News & Politics

Luxury Homes: June 2007

Chef José Andrés and journalist Michael Isikoff strike a deal in Chevy Chase. Developer Doug Jemal sells for $1.1 million in Bethesda.

Headhunter Leslie Peyton Gordon, wife of Congressman Bart Gordon, paid $3.8 million for this Kalorama home. Photograph by David Pipkin.
Chef José Andrés collected $820,000 from journalist Michael Isikoff for this Cape Cod in Chevy Chase. Photograph by David Pipkin.

In DC: Headhunter Leslie Peyton Gordon bought a seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom Georgian home in Kalorama for $3.8 million. The house listed for $4.4 million and was bought from the Government of France. It has a dining room that seats 20, nine skylights, five fireplaces, and a pool. Leslie Gordon is with Korn/Ferry International, an executive-search firm; her husband, Bart Gordon, is a congressman from Tennessee.

Celebrity chef José Andrés and his wife, Patricia Fernandez, sold a four-bedroom, three-bathroom Cape Cod in Chevy Chase to Newsweek journalist Michael Isikoff for $820,000. Andrés owns several restaurants, including Jaleo, Zaytinya, and Café Atlántico. Isikoff recently married Washington Post gossip columnist and blogger Mary Ann Akers.

In Maryland: Real-estate developer Douglas Jemal and his wife, Joyce, sold a five-bedroom, four-bathroom Colonial in Bethesda for $1.1 million. Within walking distance of downtown Bethesda, the house was featured in Better Homes and Gardens. Jemal, who’s credited with turning around DC’s Gallery Place neighborhood, was acquitted in October of bribery but found guilty of fraud and sentenced to probation.

Public-affairs strategist Jarvis Stewart and his wife, Stacey, a nonprofit executive, bought a newly built home on Walhonding Road in Bethesda for $1.75 million. Jarvis is founder and managing partner of Stewart Partners in DC; Stacey was CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation before it was shut down early this year. She now heads Fannie Mae’s Office of Community and Charitable Giving.

Dr. Leonard Wisneski sold a four-bedroom, four-bath rambler on Glen Mill Road in Rockville for $1.2 million. He is an endocrinologist and clinical professor at George Washington University.

Scandal-plagued real-estate developer Douglas Jemal sold this Bethesda house for $1.1 million. Photograph by David Pipkin.

In Virginia: Nonprofit executive Steve Gunderson and his partner, Jonathan Stevens, bought a newly built townhouse on Alexandria’s Miller Lane for $987,000. Gunderson, a former congressman from Wisconsin, is president of the Council on Foundations, a DC nonprofit that serves philanthropic organizations.

Businessman Fred Schaufeld and his wife, Karen, bought a three-bedroom, four-bath condo in the new Midtown Reston Town Center building. They paid $3.1 million for the 21st-floor penthouse. Schaufeld is chair of NEW, a Sterling-based provider of extended-service warranties.

Trade-organization executive Kraig R. Naasz and his wife, Heather, bought a newly built custom home on Oakton Hills Drive for $3.2 million. The house sits on more than two acres and has a three-car garage and master suite with kitchenette, fireplace, and private deck. Naasz is president of the National Mining Association in DC.