000 isn't a gorgeous property. It is. The four-levelbrick manse built in 1989 has a two-story front foyer with a central staircase, seven bedrooms,six and a half baths, and includes such luxury accoutrerments and amenities as cherrycabinetry in the library, a stone hearth fireplace and wine cellar in the rec room, and afountain on the flagstone patio. Sue Huckaby of Weichert Realtors listed the Fairfax Countyproperty.

1312 Ballantrae Farm Drive

When former HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo and his wife Kerry KennedyCuomo moved toNew York last year, they sold their home at 1344 Kirby Road in McLean to Jan andRobert Oberrender with the help of Washington Fine Properties' agent Ted Gossett.Now that the Oberrenders are moving to Minneapolis, Gossett has helped find yet another ownerfor the brick Federal-style colonial. The house for which the Oberenders paid $1,095,000, iscurrently under contract with an asking price of $1.2 million, to entrepreneur WilliamBurrington.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, Rodney N. Huebbers, CEO and president of Loudoun HealthCare, Inc., and his wife Debra paid Carol A. Turner $865,000 for17646 Stonegait Court. The Huebbers' new home is a colonial with a wrap around porchset in a quiet residential community across Route 7 from Stoneleigh Golf Course in Round Hill.The town of Round Hill, which has a population of 700, became a popular retreat fromWashington's summer heat in the late 1800's. It is named for its 910-foot hill which bothConfederate and Union troops used as a signal post during the Civil War.