The Best Listing of the Year (For the Mere Mortal)

• December 19th 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

UrbanTurf usually stays away from publishing rankings or lists…except at the end of the year when we look back at what DC’s residential real estate scene had to offer during the previous 12 months. So, this week we are looking at not only the best but the most intriguing and peculiar things that came across our radar over the course of 2016. Enjoy.

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For the vast majority of us who aren’t pulling in the money for a multi-million dollar house, UrbanTurf sorted through the hundreds of more reasonably-priced listings featured on the site this year to come up with our favorite.

This year’s winning house had evolved in stages from a single-story bungalow constructed in 1902 to an appended cottage by the time DC-area starchitect Mark McInturff constructed an addition to the house that, ironically, tied everything together.

Longtime UrbanTurf readers may recall some of McInturff’s projects we have featured. For this house, the architect was tasked with giving the exterior more curb appeal and transforming the attic into an artist’s studio.

That attic became an epic loft space courtesy of a belvedere constructed using the framing from the original rectangular-framed roof, flooding the space with natural light and ventilation. “The new piece would bring in light and be the culmination of all these roof geometries,” McInturff explained in a Remodeling Magazine profile. One of the dormers features a set of French doors leading onto a small balcony above the front porch.

JoAnna Viudez, who recently sold the home, took advantage of the large yardspace, adding to the garden and using natural elements found there to incorporate into and showcase her sculptures. This inspiring collaboration between artist and habitat was featured in a Washington Post Magazine article in the 1990s.

• Full Listing: 4108 29th Street, Mount Rainier, MD (map)
• Listing Price: $499,555
• Sales Price: Under Contract
• Bedrooms: Three
• Bathrooms: 1.5
• Square Footage: 1,650
• Listing Agent: David Getson, Compass

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/best_listing_of_the_year_for_the_mere_mortal/11990.