An legendary Hacienda tucked into the lush Santa Barbara foothills re-stakes its claim as a sunny haunt for Hollywood stars, political leaders and savvy traveler.

By Michael M. Clements

“It’s difficult for one used to our Eastern winter climate to imagine a more delightful situation.” – Winston Churchill

For three months during the winter of 1912-13, Winston Churchill, then 38 and having recently been named First Lord of the Admiralty, found himself – surprisingly – not involved greatly in affairs of State. Instead, the iconic British leader sank head first into the California lifestyle. Still forty years removed from his 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature, he waxed poetic about his stay at San Ysidro Ranch: “The mountains, scored by deep canyons,” he wrote, “rise up behind, for all the world like grand-opera scenery idealized, and far below, across the green plains of Montecito, one sees the white line of the beach and the Pacific stretching westward to blue islands shimmering in the haze.” He would return sixteen years later in the fall of 1929 after a visiting with publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst in San Francisco to engage, almost Hemingway-esque, in bill fishing off the coast of nearby Catalina Island.

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Adrienne Arsht buys in Spring Valley, Sargent and Eunice Shriver’s mansion sells in Potomac.

By Mary K. Mewborn

The District
Rob Quartel and Michela English were represented by Kerry Fortune and Nelson Marban of Georgetown Long & Foster in the sale of their 7,803-square-foot house at 3220 Nebraska Avenue NW in Spring Valley. Quartel is a former U.S. Federal Maritime commissioner and CEO and chairman of NTELX, a data fusion and health risk/fraud analysis company. English is a former senior executive at Discovery Communications and is currently CEO and president of Fight For Children, a local non-profit group engaged in education and health issues. The couple recently finished construction of a home on the Chesapeake Bay and is building another in the D.C.-Northern Virginia area. Adrienne Arsht, a Miami banker, philanthropist, National Symphony Orchestra board member, and former Washington resident throughout her marriage to the late Myer Feldman, a prominent lawyer and advisor to President John F. Kennedy, paid $6,625,000 for the couple’s Spring Valley property.
Hazel Cheilek has sold her 2,986-square-foot, six-bedroom home at 3039 44th Street NW where she had lived since moving from Buffalo, N.Y., in 1970. She and her husband both taught music out of the residence and Mrs. Cheilek also worked as a music teacher at Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology. She now resides in California. The house was built in 1920 and is situated on a corner lot in the heart of Wesley Heights. It was listed by Michael Rankin, Greg Gaddy and Carroll Dey of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty and sold through Gaddy and Dey for $1.3 million. The new owners are Mr. and Mrs. Nigel Parkinson. Mr. Parkinson, is president of Parkinson Construction Company and a past president of the National Association of Minority Contractors. The Parkinsons plan to renovate the house while maintaining its original integrity.
Washington Fine Properties’ William “Ted” Gossett has sold the house he owned at 4400 Dexter Street NW to Lynne S. and Richard M. Milano for $2.15 million. The nicely renovated five-bedroom Colonial has a new slate roof and sits on a corner fenced-in lot with a private driveway and two-car garage. It had been listed for $2,495,000.
Catherine M. Tinsley and Tom C. Tinsley sold their four-bedroom residence at 4934 Indian Lane NW for $4.6 million to Lucretia Adymy Risoleo and Robert Risoleo. The Tinsleys sold their previous house at 1400 34th Street NW for $4.2 million to entrepreneur Jonathan J. Ledecky in 2007. Part of its allure is the connection to President Kennedy (who lived there as a young congressman) as well as his sister Eunice, who called it home until her marriage to Sargent Shriver.

Maryland
The big real estate news, also on the Shriver front, is the sale of R. Sargent and Eunice Shriver’s estate in Potomac. Their house had been on the market for just under a year and the sale coincided with the August passing of both Eunice and her brother, Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy. Designed by Smith Blackburn Architects, the 15,500-square-foot, classically styled Georgian mansion is set on nearly seven acres in the Bradley Farms area at 9109 Harrington Drive. Built for the couple and their five children in 1986, the property has been the scene of many social and political gatherings, including Peace Corps gatherings (Sargent Shriver was the agency’s founding director), events for Special Olympics (Eunice’s brainchild), and glamorous charitable benefits that included annual balls in support of youngest son Anthony Shriver’s Best Buddies International.
The house boasts 10 bedrooms, 11 full baths, and large entertaining areas that include a 32-foot living room and an equally expansive dining room. The 400-square-foot kitchen has two large pantries and an adjacent octagonal breakfast room. There are staff quarters, an exercise room, a library, tennis court and gazebo, a pool and pool house,  four-car garage, and numerous balconies and verandahs. William F. X. Moody and Robert Hryniewicki of Washington Fine Properties listed the property at $11.8 million. John P. Duffy of Summit Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer, the MA Center, which he described as an international humanitarian organization. The Center’s founder, Mata Amritanandamyi, is known as a “living Hindu saint” called the “Amma,” and is said to have curative powers. It is unclear at this time whether the estate will be used as a private residence, an ashram retreat, or both. The MA Center paid $7,810,000 with plans to move there in January.

Virginia
Thanks to Long and Foster agent Sharon Hayman, 1331 North Irving Street in heart of the Lyon Village area of Arlington now belongs to Randy and Maria Jones. Mrs. Jones is a partner in the Washington law firm Miller & Chevalier and her husband works for Freddie Mac. They paid just under $1.9 million. The house was built by Brian Normile, principal owner of BCN builders and part owner of the Liberty Tavern in Clarendon. The newly constructed house has three finished levls and four bedrooms. Architectural highlights include custom moldings and wainscoting throughout. Other features include a wet bar, upscale kitchen with a Wolf range, an entertainment center, a study, a rear deck and a detached garage.

Middleburg has been a haven for many prominent political figures over the years
By Vicky Moon

Once President Barack Obama and his family settle into their hectic and very transparent life in the White House, might they also consider a get-away weekend in Middleburg? After all, many other politicians and diplomats have visited or lived in this somewhat sleepy village. The awe-inspiring countryside has captivated the Kennedys, the Harrimans, Senator John Warner and Elizabeth Taylor, and Col. Oliver North, to name just a few.
Grande dame Millicent West entertained many distinguished Washingtonians at her “Journey’s End” estate, including President Lyndon B. Johnson, who came out for the Middleburg steeplechase races. She still recalls calling ahead to alert officials in case they needed to make security plans.
“I told them I was having the president over for a tailgate,” she says. “And they asked, ‘The president of what?’”
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Middleburg has proved to be a quiet retreat for John and Jacqueline Kennedy and many other prominent political figures over the years.

By Vicky Moon

Once President Barack Obama and his family settle into their hectic and very transparent life in the White House, might they also consider a get-away weekend in Middleburg? After all, many other politicians and diplomats have visited or lived in this somewhat sleepy village. The awe-inspiring countryside has captivated the Kennedys, the Harrimans, Senator John Warner and Elizabeth Taylor, and Col. Oliver North, to name just a few.

When grande dame Millicent West was married to Donald MacKenzie from 1978 to 1986, they entertained a number of distinguished Washingtonians, including Senators Paul Laxhalt and Chuck Robb at their “Journey’s End” estate. One weekend, Mrs. West invited President Lyndon B. Johnson for the Middleburg steeplechase races. She called ahead to alert officials in case they needed to make security plans.

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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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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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The Magnificent Plan of Pierre L’Enfant

by Donna Evers

The plan for America’s capital city, created by Pierre L’Enfant over 200 years ago, was both prophecy and tribute. Since history teaches us that prophets are seldom appreciated in their own time, it should come as no surprise that L’Enfant died long before he got the recognition which he so richly deserved.
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The camera-ready Kennedys evoked the mystique of Camelot.

by Donna Evers

When President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his beautiful, young wife moved into the White House, it was the beginning of a new era in American style. Handsome and photogenic, with adorable little children in tow, they provided a considerable contrast to the plain, aging Eisenhowers of the preceding regime. The young president presented the voters with a brilliant vision for the country’s future. The newly refurbished executive mansion – whose renovations were directed by Jackie Kennedy in person – became the setting for glittering dinner parties presided over by French chefs. These evenings featured a stunning guest list of notables from the world of music, art and literature. Presiding over this splendor, Ms. Kennedy floated regally through the magazines and newspapers in one gorgeous gown after another. Princess Diana may have captured the hearts of her countrymen in the 1980’s, but in the ’60’s, Jackie was our queen.

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