A Marriage Gift and Made for Entertainment: The 5 Priciest Home Sales in the DC Area in 2019

• December 16th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

As the year nears its conclusion, UrbanTurf has rounded up the five most expensive home sales in the region in 2019, and they look a bit different than last year.

For one thing, no listings sold for more than $10 million in 2019, while the top three priciest sales last year had eight-figure price tags. For another, only one of this year's most expensive listings was larger than 10,000 square feet, while last year, three of the priciest sales came in at at least 16,000 square feet.

Check out this year's five most expensive homes sold below to see how else they stood out.

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#5: A Georgetown Rental to DC's Elite 

The fifth most-expensive home sold this year in the region is a Georgetown estate built in 1928 by Army captain Gustav J. Van Lennep. Two years later, May Flather, the first commissioner of the local Girl Scouts, and her husband Henry, who was a prominent banker, purchased the house as a pied-a-terre and rental property. When May passed in 1962, the partially furnished house was bequeathed to Georgetown University, which continued running it as a rental to tenants like O. Roy Chalk, known for running DC's pre-Metro transit system. The house has been privately owned since the university sold it in 1995. Originally listed for $8.5 million, it sold in October for $7.7 million. 

• Address: 3306 O Street NW (map)
• Sales Price: $7.7 million
• Bedrooms: Five
• Bathrooms: Seven
• Square Feet: 7,166
• Year Built: 1928
• Listing Agent: Mark McFadden, Compass
• Buyer's Agent: John Pruski, Jack Realty Group

Photo courtesy of HomeVisit.

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#4: Customized and Manicured in Spring Valley

This nearly 9,000 square-foot house sits on a large, meticulously landscaped lot in Spring Valley. The brick seven-bedroom was constructed two years ago by Richard Zantzinger and Barnes Vanze Architects, and the interior of the house was finished by Celerie Kemble. The backyard has a patio leading to a hydrangea garden and an in-ground pool, and the property also has an attached three-car garage. The home sold in November for $7.75 million. 

• Address: 3949 52nd Street NW (map)
• Sales Price: $7.75 million
• Bedrooms: Seven
• Bathrooms: 5.5
• Square Feet: 8,976
• Year Built: 2017
• Listing Agents: Florence Meers, Ben Roth, Washington Fine Properties
• Buyer's Agents: Marc Fleisher, Lee Arrowood, TTR Sotheby's International Realty

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#3: A House Built for Entertainment

The third most-expensive sale of the year is the Massachusetts Avenue Heights home of former Black Entertainment Television CEO Debra Lee. The 10,900 square-foot house was designed by Marshall Moya Design, boasting a curved façade and a 20-foot tall great room. The owner's suite has a fireplace, a dressing room, and a wall of windows overlooking Rock Creek Park. The house also includes a full theater and media room, a wine room, a sauna, a pool, an exercise room, five outdoor terraces, and a nine-car garage. 

• Address: 2815 Woodland Drive NW (map)
• Price: $8.75 million
• Bedrooms: Four
• Bathrooms: Six
• Square Feet: 10,900
• Year Built: 2010
• Listing Agents: Marilyn Charity, Washington Fine Properties
• Buyer's Agent: Mark Lowham, TTR Sotheby's International Realty

Photo courtesy of HomeVisit.

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#2: Nantucket-Inspired, Not in Northwest

The second most-expensive listing sold this year is also the only house not in Northwest DC. This six-bedroom McLean house, a couple of blocks from Georgetown Pike and Langley Fork Park, sold for $8.575 million in September. Another nearly 9,000 square-foot property, the design of the house is "Nantucket-inspired" and sits on almost an acre.

• Address: 1142 Langley Lane (map)
• Price: $8,575,000
• Bedrooms: Six
• Bathrooms: 7.5
• Square Feet: 8,993
• Year Built: 2013
• Listing Agent: Piper Yerks, Washington Fine Properties
• Buyer's Agent: Piper Yerks, Washington Fine Properties

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#1: A Gift from the Mayor of Georgetown

This year's priciest sale is the historic Henry Foxhall House in Georgetown. Henry Foxhall had the six-bedroom house built at the turn of the 19th century as a wedding gift for his daughter; this was almost two decades before he was elected mayor of Georgetown back when Georgetown was one of three cities in the District of Columbia. The gardens surrounding the house were designed by Rose Greely, a Georgetown resident and the first woman in DC licensed as a landscape architect. Residents have included Jimmy Carter's White House communications director and a former CIA officer. The home sold for just above $9 million in August. 

• Address: 3123 Dumbarton Street NW (map)
• Price: $9,115,000
• Bedrooms: Six
• Bathrooms: 4.5
• Square Feet: 7,618
• Year Built: 1800
• Listing Agents: Jamie Peva, Ellen Morrell, Washington Fine Properties
• Buyer's Agent: Nancy Taylor Bubes, Washington Fine Properties

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-5-priciest-home-sales-in-the-dc-area-in-2019/16252.