News & Politics

Bigger Roles Mean Bigger Houses for ABC’s DC Star

If the abodes owned by George Stephanopoulos are any indication, being on TV pays more than politics.

While working in the Clinton White House, Stephanopoulos lived on two floors of a cozy Dupont Circle townhouse on Connecticut Avenue, above what is now Marvelous Market. He bought the three-story townhouse for $835,000 and rented the ground-level retail space to a now-defunct eyeglass store called Eye Gotcha.

In 1997, the same year he joined ABC as a news analyst for This Week, he sold the townhouse for $1,050,000. He has bought himself a more expensive house each time he’s been promoted at ABC.

In 2002, the year Stephanopoulos began anchoring This Week, he bought a 4,400-square-foot townhouse on 28th Street in Georgetown for $2 million.

A few months after his December 2005 promotion to chief Washington correspondent, he unloaded that place for $2,850,000. He and his wife, Ali Wentworth, the Washington debutante turned comic actress, then paid $5.2 million for a five-bedroom, seven-bath house just around the corner. The century-old Georgian has six fireplaces, “gourmet cook’s kitchen,” elevator, and three-car garage.

Real-estate agents take note: If he ever gets moved up to bureau chief, Stephanopoulos is on course to pay at least $10 million for his next place.