Bonnie McElveen-Hunter and her sister Tweed transform a Georgetown house into an elegant stage for bipartisan networking

By Deborah K. Dietsch

Photography by Clay Blackmore

 

The red door swings open and Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chairwoman of the American Red Cross, graciously offers a tour of her house on O Street NW in Georgeown. “How many houses have a foyer big enough for an entire party?” McElveen-Hunter asks rhetorically, standing under the chandelier in the airy entrance hall. “This is where everybody congregates because they can see all the rooms from here.”

Since purchasing the 1927 home four years ago from man-about-town Robert Corby, she has turned it into an elegant setting for entertaining Washingtonians of nearly every stripe – philanthropists, business leaders, Bush loyalists, and Obama administration newcomers.

“I look at my home as a means of sharing and communicating with other people, whether they are related to politics, the Red Cross or the arts,” she says.

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Ernesto Santalla, AIA LEED AP, visits the modern-art-filled apartment of Renaissance man Xavier Equihua

Photography Nick Strocchia

Pennsylvania Avenue’s importance to Washington’s history is unquestioned. Known as the “Avenue of Presidents,” it has been the site of lively street festivals, countless parades, and numerous protests. Penn Quarter, one of Washington’s most desirable neighborhoods and arguably its most cosmopolitan, is halfway between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, due in no small part to the foresight of urbanists, developers, and architects. This is where the Parisian influence on Pierre-Charles L’Enfant’s city planning is most evident: to live among monuments, walk to the movies, and dine at dozen s of restaurants; it’s a life that runs the gamut from the very formal to the most casual.

In 1980, the U.S. Navy received approval from Congress to construct a Navy Memorial on Market Square, across the street from the National Archives. Later, the site was redeveloped as a mixed-use building, which, when completed in the early ’90s, had already been included in James Goode’s Best Addresses. Xavier Equihua, managing partner of Federal Strategies Group, Inc., and executive director and CEO of the Chilean Avocado Association, selected an apartment in Market Square that combines generous indoor and outdoor spaces perfect for entertaining. The sweeping view up and down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Archives and the National Mall is one of the best in Washington, and the understated living space he has fashioned with interior and product designer Robert Cox is equally spectacular.

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Entering these private havens is a privilege, enjoying them a pleasure

Edenic Retreat

Hidden on a small lane in Georgetown’s “East Village,” George and Liz Stevens’ exquisite garden sanctuary bids visitors welcome to its many tranquil corners – each one perfect, or nearly, after 22 years of loving care.

“I’d rather be digging than anything else,” indefatigable cultivator Liz Stevens says on a sultry spring afternoon as she contemplates another round of planting, pruning, and plucking on a quiet terrace so near and yet so far from an adjacent swimming pool and tennis court. “Whatever is blooming now, won’t be in a month,” she notes, pointing with some satisfaction to a nearby bed of all-blue aquilegia from which all white and pink interlopers have been banished

Weeping pear, American hornbeam and other stately trees shade the site amid carefully tended boxwood and flowering plants (Chinese peonies, holly, lilacs), obelisks, statues of playful cats, and even an odd edible or two – though seasonable greens are hardly a priority here. “We used to have them, but no more,” Mrs. Stevens says with a laugh. “It turned out to be the most expensive salad in the world.”

By Kevin Chaffee. Photography James R. Brantley

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Architect Ernesto Santalla reflects on the new way to live green and McLean’s CO2 FreeLiving House

Green. For centuries the color has connoted money, growth, hope, nature, and most recently, the next generation of building. As we usher in a new age of sustainability, eco-friendly structures have become synonomous with modern building practices. Due to the damage we’ve inflicted on our planet, it’s a global necessity. Think of the environment as the U.S. economy: it has been falling apart recently, but we’re eagerly trying to put it back together.

Earth-friendly building practices like landscaping, the inclusion of daylight, and natural ventilation are only common sense. Other green practices – reusing materials, conserving water and electricity – are simple to implement.

Carbon-neutral living – which is not a color scheme, as I recently overheard at a cocktail party – is slowly becoming a reality. Currently under construction in McLean, Va., is the CO2 FreeLiving House, being built to achieve LEED Platinum Certification and use 80 percent less energy-per-square-foot than a comparable new home. Designed by Cunningham + Quill Architects, and built by West*Group in partnership with Green Spur, Inc., the carbon-neutral house demonstrates how energy efficient design and renewable energy systems are easily integrated. Modern sustainable projects can be done using more traditional design. Cunningham+Quill’s Michael Day explains that the home was built with sensitivity to the color palette and the materials of the surrounding area.
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Congressman-elect John Tunney, son of heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney, and Senator Ted Kennedy, weather the winter in relaxed Palm Beach style, January 1, 1965.

Historic homes, storied families, more than 100 charitable foundations; Palm Beach has served as a luxurious escape from cold northern winter for over a century. Beginning in 1933, when Joseph and Rose Kennedy purchased a pied-à-terre on North Ocean Boulevard, generations of Kennedys made the trip south— John F. Kennedy and his family took at least six trips a year to the compound—and kept company with the island’s upper-crust families: the Duponts, the Posts, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Mrs. Lowell Guinness. AP Photographer Bob Davidoff chronicled the Kennedy clan for almost fifty years at their “Winter White House” in Palm Beach. We celebrate the era with photos from “The Kennedy Family Album, Personal Photos of America’s First Family.” As the Palm Beach Post once wrote, “Jack Kennedy grew up with Florida sand in his shoes.” The famous family sold their home in 1993, yet the presence of a new generation is still felt in the effervescent town.

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By Ernesto Santalla AIA
Photography Morgan Howarth and Geoffrey Hodgdon
Hair and makeup Carola Myers

I adhere to the philosophy that a home should be functional yet reflective of the owner’s personalities. Getting to know the dynamic couple before I began redesigning their property was a lesson in two intertwined lives lived passionately and creatively.

In the ’70s, while on hiatus from touring with his band, Black Oak Arkansas, Marius took a film production class at the University of Memphis. Serendipitously, Nancy, then a violin student, enrolled in a film editing class. Filmmaker meets film editor. A love for music and movies soon coalesced with a love for each other.

They tied the knot three years later and began to apply their passion for film, music, and each other into the Nashville-based music video production business, Penczner Productions. In 1983, just two years after the launch of MTV, Marius directed the ZZ Top music video, “TV Dinners” through Ardent Recording Studios. That success was followed with Travis Tritt’s “American Flyer” and “Bible Belt,” and in 1993, the music documentary “My Old Friend,” with two of the great names in rock’n’roll, Carl Perkins and Paul McCartney. It was then, when Marius was reaching new heights in the music industry, that fate steered him in a different direction.

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By Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Chief of Protocol of the United States.
Photography Carol M. Highsmith

Blair House endures as a warm and welcoming “home away from home” for visiting heads of state and other dignitaries. Its elegant rooms are settings for important social and ceremonial aspects of American diplomacy, and it continues the legacy of hospitality and service to the nation left by one of our most influential founding families.
While serving as chief of protocol, I have had the opportunity to work with those who care deeply about the preservation our official presidential guest residence. Undersecretary Pat Kennedy has seen to it that Blair House remains a high priority at the Department of State. Selwa “Lucky” Roosevelt has led a 25-year effort to make it an inviting and comfortable home, and Lloyd Hand’s success in establishing and funding a permanent endowment to ensure it remains an American showplace has been unprecedented. Harry Mahar at the Department of State works to maintain the infrastructure and mechanical systems, and director Randy Bumgardner and his heroic team provide unparalleled hospitality and care to all those who stay here.

Historical Overview

The Federal style townhouse was built in 1824 for Joseph Lovell, the first surgeon general of the United States, and acquired in 1837 by Francis Preston Blair, who came to Washington to transform the Globe newspaper into a pro-Andrew Jackson publication. (Blair was part of Jackson’s circle of close friends and informal advisors known in the rival press as the “Kitchen Cabinet.”) It would remain in the Blair family’s hands for more than 100 years. In 1859, Blair built a house next door for his daughter, Elizabeth Blair Lee, and her husband, Capt. Samuel P. Lee, a grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Richard Henry Lee and third cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee. After the two dwellings were combined, the complex was occasionally called the Blair-Lee House, although Blair House is its official name today.
Blair House was declared a national historic landmark in 1939, three years before it was purchased by the Federal Government as an official guest house for monarchs, presidents and prime ministers while they are in Washington. Harry S. Truman and his family occupied Blair House from 1948 to 1952 when the White House underwent major renovations. On Nov. 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate President Truman there. The plot failed although a White House policeman, Leslie Coffelt, died in the attack.
In 1985, Congress appropriated $8.6 million for much needed structural repairs but stipulated no government funds be used for redecoration. The Blair House Restoration Fund was then formed to solicit support from the private sector for refurbishing and long-term conservation. Under the dedicated leadership of former Reagan administration Chief of Protocol Selwa “Lucky” Roosevelt, and the generosity of its many supporters, the fund continues its unique public/private partnership with the Department of State that ensures Blair House’s ongoing preservation for future generations.
Blair House is now a compound of four connected dwellings, including tow conjoined and renovated row houses at 700 and 704 Jackson Place N.W., which were purchased in 1969-1970, and the adjacent Trowbridge House on Lafayette Park, which is being converted to serve as an official residence for former U.S. presidents visiting the capital. Today the complex totals 119 rooms on five levels covering 70,000+ square feet, which is about 5,000 square feet larger than the White House.

Joe Alsop’s controversial design irritated the neighbors but ensured a comfortable retreat for President John F. Kennedy and other high-placed friends. Senior Editor Kevin Chaffee reports that recent owners John and Irene Danilovich both appreciate and share its beauty, spaciousness, and light.

By Kevin Chaffee
Photography Len Depas

The cinderblock and brick pile at 2720 Dumbarton Street, N.W., can hardly be considered an “historic home,” although many historical figures have gathered there throughout the years. President John F. Kennedy considered it a “safe house” where he could mingle freely with friends, confident that his words (and perhaps even a few deeds) would never be leaked. Prime ministers, presidents, Congressional leaders, diplomats, journalists, and the crème de la crème of international society knew it well — and many still do. “If only the walls could talk!” as they say.

Now its most recent occupants are leaving. John Danilovich, a former ambassador to Brazil and Costa Rica who currently dispenses billions in global aid as head of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, will take leave of his post when the Bush Administration ends. He and his wife, Irene, daughter of the late Baron Charles Forte, the British hotel magnate, have recently sold their residence and will re-locate to rented quarters before their January return to London. While packing, they graciously grant Washington Life a first-and-last tour of one of the city’s most fascinating houses.
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A 1929 Jacobean revival provides the perfect setting for Don and Katrina Peebles’ contemporary art…and their young family.

By Christina Wilkie
Photography JB Yong

Real estate developer and author Don Peebles writes in his recently published business memoir, The Peebles Principles: Tales and Tactics from an Entrepreneur’s Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in Business, and Creating a Fortune from Scratch, that one of the most important lessons he learned while growing up with his mother in Northeast Washington was to be “generous in victory.” Today that sage advice reads like an uncanny prophesy, for the young man who would go on to become America’s most successful African-American real estate developer by the time he was in his mid-forties. Now 48, Peebles has built his namesake company, the Peebles Corporation, into a powerhouse development firm – their current portfolio of projects is valued at $4 billion. But his public victories tell only part of the story of what this elegant, mild-mannered CEO is all about.

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At home with the Cohen’s in their Chevy Chase Penthouse.

By Julie Kirtz Garrett
Photography Pete Muller

The view from Bill and Janet Langhart Cohen’s Chevy Chase penthouse is a Beltway panorama. To the south there’s the National Cathedral and the rooftops of Georgetown; to the north, the Mormon Temple and Bethesda. It is a sweeping Washington vista, which is why their 3,000 foot wrap around terrace is where the couple likes to relax and take it all in — when they have the time.

He is a former Republican senator and secretary of defense for a Democratic president (not to mention novelist and published poet) who continues to travel the world as a global business consultant. She is CEO of her own media consulting firm, a former Boston television personality, BET correspondent, author and playwright. In February, her new one-act play Anne and Emmett was presented in Israel. And last year, the Cohens published a memoir together, Love in Black and White, about their bi-racial marriage. Along with busy professional lives, the Cohens decorated their home themselves, with Langhart Cohen taking the lead.

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Originally named for the bird with the power to fascinate the wind, Halcyon House continues to inspire its renovator and champion, architect and sculptor John Dreyfuss.

By Beth Farnstrom
Photography Antoine Scheck

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At home with Chef Geoff and Norah O’Donnell.

By Deborah K. Dietsch
Photography Bob Narod

Nearly every day for seven years, Norah O’Donnell and Geoff Tracy drove past a cheerful yellow cottage in Wesley Heights on their way to work from their tiny Georgetown row house. “We always thought it was such nice house,” Tracy recalls, “It’s well situated next to a park, near a community garden and close to our jobs.”

When the 1932 dwelling was put on the market in 2005, the couple quickly bought it and spent the next six months overhauling its outdated rooms. It is remarkable that they found the time to take on this project given their consuming careers. O’Donnell is MSNBC’s chief Washington correspondent and Tracy is Chef Geoff, the owner of two eponymous restaurants and the recently opened Lia’s in Chevy Chase. This May, a year after moving into their renovated home, the busy couple became parents of twins, Grace and Henry.
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Author, Professor and Architect Travis Price is on a mission to bring the spirit back to our built environment.

By Michael Clements

Talking to Travis Price borders on the existential. I can’t help but think, as we converse over salad at Anthony Lanier’s venerable Leopold’s Kafe & Konditorei, that this must be how a young student at Plato’s Athenian Academy must have felt. You catch the general gist of his meaning – but just enough to leave your head spinning with deeper questions borne from heightened awareness. There’s no doubt Travis’ students in the Experiences in Architecture program at The Catholic University know how I feel.

This founder of the Georgetown-based eponymous Travis Price Architects and author of The Archeology of Tomorrow: Architecture & the Spirit of Place, is also the designer of the largest “green” building on the planet (the TVA headquarters complex); National Geographic has dubbed him a “visionary” and is flying him around the planet this month to lecture on the coat-tails of the release of his book; and he has brought the spirit of design to both commercial and home architecture from his “tree-house” home in Rock Creek Park to “modern idioms” such as a stargazing temple in Machu Picchu.

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Christine and Uli Werner’s Potomac home is a sharp departure from the area’s traditional architecture.

Photography Antoine Schneck
By Corinne Bensahel

Sophie Prevost and Robert Cole are partners — in life and in work, for better or for worse. At the head office of ColePrevost, the husband and wife architect and interior design team take on projects which are resolutely contemporary; for example as shown on the following pages — the modern Potomac, Md., home of Christine and Uli Werner.

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Lawyer David Smith and graphic designer Ra ‘ed Alawadhi’s renovated apartment melds modernity and warmth.

Photography Antoine Schneck
By Corinne Bensahel

When David Smith and his partner Ra ‘ed Alawadhi decided to renovate their new apartment, they wanted to create a modern space without the coldness of many contemporary apartments. After much investigation, Smith, a business lawyer, and Alawadhi, the creative graphic designer for the contemporary furniture store Apartment Zero, decided to hire talented architect Robert M. Gurney to design the space.

Located in one of the oldest buildings in Washington, the apartment was a sequence of rectangular, contiguous rooms with small windows and no charm. Despite the challenge, Gurney thought the old building could be readily adapted for a modern lifestyle.

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Café Milano meets Forest Hills.

By Deborah K. Dietsch
Photography Jonah Koch

Cafe Milano has been called Washington’s version of Rick’s Cafe, the hang-out in the movie Casablanca. The popular Georgetown restaurant, which celebrates its 14th anniversary this month is similarly frequented by politicians, diplomats, celebrities – and the folks who like watching them.

Behind Cafe Milano’s longevity and success is its very own Rick, Italian-born owner Franco Nuschese, who looks more like Napoleon Bonaparte than Humphrey Bogart. Nuschese’s welcoming charm, applied equally to celebrities and less famous guests alike, is part of what keeps people coming back to the crowded eatery night after night.
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Fantastical journey in the heart of Middleburg.

Photography Antoine Schneck
By Corinne Bensahel

Eight years ago New York-based businessman Jeffrey Steiner bought this slice of Middleburg farm heaven from the Archbold family and quickly added the finishing touches that have made it a home design masterpiece.

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In Adams-Morgan, lawyer Julian Epstein makes the case for loft-style living.

By Deborah K. Dietsch
Photography Gary Landsman

Sprawled on a white chaise in his Adams-Morgan loft, lawyer Julian Epstein makes his case for the simple life. “I’m not a collector. I don’t want a lot of stuff,” he says. “I can’t stand clutter.”

Almost monastic in its minimalism, his bachelor pad is furnished with clean-lined sofas, cubic ottomans and glass and chrome coffee table, all arranged in straight lines on bare bamboo floors. Overhead, the concrete ceiling is left exposed and the floor-to-ceiling windows are unshielded by curtains.
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Human Genome Doctor William Haseltine opens his Georgetown Doors.

By Deborah Dietsch

Scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, Dr. William Haseltine hardly seems the type of homeowner who spends time fussing over paint colors and furnishings. But, on a recent tour of his remodeled 1870s Georgetown house, this leader in genetic research makes it clear that he has done all the decorating himself.

“I enjoy it,” Haseltine says, pointing out the subtle blend of pink, golden and cream tones in his high-ceilinged, front parlor. “It’s relaxing for me. I’ve tried to make the home a warm and calming place.”

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A classic Frank Lloyd Wright home in McLean is in good hands with Washingtonian Jim Kimsey.

By Christina Wilkie
Photography Gary Landsman

There has long been a sense among the collectors of artistic masterpieces that the paintings or sculptures they acquire never really “belong” to them in the traditional sense of the word. Great collectors are not owners, but rather stewards, entrusted with the preservation of a piece of history for the benefit of future generations. Of course, this is easy to understand in the case of a Picasso or a Michelangelo….but what if the masterpiece were a house, on your property?
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