REAL ESTATE NEWS
by Mar y K. Mewborn

The District

Washington Fine Properties’ agent Ted Gossett has been listing and selling homes at a robust pace this year and by press time is expected to have closed on at least four more high-end homes. In Georgetown, he listed 3030 O Street, NW for $1,790,000 for Michael and Suzette Windsor who are a commercial realtor and real estate appraiser respectively. The buyers of the Windsors’ renovated rowhouse are expected to be Kate and Wesley Brooks, who will likely pay $115,000 less than the asking price for the brick Victorian residence which comes with space to park two cars, a rare find in Georgetown. The 1900 house also features a lower level apartment, large formal rooms with high ceilings, and two fireplaces. Carter Lawson of Washington Fine Properties is representing Kate and Wesley Brooks. Mr. Brooks is a managing director with J. P. Morgan Private Banking and is relocating to Washington from New Jersey. With the Brooks’ purchase of the O Street residence, the Windsors will reportedly split their time between their home in Easton, Maryland and a smaller new home in our area.

Ted Gossett also has the sale of 4510 Foxhall Crescent NW all but rapped up. The sellers are Bruce Lee, vice-chairman of finance for the Democratic National Committee and his wife, Hae Sook Lee. The freshly-painted three-level home is situated on the former Rockefeller estate in Northwest and has four bedrooms and three and a half baths. The purchaser is expected to be Christine Immelman, an executive with Fannie Mae, who is expected to pay her $1,900,000.

4433 Klingle Street, N.W.

Richard Leggett, the IT services analyst and marketing director at Goldman Sachs who helped Proxicom founder and CEO Raul Fernandez sell his company to Compaq, has now sold his own house at 3409 O Street, NW. The brick federal-style rowhouse was built in 1900 and has four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and a fenced rear flagstone patio. It is conveniently located in Georgetown’s West Village on a quaint tree-lined, cobblestone street just two blocks from Georgetown University and within walking distance of Georgetown’s many restaurants and boutiques. Highlights include an oversized in-law suite with a kitchen and laundry room; an expansive master suite with an adjoining space for a nursery or home office; a large living and dining room with original random width pine floors and marble and antique fireplace mantels; a gourmet kitchen with recessed lighting and skylight; a breakfast room with a fireplace; and an adjacent family room with French doors leading out to the garden. The new owner, Pamela Lamoreaux, is the manager of the Housing Finance Group at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which was established in 1956 as the private sector branch of the World Bank. Although listed by Washington Fine Properties agents Patrick Chauvin and Ellen Morrell for $1,195,000, Coldwell Banker’s Nancy Taylor Bubes was able to close the deal for her client for $1,149,000.

Nancy Taylor Bubes also assisted Pamela Lamoreaux in the sale of her previous residence, a Georgian-style brick house strategically situated atop a sloping hill at 4433 Klingle Street, NW. The four-bedroom home with three and a half baths and two fireplaces sold for $995,000. The purchaser is Ruth Scovill, who returns to the area from Hollywood, California, where she was president and chief operating officer of Cinesite, Inc., part of Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging division. Prior to her move to the West Coast, Ms. Scovill was general manager of Group Andre Perry here in Washington.

The federal-style brick townhouse located at 3301 Dent Place, NW in Georgetown’s Historic District was both listed and sold by Coldwell Banker’s Nancy Taylor Bubes. The L’Enfant Trust holds a Stewardship Easement on the 1926 property with an English basement and two bedrooms and two baths. The new owner of the two-story home is Charles Durkin who paid $755,000. The sellers are Jerry Stampiglia and Emily Geuder, both account managers for the data storage giant, EMC Corporation. Jerry and Emily now reside at 1510 30th Street, NW in a charming Victorian that they purchased with the aid of Ms. Bubes last Spring.

Maryland
In Bethesda, M.C. and Jean Philippe Halphen have sold their residence at 6016 Overlea Road. Mr. Halphen, who is the director of IFC’s Chemicals, Petrochemicals and Fertilizers Department, received $1,128,000 from the sale of the five-bedroom home with four and a half baths. The new owners are Karen V. and Dr. James F. Caldas, president of the Washington Hospital Center.

Now that Gudrun Fruehling has retired as managing editor of the Armed Forces Journal International, she and her husband, Donald, who bought the publication in 1993, have sold their home at 7200 Brookstone in Potomac in favor of crating up their cats and driving in the direction of California. The Fruehling home is now believed to be the property of Laura H. and Ramy A. Shanny. Mr. Shanny is vice president and general manager of the Advanced Technologies organization for the Information and Electronic Warfare Systems unit of BAE SYSTEMS. Advanced Technologies was created when BAE SYSTEMS North America bought Advanced Power Technologies, Inc. (APTI) in February 2003. Dr. Shanny previously served as CEO and chairman of the board for APTI from 1998 to 2003 and has more than 35 years of experience ranging from theoretical research in plasma physics, to systems engineering and R&D. The Potomac property sold for $2.6 million.

Virginia

541 22nd Street N.W.

On Friday, February 13th, John Kinsey and his wife, Becky Schergnes, had the good fortune of becoming the new owners of 1541 22nd Street, North in Arlington. The federal-style townhouse in Palisades Park overlooks the Potomac and was designed by The Lessard Group of Vienna and built by Eakin/Youngentob Associates, the same companies that designed and built Arlington’s Courthouse Hill community and the award-winning luxury townhouses at Ford’s Landing on the waterfront in Old Town, Alexandria. The sellers are Patsy and Ronald K. Sable. Mr. Sable was a member of President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council and is now senior vice president of Guardent, a provider of security and privacy programs. The Sables parted with their former residence for $969,500. Ted Gossett of Washington Fine Properties was both the listing and selling agent responsible for the transfer of the property.

Still another townhouse in Palisades Park has been purchased by Allan and Deborah Creel. The Creels have purchased this property for their daughter in hope that she will successfully expand the family business to the East Coast. Heidi Creel is currently in the process of completing her M.B.A. at Georgetown and her new home located at 1545 22nd Street, North in Arlington looks across the Potomac River to the University. The Creels paid the previous owners Johanna and Ronald Foster $949,000. Ted Gossett helped facilitate the sale.

In Great Falls, Helene Levine and her husband Richard have parted with their home at 184 River Park Drive. The buyers are Peter and Debra Faraone who spent $1,800,000 for the brick Colonial which was built in 1993 and sits on one and three quarter acres in Riverbend Knolls. Special features of the property include a spectacular waterfall, deck and patio and other such noteworthy features as solid wood doors, hardwood floors and high ceilings accented with chandeliers and elegant moldings. The home originally listed for $1,999,000.

In McLean, Dwight L. and Nancy L. Ferguson sold 1497 Evans Farm Drive to Kenneth C. and Janice M. Feldman who is returning to the area from Galveston, Texas, where she was the interim chief patient care services officer and senior executive director for hospitals for the University of Texas Medical Branch. The Feldmans’ brick Colonial in Evans Farm was built in 2002 and has four bedrooms, four and a half baths, high ceilings, hardwood floors on the main and upper levels, three-inch wide plantation shutters throughout the home, a curved staircase, a private brick terrace, and a luxurious master suite with a sitting room and oversized Jacuzzi. There is also a chef’s kitchen with the requisite granite countertops, six-burner Viking stove, Sub-Zero refrigerator and huge center island adjacent to a sunny breakfast room. A completely finished lower level boasts an exercise room, a recreation room, a full bath, a large storage room, and a three-car garage. The price tag was $1,525,000.

Douglas D. Madison, a retired postal executive, and his wife, Sharon, have sold their French Colonial home at 6701 Wemberly Way in McLean. Built in 1965 in Parkview Hills, the meticulously maintained four-bedroom home is beautifully situated on 1.49-landscaped acres on a private cul-de-sac backing to parkland. Highlights include a large enclosed porch off both the master bedroom and the family room and a lower level recreation room with a fireplace and French country feel. Thomas J. Santos and Lauren A. Degnan are the new owners of the property. Santos is government relations manager of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). Prior to that he spent six years on Capitol Hill where he served as legislative director for Rep. James H. Maloney (D-CT) and worked on significant financial industry, including terrorism reinsurance. Lauren Degnan is a principal with Fish & Richardson P.C., where her practice focuses on intellectual property including patent, copyright, trademark, trade secrets, unfair competition, and antitrust suits. The duo paid $987,500 for their new home.