In DC: Landscape architect James van Sweden sold a townhouse in Georgetown for $1.2 million. Built in 1900, the Victorian has three bedrooms, four baths, and a garden designed by Oehme van Sweden, the award-winning landscape-architecture firm that he cofounded in 1977.
Smithsonian head G. Wayne Clough bought a four-bedroom, five-bath Federal-style townhouse near Nationals Park for $910,000. The house, which listed for $949,000, has a deck, chef’s kitchen, and two-car garage. Clough, a former president of Georgia Tech, was named secretary of the Smithsonian in March.
Sloan D. Gibson IV, who last year became president of the USO, bought a four-bedroom, six-bath Georgian-style Colonial on Charleston Terrace near the Georgetown Reservoir for $2.5 million. Built in 1941, the estate includes a guesthouse.
Georgetown government professor Marc Howard bought a four-bedroom, five-bath brick Colonial on Tilden Street in Cleveland Park for $1.4 million.
Kirk Fordham, once chief of staff to former congressman Mark Foley, sold a five-bedroom, five-bath house on Livingston Street in Chevy Chase for $1.7 million. Renovated in 2006, it has a master-bedroom suite and a home office. Fordham, who worked for Foley from 1995 to 2004, warned Republican leaders about the lawmaker’s inappropriate contact with House pages several years before the news broke, forcing Foley to resign. In 2007, Fordham launched a public-affairs-and-government-relations firm called Rock Creek Strategies.
In Virginia: Local TV reporter Doug McKelway and wife Susan bought a five-bedroom, five-bath Colonial in Falls Church for $1.1 million. Built in 2007, the house was on the market for 349 days before selling. McKelway is coanchor of Channel 7’s Good Morning Washington and News at Noon.
Washington Capitals star winger Alexander Semin bought property on North Piedmont Street in Arlington for $1.2 million. In 2007, he bought the house next door for $2.5 million. The Russian-born Semin was drafted by the Capitals in 2002.
Car mogul John Pohanka bought a two-bedroom, three-bath condo in the Waterview Residences, a luxury building in Rosslyn. The Waterview, which sits above the Hotel Palomar Arlington, has the area’s highest rooftop deck. Pohanka is chair of Pohanka Automotive Group, a car-dealership chain.
Finance executive R. Dale Lynch bought a house in Vienna for $2.6 million. Built in 2008, it has five bedrooms and nine baths. Lynch is director of capital markets at Allied Capital, a private-equity firm based in DC.
Former Health and Human Services secretary Michael Leavitt and wife Jacalyn sold a three-bedroom, four-bath townhouse in Arlington’s Court House neighborhood for $890,000. The Colonial, which sold after only four days on the market, has a finished loft. Leavitt, a former governor of Utah, led the Environmental Protection Agency from 2003 to 2005 and HHS from 2005 to 2008.
Some sales information provided by American City Business Leads and Diana Hart of Sotheby’s International Realty.
This article first appeared in the February 2009 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
