IN VIRGINIA:
Basketball coach Jim Larranaga and wife Elisebeth sold a five-bedroom, five-bath Colonial in Oakton for $1.3 million. The house has a two-story stone fireplace in the family room. Jim Larranaga led the George Mason men’s basketball team to the final four in 2006. He’s now head coach at the University of Miami.

Former Redskin Clinton Portis sold a home on Georgetown Pike in McLean for $1.7 million. At the end of a private drive, the five-bedroom, six-bath house has a master suite with a balcony. Portis bought it in 2004 for $2 million. A running back, he played for the Skins from 2004 to 2010; he’s now a free agent.

Lawyer James Comey sold a five-bedroom, eight-bath Colonial on Kirby Road in McLean for $1.7 million. It has two kitchens, two family rooms, and a media room. Former deputy attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, Comey is now general counsel at the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.

Former attorney general John Ashcroft and wife Janet sold a four-bedroom, three-bath townhouse on Colonial Terrace in Arlington for $1.1 million. John Aschroft, a former senator from Missouri as well as governor of that state, was US attorney general from 2001 to 2005. He’s now an ethics adviser for Xe Services, the military contractor that used to be Blackwater Worldwide.

Lawrence Lindsey bought a five-bedroom, five-bath house on Hampton Way in Fairfax Station for $1.1 million. On more than five acres, it has a master-bedroom suite with a double-sided fireplace and a sun deck with a hot tub. Former director of the National Economic Council at the White House, Lindsey is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank. He’s also CEO of the Lindsey Group, an economic advisory firm.

Sold: Tucker Carlson collected $4 million for this house. Bought: Carlson’s new home has seven bedrooms. Price: $2 million. Photographs by David Pipkin

IN DC

Journalist Tucker Carlson and his wife, Susan, traded houses. The couple sold a six-bedroom, eight-bath Colonial in Kent for $4 million. It has a heated pool, six fireplaces, and an in-law suite. Less than a mile away, also in Kent, they bought a seven-bedroom, six-bath Colonial for $2 million. The new house has a two-car garage and an au pair suite. The former host of CNN’s Crossfire and MSNBC’s Tucker, Carlson is cofounder and editor of the online news site the Daily Caller.

Longtime local banker Robert Pincus and his wife, Roxanne Little, sold a three-bedroom, five-bath condominium along the Georgetown waterfront for $3.3 million. The condo—which carries a monthly fee of more than $4,000—has 2,700 square feet of outdoor terraces with views of the Potomac River and the Kennedy Center. Vice chair of Bethesda-based EagleBank, Pincus is former head of DC National Bank and Franklin National Bank, which was bought by BB&T in 1999.

Lawyer David Webb bought a three-bedroom, four-bath house on Chain Bridge Road in Kent for $3 million. Built in 1936, it sits on more than an acre. Webb is senior managing director for the real-estate firm Cassidy Turley.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski sold a seven-bedroom, four-bath house on Porter Street in Cleveland Park for $1.8 million. It has an in-law suite with two bedrooms and parking for four cars. Genachowski has led the FCC since June 2009.

This five-bedroom in the Outer Banks sold for $505,000 in March. Photograph courtesy of Twiddy & Company Realtors

In July and August, thousands of Washingtonians head to the beach. Among the throngs playing in the sand are news anchors, chefs, and high-profile lobbyists. Here’s where some well-known locals spend their summer—plus a look at how the real-estate market is faring from Lewes to the Outer Banks.

IN MARYLAND
Former White House chief of staff Josh Bolten sold a home in Bethesda’s Brookmont neighborhood for $1.4 million. He bought the house in 2006 for $1.5 million. Bolten was chief of staff to President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009; before that, he was director of the Office of Management and Budget. He’s now a visiting professor at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs and cochair of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Lawyer Peter Kreindler sold a four-bedroom, four-bath Colonial on Dalecarlia Drive in Bethesda’s Westmoreland Hills for $1.5 million. Built in 1951, the house has a koi pond. Kreindler is senior counsel at McDermott Will & Emery.

Chancellor's Row, in DC's Brookland neighborhood, will have 237 brick-front townhouses. Photo courtesy of Chancellor's Row

Washington’s average commute of more than 30 minutes ranks as one of the worst in the country. Every day, the District’s population swells by about 70 percent as workers pour in from across the region. Drivers also crisscross DC, Maryland, and Virginia to get to jobs in employment hubs such as the Dulles corridor, Tysons Corner, and downtown Bethesda.

Worsening traffic has made living along the Metro and near Maryland’s MARC and Virginia’s VRE stations more desirable. Rail commuters save time, money, and—in some cases—their sanity. “While on the train, you can answer e-mails or read a book,” says Kenneth Wenhold of Metrostudy, a real-estate consulting firm. Homes near transit have also held their value better during the recession. “They tend to be priced higher and sell faster,” Wenhold says.

Here are eight new-home communities near Metro, VRE, and MARC stations.

Lawyer Joseph Hynds spent $2.9 million on a McLean Colonial.

IN DC
Billionaire Michael Heisley sold a home in Spring Valley for $4.5 million. Heisley made his fortune buying and rebuilding struggling companies; he is the owner of professional basketball’s Memphis Grizzlies.

Former Obama administration official Evan Segal and his wife, Tracy, sold a Federal-style house in Georgetown for $3 million. A former school used as the 2008 DC Design House, it has four bedrooms, five baths, a media room, and a landscaped garden with outdoor lighting. The onetime owner of Pennsylvania-based Dormont Manufacturing Company, Segal became chief financial officer of the Department of Agriculture in July 2009; he stepped down shortly thereafter in the wake of a reorganization of the department.