What do architect Hugh Jacobsen, political commentator Andrew Sullivan, and actor Chris Eigman have in common?  They all own furniture by Dave Stine.

After graduating from George Washington University Law School in 1997 and practicing for one year, Stine abandoned law in favor of his first love: carpentry. In the garage of his house on Adams Mill Road in Adams Morgan, he began making furniture and opened his own business, Stine Woodworking.  Born on a dairy farm in rural Illinois, Stine learned woodworking and craftsmanship from his father and grandfather. In 2002 he and his family left Washington and returned to Illinois, where he set up his wood shop in a restored farmhouse.

Tomorrow night, Stine hosts a show and sale at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. His work includes hand-crafted benches, beds, tables, bookcases, and cabinets in oak, black cherry, mahogany, maple, and chestnut. Stine selects, harvests, and saws the lumber himself—his pieces are available in any size, wood, or finish.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | 641 D St., NW | 5 to 8 pm

More furniture pictures below.

Podesta sold this house in Falls Church...

After collecting $1.9 million for his two-bedroom, stone-and-stucco Contemporary in Falls Church, lobbyist Tony Podesta spent $3.9 million on an eight-bedroom, seven-bath house in Kalorama. Although the old house has views of Lake Barcroft, his new place has a pool and twelve-zone stereo.

Brother of former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, Tony Podesta heads the Podesta Group in DC. 

With warm weather around the corner, here’s my Craigslist Treasure Hunt pick of the week: a set of two white Adirondack chairs. $120 buys the pair—and many hours of enjoying the outdoors this summer. 

More good finds:

• Dining room table with four chairs for $1,100
• Honey pine crib for $175
• Wrought iron and wood corner stand for $135
• Set of two dark wood end tables for $100
• Red side table from Pottery Barn for $50

Thanks, Craigslist! 

If you’re in the market for a new rental, HotPads.com could be your next favorite bookmark.  

John Fitzpatrick, Douglas Pope, and Matt Corgan, three DC housemates who recently graduated from Notre Dame, founded HotPads, an online rental listings firm, in 2005. According to the Washington Business Journal, the company just received $2 million from a venture capital firm and are moving from its former headquarters—an apartment—to offices in Dupont Circle.

The site, which superimposes rental listings on interactive maps, offers a few useful search options. Click on “Map Search” to see a map of the Washington area, complete with population data and median rent prices. You can even read Wikipedia articles about neighborhoods, view aerial photos, and see graphs of pricing trends.  

Click on a neighborhood at the bottom of the map and you’ll get a tight view of the area with icons of types of rentals, from large apartment buildings to single-family homes. Clicking on an icon brings up pictures and statistics like price, amenities, and lease terms. You can narrow the search by price, size of building, type of listing (including sublets and shares), or address. If something catches your eye, click on “Points of Interest” to show nearby Metro stations, public and private schools, and colleges.   

And if you need to find someone to take your old place, HotPads can help. It’s free to post a listing.  

Here’s this week’s roundup of the biggest deals in the region, as reported by American City Business Leads.

The box score:
Virginia: 5
Maryland: 4
DC: 1

$3,499,701—10010 Counselman Road, Potomac
$3,200,000—11622 Highland Farm Road, Potomac
$3,175,000—6565 Georgetown Pike, McLean
$2,350,000— 6713 East Avenue, Chevy Chase
$2,164,408—1835 N. Herndon St., Arlington
$1,965,281—1577 Maddux Lane, McLean
$1,950,000— 1157 Chain Bridge Road, McLean
$1,900,000— 2508 Coulter Lane, Oakton
$1,875,000— 3015 Dumbarton Street, NW, Georgetown
$1,831,882—12500 Park Potomac Avenue, Apt. 902, Potomac

More fun numbers:

3: Number of sales that broke $3 million
5: Number of sales that broke $2 million
54: Number of sales that broke $1 million
124: Number of sales that broke $800,000

After more than a decade of planning and negotiations, National Harbor is taking shape. Just south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Prince George’s County, the 300-acre site of the mixed-use development bristles with construction cranes. When completed, it will command a mile and a quarter of the Potomac River waterfront and include 4,000 hotel rooms, 2,500 condos and townhouses, 500,000 square feet of offices, and one million square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment space. Due to the project’s massive size, the developers have broken it into several phases. Phase one of development, to be completed in April 2008, will include:

• The cornerstone of the project, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, whose skeleton is rising from the banks of the river. It will house 2,000 hotel rooms, 470,000 square feet of exhibition and convention space, a 20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, and 65,000 square feet of outdoor space for events.

• One National Harbor, a mixed-use building with 40,000 square feet of street-level retail space and 253 condos. Condos go on sale this summer—prices start in the $300,000s for one bedrooms, $400,000s for two bedrooms, and $600,000s for penthouses.

• Five hotels, including a Westin, Residence Inn by Marriott, and Wyndham Vacation Resorts.

• A marina with two piers, boat slips, and water taxi service to Old Town, Mount Vernon, and Georgetown.

• Ten restaurants, including Rosa Mexicana, Sequoia, McCormick & Schmick’s, Grace’s Fortune, and Ketchup, a Los-Angeles based eatery whose celebrity ownership includes actors Ashton Kutcher, Wilmer Valderrama, and Tara Reid.

This antique pine dry sink is going for $595 on Craigslist. Before the advent of running water, dry sinks, or wooden cabinets with wash basins, were commonplace. Today, the sink could add some character to a kitchen or bathroom—and be used for storage.

More good finds:

• Painted wood bar-height table with three stools for $550
• Wine rack and bar for $200
• Vintage wooden chest for $100
• China cabinet and matching buffet from Ethan Allen for $1,600
• Painted armoire for $400
• Coffee table for $75

Thanks, Craigslist!