Real Estate News by Mary K. Mewborn

The District

Political power partners Strobe Talbott and his wife, Brooke Shearer, have purchased 2800 Calvert Street, N.W. for $1.045 million. Talbott entered government in 1993 after twenty-one years with Time magazine and served in the State Department until 2001 as ambassador-at-large, special adviser to the secretary of State for the former Soviet Union's newly independent states, and as deputy secretary of state. In July 2002, Talbott became president of the Brookings Institution and is currently a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the faculty of the World Economic Forum. An expert on arms control and Soviet affairs, Talbott has translated and edited two volumes of Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs and written five books. During President Clinton's first term, Shearer, a Stanford grad, joined Hillary Clinton's staff and headed the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. She also worked as a senior advisor to the Secretary of Interior. Prior to her government service, she was employed as a corporate investigator by Investigative Group International. Most recently, Shearer has served as a consultant to Global Health Strategies. She has been a trustee of the International Center for Research on Women and of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the mother of two grown sons, Devin and Adrian, and the daughter of Lloyd Shearer better known as Walter Scott who wrote the “Personality Parade” column for Parade magazine from 1958 to 1991. Talbott and Shearer purchased their new District home from the estate of the late Helene J. Friedman.

In Georgetown's East Village, 3242 Reservoir Road, N.W. is due to change hands for the second time in less than two years. The eighteenth century reproduction Federalstyle brick town house, which is expected to sell later this month for $1,495,000, has three bedrooms and three and a half baths, an elevator, three fireplaces, and a spacious terrace. It also boasts garage parking and an additional outside parking space; both rare commodities in Georgetown. The property belongs to Robert Schooling, III, senior vice president and director of public affairs for APCO, an international communication services company, and his wife, Natasha. The prospective buyer is John Beatson, who is moving to the District from New York. Washington Fine Properties' realtor Ted Gossett listed the property. Gossett was also one of the listing agents when Robert Schooling purchased the home in 2002 from David Fergurson for $1,075,000.

Pardoe/ERA broker Jim Bell has 2441 California Street, N.W. under contract to Patrick Menasco and Joe Freeman. The seller is Victoria Grey. The Kalorama home near Embassy Row was built in 1923 and is a Spanish-style stucco house with five bedrooms and five full and one half baths. External accoutrements include a side porch and fenced rear patio. The home, which has been listed for $2,190,000, is currently the residence of Mary Tull, the volunteer coordinator of Achievement Advocate, an online mentoring program whose mission is to provide 4th through 6th graders with adult guidance and support. In the late 80's, the property gained some notoriety when it was rented to Lawrence E. King, Jr., the former executive director of the failed Franklin Community Federal Credit Union, who along with his wife Alice, was accused by Federal regulators of having diverted as much as $40 million from Franklin for personal and business use.

Maryland

In Bethesda, 7315 Maple Avenue now belongs to Jean Carlson and Michael Beriss. Beriss is a senior American Express financial advisor who works almost exclusively to develop financial strategies for technology professionals with substantial employee stock options. He sits on the advisory board of myStockOptions.com and is copresident of the DC chapter of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. He paid $1.25 million for his new abode in Montgomery County's Chevy Chase Park. The seller was James F. O'Brien.

9481 Turnberry Drive in Potomac is under contract. Situated in Avenel on a large lot on the 15th green at Players Crossing, this former Mitchell & Best Builders' model home known as the Heritage House, has three bedrooms, three full baths, one half bath, a den, a recreation room, two fireplaces and a two-car garage. Exterior features include a large screened patio, a hot tub and a circular stairway. The asking price for the threelevel show house was $1,499,000. The Potomac property was listed for sale in August and has been occupied most recently by Christopher J. Donatelli, president and CEO of Donatelli & Klein developers and his wife, Karen. The buyers are Mr. and Mrs. Marcos Bennett.

Another Potomac property, 7907 Sandalfoot Drive at Avenel, is undercontract with an asking price of $1,315,000. The A-Model Colonial is situated on one of the largest courtyards at Prescott in Avenel and boasts four bedrooms including a huge master bedroom suite with a luxurious bath, spacious dressing area and a master sitting room suitable for use as an additional bedroom. The home also has four and a half baths and four fireplaces. The current resident is Bruce Ames.

Virginia

Senator Charles Hagel and his wife Lillian have bought a $1.8 million house at 920 Towlston Road in the Chinquapin neighborhood of McLean. The magnificent five- bedroom stone and brick Colonial was built in 1998 by Wendel Leonard. It boasts a two-story entrance foyer, hardwood floors, detailed wall mouldings, and both Palladium and transom windows. There is a gourmet kitchen with cherry cabinetry, a family room with eleven-foot ceilings and a stone fireplace, luxurious master bedroom suite with a salon bath, and library with custom built-ins. Senator Hagel, a Republican and the senior senator from Nebraska, won a second term on November 5, 2002 with eighty three percent of the vote. Sen. Hagel aroused still more widespread controversy recently when, as a member of the Senator Foreign Relations Committee, he was seen to be endorsing a return to the draft. In addition to serving on the Foreign Relations Committee, Hagel sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence and on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The Hagels settled on their new Fairfax County property on September 20 and were represented by Ted Gossett of Washington Fine Properties. The sellers are Anthony and Janet Black.

Fabrizio and Ingrid Aielli owners of the K Street restaurant, Teatro Goldini, are parting with their fivestory townhouse at 1308 McLean Crest Court in McLean for $895,000. The new owner of the four-bedroom home with four and a half baths is realtor Sui Cheung. Penny Yerks of Weichert Realtors was instrumental in facilitating the sale of the Aiellis house and helped them find the perfect new home at 1001 Swinks Mill Road in McLean. The Aiellis are expected to pay $1,350,000 for the charming Cape Cod with four bedrooms, a pool and a spectacular kitchen designed by the seller John Lobkovich, owner of the upscale kitchen design store Lobkovich Design. Lobkovich and his partner Michael Conway are expected to have deeded ownership to the Aiellis by press time. How soon will Chief Aielli be inviting guests to dine on risotto with shrimp and butternut squash prepared in his fabulous new kitchen?

Washington Fine Properties, Ted Gossett may have set a record for personal best recently when he helped sell the same house for the fourth time. Most recently, Jeff and Linda Fine purchased the property located at 1344 Kirby Road in McLean for $2.1 million. Prior to assuming ownership of the brick Federal-style Colonial, it belonged to entrepreneur William Burrington, III, who bought the property for $1.2 million from Jan and Robert Oberrender, an executive with the Canadian Imperial Bank Corp, who in turn purchased the place for $1,095,000 from former HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo and his former wife Kerry Kennedy Cuomo in the Fall of 2002.

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