The top 5 home sales in the D.C. area so far this year
By Amy Rose Dobson, Curbed DC
Now that summer is winding to a close, the real estate market is starting to slow down. The mad rush of the spring selling season has faded into memory, and real estate agents can start to see their families on Sundays again. It seems as good a time as any to take a look at the most expensive transactions that have taken place this year. So here we present our best stab at the five priciest home sales in the area, with separate lists for Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. transactions below. This list shouldn't be considered final, because we only used publicly available data (largely provided to us by MRIS), and in cases where there was a discrepancy about the price we jumped to the next sale.
1) The District wins the prize for the biggest sale of the year, and there's no way it is going to lose its title any time soon. Evermay, the $22 million winner, sold last month after coming down from $49 million. The house is at 1623 28th St. NW. Click here to learn about the new owners.
2) Next is Ted Leonsis's early-year purchase of the Marwood Estate in Potomac, Md., for $20 million. He bought it from his friend and Nextel founder Chris Rogers, who in turn bought the McLean home Leonsis had been living in.
Marwood has an illustrious history of one famous name after another, according to this 2006 article from Washington Life: "The Italian villastyle mansion was built in 1930 by New York millionaire Samuel Martin. In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt rented Marwood for use as the summer White House. The following year, John F. Kennedy's parents, Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy leased the estate and resided there until 1939 when Joe Kennedy became ambassador to Great Britain. In 1942, H. Grady Gore, a cousin of Vice-President Al Gore bought Marwood from a member of the Pulitzer publishing family. More than fifty years later, in 1995, the Gore heirs sold to neurosurgeon Dr. Yonas Zegeye and his wife H. Seleshi Zegeye for $2 million despite having listed the property for twice as much."
3) Chris Rogers and his wife, Nalini, get another mention on the list because it appears they also bought the house at 5215 Edgemoor Lane in Bethesda. We couldn't find a picture of it, but it must be very nice because it cost $10 million.
4) Now comes the McLean sale between Ted Leonsis and Chris Rogers. The three-floor, eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom home at 6827 Sorrel St. sold for $9 million. It was built in 1999. The photo is from the Redfin listing, which lists the 2010 property tax at $80,307.
5) Alexandria makes the list with a $8.26 million sale that was originally listed for $9 million at 9500 Ferry Landing Court.
Check out jurisdiction-specific lists from Curbed DC:
The top 5 sales in nearby Maryland this year
The top 5 sales in nearby Virginia this year
The top 5 sales in Washington this year
