David Baldacci

Vienna

Cost (1996): $974,000

Assessed value: $1.8 million

Since 1996, the popular thriller writer has cranked out a bestseller almost every year—several of them focused on Washington power and intrigue. He bought this house about the time that Absolute Power, his first book, hit the bestseller list.

Alice McDermott

Bannockburn in Bethesda

Cost (1997): $522,000

Assessed value: $1.1 million

The novelist—best known for beating out Tom Wolfe to win the 1998 National Book Award for Charming Billy—often taps her Irish-American roots to sketch strong characters in tales that revolve around faith and family.

Jim and Kate Lehrer

Cleveland Park, DC

Cost (1979): $395,000

Assessed value: $2.9 million

The protagonist in the first of Kate Lehrer’s four novels is a prominent journalist with her own TV show and access to Washington’s elite—a world not too different from the author’s. Husband Jim, the PBS news anchor, has more than a dozen novels to his name.