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Jennifer Sergent

Freelance design writer + blogger | Marketing copywriter

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BET CEO Debra Lee’s Home For Sale: $13.5M

December 13, 2016

It’s not often that a designer casually mentions on Facebook that he just helped a Realtor primp a $13.5 million home for sale. Well, Jason Hodges did just that last week. He didn’t mention that it was the modernist Rock Creek home of Black Entertainment Television CEO Debra Lee, but I instantly knew whose it was.

House photography courtesy of Marilyn Charity/Washington Fine Properties

I was a temporary editor at DC Modern Luxury in 2012 when writer Jill Hudson Neal wrote a story about this house. Greg Powers’ photography for that piece included a chic portrait of Ms. Lee, resting by the fire in her living room:

Photo by Greg Powers

Lee commented at the time on the “freeing” power of working with architect Michael Marshall to create a home that was exclusively for her:

‘It’s quite something to be able to plan and execute something as personal as your home, without having to take everyone’s opinion into account,’ Lee admits with a laugh. ‘I was intimately involved in the whole process from beginning to end, and it was designed for me. Not many people get the opportunity to choose exactly what they like and not have to ask for permission to do it.’

Realtor Marilyn Charity, who’s listing the Massachusetts Heights house for Washington Fine Properties, told me that Lee’s selling now that she works primarily out of New York and Los Angeles.

This is what the living room looks like in the current listing, thanks to Jason’s work, which incorporates Lee’s own art.

A year after that first story ran in DC Modern Luxury, I spotted the house again in Home & Design, which detailed how Deborah Kalkstein of Contemporaria “positioned Lee’s entire art collection during construction, so that niches and display space could be created as part of the process.”

Lee also told Home & Design writer Annie Groer that she fashioned her master bedroom as a treehouse retreat:

It is in her beloved master suite facing Rock Creek Park—which she calls her ‘tree house’—where the busy executive unwinds completely. Facing a wall of windows split by a stone-clad fireplace, her bed seems to float toward the center of the room. ‘It’s the only place it could go so that I could have closets to die for behind it,’ she says. The adjoining dressing room has a center island and three walls of Poliform closets for storing Lee’s shoes, purses, clothing and jewelry.

The ultimate luxury is a hairdresser’s sink and makeup station tucked into an alcove off the master bathroom. ‘In the old house, I did my makeup on the kitchen table.’ She pauses to survey her girly domain, then admits, ‘Sometimes I have to make myself leave the bedroom and enjoy the rest of the house.’

 

Because the house is so custom, it might take a special buyer to embrace it. The Washingtonian last week predicted that Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner might be interested as they begin their DC house hunt:

If Ivanka stays in touch with Chelsea Clinton, she may soon be sending Arabella Rose to Sidwell Friends. This $13.5 million home near Rock Creek Park could do the trick.
The Marshall Moya-designed manse is more to Ivanka’s taste, and, unlike the colonial options, they’d be able to repurpose the modern furniture in their Park Avenue penthouse.

 

Of course, no cable executive’s house would be complete without a drop-dead movie theater:

The house backs up to Rock Creek Park, so the exterior is also stunning.

It will be interesting to see who purchases this house. But Marilyn was smart to bring in a real interior designer like Jason, along with artist Nia Stratos, to make it appeal to a modern-minded, design-savvy millionaire.

Filed Under: Designers, Real Estate Tagged With: Jason Hodges, Washington Fine Properties

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah Sarna says

    January 1, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    I’m catching up on all my favorite blogs today and, oh my goodness, what a spectacular home!!

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Jan 22

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When I told my husband I wanted to name our first son Henry, he readily agreed because Henry Aaron was his favorite baseball player of all time. And several years later, my mother gave a framed, signed photograph of this legend to @hjsergent for Christmas, and it hangs right next to his bed. What a sad day, felt all the more personally because I can’t think of my wonderful son without thinking also of the great man who helped inspire his name.🙏🏻
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Jan 21

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Interior design isn’t just pretty. There’s real power and symbolism in the choices you make, which deeply affects how you and your visitors feel in your home. This @washingtonpost piece on the #ovaloffice, linked in bio, illustrates how. @potus 
📷 @olearypix
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January 20 is finally here!! Sending Godspeed to @joebiden and @kamalaharris ❤️🤍💙
📷 @senatephoto
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Jan 13

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The amazing thing about the #uscapitol is that we enjoy the same beauty as the generations before us. Our fashions might change, but not the glorious encaustic tile, gilded mirrors or the clover-like pendant lights in the Senate Press Gallery. Swipe to see the modern version, shot by @ronbluntphoto. 
Full post in my bio link!
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With the help of photographers like @adam_brockett who took this glowy halo around the #uscapitol, and my friends who know and cherish that building, here’s a love letter, blog link in bio
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Memories of the late-night lines to see George H.W. Bush lying in state. Thousands of peaceful mourners waiting to pass through the Rotunda of this majestic Capitol.
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May your passage through 2021 be delightful! Grateful to clients like @mode4architecture for sharing so much beauty 🌱💚 
📷 @studiohdp
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Dec 12

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CONGRATULATIONS to Michele Lerner for her award from the Nation Association of Real Estate Editors on a @washingtonpost story about bringing the outdoors inside, which features our bathroom renovation by @aidandesign ! The judges wrote: “She finds the perfect couple to illustrate the theme of her story. They lie by a nature trail, so they wanted to add natural stone to the shower.” Great story Michele, and it was a pleasure to speak to you! 
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So thrilled to be working with a new client, Michigan design firm @arminainteriors. I just love how luminous her work is, and her use of dramatic light fixtures. Enjoy!
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Welcome to DC Mayor @murielbowser's home, where designer Trystin Kier Francis of @thekiercompany painted this chest purple with gold hardware. Regal, just like the mayor, Trystin told me. I agree! Full story at the link in my bio.
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Oct 6

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Is anyone else in need of some calm right now? Take me away, @m.naeve! 
(For more #kipsbaydallas escapism, link in bio 🖤)
📷 @stephen_karlisch_photo
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@markdsikes does it again at #kipsbaydallas with this dreamy living room, Happy Friday! 
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DC by Design is my passion project, a chronicle of design talents throughout the DC-Maryland-Virginia region who are doing beautiful and imaginative things in the categories below. Click here for blog information and guidelines.

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