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TESTIMONIALS FROM THE 2013 TOUR:

Greetings! Fresh off the Home Tour and inspired by a great day! It was wonderful to see neighbors, in addition to the beautiful and storied homes.

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Congratulations on the outreach. I think it was certainly a successful “friend raiser” and fundraiser.

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My daughter and I spent most of the afternoon today on the Palisades House Tour and had a terrific time. Georgetown has been having house tours for years and I’ve taken them many times. I have never been on one of their tours that was as well-run as this one. TheVillagers did an amazing job for first timers. We were given tote bags with an excellent brochure describing each house, booties to wear over shoes for going through the houses, etc. At each house several docents were present to provide additional information and answer questions.

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It’s been a few years since I’ve done a Georgetown house tour but I remember those as being given a map and then being on my own. And those tours didn’t end like this one — sitting in a lovely garden sipping a glass of punch, munching on a cookie (actually several cookies), and listening to a Dixieland combo. But best of all was the eclectic mix of fascinating houses that make the Palisades so unique.

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I just went to the Palisades Village’s website and signed on for a monthly donation. I only give to charities I know are well run. The Palisades
Village clearly qualifies. It was a GREAT day! Peggy [Newman]
has really energized this organization, And, we found a great new restaurant, Et Voila!, on MacArthur Boulevard. Judy [Watson] and Janet Bullinger], I think both of
you deserve kudos for the success of the house tour. Thanks so much!

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Your team did a marvelous job today! The tour homes were breathtaking, and the guides first-class. I am sure the word-of-mouth reports will be terrific, and you could have twice as many folks participate next year if you decide to do the tour again. We enjoyed it immensely.

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It was a totally wonderful day for all of us lucky enough to get to every single house. There were so many informative assistants at each house, and the map booklet was full of even more information. Fun to see the homes and learn the history of each one. There was an interesting diversity of types of architecture, interior design, art, and collections for each stop as well. The whole day was very well organized.

READ ABOUT THE 2013 HOUSES!!

This storied home began its life in the 1890s as a roofed, openair dance floor in what was then the countryside, a popular destination alongside the Glen Echo trolley line. Some of the original hard spruce floor remains today. But it became notorious as “Cat House” during Prohibition, when it was enclosed and turned into a brothel; remnants of the bar and 8-foot wide bedrooms or “cribs” were found during later renovations. The brothel was converted to a duplex after Prohibition.

Its current owners purchased the home in 1997, renovating it and researching its colorful past. They have re-used original wainscoting from the dance pavilion ceiling in the new kitchen, and honored its 19th century beginnings with William Morris fabrics and wallpapers throughout. Solar panels, rain barrels and native landscaping embrace 21st-century environmental concerns.

Sponsored by: Mary Lynn White, Evers & Co. Real Estate, Inc.  (202) 309-1100

 

 

One of the five original houses built on farmland in the 1890’s; this stately home was designed for developer John C. Hurst by architect Richard Ough in the opulent Queen Anne style fashionable at the time. It is notable for its main “piazzas” – the porches stacked at each of the four corners – its octagonal tower, and its commanding site above MacArthur Boulevard, then known as Conduit Road. Hurst was a founder of the Palisades of the Potomac Land Improvement Company and Glenhurst is believed to have been envisioned as a show house to attract prominent buyers to the planned development.

The house was later owned Miles Fuller, a real estate speculator whose daughter, Mary, became a silent film era superstar celebrated as ”the brunette Mary Pickford.” In 1917, at the height of her career, Mary Fuller suffered a nervous breakdown and retreated to Glenhurst. She lapsed into schizophrenia and, some years later, was committed to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital where she remained until her death at 85.

Today, apart from minor modifications and the removal of the front entry porch, Glenhurst stays true to its initial design. The only addition is a deck in back of the house. Inside, the plan of the ground floor is unaltered, while the second floor has seen only minor changes. Most of the original windows remain throughout. Glen Hurst has been lovingly maintained by its present owners.
Sponsored by: Deb & Skip Singleton, DC Living Real Estate (202) 337-0501

 

 

Designed by architect Richard Ough for his own use in 1891, this Queen Ann Victorian features five gables, high ceilings, a beautifully crafted carved central staircase, original narrow plank wood floors, and some windows with original glass. In 1986, in an extensive renovation by renowned preservation architect Michael Quinn, bathrooms were added and the kitchen was moved to the north side of the house to make room for a breakfast room with a southern exposure. In addition, plaster was replaced, windows were added, and some of the crown moldings were re-created. Later, 20 feet was added to the lot to expand the garden and the patio area. (The 1940s kitchen cabinets and sink were salvaged and used in the basement).

Richard Ough was the in-house architect of the Palisades of the Potomac Land Improvement Company, established in 1890 to develop the area as a luxurious superb for prominent Washingtonians. The company floundered and closed after the real estate crash of 1893. Ough designed the first five houses of the Palisades, one of them his own, but city records list him as only living at that address in 1893 and 1894. He went on to design many houses In Northwest Washington and suburban Maryland.

Sponsored by: Mike Sandifer, W.C. & A.N. Miller Realtors (A Long & Foster Co.) (202) 253-0719 (Direct) (202) 966-1400 (Office)

 

 

The influence of Frank Lloyd Wright shows in this cedar-clad home, designed by California architect Aaron Green, who died in 2001. Like Fallingwater, this 1982 home is built on steep slopes and over a brook. “A special effort was made to keep the quarter-acre site in its natural state,” notes Green’s website. “The design solution was to suspend the residence above the ravine and allow the creek to flow naturally beneath. Only two trees were cut to make room for the structure, leaving the house nestled snugly amongst the forest of vegetation rising from the ravine floor.”

The house has few 90-degree angles, creating unique interior spaces. Built-in cabinetry harmonizes with the building design. The current owners find the upstairs reminds them of the house in Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest” and the 2nd floor bedrooms 

Sponsored by: Ellen Maxwell Evers & Co. Real Estate, Inc. (202) 297-5047

 

 

Longtime residents of the Palisades area, the owners fell in love with the houses and views of Potomac Avenue. When the opportunity arose to build a new house on the beloved street, they jumped. The owners envisioned bringing “a taste of California” to the eclectic collection of Potomac homes, bringing together flavors of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture with the materials and tones of Silicon Valley. The home is simultaneously modern in design and traditional in materials.

The owners, active in the alternative energy field, infused the house with green technologies including Geothermal and solar generation. Nonetheless, the home has no less than six fireplaces (underscoring the owners’ appreciation for less efficient means of heating). The home is was designed by Barnes Vanze Architects and built by Horizon builders.

Sponsored by: Jamie Coley and Leigh Reed, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. (202) 497-1706 (Direct)

 

 

Built in 1923 this commanding home has housed only two families over its 90 year life. The first owners lived in the house until the mid-1960s; During their tenure, in the Depression and the World War Two years, the home was operated as a boarding house. The next buyer was Vlastimil Koubek, a next-door neighbor and a famed architect reputed to have designed fully half of the Washington office buildings of the day. The present owner bought the home from Mrs. Koubek in 1985. At the time, she told him, she and her husband could never figure out what to do with it, so for some twenty years it sat vacant; It was filled up as an early “storage facility”; and, from time to time, housed their housekeeper. The original blueprints for the house and photos taken by Allison Ross Hanna of what the house looked like in 1985, are on display in the carriage house at the rear of the property.

The major alterations to the structure were designed by Frances Norris, with Ted Peterson and George Collins as contractors. These included removing a kitchen pantry to open morning sunshine into that room, and taking down a rabbit warren of small third floor rental rooms, preserving an original claw-foot tub in the bathroom. The family’s three children – and their families – have, over the years, restored the “boarding house” heritage to the third floor. So visitors will see a home whose construction has been totally preserved for 90 years.

Sponsored by: Scott Polk, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.  (202) 256-5640

 

 

This beautiful Palisades home was built in 1979 by renowned architect Aram Normandin who made his mark on several structures in this area including the German Embassy and the home adjacent to this one. Mr. Normandin and his wife Irene, a talented painter in her own right, were the original and only other residents of this exquisite house. The new owners of the home are also artists: one a writer, the other a professional ballet dancer. Both have a great appreciation and love for the arts. The house has provided them a perfect canvas for their artistic expression, as the visitor will see in their large contemporary painting and sculpture collection.

5358 MacArthur is also widely known locally as the “bridge house.” Palisades residents have long wondered, “What is behind the bridge?” The traditional brick facade of the home is mischievously deceiving. Inside is a very contemporary and uniquely open “loft” design. The house is filled with other surprises, including one of the new additions which you won’t see anywhere else. The current residents themselves were surprised at the two huge magnolia trees that turn a brilliant white and pink when they bloom in the spring. You will undoubtedly find your own surprising moments while walking through this special home.

Sponsored by: Ross Vann, Beasley Real Estate (202) 256-0639

 

 

In 2005, when the owners of this shingled home were told that the Potomac Avenue house they had just bought was beyond reasonable repair and should be demolished, they embarked on a full scale search for authenticity. Before settling on a “cottage” style, they researched 19th century Palisade houses and period homes for architectural features and found inspiration in the boathouses near the Key Bridge. Then, they say, “We asked our architect, Ankie Barnes of Barnes Vanze, and our builder, Kaz Malakowski of Falcon Construction, not to just evoke 19th century design and construction but to be faithful to the materials and building techniques of the time. The result is a very authentic new ‘old house’.”

Favorite features are the wraparound porch, the wide eaves providing shade, the walnut floors, the four wood burning fireplaces and the custom-built doors and cabinetry. On the third floor, a single large room with windows on all four sides is, the owners say, “the most beautiful space in the house.” It is used as an entertaining space. The English style cottage garden, planted to provide blooms year round, including winter, features more than 120 rose bushes.
 
Sponsored by: Nancy & David Hammond, Evers & Co. Real Estate, Inc.

 

 

The evolution of the Palisades has seen many changes in the configurations of its bucolic properties, and this wonderful garden is a prime example. In 1965, when the current owner and her late husband moved in, the backyard garden ended with the garage. It was first augmented when the neighbor on the left sold them his back lot. Several years later, that neighbor died, and his property was sold, along with a separate back lot facing MacArthur Boulevard. Soon after, the new neighbors offered the lot for sale, and the extended garden area, although undeveloped, was complete.

It became evident that two adults, both of whom had fulltime jobs, would not be able to cope with the task at hand. Inspired by a garden they had seen that was Japanese in feeling, they contacted the designer, Osamu Shimizu, and asked him to design one in the same spirit. He calls the result “an American-Japanese garden.” “In short,” says the owner, “it is a hybrid.”

Sponsored by: Jamie Coley and Leigh Reed, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.
 (202) 497-1706 (Direct)