The Late Senator Kennedy's DC Home Remains on the Market

Seller:  Victoria Kennedy
2416 Tracy Place
Washington, DC 20008
6 Bedrooms  8 Baths
Asking Price:  $6,995,000

Today we are going to take a look at the Kalorama mansion that the late Senator Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy shared with his wife Victoria.  Property records indicate they purchased the property in April of 1998 for $2,775,000 and moved from the Senator's long-time home on Chain Bridge Road in McLean.  The Senator passed away in August of 2009 and the widow Kennedy put the Tracy Place manse on the market for $7,995,000 in June 2010.  After three months on the market Mrs. Kennedy reduced the price by $1,000,000 to the current asking price of $6,995,000.

The listing for the property is:
Entertaining & family are perfect partners in the gracious home of the late Senator & Mrs. Edward M. Kennedy. Elegance & grandeur define the living rm which glows with light through the French doors that lead to the terrace & year-round garden. The stunning dining rm is the setting for a dinner for 2 or a banquet for 50+ flowing into the adjacent sunrm. The essence of the before/after dinner gatherings is the faux-painted library. A secret hideaway entered through the library leads to the garage & indoor resistance pool. The spacious, bright eat-in kitchen is a gourmet's delight, & the family rm provides space for playing dining. The 6 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms & walk-in closets are distinct havens for family & guests. The master suite has his & her closets & bathrms, study, &balconies that overlook the garden. This special place also features 5 fireplaces, exercise rm, elevator, office, wine cellar, laundry rm, garage, & unbelievable storage. Courtesy of Tutt, Taylor, Rankin/Sotheby's International Realty

The house is on a beautiful block in the hill above Embassy Row and many of the neighbors are diplomatic residences.  The large home is on a relatively small lot (.2 acres) which is typical for this neighborhood.  The classic exterior of the home bears a passing resemblance to another house located on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, NW that Ted also aspired to live in, but that is a story for another blog.  The house consists of very nicely proportioned rooms and is decorated in an understated fashion. The home is entered through a large, tiered, marble floored, entrance hall that leads into a large parlor.  The dining room is well proportioned with beautiful molding that carries through all of the principal rooms.  The kitchen leaves quite a lot to be desired but I doubt the Senator and the Mrs. spent very much of their time in this room.  The home boasts six bedrooms including a very nice master suite with his and hers bathrooms.  All in all a very lovely place if you don't mind the postage stamp sized lot and single car garage.  I cannot leave you without commenting on the horrible "indoor resistance pool" room.  This portion of the house should put on the back of a truck and sent back to whatever Pocono Mountain ski resort they got it from.

LISTED: 1515 30TH ST NW WASHINGTON, DC 20007

Seller: John M. Breen
1515 30TH ST NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20007
6 Bedrooms 4 1/2 bathrooms
Asking Price:  $4,195,000

As the inaugural posting for this new "blog" on the comings and goings of high end real estate in the Washington Metro area we have selected a new listing in the coveted 20007 zip code, otherwise known as Georgetown.  The seller, according the ever-trustworthy DC property records, is John M. Breen.  A quick check of the world wide interweb leads us to believee this would be the same John M. Breen listed as Counsel in the DC office of the famed New York based law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates.  It seems Mr. Breen is a very smart fellow and very good at helping multinational corporations avoid paying taxes to multiple taxing authorities for the same income/assets, otherwise known as double taxation, which seems like fine way to make a living to us. The DC records tell us Mr. Breen, Esq. acquired the property in late 2000 for the price of $1,450,000 and, according to the listing completed a renovation in this year.

The listing describes the property as:
SPECTACULAR AND METICULOUS RENOVATION COMPLETED IN 2010 OF EAST VILLAGE FEDERAL WITH POOL--BEST FLOORPLAN-- MAIN LVL DBL PARLOR LR, GORGEOUS KIT W/ADJACENT FAM RM W/WALL OF WINDOWS TO GARDEN,--PKG SPACE A BLOCK AWAY CONVEYS--NO DETAIL OVERLOOKED--EXTRAORDINARY RESIDENCE FOR MOST DISCERNING BUYERS. Courtesy of Washington Fine Properties LLC.

We have to admit that we are big fans of these grand old rowhouses, having lived in one ourselves way back in our misspent youth.  This East Village location is very good, assuming you don't mind living next to a large apartment house and we can attest to the fact that it can be a very long walk (uphill) after a few toddies at The Guards.  While the living areas are spread over 4 floors the layout is very appealling.  The terrace and pool directly off of the family room are beautiful and we can see ourselves enjoying that space during the insufferably hot Washington summers.  Our only complaints would be that the media room is just a big hot mess and that for $4M+  we would have hoped to have an on-site garage so as not to have to trudge from some "spot" a block away.