This Week's Find: A Robert Gurney With a Bill Clinton Story

• April 11th 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

Modernist architect Robert Gurney has left his signature on many high-end homes in the DC area, and now another has hit the market.

For this edition of This Week's Find, UrbanTurf takes a look at a Gurney-designed home with uninterrupted views of the Potomac River and an interesting history.

4511 Potomac Avenue NW is located off MacArthur Boulevard on a cul-de-sac of 8 homes. This stretch of Potomac Avenue was previously home to seven Sears bungalows that were razed and rebuilt in the 1980s. Legend has it that former president Bill Clinton lived with roommates in the original house that occupied the site of This Week's Find during his undergraduate days at Georgetown University.

This home was rebuilt by its previous architect-owner in 1988, however, the exterior construction materials included an artificial stucco that was later found to be hazardous (and litigious). The current owners came across the house when looking for something larger than their Capitol Hill digs and fell in love with its location and attendant views. The look of the house, on the other hand, left much to be desired, and upon learning of the home's structural deficiencies, they negotiated a deal with the seller and purchased the home in 2000.

After redesigning the home with Gurney, the owners completed a major remodel in 2004, stripping the exterior and creating walls of windows and a streamlined aesthetic. "The vision we had with Bob Gurney, to open it up to the river and make it all about the view, it's like living in a treehouse," owner Chris Simmons told UrbanTurf. 

The house embodies a sleek and linear appearance throughout, forgoing any trim or molding and incorporating subtle built-in closets, skylights and open sightlines. An additional renovation took place in 2008; the only amenity that survived both renovations is an elevator that spans each floor. The house has an outdoor hot tub, a two-car garage and a screened-in porch with a fireplace and Viking grilling station.

The master suite is particularly impressive and was opened up to remove the wall between the bedroom and the bath. With its wall of wardrobes, the striking en-suite earned a five-page spread in a Bathroom Trends publication.

More details and images are below. 

• Address: 4511 Potomac Avenue NW (map)
• Price: $2.45 million
• Bedrooms: Four
• Bathrooms: 3.5
• Square Feet: 2,916
• Year Built: 1988
• Listing Agent: Jennie McDonnell, Long & Foster

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this-weeks-find-a-robert-gurney-rebuild-overlooking-the-potomac/13816.