This Week's Find: A Luxurious Early 20th Century Airbnb in Georgetown

• July 8th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

Remnants of a streetcar line are embedded in the grey cobblestone which comprises the street on the Georgetown block where This Week's Find is located. Just past the red brick sidewalk is the 7,100 square-foot red brick Colonial that has a slew of ties to DC society.

The five-bedroom house was constructed in 1928 by Army captain Gustav J. Van Lennep on land once owned by noted Washingtonian Thomas E. Waggaman. Two years after the house was completed, it was purchased by May Flather, the first commissioner of the local Girl Scouts, and her husband, prominent banker Henry H. Flather. 

When the Flathers stayed at a home they owned in Arundel County, they would rent the Georgetown house to people such as R. Brinkley Smithers, a former IBM executive and founder of the nation's largest foundation to treat and research alcoholism. Upon May's passing in 1962, the house was bequeathed, partially furnished, to Georgetown University, which also rented the house out to tenants including O. Roy Chalk, an entrepreneur who ran the city's pre-Metro transit system. Georgetown University put the house on the market in 1995 and it has been in private hands ever since.

The house has grandeur inside and outside, as well as a deep, manicured backyard with a lap pool, garden path, and a semi-circular alcove with access to two parking pads. The interior is arranged off a center hall, with each doorway sporting an elaborate crest and mold framing. French doors on the far end of the hall open onto the rear deck, and double-wide doorways on either side allow the hall to function similarly to a breezeway.

A butler's pantry off the formal dining room has mirrored backsplashes and extends the boxy kitchen beyond, which has a wine refrigerator, a double wall oven, and a deep cove ceiling with a Viking vent hood suspended above the integrated cooktop breakfast bar island.

Each of the three bedrooms off the spacious upstairs landing has an en-suite bath, including the double-sized owner's bedroom with its generous dressing room and fireplace with built-ins to the ceiling on either side. The uppermost floor has a spacious L-shaped landing which doubles as a sitting room, with a bedroom, full bath, and a few storage rooms accessible.

The above-grade lower level features a large rec room with a fireplace, a built-in bar, and two sets of French doors out to the rear. This story has a full bedroom and 1.5 baths, as well as a studio bonus room with mirror closet doors. The house also has a two-car detached garage. Additional images are below.

• Address: 3306 O Street NW (map)
• Price: $8.5 million
• Bedrooms: Five
• Bathrooms: Six
• Square Feet: 7,166
• Year Built: 1928
• Listing Agent: Mark McFadden, Compass

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this-weeks-find-an-early-20th-century-dc-d-list-airbnb-in-georgetown/15615.