Artists Inn Closes; Estate Sale Begins Sunday 1/19

I first got to know The Artists Inn Residence when its stunning interiors were featured in Washington Spaces Magazine when I first started working there in 2008. Rooms modeled around Duke Ellington, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Dali, and Katharine Hepburn were an enchanting retreat, beautifully decorated with antiques mostly sourced from around Georgetown.

Fast forward a few years, and it’s closing. Not for lack of business, owner Terry Gerace tells me, but health issues are forcing him to close and sell the R Street property near Dupont Circle. Now, we all get to benefit from Terry’s years of careful collecting: He’s selling off everything from the Artists’ Inn at an estate sale starting Jan. 19 and lasting the following two Sundays.

Darrell Dean, who owns his eponymous antiques shop in Georgetown, is conducting the sale, which won’t be advertised. He’s only inviting his own mailing list and readers of his website and Facebook page—AND readers of DC by Design!

This is huge, DCbD readers—you can score some amazing antiques, art and lighting, including furnishings that Terry bought at Katharine Hepburn’s estate sale after she died, and striking pieces from Fornasetti. Take a look:

The Katharine Hepburn room features two mirrors and two chests of drawers bought from the Hepburn estate, and 11 watercolors that she painted herself.

The Duke Ellington room holds the Fornasetti Trumeau desk and 19th-century French chairs upholstered in Fornasetti fabric. — The Duke Ellington room holds a Fornasetti Trumeau desk, seen here at the rear of the room.

The Fornasetti chair — Elsewhere at the Inn: French chairs upholstered in Fornasetti fabric

Terry designed the bed in the DaVinci room with huge 19th-century French mansion doors.

The Dali room, with a custom bronze "melting clock" on the headboard — The Dali room, with a custom bronze “melting clock” on the headboard

I love this chair and the unusual small desk in the Dali room.

The Shakespeare Room features a Tudor-style bed, handmade in England for the Inn.

Terry's favorite piece in the house is a 17th-century French carved-limestone window surround, which he repurposed into the lobby fountain. — Terry’s favorite piece in the house is a 17th-century French carved-limestone window surround, which he repurposed into the lobby fountain.

The house is for sale beyond just its contents, and real estate buyers should take note of the five 17th-through-19th-century French limestone fireplaces, and “thousands of square feet” of reclaimed flooring, including 18th-and 19th-century French terracotta, French oak in a chevron pattern, 19th-century blonde Barr French limestone, and 19th-century American wide-plank white oak and pine.

The aforementioned chevron flooring and one of the fireplaces—I adore that sweet settee at the end of the bed.

More terracotta flooring -- a great design choice with the planked ceiling. Crushing on those toile chairs! — More terracotta flooring — a great design choice with the planked ceiling. Crushing on those toile chairs!

Terry searched far and wide for the pieces at the Inn, which has also been his home. His local haunts included Cote Jardin, Darrell Dean (of course), Gore Dean, Cherry Antiques, Marsten Luce and Susquehanna Antiques in Georgetown, and Tone on Tone in Bethesda. Farther out, he searched shops in New Orleans, L.A., Denver and New York. And he also did a ton of online shopping, including 1st Dibs and eBay.

“Looking back on it, doing the collecting between 2004 and 2007, I was really lucky with the online purchases,” Terry says, “particularly given what a novice I was.”

Here’s some more from his “novice” collection:

“It was an amazing ride, and I’m very lucky to have had this experience and live in such a beautiful place,” Terry says. “I’ll be staying in the Dupont/Logan area, and am currently hunting for a new (and much smaller) home.”

All best wishes to you, Terry. And for our readers who want to take advantage of the sale, here are the details:

WHERE 1824 R Street NW

WHEN 11 am – 6 pm on the following Sundays: Jan. 19, Jan. 26 and Feb. 2

HOW Tell the doorman you are a guest of DC by Design to get into this exclusive sale

For many more images from the Inn, go to Darrell Dean’s website, right here. See you there!