Jennifer Sergent

Senior Communications Writer | Perkins Eastman

My (Fantasy) House is for Sale

For a couple years now, I’ve been lusting after this amazing house on Arizona Avenue in Northwest DC, which I pass ALL THE TIME when I’m driving toward Friendship Heights or Chevy Chase:

Front-day

Seriously, I think I’ve caused some minor traffic backups each time I drive up that hill between MacArthur Boulevard and Loughboro Road, because I slow down every time to get a good look. And every time, I try—and fail—to screw up my courage to stop and knock on the door, just to tell the owners how amazingly fabulous their house is. I mean, with an exterior like this, the inside has to be just as great, right?

front-night

Imagine my surprise as I was coming home from a meeting in Spring Valley the other day when I passed “my” house—and saw a For Sale sign in front! I raced home to look up the property listing on the Long & Foster website.

OK, so the $1.899 million price tag is a weee bit out of my range, but at long last, I got to see what the inside looks like. And with small-world good luck, I also discovered that the listing belongs to Michael Shapiro (duh, should have known), whose Modern Capital blog tracks all the plum modern real estate in the DC region.

Michael was kind enough to share the pictures with me, so you can see the source of my obsession:

back-night

According to Michael’s blog, the house was designed in the Bauhaus style in 1961 by two prominent architects at the time, Leon Brown and Thomas Wright. The current owners—the husband works for the International Monetary Fund and the wife works for the World Bank—have “meticulously” restored the three-bedroom, four-bath house to its original splendor.

The appliances are definitely 21st century, but the barstools and mirrored wall hone to the mid-century aesthetic.
The appliances are definitely 21st century, but the barstools and mirrored wall hone to the mid-century aesthetic.

 

The den. It's cool seeing the expanse of these windows form the inside, since I've always tried to strain in from the outside. (Am I a stalker? hmm, well.. ?)
The den. It’s cool seeing the expanse of these windows from the inside, since I’ve always strained to see in them from the outside. (Do I sound like a stalker?)

 

bedroom1

 

bed-bath

 

Just like the kitchen, the modern bath fixtures fit seamlessly into Brown and Wright's timeless design.
Just like in the kitchen, the modern bath fixtures fit seamlessly into Brown and Wright’s timeless design.

 

Ugh, I love these stairs.
Where are the Brady’s? Seriously though, these stairs rock.

 

back-day

I can’t get over these expanses of glass. And the owners did a gorgeous job with the terrace and planters, which mimic the color scheme inside.

And the chimney is like artwork against all this glass!

back-day-chimney

Here’s what you see when you look out from the inside—magnificent terraced landscaping:

back-garden

I’m only sorry that my husband and I can’t immediately grab this property I’ve been lusting after for so long, but my fingers are crossed that the next owner will do as much justice to the original architecture as the current inhabitants have.  At least I didn’t have to knock on their door like some crazy person so I could see inside!

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