Real Estate News
Luxurious properties that offer more than just a room with a view
BY MARY K. MEWBORN
THE DISTRICT
The Ritz-Carlton residence of the late heiress
and philanthropist Sandra Helen Payson and
her first husband, New York real estate developer
William Blair Meyer, has been sold. Ms. Payson,
who was also married for a time to Lord George
Weidenfeld, the British publisher, was the greatgranddaughter
of William Collins Whitney, and
the granddaughter of Payne Whitney, who, as
heir to the Eli Whitney cotton gin fortune, was at
the time of his death in 1927, the third-wealthiest
man in America. Payson’s mother, the late
Joan Whitney Payson, co-founded the New York
Mets with George Herbert Walker, Jr., who in
the 1980’s, helped his nephew, former President
George H.W. Bush, get into the oil business. In a
family of wealthy Republican supporters, including
her uncle John Hay Whitney, Ms. Payson
stood out as a major donor to the Democratic
National Committee. A self-described entrepreneur,
she bred racehorses, owned a track and
stables, founded the Beard’s Fund to benefit the
arts, and served as board member of the Madeira
School and the Whitney Museum in New York.
She died last summer at age 78. Her Unit S7D
at 1111 23rd Street NW was listed by Washington
Fine Properties agent Giselle Theberge
and sold for $1,010,000. The buyers are Gary
M. Beer, CEO, Smithsonian Business Ventures,
and his wife, Peggy. Washington Fine Properties
Mathew McCormick and Patrick Chauvin, represented
the couple in the transaction.
Long & Foster realtors Charlie Hein
and Terri Robinson listed and sold a beautiful
Harry Wardman-designed house across
from the Maret School in Woodley Park,
one of the city’s finest neighborhoods. Harry
Wardman, often referred to as “the man who
built Washington,” in fact built 9,000 homes
in the District and in 1918 opened the 1,000-
room Wardman Park Hotel, now the Marriott
Wardman Park Hotel and Convention Center.
The house located at 3025 Cathedral Avenue
NW, features exquisite exterior masonry work
and stone columns at the entranceway that
Wardman copied from an Irish farmhouse.
It also boasts hardwood floors and beautiful
plaster moldings in the public rooms and in the
master bedroom suite. The “Garfield” model
Colonial was built in 1926 and has a traditional
floor plan with a center hallway. There are six
spacious bedrooms, four on the second floor
and two on the third level that offer lovely
views of National Cathedral. The home is situated
on a deep lot with a garage and space to
park five cars and is located near the Woodley
metro stop, within easy reach of no fewer
than twenty-five restaurants. The property was
listed at $1,750,000, sold “as is” with a closing
price tag of $1,580,000. The sellers were Sarah
and Grace Daughtridge, sisters whose parents
owned the house for over forty years. Sarah is
an internist in North Carolina. Grace, a 1983
graduate of the Maret School, lives in Washington.
The buyer is Herbert Cupo, Chief of the
Office of Naval Operations.
Mark A. Green and Michael W. Rankin of
the real estate company Tutt, Taylor and Rankin,
have sold their seven-bedroom Colonial at
2344 California Street NW for a reported
$4.7 million. The beautifully proportioned Kalorama
residence was built in 1922 and features
a grand scale living room that opens to a study
and sunroom. Perfect for both formal and informal
entertaining, there is an eat-in kitchen with
a separate breakfast room overlooking the landscaped
grounds. The large dining room opens
to the patio and a lovely walled garden. The
exceptional 9,750 square-foot fenced lot has an
underground sprinkler system. The new owner
is Kenneth D. Brody, a former Export-Import
Bank president and founding partner of Winslow
Partners, LLC. Brody also spent two decades at
Goldman, Sachs & Co. and is co-founder of the
investment firm Taconic Capital Advisors, LLC.
In 1999 he established the Carolyn and Kenneth
D. Brody Foundation, which consistently has
ranked among the District’s top twenty-five most
generous foundations.
VIRGINIA
Almost a year after her death, Sandra H. Payson’s
Virginia Hunt Country estate has also
been sold and is now deeded to Luann L.
Bennett. Bennett is the third wife of Rep.
Terry Moran (D-Va.) and president and owner
of RAB Management, Inc. a Washington real
estate services firm specializing in leasing, construction
and property management. Ms. Payson’s
property, known as “Ashleigh,” is located at 3252 Winchester Road, in Delaplane in
scenic northwestern Fauquier County and has
been designated in both the Virginia Register of
Historic Properties and the National Register
of Historic Places. Built circa 1840, the Greek
Revival manor house was originally home to
Margaret Marshall, the granddaughter of Chief
Justice John Marshall, and was built on land she
was given from the family’s Oak Hill estate. The
five-bedroom house is constructed of stone
covered with stucco and contains fine period
woodwork including hardwood floors and pine
paneling removed from the White House during
the Hoover administration. Designed for entertaining,
the main floor has a large entrance hall
and embassy-size living room with fireplaces at
each end. French doors lead from the dining
room to a stone terrace. An octagonal brick
addition was built in 2001 to serve as a library.
Beautifully sited on a hill atop almost a hundred
acres, “Ashleigh” is surrounded by beautiful
countryside and has magnificent mountain
views. Large boxwood hedges and exquisite
flowering gardens with arbors further enhance
the home’s pastoral setting. The grounds also
include heated pool, pool house, pond, caretaker’s
house, ten-stall stable with courtyard,
groom’s apartment connected to the stable, runin
sheds, large paddocks with four board fencing,
and a machine shed. The property was listed for
$3.8 million by realtor Gloria Armfield, of Armfield,
Miller & Ripley, Inc., which in September,
merged with Washington Fine Properties, LLC.
Both firms are affiliates of Sotheby’s International
Realty and Regents members of Who’s
Who in Luxury Real Estate. According to Dana
Landry, the principal broker of Washington Fine
Properties, “In recent years there have been an
increasing number of buyers in the D.C. area
looking for second homes in the Virginia countryside.
By having this reputable company as a
part of our operations, we will effectively extend
our coverage to seamlessly serve our clients’ real
estate needs.” With the merger, Washington Fine
Properties gains more than fifty sales associates
and expands its services to Clarke, Culpeper,
Fauquier, Loudoun, Madison, Page, Rappahannock,
and Shenandoahcounties.
In Old Town Alexandia, Begg Long & Foster
agent Jeanne Livingston is in the process of
selling 619 South Lee Street, a spectacular intown
estate with a carriage house, tennis courts,
heated swimming pool and formal gardens on
its magnificent grounds. A true “American masterpiece,”
the home known as the “Snowdon
House,” was built in 1780 and has been catalogued
in the Historic American Buildings
Survey as one of Alexandria’s most important
Federal properties. It has three bedrooms and
four full baths. Priced at $6,500,000, the estate
was once home to Supreme Court Justice Hugo
Black who was appointed to the high court by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A former Ku
Klux Klan member in his youth, Black nevertheless
served on the court for thirty-four years
as a staunch proponent of civil rights and the Bill
of Rights. Justice Black married twice. His first
wife, Josephine Foster, died in 1951. In 1957, he
married his secretary, Elizabeth Seay DeMeritte,
a fellow Alabaman. Both fine dancers and excellent
hosts, the Blacks often entertained in their
18th century residence and regularly used their
tennis court as well. Justice Black died in 1971
at age 85.
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